New to scanner hobby please help

[flycrazy]

Hi everyone this looks like a great forum.. I just bot my first scanner yesterday first thing a did was read the manual but its greek to me the scanner i bot was a Uniden BCD-396t Apco-25 what i need help with is manual programming if someone has a step by step or a phone number that would be willing to talk me throught it for first time would be awasome thanks everyone.

 

[captclint]

Hi everyone this looks like a great forum.. I just bot my first scanner yesterday first thing a did was read the manual but its greek to me the scanner i bot was a Uniden BCD-396t Apco-25 what i need help with is manual programming if someone has a step by step or a phone number that would be willing to talk me throught it for first time would be awasome thanks everyone.

Welcome to RR. Here is a step by step.
Easier to Read BCD396T/UBCD396T Digital Scanner Manual
there are also youtube videos. Another approach would be to get FREESCAN (it is free) software that would make the whole thing a lot easier. However, I believe you will need to purchase a special USB adapter cable from around $20-30. You can also become a premium member of RR, and then you can use the software to download all your frequencies from our database. Ontario Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference Once you have downloaded what you want, you use the software to send everything to the scanner.

 

[flycrazy]

i have the book here i red it but like i said its greek to me i dont get it and where do i get cord i would pay for membership but dont have cord to program anyway

 

[wtp]

x or xt

bcd396t or bcd396xt ?
there are some small differences with them.

 

[flycrazy]

its the bcd396t please help

 

[wtp]

ok lets start with conventional

this is a quick way to get to hear something at least
i have sent it to many because of the "easy to read" stuff.
you can always go back and edit the names later,

press the bottom left pad (menu button)
program system is highlighted
press the yes key
turn the top knob to highlight new system
press yes,conventional is highlighted
press yes,confirm
press yes
turn top knob to edit group
press yes
new group,
press yes
turn the top knob to highlight edit channel
hit yes
new channel
press yes
INPUT FREQUENCY, xxx.xxxx
hit yes
to put in more than one hit the bottom pad (menu),
turn the top knob to highlight new channel do that until done.

that is for a regular system if you need/want more help just ask.

 

[flycrazy]

what i want to get is wellington,heron,perth county opp,police,fire,ems so i think there digital trunked system i think if some 1 can look that up for me it me canada ontario , wellington county town is monto

 

[flycrazy]

what i dont get say i am looking at my county there freq, license,alpha tag,type.mode,tag

 

[captclint]

what i want to get is wellington,heron,perth county opp,police,fire,ems so i think there digital trunked system i think if some 1 can look that up for me it me canada ontario , wellington county town is monto

Here is Wellington County, Ontario (ON)
and here is the digital system Bell FleetNet - Ontario Provincial Government Zone 1 Trunking System,
You would 1st program site 02 Wellington County 142.62000c You only need to program the frequencies with c for control channel and 142.41000a for alternate.
Try following Easier to Read BCD396T/UBCD396T Digital Scanner Manual and
Use 'P25' for a Motorola Astro APCO 25 system in any band.
As for the cable, there is some info. Connecting scanners via USB - The RadioReference Wiki

Update: I made a mistake. Do not program it as P25 since there are analog TGID's. Just program as Motorola, and don't program the "c" or "a" after the frequency. If you already made it P25, you should be able to hearf most of the traffic. You can change it later.

 

[captclint]

what i dont get say i am looking at my county there freq, license,alpha tag,type.mode,tag

You do not need license type or mode for conventional as shown by WTP

 

[flycrazy]

so can someone give me a step by stop to program a digital channel

 

[captclint]

so can someone give me a step by stop to program a digital channel

Did you make any effort to try Easier to Read BCD396T/UBCD396T Moto P25 step by step using the info I supplied (see correction in red)? In general, you really need to understand a little about trunking,

Trunking Basics - The RadioReference Wiki
Common Trunking Programming Questions - The RadioReference Wiki

 

[flycrazy]

ok first off i did just like it said above to program a conventional channel on it i head something lastnight after what i did was made a wellington system and then made a wellington county group and put all the freqs in there for wellington county and so far all i have heard was 1 transmission that was 2 sic long and a bunch of long noises...... my next question is how do you no if its a analoge or digital channel you are programming witch leads to my next question when i hit menu what do i go to program a digital channal/p25 i know for conventional you go to conventional but there also MOT EDCS AND LT ... and then you have the primary control channels and the alternate control channels ON MAN I AM LOST WHY THEY MAKE THESE SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND.... if someone would be let me call them to give me a run through and answer any questions i have well we go through a p25 programming would be awasome i have canada and us wide calling so i will call so it cost you nothing thanks everyone

 

[captclint]

The step by step online manual clearly says you select Mot for system type. If you look at the Bell FleetNet - Ontario Provincial, below the sites and frequencies, there are System Talkgroups listed. These are the "channels" you can hear. Under the mode column, there are "D" for digital, "A" for analog, and "E" for encrypted, which you can not monitor. When you look at the screen while receiving a conversation, it will show you an ID number. You can look up that number under the DEC column to find out who was talking. Then look at the mode for that ID, and you can tell if it is A or D. Now, you really need to read up on trunking if you want to understand what you are hearing, and what is an ID.

 

[flycrazy]

ok so i went new system named it wellington then MOT now what this is 1 of the talk groups i want what do i do next?
8416 20e D OPP 1OPS14 Wellington County 6T - 1OPS14 Law Dispatch

 

[captclint]

ok so i went new system named it wellington then MOT now what this is 1 of the talk groups i want what do i do next?
8416 20e D OPP 1OPS14 Wellington County 6T - 1OPS14 Law Dispatch

For now, nothing. You should be in the IDsearch mode by default This means you will hear every talkgroup, including 8416, that you can receive.

ID Scan/Search sets whether the scanner scans the programmed ID groups (ID Scan) or searches for all IDs (ID Search) in a trunking system. The default setting is ID search.
To toggle between ID Scan or ID Search mode while scanning each trunked system, quickly press (not press and hold) Func then Scan.


If you find yourself listening to many talkgroups that you DON"T want to hear, you can add all the Talkgroup IDs that you want, and switch to IDscan as mentioned above. Now, it will ONLY scan the ones you enter.
I don't recommend you do that until you have listened for a while in the IDsearch mode. It is a lot of work to enter many talkgroups without software

 

[flycrazy]

ok i been reading reading and trying to program and never hear nothing... i no the scanner works good cause i bot it preprogramed with kitchener/waterloo opp ems and fire and when i get about 30 miles from kitchener my scanner dont shutup so i no it works good .... what i need is someone i can call and ask few questions would be awasome

 

[flycrazy]

thats what i dont get what ID TALK group have to enter and where do i find the id talk group number? and then that freqs i have to enter

 

[captclint]

thats what i dont get what ID TALK group have to enter and where do i find the id talk group number? and then that freqs i have to enter

It is listed under DEC, so what you enter for ID is 8416, and then you enter the alpha tag OPP 1OPS14 if you want to hear Wellington County 6T - 1OPS14. You do not enter ANY frequency in the Talkgroup list. You should have already entered 142.62000 and 142.41000 when you created the system site. Talkgroups are like street addresses. Everyone lives on the same street and uses the same control frequency, but each person has a unique street address, or talk group number. In this case, several people "live" at the same address, but when they talk, they all use the same talkgroup ID, or same street address number.

 

[flycrazy]

ok this is what i did tell me if its right

menu
program system. yes
new system. yes
didnt do name edit yet later then..
set frequencies i entered 146.62000 and 142.41000 then yes
edit group
new group. yes
set quick ket for 5 thats where i want it then.
edit channel. yes
new channel. yes
input TGID i entered 8416 and yes
then backed all way back out and here nothing not i see you gave me the guelph control and alt freqs my county is wellington but i want minto/palmerston opp ems and fire cause guelph is like a hour from me so i dont think i pick them up from my town