Need Help with NE Mpls Frequencies

[DaveInMinneapolis]

Originally Posted by alsphotography

The why on my scanner do all the police depts start at 800.000-875.000?
Explain that.

Al,

Because that is where all the digital control frequencies start. Look at the list that was provided earlier in this thread. They're ALL frequencies in the 800 MHz range. BUT THEY ARE NOT CONVENTIONAL FREQUENCIES! They are NOT to be programmed in as conventional frequencies. They are "Control Frequencies" that are pooled or shared.

Yes, your scanner might well display an 800-something frequency during a particular police call. But here's the trick: Let's assume that you are listening to the 2nd precinct exclusively. You hear a call to Squad 2xx. You notice that the frequency is (for the sake of argument) 800.12345. Great. That's the 2nd precinct frequency, right? Nope! Not even close. Because the NEXT call to Squad 2xx might well be on frequency 850.45678. Ah ha! So THAT'S the frequency for the 2nd Precinct, right? Nope. THE 800 MHZ FREQUENCIES ARE ALWAYS CHANGING. Additionally, they are used by ALL PRECINCTS AND CITY AGENCIES.

That is why we keep telling you that there is no specific frequency for the 2nd precinct.

[DaveInMinneapolis]

Originally Posted by alsphotography

The why on my scanner do all the police depts start at 800.000-875.000?
Explain that.

Well, ThinBlueLine22 gave a much more eloquent and technically accurate explanation than I did, but the fact remains true: We cannot give you what does not exist.

Allen, we are not part of some evil bureaucracy or PD cover-up conspiracy. We are simply scanner and amateur radio enthusiasts who like to communicate about our hobby and, when possible, try to help one another out.

I certainly had my share of problems understanding the digital trunking system when I jumped into it. And I probably still don't 'get' a lot of it. But it seems to me that you keep asking the same question that simply does not have an answer or, more accurately, cannot be answered. In other words, the question itself is not valid. Sort of like asking "What does blue taste like" or "How loud is orange" or "How far is up"?

Send me a PM and I will try to help you out one on one.

[alsphotography]

All my 911 calls are in the lower range and I get them all. They start with 151.000 and up to 154.000. I get all the 5 counties. All my police calls are in the 800.00 and up range. It works beautiful. The only one I don’t get is around here. I blocked out all the MTC channels and didn’t put the animal control on it. It works beautiful.

[DaveInMinneapolis]

Originally Posted by alsphotography

All my 911 calls are in the lower range and I get them all. They start with 151.000 and up to 154.000. I get all the 5 counties. All my police calls are in the 800.00 and up range. It works beautiful. The only one I don’t get is around here. I blocked out all the MTC channels and didn’t put the animal control on it. It works beautiful.

Al,

I'm curious about something. Everything works beautifully except that you're not hearing 2nd Precinct calls, right?

You said: "I blocked out all the MTC channels...". O.K. - you don't want to hear Metro Transit calls. Great No problem. But can you tell me how you blocked them out? Did you block them out by deleting or turning off some of the 800 frequencies or did you block them out by deleting or turning off Talk Groups in the range of 2532?

[alsphotography]

OK, my unit has a trunk tracker system 1V. I have read about it. I am only running 3 systems right now. But everything is working beautiful. I ran the scanner for a day picking up every frequency it caught. This unit runs 100 frequencies a second.

[wogggieee]

Do This:

Download Free Scan with this link:
http://scannow.org/files/fssetup-211.exe

Then download this file:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/28512467/Minneapolis.996

Then install Free Scan and then open the file and then upload it to your scanner with the cable that should have came with it. Once you uploaded the file DO NOT TOUCH the key pad. Just turn it on and let it go.

[alsphotography]

I don’t think I have the scanner your talking about. No cable came with it. This is a hand scanner made by Uniden. It’s a BCD396T.

[wogggieee]

Go get a cable for it. We're not going to be able to explain this to you and its the only way it will work for you.

[JASII]

Originally Posted by alsphotography

I.....No cable came with it.....

If you bought the scanner new, it should have come with a programing cable. However, the BCD396T came with a serial cable that has a connector that is not all that common on new computers, thus many people end up getting a USB cable for it.

USB Cable For All Uniden DMA Scanners - Accessories at Uniden

[alsphotography]

There’s no cable made for it. Maybe I should just have you come and look at it. I can’t drive. I’ve talked to Radio Shack and they said because it wasn’t a windows that they couldn’t help me. I never programed it for windows or mac.

[JASII]

Originally Posted by alsphotography

I.....No cable came with it.....

If you bought the scanner new, it should have come with a programing cable. However, the BCD396T came with a serial cable that has a connector that is not all that common on new computers, thus many people end up getting a USB cable for it.

USB Cable For All Uniden DMA Scanners - Accessories at Uniden

[alsphotography]

OK, I ordered the cord. There’s no directions for it in the manual. I hope I didn’t waste my money.

[wogggieee]

When you get the cord do what I said above.

[DaveInMinneapolis]

Originally Posted by alsphotography

OK, I ordered the cord. There’s no directions for it in the manual. I hope I didn’t waste my money.

Allen,

I seriously doubt that you've wasted your money. The programming cables are really very handy. While it is true that every single function of the scanner can be programmed manually from the radio controls, it is usually a tedious and error-ridden effort. The programming software and cable makes it a whole lot easier and much more error-free.

However, you will also need to download the USB driver, and you will have to use a PC capable of running the Windows operating system with an available USB port. There is very little software available for Mac that talks to scanners.

Good luck!

[ofd8001]

Al-

I'm taking it from your name that you are into photography, so I'm presuming you have a pretty good handle on that subject.

A lot of the way you are presenting your questions can be likened to this: "I got a new Nikon D 5100 camera. I want to know what kind of 35MM film I can use to take black and white pictures, but no one is giving me a straight answer".

The predicament is obvious. The camera I got is a whole new critter - and I'm trying to use ancient knowledge for something modern.

You are asking for frequencies, but that's only a piece of the puzzle. If all you've done is plug in frequencies and lock them out when you hear something you don't like, sooner or later you'll have locked the whole system out. Without looking how you've programmed your scanner, I wouldn't be surprised that you programmed it as a conventional system versus a trunked system. Doing that is like using Microdol film developer to process color film.


Folks here have been trying very hard to be patient with you and help you achieve what you want to do - short of actually getting your scanner and programming it for you. They've showed you where to get free software to program the scanner, and sent you the actual file to program into your scanner.

You may wish to consider simply listening to Dave's feed: Minneapolis, Richfield Police and Fire, Minneapolis Park and Metro Transit Police

It's a great feed! Might have more than you want, but the second precinct is there - I heard them when I was listening last night.

Lastly, please let me take up for my public safety colleagues (I'm a fire chief, by the way). Probably 99% of the emergency responders don't have the technical knowledge on how these newfangled radio systems work because they are so complex. We really don't expect them too - there's far too much other stuff they need to know to do their jobs properly. As long as they know which knob turns the radio on, which knob selects the talkgroup they are assigned to and which buttons change zones and don't press the orange button unless you are in trouble, that's the basic set of knowledge they need to possess.

The radio shop technicians are the ones to ask about all the technical details, but they probably won't tell you. There's so much worry these days about Homeland Security, little information is being released. It might not be "right" but that's a situation created by some bad actors and they are the real culprits in this, not the government.

Everything you need to know has been provided to you by the other posters in this thread as well as in the RR database. There's nothing more "the government" can tell you that's going to give you the results you want.

[mmtstc]

The hammer has struck the nail on the head.

Well put!

[alsphotography]

I work on macs and I’m staying with macs. Thank all of you for your advice. By the way just to let you know when I block a frequency it’s only that one that’s deleted. Like the MTC buses. When I block them out it’s only them nobody else. I have all the paramedic transmits and emergency from all the counties. All the calls to the fire departments from all 5 counties except the Station #15 that’s 4 blocks away from me. I thought about there signals being to strong to get through. I was really into CB radios when I was young. All the police depts in the 5 county area except the calls for the 2nd Pct. The scanner works beautiful. I can add a frequency any time I want to.
Once again To all of you, Thank you very much for you assistance and your ongoing help. You are respected for this. Allen.

[DaveInMinneapolis]

Originally Posted by alsphotography

I work on macs and I’m staying with macs. Thank all of you for your advice. By the way just to let you know when I block a frequency it’s only that one that’s deleted. Like the MTC buses. When I block them out it’s only them nobody else. I have all the paramedic transmits and emergency from all the counties. All the calls to the fire departments from all 5 counties except the Station #15 that’s 4 blocks away from me. I thought about there signals being to strong to get through. I was really into CB radios when I was young. All the police depts in the 5 county area except the calls for the 2nd Pct. The scanner works beautiful. I can add a frequency any time I want to.
Once again To all of you, Thank you very much for you assistance and your ongoing help. You are respected for this. Allen.

Allen,

I have Macs, too. And I love them. However, in the scanner software world, it's pretty much Windows only. The cable and software will not work with a Mac. (Well, the cable probably would, but the software the cable uses will not). I have a portable Windows laptop that I could bring over once you get the cable.

I can:
1. Download the USB Driver and install it on my machine.
2. Download the scanner software and install it on my machine.
3. Download the Minneapolis area scanner file software and install it on my machine.
4. Set up a time some evening after work to meet with you and get this all sorted out.

Does this interest you?

[alsphotography]

Now, your a friend. I was looking for someone like you to help me with this situation. I will pay you, take you out to eat and even the Dairy Queen. If I send you a only to you email can anyone read it?

[zavery]

Al, I was reading though all the posts here and I was about to offer to drive over and help you with you problem but Im happy that someone else beat me to it. When I first got my first digital scanner I was used to the old way of programing scanners, they talk groups and control frequencies were a whole new thing to me. It helps to think of it this way, the armer system works kind of like a Nextel phone in the way they key there mic a frequency is a assigned to that radio for that transmission. One of the reasons for switching to the armer system was to get better coverage with there radios and now that they have a system that uses the cell tower they can get state wide coverage so one person in the metro can talk to someone else in Duluth on the same talk ID. Don't get discouraged its a lot to take in.