BCD996XT and BCD396XT TalkGroup Wildcards ?

[vicmiller1]

BCD996XT and BCD396XT TalkGroup Wildcards ?
Looking for the simplest setup for both Motorola Analog Trunk (NJ State Police use this) and
P25 Digital Trunk (NJ Bergen County-Wide system uses this) with 996XT, 396XT types ...
I've just read the manual ... All OK ... New System (set for P25, etc), New Site (one or more sites / towers)
Then Enter Frequencies (with control channels of course), but then a little bit of a twist ...

The manual says at this point you can "Search" the system (P25 system) which I interpret as opening up / following any and all TalkGroups / TalkGroup ID's ... (which is sort of the simplest thing ... to me it's like a TGID "Wildcard") ... but if I have other stuff programmed that I want to Scan (not Search) ... then the manual says (and I can see that , it makes sense sort of) must have a ChannelGroup and then set a Channel (which to me is the same as a TalkGroup ID) within a ChannelGroup ... so here you have to know the TGID ... Is there a wildcard (to take / open up on) any and all TGID's ... ?
I want to Scan but with TGID wildcard ... Or if Search (instead of Scan) effectively creates the wildcard function ... Can you Search a particular system like a P25 system and still "Scan" other programmed items like repeaters / conventionally programmed frequencies ?

I find the RadioShack PRO-106 and similar PRO-197 to be more straightforward ...
You make a New System (P25 Auto type) ... make a site / bank ... enter the tower frequencies and for TalkGroup ID (TGID) they have a "Wildcard" choice ... so if you don't know the exact ID it will open on any and all TGID's ... which effectively means it just dynamically follows the real-time tuning commands and opens the audio ... I'm looking for the equivalent of this approach for the 996XT, 396XT (latest / current digital base and hand-held radio types)

Many Thanks,
Victor L. Miller
vicmiller1@aol.com

 

[doctordialtone]

Scan/Search

The manual says at this point you can "Search" the system (P25 system) which I interpret as opening up / following any and all TalkGroups / TalkGroup ID's ... - YES

Can you Search a particular system like a P25 system and still "Scan" other programmed items like repeaters / conventionally programmed frequencies ? - YES

Yes, ID Search/Scan is set on a System level.

YOU set up each System, Trunked or Conventional.

Conventional systems always SCAN the frequencies you enter within a group. (PD/Fire/EMS, etc.)

Assign each System a System Quick Key (SQK) 0 - 99

Different Systems can be enables by the same SQK, enabling you to mix and match scanning and searching TGID's.

Hope that helps.

 

[hiegtx]

BCD996XT and BCD396XT TalkGroup Wildcards ?
Looking for the simplest setup for both Motorola Analog Trunk (NJ State Police use this) and
P25 Digital Trunk (NJ Bergen County-Wide system uses this) with 996XT, 396XT types ...
I've just read the manual ... All OK ... New System (set for P25, etc), New Site (one or more sites / towers)
Then Enter Frequencies (with control channels of course), but then a little bit of a twist ...

The manual says at this point you can "Search" the system (P25 system) which I interpret as opening up / following any and all TalkGroups / TalkGroup ID's ... (which is sort of the simplest thing ... to me it's like a TGID "Wildcard") ... but if I have other stuff programmed that I want to Scan (not Search) ... then the manual says (and I can see that , it makes sense sort of) must have a ChannelGroup and then set a Channel (which to me is the same as a TalkGroup ID) within a ChannelGroup ... so here you have to know the TGID ... Is there a wildcard (to take / open up on) any and all TGID's ... ?
I want to Scan but with TGID wildcard ... Or if Search (instead of Scan) effectively creates the wildcard function ... Can you Search a particular system like a P25 system and still "Scan" other programmed items like repeaters / conventionally programmed frequencies ?

I find the RadioShack PRO-106 and similar PRO-197 to be more straightforward ...
You make a New System (P25 Auto type) ... make a site / bank ... enter the tower frequencies and for TalkGroup ID (TGID) they have a "Wildcard" choice ... so if you don't know the exact ID it will open on any and all TGID's ... which effectively means it just dynamically follows the real-time tuning commands and opens the audio ... I'm looking for the equivalent of this approach for the 996XT, 396XT (latest / current digital base and hand-held radio types)

Many Thanks,
Victor L. Miller
vicmiller1@aol.com

Hi Vic

For the Uniden DMA scanners, such as the the BCD396XT & BCD996XT, there is no talkgroup 'wildcard' needed.

Instead, you set the system (or systems, if you want this in more than one) to scan in "ID Search" mode, instead of "ID Scan" mode.

In 'ID Scan' mode, you'll only hear the talkgroups you have entered, presuming they, or the group they are in, are not locked out (in which case you would not hear them either). In 'ID Search' mode, you'd hear traffic on any active talkgroup that was not locked out. Those that are entered, with a text tag, will show that tag. "New", untagged, TGID's will display the ID, and you'll see a prompt allowing you to store them. You can also lock them out without storing them.

You can toggle between "ID Scan" and "ID Search" modes by hitting the "Function" key, then the "Scan/Search" key while scanning the system. The display scrolling letters will indicate whether you are in ID Scan or ID Search for each trunked system. You can set each system individually. And, yes, whether you are "searching" or "scanning" an individual system, you can still scan the rest of your programmed systems, and/or use Close Call.

 

[vicmiller1]

Continuation on TalkGroup ID "Wildcard"

OK ... So using ID Search (as opposed to ID Scan - for specifically programmed TGID's) will open up on all TGID's (this is like a TGID Wildcard) ... and that choice is selectable for each Trunked system individually ...

So then, when you hit the main Scan function and it starts scanning everything when it goes through the various Trunked systems it would apply the appropriate logic of ID Search (or ID Scan) as set for each Trunked System ...

So there is no wildcard symbol ... like a star (*) ... and ID Search effectively does the "wildcard" function ... Yes ?

Now ... Control Channel Only method - (RED cc's in RadioReference listings) ... which to me seems the simplest way to go ...

If I only put in the CC's in the frequency list is that enough ... I would think that if the scanner gets the CC it will decode the real-time tuning instructions and move to (follow) those assignments ... so that should be enough ... I'm not sure of the advantage / value added of programming the non Control Channel frequencies ... can you explain or confirm ... is there any specific switch or setting to use Control Channel Only feature ... (which I think has been around for a good while ...)

Many Thanks,

Victor L. Miller
vicmiller1@aol.com

 

[hiegtx]

OK ... So using ID Search (as opposed to ID Scan - for specifically programmed TGID's) will open up on all TGID's (this is like a TGID Wildcard) ... and that choice is selectable for each Trunked system individually ...

That is correct. You can either make the choice in FreeSCAN, when you create the system (before loading it onto the scanner), or toggle it, while scanning that specific system, with the <Function> the <Scan/Search> keystroke combination.

So then, when you hit the main Scan function and it starts scanning everything when it goes through the various Trunked systems it would apply the appropriate logic of ID Search (or ID Scan) as set for each Trunked System ...

Each system is going to scan in whatever mode you set, either ID Scan, or ID Search. Changing one system does not force the same scan option onto all your other trunked systems. Remember that the scrolling display, for each system, will indicate whether that system is in ID Search or ID Scan mode.

So there is no wildcard symbol ... like a star (*) ... and ID Search effectively does the "wildcard" function ... Yes ?

Correct, no "*" or other symbol, just the text display of which mode it's in.

Now ... Control Channel Only method - (RED cc's in RadioReference listings) ... which to me seems the simplest way to go ...

If I only put in the CC's in the frequency list is that enough ... I would think that if the scanner gets the CC it will decode the real-time tuning instructions and move to (follow) those assignments ... so that should be enough ... I'm not sure of the advantage / value added of programming the non Control Channel frequencies ... can you explain or confirm ... is there any specific switch or setting to use Control Channel Only feature ... (which I think has been around for a good while ...)

By default, FreeSCAN uses control channel only, and the 396XT & 996XT do as well. You only need the control channels to track the system. However, if there are only a couple of control channels listed in the database, and you find that you seem to occasionally have long 'quiet' periods, where you're not hearing any traffic, then it's possible that there may be one or more additional control channels in use as alternates at times. In those cases, you might find it to your advantage to add all the frequencies, to see you can identify any additional CC's. It does not hurt to have the extra frequencies, but there's no advantage, if you know that all control channels have been identified. The maximum per site is 4.

 

[W8RMH]

In my BCD396XT I keep the Uniden wildcard, i0, in the first position of each trunked system so I can quickly select it to listen to "I Calls", which are private calls between two units.

 

[doctordialtone]

i0

In my BCD396XT I keep the Uniden wildcard, i0, in the first position of each trunked system so I can quickly select it to listen to "I Calls", which are private calls between two units.

Good point.

To do this, add a group to your System, add TGID i0 and call it "I Call".

System->Group->Channel

Read this through for more tips and step-by-step-> Easier to Read BCD996XT Digital Scanner Manual

i0 will work on ID Search OR ID Scan - Don't confuse the two.

Hope this helps.

 

[vicmiller1]

Yes ... All OK ... Many Thanks for The Advice / Instructions ...