PRO-90 300-Channel Trunk Tracker Scanner (200-0520A) Trunk Tracking Faxback Doc. # 60724 Your scanner is designed to track transmissions on Motorola Type I, Type II and hybrid analog trunking systems, which are extensively used in 800 MHz communications. Remember these important points when tracking transmissions: Your scanner monitors Type II systems by default. However, you can change this if the system in your area is different (see "Types of Trunking Systems" and "Scanning Type I and Hybrid Trunked Systems" below for more information). Your scanner cannot track transmissions on non-Motorola trunking systems. Your scanner cannot track an 800 MHz trunked system and scan frequencies in conventional mode at the same time. The frequencies for many of the 800 MHz public safety systems are listed in the separate "National Public Safety Trunked System Frequency Guide" included with your PRO-90. Types of Trunking Systems Your trunk tracking scanner can monitor two basic types of systems: Type I and Type II. Instead of selecting a specific frequency to transmit on, a trunked system chooses one of several frequencies in a 2-way radio user's talk group when that user presses PTT (push to talk). Thus trunking systems allocate a few frequencies among many different users, but the way Type I and Type II systems do this is slightly different. One important distinction between these systems is the amount of data transmitted by each radio when its push-to-talk button (PTT) is pressed. In a Type I system, the radio's ID and its current affiliation (the trunk system it belongs to) are both transmitted. In a Type II system, only the radio's ID is transmitted. Why the difference? In Type I systems, each radio in the trunk group individually transmits its own affiliation, while the trunk system maintains a database that determines each radio's affiliation(s) in Type II systems. Another difference between the systems is that Type I systems are arranged in a fleet-subfleet hierarchy. For example, it is possible for a city using a Type I system to designate 4 fleets, each with 8 subfleets. The fleets might be the police department, the fire department, utilities and city administration. The police might decide to further divide its fleet into subfleets such as dispatch, tactical operations, detectives, north, south, east and west side patrols and supervisors. All the available police radios would then be assigned to one of the police sub fleets, letting the police centralize their communications and control the type of users on a single system. Determining the exact fleet subfleet hierarchy for a particular area is referred to as fleet map programming. The disadvantage of a Type I system is that the brief burst of data sent when a user transmits must contain the radio's ID and its fleet and sub fleet. This is three times the amount of data a Type II system radio sends Since the data capacity of Type I systems is limited and the amount of data increases with each user, Type I systems usually accommodate fewer users than Type II systems. Nevertheless, Type I systems are still in use There are also hybrid systems which are a combination of both Type I and Type II. Your scanner defaults to monitor Type II systems, but you can change to Type I or a hybrid of Type I and Type II systems by selecting a preprogrammed fleet map or creating a custom fleet map for your area (see "Scanning Type I and Hybrid Trunked Systems" below. You do not need to determine the fleet-subfleet hierarchy for Type II systems unless you are tracking hybrid systems that contain both Type I and Type II systems. Setting The Scanner to The Trunk Tracking Mode Repeatedly press TRUNK to switch between the scanner's conventional and trunk tracking modes. Setting Squelch For The Trunk Tracking Mode The squelch setting can affect how fast your scanner acquires the data channel, and in some instances, can prevent your scanner from acquiring the data channel at all. We recommend you set SQUELCH to this position before selecting a trunked bank. Note: You can change this setting, if necessary, to provide better performance in your area. Programming Trunked Frequencies Before you program your scanner to track a trunked system, consider the following: Valid trunked system frequencies range from 851.0125 - 868.9875 in 12.5 kHz steps. You can use any of your scanner's banks as either a trunk tracking bank or conventional scanning bank, but you cannot mix the two. The scanner only scans one trunked system at a time. Although you can store frequencies for more than one trunked system in one of your scanner's banks, the scanner only scans the frequencies associated with the first data channel it finds. Before scanning a trunked system's transmissions, you must store the trunked system's frequencies in one of the banks in your scanner by following these steps. 1. Hold down TRUNK until the scanner beeps twice. BANK, TRUNK and the bank numbers flash. 2. Select the bank you want to store the trunked system's frequencies by pressing a number key. The scanner automatically selects the first channel in the bank when you select the bank. 3. Use the number keys to enter the trunked system's frequencies, then press E. Note: If you entered an invalid frequency in Step 3, the scanner beeps, the channel number flashes and Error appears. If this happens, press (.) to clear the frequency, then repeat Step 3. 4. Press either MANUAL or /\ to select the next channel in the bank. 5. Repeat Steps 3 and 4 until all frequencies have been entered. 6. Press SRCH to begin searching for the trunk's data channel (the channel that controls the trunk). SRCH flashes as the scanner searches for the data channel. While the scanner looks through the frequencies, you see them on the display. When the scanner finds the data channel, it begins trunk tracking. Scanning A Trunked Bank You can scan one trunked bank at a time. Once you have stored frequencies for a trunked system in one or more of the 10 available banks and you are scanning non-trunked frequencies, follow these steps to begin trunk scanning. 1. Press TRUNK. The indicators for all banks flash. 2. Use the number keys to enter the number for the trunked bank you want to scan, then press SRCH. The scanner searches for a data channel. When the scanner finds it, it begins trunk tracking. If you entered all of the trunk's frequencies, you should be able to follow conversations between broadcasters even when they change frequencies. IDs which represent different service groups appear. Note: To review the bank currently in use, press DATA while in the trunk tracking mode. The bar for the selected bank flashes at the top of the display for about 5 seconds. 3. To return to non-trunked scanning, press TRUNK again. HINT: While scanning, you will not know exactly who the ID's are assigned to until you listen awhile or until you locate ID lists in frequency guides or on Internet sites such as www.trunkscanner.com. Within a few minutes, you can usually figure out if what you are Listening to is a police, fire or emergency medical 2-way radio user. Other IDs might take some time, but determining who each ID represents is half the fun of trunk tracking! Monitoring an Active ID When the scanner stops on a transmission, you can hold the scanner on that transmission. 1. Press HOLD. HOLD appears and the scanner stays on the current ID, and the channel number changes. 2. If you want to listen to a different ID, use the number keys to enter the ID you want to hold. 3. Press HOLD again. HOLD flashes and the scanner monitors that ID. 4. When you want to stop the hold and resume searching for a data channel so you can continue trunk tracking, press SRCH. Note: You can also follow these steps to hold on an ID while scanning a scan list. See "Scan Lists" below. Locking Out IDs As with conventional scanning, it is possible to lock out unwanted traffic. This is particularly important in trunked systems because signals you cannot listen to (such as water meters, door alarms, traffic signals, and encrypted signals) are assigned IDs just like other users. You can have up to 100 IDs locked out at one time. Note: If you lock out an ID while searching, it is also locked out of the scan list(s). See "Scan Lists" below. To lock out an ID, press L/O, when the ID appears. The ID is locked out, and the next active ID appears. Unlocking a Single ID 1. Hold down L/O until you hear two short beeps. 2. Repeatedly press \/ or /\ to select the ID you want to unlock. 3. Press L/O. The ID is unlocked and the next locked ID or -- --- (if there are no other locked IDs) appears. 4. Press SRCH to continue the scanner's previous function. Unlocking All IDs Hold down L/O until you hear two short beeps. Then press E to unlock all the IDs at once. The scanner beeps twice. Note: When you unlock all the IDs, the scan list mode appears. Press SCAN to scan the IDs stored in your scan list or press SRCH to continue the scanner's previous function. For more information about scan lists, see "Scan Lists" below. Using Trunk Tracking Scan Delay Many trunked systems have a period of 2 or more seconds between a query and a reply. You can program a 5-second delay to hold on an ID for 5 seconds to wait for a reply. The scanner continues to monitor the frequency for 5 seconds after the transmission stops before resuming scanning. Press DLY to turn trunk tracking scan delay on or off. DLY appears when trunk tracking scan delay is set. Note: If you consistently miss responses even with trunk tracking scan delay set, you might need to change the default system type or the fleet map you are using. See "Scanning Type 1 and Hybrid Trunked Systems" below. Monitoring IDs You can use your scanner's display to monitor the frequencies in a trunked system for activity. You cannot hear conversations in this mode, but this is an excellent way to determine which talk groups are the most active. To set the scanner to monitor IDs, hold down SRCH until the scanner beeps twice. SRCH flashes, and all active talk group IDs appear in succession. To stop monitoring IDs, press SRCH again. Note: When you monitor IDs, locked-out IDs also appear. Channel Activity Indicators Your scanner has 20 channel activity indicators (bars) which show the activity taking place on a trunked system. You see how many frequencies are being used and generally monitor how much communication traffic is occurring. Each frequency you store in a trunking bank has a corresponding activity indicator. However, since there are only 20 indicators, but you can store up to 30 frequencies, some indicators might indicate more than one frequency if the trunked system you are scanning has more than 20 channels The indicator that remains on steadily even when there are no current transmissions represents the frequency being used as the data channel. The indicator that flashes when an ID appears represents the frequency being used by the radio you are currently hearing. If an indicator turns on but you do not hear a conversation, the channel is probably being used for a telephone interconnect call or a private call, or the indicator might be a locked-out ID. Your scanner does not monitor these types of calls. If the scanner is holding on an ID which is not active, the other activity indicators turn on and off as other groups use the system. Scan Lists When you program trunked frequencies into a bank (see "Programming Trunked Frequencies" above), your scanner sets up 5 scan lists into which you can store your favorite IDs. Each list can contain up to 10 IDs, so you can store a total of 50 IDs for each trunk tracking bank (500 IDs if you use all banks as trunking banks!). Scan lists help you organize trunking system users into categories. For example, you might use List 1 for police IDs, List 2 for fire department IDs, List 3 for emergency medical service IDs, and so on. Once IDs are stored in lists, you can scan them like you scan conventional channels. You can program IDs into scan lists manually, during a search, or automatically. Manually Storing IDs into Scan Lists 1. Select the trunking bank you want (See "Scanning a Trunked Bank" above). 2. After the scanner begins trunk tracking, press MANUAL. A bar appears at the top of the display, showing the current scan list. 3. Repeatedly press /\ or \/ to select the scan list location (shown at the top of the display) you want to program. 4. Enter the Type II ID you want to store, then press E. Or, to enter a Type I ID: a. Use the number keys to enter the block number and the fleet number, then press (dot). b. Enter the subfleet number, then press E. Note: To clear a mistake while entering an ID, press (.) twice, then start over at Step 1. 5. Repeatedly press MANUAL or /\ to select the next scan list location you want to program. Then repeat Step 4 to enter another ID. Storing IDs Into Scan Lists While Searching Follow these steps to select a scan list location and store an ID during a search. 1. When your scanner stops on an ID you want to store, press PRI. The currently selected scan list memory location flashes. 2. Press E to store the ID in the selected scan list memory location. Or, repeatedly press /\ or \/ to select the scan list memory location you want, then press E. 3. Press SRCH to resume searching. Automatically Storing an ID in a Scan List Location Follow these steps to store an ID in the first empty scan list location during a search. 1. When your scanner stops on an ID you want to store, press E. The scanner stores the ID in the displayed scan list location. 2. Press SRCH to resume searching. Deleting a Stored ID 1. Repeatedly press /\ or \/ to select the scan list location (shown at the top of the display) you want to delete. 2. Press O then E. Scanning The Scan Lists Press SCAN to begin scanning the lists you have programmed. Note: If you have stored less than two IDs, Error flashes twice and the scanner sounds error tones, then the scan list numbers appear at the top of the display and SCAN does not scroll. You must store more than one ID. To remove a scan list from active scanning, use the number keys to enter the scan list's number. The scan list indicator turns off, and the IDs in that list are not scanned. Note: One scan list must always be active. If you try to remove all the scan lists, the first scan list will stay active. To restore a scan list to active scanning, use the number keys to enter its number again. Press SRCH to return to the scanner's previous function. To alternate the display between the channel activity indicators and the scan list indicators, press PRI. Scanning Type I and Hybrid Trunked Systems Your PRO-90 is set to scan Type II user IDs by default. When you scan trunked frequencies, each Type II user ID you see appears as an even number without a dash (such as 2160). Your PRO-90 can also scan Type I trunked systems. Each Type I ID appears as a three or four digit number, followed by a hyphen, followed by a one or two digit number (such as 200- 14). If you notice a mix of odd and even user IDs (such as 6477, 2160, 6481, 6144, and 1167), then you are probably monitoring either a Type I or hybrid (a combination of Type I and Type II user IDs) system (see "Types of Trunked Systems" above). You might also notice that you are missing responses when you hold on an active ID. Unlike Type II systems, Type I and hybrid systems require a fleet map that sets specific fleet-subfleet parameters. It is easy to select a fleet map to scan; what is not always easy is selecting or programming a map that is being used in your particular area. When a Type I system is designed, the address information for all its user IDs is divided into 8 equal size blocks, numbered 0-7, and each block is assigned a size code. When you set up your scanner to track a Type I system, you must choose a size code for each block. When you have chosen a size code for all 8 blocks, you will have duplicated the fleet map for the system you are tracking. If you have chosen correctly, you will be able to track transmissions in that system. Each size code defines the number of fleets, subfleets, and IDs each block has. For example, you can see in the following table that a size code of S-4 has one fleet, which is divided into 16 separate subfleets, and it has a total of 512 individual IDs. Block Size Fleets Subfleets IDs Used S-0 ---- Reserved block for Type II IDs ---- S-1 128 4 16 1 S-2 16 8 64 1 S-3 8 8 128 1 S-4 1 16 512 1 S-5 64 4 32 1 S-6 32 8 32 1 S-7 32 4 64 1 S-8 16 4 128 1 S-9 8 4 256 1 S-10 4 8 256 1 S-11 2 16 265 1 S-12 1 16 1024 2 S-13 1 16 2048 4 S-14 1 16 4096 8 Each ID in the block is unique. The left most digit is the block number in the ID. The next two digits identify which fleet is active, and the last digit(s) (after the hyphen) identifies the subfleet. The size code selected by a Type I system designer depends on the specific needs of the system's users. Some organizations might want many subfleets with only a few radios each, while another organization might want only a few subfleets, with many radios each. To scan Type I systems, you must select or program a fleet map with the same size code assignments as the trunked system. If you do this accurately, you will track all the fleet and subfleet combinations used by the system. In other words, you will hear complete communications while monitoring a trunked system. Note: Preset fleet maps might be available at www.trunkscanner.com. If you do not already know the size codes used, you will have to guess them. But since you do not have to figure out all the blocks at once, this is not as hard as it seems. Select a size code for a block, then press SRCH. Now listen to the communications. If you decide you are receiving most of the replies to the conversations with IDs assigned to the block you just programmed, then you have probably selected the right size code and can work on the next block of the map. There are 16 preset fleet maps to choose from, and it is best to start with these when setting up a Type I or hybrid trunk tracking bank. If none of the following preset fleet maps allow you to follow complete conversations, then you probably need to program your own fleet map (see "Programming a Fleet Map" below). E1P1 E1P2 E1P3 E1P4 E1P5 E1P6 Size Size Size Size Size Size Block Code Block Code Block Code Block Code Block Code Block Code 0 S11 0 S4 0 S4 0 S12 0 S4 0 S3 1 S11 1 S4 1 S4 1 --- 1 S4 1 S10 2 S11 2 S4 2 S4 2 S4 2 S12 2 S4 3 S11 3 S4 3 S4 3 S4 3 --- 3 S4 4 S11 4 S4 4 S4 4 S4 4 S4 4 S12 5 S11 5 S4 5 S4 5 S4 5 S4 5 --- 6 S11 6 S4 6 S12 6 S4 6 S4 6 S12 7 S11 7 S4 7 --- 7 S4 7 S4 7 --- E1P7 E1P8 E1P9 E1P10 E1P11 E1P12 Size Size Size Size Size Size Block Code Block Code Block Code Block Code Block Code Block Code 0 S10 0 S1 0 S4 0 S0 0 S4 0 S0 1 S10 1 S1 1 S4 1 S0 1 S0 1 S0 2 S11 2 S2 2 S0 2 S0 2 S0 2 S0 3 S4 3 S2 3 S0 3 S0 3 S0 3 S0 4 S4 4 S3 4 S0 4 S0 4 S0 4 S0 5 S4 5 S3 5 S0 5 S0 5 S0 5 S0 6 S4 6 S4 6 S0 6 S4 6 S0 6 S0 7 S4 7 S4 7 S0 7 S4 7 S0 7 S4 E1P13 E1P14 E1P15 E1P16 Size Size Size Size Block Code Block Code Block Code Block Code 0 S3 0 S4 0 S4 0 S3 1 S3 1 S3 1 S4 1 S10 2 S11 2 S10 2 S4 2 S10 3 S4 3 S4 3 S11 3 S11 4 S4 4 S4 4 S11 4 S0 5 S0 5 S4 5 S0 5 S0 6 S0 6 S12 6 S12 6 S12 7 S0 7 --- 7 --- 7 --- Selecting a Preset Fleet Map 1. Select the bank where you want to store the preset fleet map by pressing a number key. 2. Press DATA. 3. Repeatedly press /\ or \/ to select E1, then press DATA again. 4. Repeatedly press /\ or \/ to select the name of the map you want (such as P7), then press E. The scanner then searches for transmissions using the preset map you chose. Note: When the scanner searches for transmissions, you see Type I fleet and subfleet IDs such as 100-12, 100-9, 000-12, or 400-8. How do you know if the preset map you selected is correct? Listen to see if you are following complete conversations. If not, try another preset map. Programming a Fleet Map 1. Select the bank where you want to program the fleet map by pressing a number key. 2. Press DATA. 3. Repeatedly press /\ or \/ until E1 appears, then press DATA. 4. Repeatedly press /\ or \/ until USr appears. 5. Press DATA. 6. Repeatedly press /\ or \/ to select the size code for the first block, then press E. The next available block appears. 7. Repeat Step 6 until you have selected a size code for each block you want to work with. 8. Press SRCH. The scanner exits the trunking programming mode, tunes the data channel, then begins to search using the map you programmed. Note: If you select size code S-12, S-13, or S-14, these restrictions apply: S-12 can only be assigned to Blocks 0, 2, 4, or 6. S-13 can only be assigned to Blocks 0 and 4. S-14 can only be assigned to Block 0. Since these size codes require multiple blocks, you will be prompted for the next available block when programming a fleet map. For example, if you assign Block 0 as an S-12, the scanner prompts you for b2, the next block available, instead of b1. And if you assign Block 0 as an S-14, you would not see another prompt because it uses all available blocks. Programming a Hybrid System A hybrid system is simply a Type I system with some of its blocks designated as Type II blocks. To program a hybrid system, follow the steps listed in "Programming a Fleet Map" above. However, if you want a block to be Type II, select size code S-0 in Step 6. Turning ON/OFF the Disconnect Tone Detect Function While trunk tracking, your scanner automatically tunes to the data channel when it detects a disconnect tone (a code that tells the trunking system that the transmitter has finished sending) on the voice channel. However, you can manually turn off this function so the scanner does not tune to the data channel when it receives a disconnect tone on the voice channel. Notes: You can also manually set the scanner so it always stays on the voice channel (even when a disconnect tone is transmitted on that channel or there is no signal at all) by setting SQUELCH so you hear a hissing sound. You cannot use the disconnect tone detect function if you are programming a trunking frequency or a fleet map. To turn the disconnect tone detect function on or off, set the scanner to trunk track then press SVC. The scanner beets and DATA flashes for about 5 seconds. To set your scanner so it again automatically tunes the data channel when it detects a disconnect tone, press SVC. (GLW EB 8/7/00)