BCD325P2/BCD996P2: BCD996P2 not receiving

[SMITHIT2708]

My last scanner was a BCT8 so I'm new to the P25 stuff. I have looked all over this forum as well as others. I think I have everything set right but still receiving no transmissions, even on conventional channels. I have tried keying my radio up and talking, the scanner picks that up during scan mode but cant seem to receive nothing else. I'm not exactly sure how to get my list on here for someone to see how bad I messed up but I think its readable on here.

 

[tvengr]

Welcome to Radio Reference! First, what is your city, county, and state, and which agencies do you want to monitor? It is far faster and easier if you have programming software. Do you have software? If so, which one? You have a choice of ARC-XT, ProScan, and FreeSCAN. If you don't have the DMR or NXDN upgrades, FreeSCAN will do everything you need and it is FREE! Downloads - Sixspot Software ARC-XT and ProScan both have a free trial period to give you a chance to decide which one you like best. ARC-XT Basic is all you need to program your scanner. The Pro version provides additional logging functions.

 

[SMITHIT2708]

Hunnewell, Shelby, MO.
I am looking to monitor Troop B (All Frequencies)
I have Freescan and Proscan.

 

[SMITHIT2708]

I'm liking freescan more than proscan at the moment. Just because freescan seems simpler to me.

I have these frequencies . would A Screenshot of my TGIDs help as well?

 

[tvengr]

Attach your FreeSCAN file and I will take a look at that. I was looking at your ProScan file. If you add the Knox County site, it will give you a lot better coverage of northern Shelby County.

 

[SMITHIT2708]

I think this is the right file. if this doesn't help let me know. I'm in the extreme south east corner of Shelby Co. RR shows the radius for Knox is about 10 mi from my home, do you think it will still reach or are the maps on RR pretty generous? Ill try adding that and seeing what happens. Should I add it into another system or just add to the group I already have. I appreciate the help.

 

[tvengr]

Remove the antenna from your scanner and look at the BNC connector on the antenna. Is the center pin broken off and missing? Try your local NOAA weather frequency and see if that works. When you keyed up your radio in close proximity to your scanner, you may have blown the RF amp or shorted the protection diodes. How close was the radio to the scanner? You may not be able to receive the Knox County site at your location, but you will need it if you travel to the northern end of Shelby County. I haven't found any programming problems. For now, let's concentrate on the scanner itself. It may be a sensitivity problem. How long have you had the scanner? Did it work before?

 

[SMITHIT2708]

Center pin looks good. I can still get noaa and fm radio, even stations that are weak in the car come in clear. I turned my radio down to 1-2 watts and turned attenuation on the scanner. The radio is a mobile and it was about 1/8 mi from scanner. I don’t think I let the smoke out of anything.

 

[tvengr]

As you monitor the statewide system, observe if you see NFM or the control channel frequency on each site. That will be on the third line from the bottom on the scanner display.

 

[SMITHIT2708]

Well I figured out my problem it was an ID-10-T issue. My house is apparently a giant faraday cage. I put scanner in my truck when I went to a family dinner. It was working perfectly picking up conventional channels a little over 40 mi away and many p25 signals. I would have never thought that. My bct8 was sitting right beside it working perfectly in the house that’s why I never would of thought of taking it outside. I really appreciate your time and patience with me. Hopefully this thread will help someone else.

 

[hiegtx]

Well I figured out my problem it was an ID-10-T issue. My house is apparently a giant faraday cage. I put scanner in my truck when I went to a family dinner. It was working perfectly picking up conventional channels a little over 40 mi away and many p25 signals. I would have never thought that. My bct8 was sitting right beside it working perfectly in the house that’s why I never would of thought of taking it outside. I really appreciate your time and patience with me. Hopefully this thread will help someone else.

If your house has aluminum siding (as mine does), or you have foil-backed insulation in the walls, the 996P2 might have been in a 'dead zone' created by one of those.

 

[SMITHIT2708]

Heigtx I’m kind of thinking that was the problem. It’s got tin on 5 sides and a concrete floor. Think my next purchase is going to be an external antenna.

 

[wtp]

and to point out that some plywood has aluminium on one side to reflect heat/radio waves...

 

[SMITHIT2708]

Never seen anything like that before wtp. Thinking about building a discone but all the information I find on one says it is only 1/4 wave. What’s saying I couldn’t make one 1/2 wave and maybe pick up better signal? I know on transmit side it’s better to have 1/2 wave but not sure on scanner side of things. If this isn’t the right place to post this I’m sorry. Never really been on a forum before.

 

[tvengr]

My bct8 was sitting right beside it working perfectly in the house that’s why I never would of thought of taking it outside.

When dealing with RF, sometimes feet or even inches can make a difference in reception. We should have been thinking outside of the box, or in your case, outside of the house. This one had us all misled. I'm sure an outside antenna which clears your roof will solve the problem. Glad to hear you figured it out.

 

[Ubbe]

Thinking about building a discone but all the information I find on one says it is only 1/4 wave. What’s saying I couldn’t make one 1/2 wave and maybe pick up better signal?

A discone doesn't work with the same principal as a vertical antenna. It isn't tuned to a frequency like a 1/4 wave and that's why a discone works seamlessly from its lowest to highest frequency.
You can maybe improve a discones performance slightly if you add more elements as a solid metal cone and disc are the optimum.

It's probably not worth it building your own discone as you can buy a Tram for $50.

/Ubbe