Can anyone tell me the difference between trunked and conventional
set-up on a scanner. New christmas present and would like to learn
more about it. Anyone out there want to give me a hand?

Thanks in advance,
Betsy

"jeff_betsy" wrote in message
oups.com...
Can anyone tell me the difference between trunked and conventional
set-up on a scanner. New christmas present and would like to learn
more about it. Anyone out there want to give me a hand?

Thanks in advance,
Betsy


People will be glad to help but you will need to share some more info. Which
scanner, including model? Where are you, and what are you trying to scan?
--
"Everything in excess! To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites.
Moderation is for monks."

[Lazarus Long]

On 2 Jan 2007 15:21:49 -0800, "jeff_betsy"
wrote:

Can anyone tell me the difference between trunked and conventional
set-up on a scanner. New christmas present and would like to learn
more about it. Anyone out there want to give me a hand?

Thanks in advance,
Betsy

Betsy,

Congratulations on the new radio, and here's hoping you'll get plenty
of enjoyment out of it.

There's somewhat of a learning curve when going from scanning
conventional systems to scanning trunked systems. I recommend you
Google up some info on the basics of scanning trunked systems and
acquaint yourself with that. As for help in getting started on
programming trunked systems in your area, depending on where you live,
you may (or may not) be able to find basic frequency and talk group
info at:

http://www.trunktracker.com/states/database.html

The primary difference between programming conventional and trunked
systems into a scanner is this: When you sit down to program a
conventional scanner, about the only thing you're concerned with is
programming in the right frequencies. You conjure up a list of freqs
from somewhere (from the Internet, a local radio club, the store you
bought the scanner from, or wherever), and if it's a good list, it
lists all the government freqs in town: the police, fire department,
EMS, the water department, the dog catcher - all have their frequency
or frequencies listed. With conventional systems you simply program
them in, hit SCAN, and start listening. When a police officer keys his
radio, you'll hear him on (where else?) the police frequency.

With a trunked system, though, EVERYBODY can be on the same trunked
radio system and they ALL will use ALL of the frequencies in the
system. This is because in a trunked system, when a cop keys a radio,
a computer at the control site decides which frequency to send it to,
and at the same time sends the other police radios to that frequency
to listen...and you'll hear him on that frequency. THIS time. The next
time the computer sends somebody to that frequency, it might be the
dog catcher instead, while the cop you just heard a minute ago is on
another frequency in the same system. Therefore, with a trunked radio
system, you have to learn about fleet maps and talk group IDs, which
are what allows that computer to tell the difference between the cops
and the dog catcher - and which is how you (and your scanner) tell the
difference, too.

It takes some getting used to, but keep after it and you'll get the
hang of it - and I think that once you do, you'll find that the effort
will have been worth it!

Hope this helps.

John Kasupski, KC2HMZ, Contributing Editor
Popular Communications Magazine

On 2007-01-03 14:05:13 -0800, John Kasupski said:
It takes some getting used to, but keep after it and you'll get the
hang of it - and I think that once you do, you'll find that the effort
will have been worth it!

I'm not the OP, but thanks a ton for that excellent explanation.

I'd kind of like to get a scanner, but I'm afraid that soon after I
shell out the $500 they will come along with yet another newfangled
technology that is incompatible with the scanner I just bought.

What's the real danger of that? And if I were to get a scanner, what is
the latest tech I should look for?

Is "trunking" the only thing I need? Is all trunking equal?

--
-=Elden=-
http://www.moondog.org

I don't think you need to worry about new tehcnology coming out for
scanners... maybe a super advanced antenna, but then still, they would
have to include old adapters w/ it. Other than antennas, I don't think
there really any other acessories that COULD be updated.

Could be wrong..

On Fri, 5 Jan 2007 20:19:09 -0800, Elden Fenison
wrote:

On 2007-01-03 14:05:13 -0800, John Kasupski said:
It takes some getting used to, but keep after it and you'll get the
hang of it - and I think that once you do, you'll find that the effort
will have been worth it!

I'm not the OP, but thanks a ton for that excellent explanation.

My pleasure, sir. :-)

I'd kind of like to get a scanner, but I'm afraid that soon after I
shell out the $500 they will come along with yet another newfangled
technology that is incompatible with the scanner I just bought.

What's the real danger of that? And if I were to get a scanner, what is
the latest tech I should look for?

Is "trunking" the only thing I need? Is all trunking equal?

First of all - no, all trunking is not equal. Different trunked radio
systems use different technology to accomplish their tasks. However,
for me to explain them all here, I'd be writing for hours and the
resulting post would be so long as to infuriate people. Instead, I
recommend that you (and anyone else interested in this subject) visit
the Trunked Radio Systems page on The RadioReference Wiki:

http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Trunking

That page has links to other pages on the Wiki that explain the
various TRS types in much greater detail than is practical for a
Usenet posting.

The answer to whether or not "trunking" is all that you need depends
on where you live and what your listening interests are, and of
course, how much money you have in your wallet.

For example, the average scanner will cover ham, business, commercial
aircraft, government, industrial, public safety, utility companies,
and weather. Your scanner may need additional frequency coverage if
you also want to be able to listen to things like the AM/FM broadcast
bands, HF worldwide ham/broadcast/utility stations, TV audio, and
(especially) military aircraft comms.

One example of the "latest tech" you may want/need, depending on if it
is in use in your area, is the ability to monitor APCO Project 25
(a.k.a. "P25") digital voice systems. There are now radios on the
market that can handle P25 systems. Some require installing an
optional circuit board, which of course costs extra. Only you can
decide if you want or need P25 capability, based on what's in use in
your area and the cost of having it.

As to the real danger of your scanner becoming obsolete as soon as you
buy it - it seems to me that even though they can invent "yet another
newfangled technology that is incompatible with the scanner I just
bought" every day, that doesn't immediately make your scanner obsolete
and unusable. That doesn't happen until your local police and fire
department start using a new radio system that utilizes the new
technology, and radio systems using the latest high-tech bells and
whistles usually cost top dollar for the local government to purchase.
If the scanner you buy has everything you need at the time you
purchase it, that scanner should remain quite usable for a long time.

So my advice would be:

1. Determine what it is you want to listen to.
2. Do some research and find out what kind of radio systems are in use
in your area relative to what you want to listen to.
3. Refer to the RadioReference Wiki and other sources (such as scanner
specifications on manufacturer's websites, and websites that cater to
scanner hobbyists) to find a radio that does what you want it to do.
4. Find one of those at a price that's agreeable to you.
5. Buy it and start enjoying this facet of the radio hobby!

Hope this helps...

John Kasupski, KC2HMZ, Contributing Editor
Popular Communications Magazine