Optimize your scan list

First an update to my Pro-668 post yesterday.  My adapt level change isn't working out as well as I had hoped.  I am going to swing it the other direction today and see if that makes a difference (I  went from 64 to 16, now I moved it to 90).

I also forgot to mention that they Pro-668 battery life is much better than the 436, however it does have 4 batteries vs the 436's 3.

Optimizing your scanner
The nice thing about these new scanners is you can put in your zip code, everything in your area downloads and off you go.  The problem with that is the way it downloads is probably not the most efficient way to scan.

The radio scans in sequential order, and you hear the first active frequency or talkgroup it comes across.  By moving things you want to hear to the front of the list, you will improve your chances of hearing the things that are most important.  Things that are less important, or tend to hog air time, put them at the back of the list.  This applies to the system level as well.  Put your most important trunk or conventional system first.

This is particularly useful if your county or state is migrating to a new digital system from an old one.  Many times the old analog systems are simulcasted, either part time or full time.  This is the case for example with Somerset County, and often NJSP talkgroups show up in the NJICS 700 System.  By putting the newer system first, you increases the odds of listening to that particular talkgroup on the digital side, vs the analog side.  If you want to increase your chances even more, add a hold time (if you have a Uniden) of 3-4 seconds to the digital group.

You can also use this method to your advantage while mobile (especially if you use GPS scanning).  Many trunk systems have fill in sites, which are fill in sites for area's with poor coverage (usually referred to as IR Sites).  NJSP has them all over the place for the 800 system, and Bucks county has a couple as well.  Since they are only active when a nearby radio affiliates to it, they are normally not worth monitoring, since you only hear maybe 1 or 2 talkgroups and even that may be inconsistent.  However while you are mobile, by putting these sites first in the site list, you will be more likely to lock on to those when you are in an area where the main site has poor reception and hear the local traffic more clearly.    Your mileage may vary with this particular technique.   A good example of where this works well is the NJSP on route 78.  The Bedminster IR site was setup to improve coverage on Route 78 between Clinton and Route 287.  By scanning the IR site first, the 5 Comm traffic comes in much better, than when I was only relying on the main simulcast site.