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23
Understanding Scanning
each time a user transmits. So, while on a conventional
system queries, replies, and follow-ups are all on a single
frequency, they could each be on completely different
frequencies on a trunked system. This semi-random
frequency assignment made monitoring such a system
impossible prior to Uniden’s invention of the
Trunktracking scanner.
Not only does your BC246T scan channels like a conven-
tional scanner, it actually follows the users of a trunked
radio system. Once you know a talk group’s ID, you won’t
miss any of the action.
If you are a new scanner enthusiast, you might want to
read the first part of this manual and use your scanner in
conventional mode before you begin trunk tracking.
Understanding scanning fundamentals and terminology
will make trunk tracking much easier. If you are already
an experienced scanner operator, you might want to go to
“Programming Motorola Systems” on Page 52, “Program-
ming EDACS Systems” on Page 55, or “Programming
LTR Systems” on Page 58 now.
Types of Trunking Systems
Trunking systems divide a few frequencies among many
different users, but the way that each system does this is
slightly different. This section describes some of the
technical data behind Motorola, EDACS, and LTR
trunked radio systems.
Motorola Trunking
While there are different types of Motorola trunking
systems, they all use the same basic trunking method.
The system consists of one control channel plus one or
more voice channels (typically 10, 20, or 30 total
channels). When a user presses Push To Talk (PTT) to
transmit, their radio first sends their talk group information
to the control channel. The computer then assigns that
talk group to a specific voice channel and transmits that
data over the control channel. All radios in that talk group
switch over to the assigned voice channel and the user