Multi state travel programming

[mdsxfire]

Are there any decent statewide systems from New Jersey to Florida that would be worth programming and get traffic monitoring all TG while in that state.we drive downt to Florida every year and I was wondering if it would be worth it.

 

[kg4pbd]

Are there any decent statewide systems from New Jersey to Florida that would be worth programming and get traffic monitoring all TG while in that state.we drive downt to Florida every year and I was wondering if it would be worth it.

Viper in NC and Palmetti P25 in SC, both would be good along I95.

 

[mdsxfire]

Viper in NC and Palmetti P25 in SC, both would be good along I95.

Awesome! I’m in both of those states for a good amount of time so that will be great

 

[mdsxfire]

Viper in NC and Palmetti P25 in SC, both would be good along I95.

Wow!!! Those are huge systems. I guess the best way to program them for the ride is see which counties 95 runs through and program those sites?

 

[troymail]

Wow!!! Those are huge systems. I guess the best way to program them for the ride is see which counties 95 runs through and program those sites?

I've done this type of thing with scanners for several years when driving from Marlyand to southeaster North Carolina and back again. Seems like there should be an easier way.

Programming a Unication for a road trip is a real pain. Trust me - I've down it for drives from Philly PA to South Carolina on both I-95 and through Norfolk VA and from Wilmington NC through Charlotte to Ashville NC.

There is an alternative but it has a few issues....

You can create wildcard systems with with "Full Spectrum Scan" for the ranges your radio works against. The radio will then search for any system in range and open up for any (Phase 1) talkgroup on any system found.

I created a wildcarded system for Palmetto P25 for a drive from Ashville NC through Columbia SC back towards Wilmington.

You could always add some named talkgroups for things of interest along the way and as long as the TGIDs are reused too much, you might at least see alpha tags for some things you're looking for.

I believe you can do something along the same lines for conventional frequencies.

There are several downsides -- you can't really control what the radio locks onto, encrypted talkgroups are a pain, you won't know for sure what you are monitoring, etc. Still, it's alot less painful than programming in a bunch of systems along the route when your only going to be passing through.

 

[mdsxfire]

For the full spectrum scan is that programmed like a regular system with a range of frequencies or is there a specific tab for that type of program. And when doing that is is TG scam or TG monitor to get all TG on thatbsustem

 

[troymail]

For the full spectrum scan is that programmed like a regular system with a range of frequencies or is there a specific tab for that type of program. And when doing that is is TG scam or TG monitor to get all TG on thatbsustem

It works the same as creating any system. The only difference is that instead of supplying specific frequencies, you enable Full Spectrum Scan and then frequency ranges you want the radio to search.

If you set the WACN to FFFFF, the Sysid to FFF, the RFSS to FF, the Site to FF and include a wildcard TGID (FFFF), the radio will look for and lock onto any P25 system (almost) that is in range.

As I said, there are negative aspects - Phase 2 systems (silence), no alpha tags, locking onto something you don't want, etc.

However, you could go middle ground, create a couple of systems (use the COPY button), and add some of the system attributes like WACN and Sysid to the COPY while keeping everything else wildcarded and place these in different knob positions. That way, you an search for and lock onto that specific system should you choose to do so.

Consider the possible combinations.

You can use TG Monitor (I believe) or add a wildcard talkgroup ID (FFFF or 65535) to have the radio stop on any active talkgroup for the current system (configuration) you are monitoring.

 

[mdsxfire]

It works the same as creating any system. The only difference is that instead of supplying specific frequencies, you enable Full Spectrum Scan and then frequency ranges you want the radio to search.

If you set the WACN to FFFFF, the Sysid to FFF, the RFSS to FF, the Site to FF and include a wildcard TGID (FFFF), the radio will look for and lock onto any P25 system (almost) that is in range.

As I said, there are negative aspects - Phase 2 systems (silence), no alpha tags, locking onto something you don't want, etc.

However, you could go middle ground, create a couple of systems (use the COPY button), and add some of the system attributes like WACN and Sysid to the COPY while keeping everything else wildcarded and place these in different knob positions. That way, you an search for and lock onto that specific system should you choose to do so.

Consider the possible combinations.

You can use TG Monitor (I believe) or add a wildcard talkgroup ID (FFFF or 65535) to have the radio stop on any active talkgroup for the current system (configuration) you are monitoring.

Ok so if I specify the system ID and wacn and put the full frequency range but wild card the sites and TG it will pick up everything, will it also jump to different sites within the system as I drive

 

[troymail]

Ok so if I specify the system ID and wacn and put the full frequency range but wild card the sites and TG it will pick up everything, will it also jump to different sites within the system as I drive

Generally, yes.

 

[mdsxfire]

Generally, yes.

Ok, I understand there will be some issues but it’s something else to listen to when everyone else is sleeping and I’m driving. I’m assuming when doing this I leave the control channel list blank as it’s doing a spectrum trunk

 

[troymail]

Ok, I understand there will be some issues but it’s something else to listen to when everyone else is sleeping and I’m driving. I’m assuming when doing this I leave the control channel list blank as it’s doing a spectrum trunk

Correct, you need not enter any control channel frequencies if enabling Spectrum Scan.

About the only thing you can't work around with this is encryption -- when it starts up and I am in any kind of wildcard mode, I just turn the radio down...

 

[mdsxfire]

Correct, you need not enter any control channel frequencies if enabling Spectrum Scan.

About the only thing you can't work around with this is encryption -- when it starts up and I am in any kind of wildcard mode, I just turn the radio down...

Hopefully my last question for a few hours
If I want say zone 1 knob 1 on my County system and only pick up the TG I have programmed is the receiving mode trunking TG scan, trunking TG monitor or free scan? And under group I’d setting should alert mode and alert tone be “none”
And if I want zone 1 knob 2 to be my full spectrum scan of any site with a specific sys I’d and wacn but wildcards every where else what should those options be

 

[troymail]

Hopefully my last question for a few hours
If I want say zone 1 knob 1 on my County system and only pick up the TG I have programmed is the receiving mode trunking TG scan, trunking TG monitor or free scan?

TG Scan

And under group I’d setting should alert mode and alert tone be “none”

I leave "Alert Mode" set to the default "Tone" and change "Alert Tone" to from "Default Tone" to "None".

 

[LEH]

For Virginia, you have the P25 VHF STARS System.

What I would do is pull up the individual State highway patrol sites and see which districts you are driving through and then make a maybe a channel or zone/channel for each (e.g., for VA from N to S, you go through VSP Divisions 7, 2, 1, and 5). Bounce the districts to what Radio Reference shows (pretty accurate). This will save you entering a lot of unnecessary control channels. Then just do a wildcard for TGID and set the channel to 'TGMonitor'.

I did something similar for a long road trip to Texas earlier this year and a trip to Georgia in Oct with a BCD-496, even with RR import or copying and pasting what I wanted that was a real PITA. Doing this with a G4/G5 could be a true nightmare.

For my Georgia trip, it is a mix of a primarily conventional VHF system with a couple of troops on nearby county TRS systems.

Troymail's comment on all wildcards getting you the first thing you encounter is true and there is a lot of encryption out there you cannot lock out. Check the RR DB to see how much encryption you may encounter in each area before using the 'TG Monitor' feature.

While this is a Unication forum, if you have another scanner that are easier to program, use it. I don't think you'd miss much if you just track the current State Highway Patrols.

 

[mdsxfire]

TG Scan


I leave "Alert Mode" set to the default "Tone" and change "Alert Tone" to from "Default Tone" to "None".

and your audio comes through with no issues with that setup correct. i was asking because i read that people were having issues with no audio coming out set to "none" None" after the last firmware update.
thanks for all the help

 

[troymail]

and your audio comes through with no issues with that setup correct. i was asking because i read that people were having issues with no audio coming out set to "none" None" after the last firmware update.
thanks for all the help

It hasn't been a few hours yet, has it ? :lol: (oh, it has been almost two hours!)

Yes - works fine for me with those settings.

 

[mdsxfire]

It hasn't been a few hours yet, has it ? :lol: (oh, it has been almost two hours!)

Yes - works fine for me with those settings.

Touche sir! LOL Almost 2 isnt bad for me lately trying to set this programming up.
Thanks again ;-)