[Scan-DC] STARS on the Pro 106

[Steve Thompson]

My posting regarding the activation of STARS in Northern Virginia 
brought a question about how to program a scanner for it.  The best 
source for STARS information is the sticky thread in the Virginia 
forum on Radio Reference.  Here's my previous posting on that thread 
about programming the Pro 106 for STARS:

-------------------------------------

Think I have STARS working on the Pro-106, thanks to info provided 
here by other members. Here's a short summary, in case others want to 
do it. With the data entry and using Win500, it takes about a half-hour.

1. Create two TSYS (I call mine STARS 1 and STARS 2).

2. For each, set Type to P25 AUTO.

3. Enter all of the control and alternate freqs for STARS from Radio 
Reference. Each TSYS will hold only 32 freqs, which is why you need 
two of them for STARS. Presumably you could get by with only one TSYS 
if you only entered the freqs for transmitter sites in your area, but 
I went statewide.

4. Set a Wildcard for each TSYS.

5. Upload to the scanner. I put both TSYS into the same scan list. 
We'll see how that works out when the system is fully operational.

--------------------------------------

That's the "shotgun"  approach to STARS:  You should get everything 
on the system that is transmitted on whatever towers are within range 
of your location.  That would be too much information, and it also 
takes too long for the Pro-106 to cycle through all of the 
freqs.  But it was useful while the system was being built, just to 
see what was there.

Now that STARS is operational, it's time to fine-tune this.  I'll do 
that today, using Win 500.  I plan to save this "ALL OF STARS" 
arrangement in a virtual scanner (in case I'm travelling elsewhere in 
the state) and then selectively copy the freqs in use in Northern 
Virginia to my primary virtual scanner for normal monitoring.  With 
Win 500, this should be easy.  Radio Reference gives the tower 
locations (by county).

Then I will enter the Talk Groups for Fairfax and Culpepper and maybe 
a few statewide TGs.  That should cover my day-to-day listening and 
my normal travels.

Steve, N4TX