BCD 396XT - Finding Cntrl Chan

[F15Duke]

I am another rookie trying to learn the system. I had Scanner Master program my new radio and the Austin FD and EMS frequencies come up with "Finding Cntrl Chan" with no audio at all. Can someone explain what this is and how I correct this issue? Thanks.

[ka3jjz]

I have had this message come up on my 396 when I am not receiving the control channel very well, or clearly. Almost certainly a better antenna (or using a different site's CC) is at least part of the answer here

best regards..Mike

[F15Duke]

Mike

I got a 800 MHz antenna with the radio. How would I go about using a different site's CC with 396XT?

[ka3jjz]

You would need to reprogram it. Unfortunately this is the fallacy of having someone else do the programming for you - if it's wrong for any reason, you're stuck. However we do have several sources of information to help ...

Programming Your Uniden Scanner - The RadioReference Wiki

You will see links there for the 'Easier to Read' manuals (there's both a downloadable one and a printed one for the XT scanners you can buy from Scanner Master - either is worlds better than the garbage Uniden gave us), and our DMA FAQ which gives lots of details about how to work with DMA. There's even freeware for this radio...

Likely as not, you should ask for some help in the Texas forum (link below) - your Austin trunk is a multi site system, and there's a chance that a closer site would bring better results - although there is a snag in the fact that you have multiple sites in your system (that link is also below)...

Texas Radio Discussion Forum - The RadioReference.com Forums

Greater Austin/Travis Regional Radio System (GATRRS) Trunking System, Austin, Texas - Scanner Frequencies

If this is the system you're working with, it's possible one of the 155 mhz sites might be a better choice for you. If so, that 800 mhz antenna might not be the optimum choice. Again, someone in the Austin area is likely to be able to guide you better.

best regards..Mike

[Unitrunker]

You'll want to monitor the simulcast 1 and simulcast 2 sites unless you're in an outlying area.

I suggest you download a copy of FreeScan and get a premium subscription to allow the program to pull data directly from the database. You can then customize to your preferences.