RR User Guide

RadioReference.com Policies and Procedures

• RR Database Submission Guidelines - Want to submit data to the Radio Reference Database? Look here for information on how to send us data.
• Data Removal Policy - Why was my article (page, data) dropped?
• Legal
• Terms and Conditions of Use
• Donations

RadioReference.com General Site Questions

• What new features are coming for the site and the database?
  • See the RR 3.0 Release Specifications Document for more details

• "I purchased a subscription, so why am I not listed as a contributing user?"
  • Answer: There are a number of reasons why, however the most common include:
    • You made your donation with a Paypal e-check, which requires a few days to clear Paypal before you are granted access as a donating users.
    • You mailed in a check, which takes a few days to go through the mail and clear.

RadioReference Web Service

• ''How do I use the RadioReference.com Web Service?''
  • Answer: The RadioReference.com Web Service is an XML interface to all of the Trunked System information in the RR Database. It is available to all donating users of the site. See the RadioReference.com Web Service article for more information on applications that support the Web service, and the specification for applications developers.

• ''What do I need to do to access the Web Service?''
  • Answer: To access the web service, one must purchase a premium subscription

RadioReference Database

Terminology and Abbreviations

• ''In the Radio Reference Database, What are Location Based Attributes and how are they interpreted?''

Location based attributes are used to specify when a frequency or talkgroup is used in a portion of a region (northern part of the city, South County, ect.) rather than the entire region. Please see the Location Based Info article for more information.

• ''What are Tags, and what purpose do they serve?''

Tags are used to group frequencies and talkgroups by services; eventually one will be able to query the database by location and service, giving much more accurate results. See our Tags article for the valid values for this feature.

• ''How do I categorize data when adding tags to the database?''
• ''What standard abbreviations are recommended for adding data to the database?''

See our Admin Style Guide for guidelines on abbreviations, tags and other issues encountered when adding tag and service information to the database.

• ''How can I dynamically pull data from the database into my website?''

Please see our API article for more information.

Conventional Data

• ''I see two frequencies for the agency I want to monitor, which one do I put in my scanner?''
  • This would indicate one of two things in the RR Database.
    • If the channel is listed with a R in the Type column, then just program one in the Frequency column.
      • See Repeater, Output frequency, and Input frequency for further details.
    • If the channel is listed with a B or BM in the Type column, then you really need to program both, as this would indicate this is a Duplex channel, where normally the base station will be on the frequency designated in the Frequency column and the mobile will be on the frequency in the Input column.

• ''There is a column called Tone and it has funny numbers in it, do I need to worry about this?''
  • It all depends. What those are, are CTCSS and DCS values. If your scanner can accept them it will reduce outside interference from what you are interested in hearing. This means the agency you are programming uses that tone (or code) to limit reception/interference from other agencies that may be licensed on that frequency. Some scanners cannot use these tones and some agencies do not use them either. It really comes down to a personal choice on your part.

Trunked Data

• ''On the trunking talk group display, I see DEC and HEX, which one do I use?''
  • For Motorola and Project 25 (APCO-25) systems, all trunk tracking scanners accept what is known as the Uniden Decimal format, that is the DEC number you see in the Talkgroup display. The HEX number is the actual Motorola Talk Group equivalent of that number as a hexadecimal. Professional radios (such as Motorola handhelds) and the newer GRE PSR-500 and PSR-600 scanners can use them, but other scanners can't. There is a correlation between the two, but this correlation is different depending on the system being looked at. Some systems use a different format all together such as the LTR systems (system-home repeater-talk group) x-xx-xxx format or the EDACS AFS (Agency – Fleet – Sub-fleet)

• ''On the trunking talk group display, what does the mode mean?''
  • Each talk group in a trunking radio system may broadcast in many modes, the mode most often found for a particular talk group is displayed in this column. If you mouse over the column heading you will see the various codes used in the column and what they mean.

• ''On the trunking system I am trying to program, some of the frequencies listed are red or blue and have an asterisk next to them, what does that mean?''
• ''What does the 'c' or 'a' in the frequency listing indicate?''
  • The red and blue frequencies are those identified as the control channel (CCh (in red with a 'c')) or alternates (in blue with an 'a').
  • Now comes the confusion, if the system you are looking at is a Motorola or a Project-25 system and your scanner is capable of Control Channel Only trunk tracking then you really need to only program the CCh and alternates for it to work.
  • If you are programming an EDACS or LTR system, then you must use all of the frequencies listed and put them in the correct order and in the correct position in your scanner. Some scanners ask for the LCN (Logical Channel Number) when programming these systems and others rely on you placing them in the correct bank position on your own.
    • If you look carefully at the frequency display you will see these types of systems have a small number to the left of the frequency, which is the LCN of that frequency. For example, if you were programming an EDACS system in bank 2 of a Pro-97 scanner, then you would put the frequency for LCN 1 in bank position 201, LCN 2 in position 202, and so on.
  • Note, in both EDACS and LTR systems, not all positions may be filled and there is no rule about skipping slots, so a site may start on LCN 4, which you program (again using the above example) in bank position 204, and go on from there. If you are told to start at bank position 1 in a bank, that is only correct if there is an LCN 1.

• ''How do I tell if a system is to be programmed as a Project 25 system?''
  • Examine the system voice as listed in the database. Those entries that say System Voice: Analog and APCO-25 Common Air Interface are not true Project 25 systems, as they have one or more analog talkgroups. Program these systems as a Motorola system, and let the scanner detect the digital. If the System Voice says System Voice: APCO-25 Common Air Interface Exclusive then this system is a true Project 25 system. In both cases, a Digital Trunktracker is required to fully copy these systems, assuming none of the talkgroup entries are marked with 'E'. These are encrypted, and no scanner will copy them.

• ''The database says that my area uses EDACS Provoice (or EDACS OpenSky ). Can any scanner receive these formats?'' Due to the proprietary nature of these formats, no scanner can receive either of these formats. There are several such formats which scanners cannot track (or receive); the most common ones are listed at the bottom of this page