XTS Scan Problem

bellersley · Post by **bellersley** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 7:03 am

I'm trying to help a colleague with an annoying problem with a UHF XTS3000. The system is a 4 or 5 site SmartZone system. The way he wants it setup is to scan the selected talkgroup as well as a few common talkgroups and a conventional channel.
I programmed the radio with one scan list, with the common and conventional channel, and assigned that scanlist to the trunking personality.

The problem is that when you turn scan on, it scans VERY slowly, if you dead key one of the scanlist members, you have to key for a good 30 seconds for it to stop on the active group/channel.

I've tried all the scan related options and nothing seems to fix it. The only thing I can think it might be is that because its programmed as SmartZone, its trying to affiliate each talkgroup as it scans. Is there some way to get around this, so that it just afiliates whatever group is selected but not the ones you're trying to scan, or only affiliate once? Assuming that's the problem of course.

The radio is a proper system radio and the RID is authorized on all the talkgroups in question, so there's no "nick" involved.

RKG · Post by **RKG** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 7:28 pm

Trunked radios give you the option of three different types of scan lists:

Priority Monitor - limited to TGs in the same system;
Talkgroup - may combine TGs from different systems or trunked TGs and conventionals; and
Conventional - only.

I've tried to convince people not to use the "talkgroup" option, because of the inherent problems in trying to "scan" trunked systems.

When scanning a trunked system, the radio isn't scanning channels in the sense in which we all became used to it over the last few decades with scanning conventional LMR radios. Rather, it is parked on (and possibly affiliated with) a single trunked system, whose data stream it is watching for OSWs.

Now if you have TGs from different systems in the list, the radio will listen for a while to the first system, and after a no-activity-timer times out, it will switch to (and, if necessary affiliate with) the next system, and so forth. When it has done the last of the trunked systems, it will make one conventional scan pass through the conventional channels and then start over again.

Two results: One is huge audio holes, even with the radio silent. You will be missing traffic you don't know about. The other is, as you've observed, a huge delay if you key, thus forcing a reversion to a trunked system other than the one the radio was watching when you pressed.

So far as I know, there is no way around this. If you want to listen to two trunked systems, or to a trunked system and conventionals, my advice is to get two radios.

mancow · Post by **mancow** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 9:14 pm

Would that also increase battery drain due to the constant affiliation?

mancow

RKG · Post by **RKG** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 12:23 pm

It could well.

We had a case where, all of a sudden, one trooper's radio started re-affiliating a couple of times every minute. One monitor was showing the diags/aff's scroll, and it was continuously moving on account of this. Sort of made the trooper stand out.

Upon investigation, he had had a friend reprogram his radio to add a non-SP system, personality and TGs, and had created a scan list with the non-SP TGs in it. Every time the radio shifted from one system to the other, it reaffiliated.

The radio was reprogrammed back to the troop template.

Post by **wavetar** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 12:38 pm

Since Bellersly isn't scanning across systems, he shouldn't be having this problem. I've programmed many XTS radios to scan talkgroups with no issues at all. I don't recall programming them to also scan conventional, but have set up many LCS radios to do exactly that with no issues (sometimes a small delay, a second or two...not 30). Try taking the conventional channel out of the list & see what happens...that'll at least narrow down the problem if it works well after that.

Todd

bellersley · Post by **bellersley** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 1:14 pm

Wow, thanks for the replies guys! I tried removing the conventional channels and it doesn't seem to fix anything. Simply, what I'm trying to make it to scan the selected talkgroup and 3 or 4 others on the SAME system, ie, not re-affiliate for each talkgroup. Example, I'm sitting on "MAIN OPS" and I want to scan "TACTICAL" and "COMMON". I'm already affiliated to site 3 on the MAIN OPS talkgroup, so I want to scan TACTICAL and COMMON on site 3 as well. If the radio has to affiliate TACTICAL and COMMON once, to get it repeated on Site 3, that's fine, but I DON'T want to have it re-affiliate each time it cycles through the scan list.

We use MTX radios, and they don't have this problem whatsoever, it only seems to happen with the XTS series. I haven't checked an Astro Saber as of yet though.

Post by **wavetar** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 4:24 pm

The XTS radios do not affiliate on the scanned talkgroups, only on the selected channel. If there are no other radios affiliated with the scanned talkgroups on the particular site the XTS happens to be on, then it will not hear the scanned talkgroup audio. I have never had a problem with simply scanning talkgroups with any XTS3000 radio, so I'm not sure what your problem would be...possibly a firmware bug? What are your host/dsp versions? Is it a 'Nick' flashcode?

Todd

jwood · Post by **jwood** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 2:54 pm

bellersley wrote:
The problem is that when you turn scan on, it scans VERY slowly, if you dead key one of the scanlist members, you have to key for a good 30 seconds for it to stop on the active group/channel.

.

I have the same problem with the "conventional scan list" only.. when the radio is put into scan it will not stop on a active channel unless there is about 15 to 30 secs of carrier....

Post by **batdude** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 5:34 pm

ok... i'm going to ask the silly questions.

factory radio / flash / tuning?

or

nick super whore / hotmail s-record / kitchen table tuned?

firmware version?

doug

jwood · Post by **jwood** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 5:29 am

batdude wrote:ok... i'm going to ask the silly questions.

factory radio / flash / tuning?

or

nick super whore / hotmail s-record / kitchen table tuned?

firmware version?

doug

Don't have the radio with me at the moment, but it is a factory tuned,factory flashed and factory programed radio, the scan on conventional 800mhz channels only has a 15 to 30 lag before opening the reciver when it see's a signal wjile in scan. turn the scan off and it opens just fine, and the channels are in the scan list...

RocketNJ · Post by **RocketNJ** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 7:54 pm

Wasn't there an SRN about scan issues with a certain vintage firmware? I'll have to try and dig through my copies of the SRNs at work tomorrow and see if I can find it.

Also, how old is the radio? I'd check the reference frequency alignment.

last, on the trunked system, set the scan to priority monitor and see if that improves the unmute delay.

jwood · Post by **jwood** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 4:29 pm

RocketNJ wrote:Wasn't there an SRN about scan issues with a certain vintage firmware? I'll have to try and dig through my copies of the SRNs at work tomorrow and see if I can find it.

Also, how old is the radio? I'd check the reference frequency alignment.

last, on the trunked system, set the scan to priority monitor and see if that improves the unmute delay.

Scan works fine with trunking... only has a "LARGE" delay when scanning conventional/simplex frequencies with pl/dpl or digital CSQ... now if the same frequencies are programed as open RX meaning no pl/dplor digital CSQ, the radio opens right now in scan...

XTS Scan Problem

XTS Scan Problem

Re: XTS Scan Problem

..

Re: ..