Help me use my BC246t

[Carter840]

Ok so today for my birthday i got a bc246t scanner. It came with some frequencies stored in it. Some in my area some all the way on the west coast. Anyway despite reading the manual and being good with electronics i have no clue how to use this thing. What i would like to do is program the following into it (i will list what at the bottom of this post). I would like one group that has all of the frequencies in it (i am assuming that i can select which frequencies i want to listen to).
anyway
I want the
Southampton town PD
Southampton village PD
Easthampton PD
Quogue PD
Sag Harbor PD
West hampton Beach PD

So how do i make this happen. Here is the page with all of these frequecies. One problem i have is i don't know if they are trunked or not and if so what type of trunking they are. Any help would be great. It would be amazing if someone could walk me through programming on this particular scanner.

BTW i have the programing CD from Butel but due to complications (with the only PC near me) i can't use it. I figure for so few frequencies manual input will be ok.

thanks

 

[loumaag]

The 246 is a DMA type of scanner. If you have had a banks & lists type scanner in the past, you have to change your thinking a little.

First get comfortable with the concept and way that systems are entered in the 246. Just think of it this way; each system can have conventional frequencies or a single trunking system. Think of each "system" like you would a bank in the older type scanners. Now, you did not provide whatever reference you were using to show frequencies, etc., so start with our database and maybe the Suffolk Co. page. Program a new conventional system by following the menu on the radio, it really is simple when you get the hang of it. After getting that, you can move on to the trunking area.

 

[Carter840]

Yes your right i should have posted the http://www.radioreference.com/modules.php?name=RR&ctid=1876 link. I should have also told you that this is my first scanner so i have no idea what is going on what so ever.

anymore help would be great.
thanks

 

[ka3jjz]

Carter we have a nice FAQ in our wiki, and that will get you started. Read UPMan's article first, then move on. At the bottom of this article, is a link to manuals which have been long touted as being a heckuva lot easier to follow. The 246 manual is listed...

http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Uniden_DMA_FAQ

Many folks will ask if you have software for the radio. The 2 champs, clearly, are the Uniden Advanced System Director (UASD) and ARC246 from BuTel (and available from Scanner Master). If you go over to the NY forum, no doubt someone might have a file written up already, or perhaps one already exists in one of the yahoo groups (there's at least one for NY State, for the BC246, ect.) Lots of folks get started this way.

One advantage to ARC246 is that, when you become a premium subscriber, you can directly connect to the database on this site and download freqs into ARC246. Something to consider.

73s Mike

 

[Carter840]

Ok so today for my birthday i got a bc246t scanner. It came with some frequencies stored in it. Some in my area some all the way on the west coast. Anyway despite reading the manual and being good with electronics i have no clue how to use this thing. What i would like to do is program the following into it (i will list what at the bottom of this post). I would like one group that has all of the frequencies in it (i am assuming that i can select which frequencies i want to listen to).
anyway
I want the
Southampton town PD
Southampton village PD
Easthampton PD
Quogue PD
Sag Harbor PD
West hampton Beach PD

So how do i make this happen. Here is the page with all of these frequecies. One problem i have is i don't know if they are trunked or not and if so what type of trunking they are. Any help would be great. It would be amazing if someone could walk me through programming on this particular scanner.

BTW i have the programing CD from Butel but due to complications (with the only PC near me) i can't use it. I figure for so few frequencies manual input will be ok.

thanks

OK so i have been reading your online guide for programing. It seems to be very helpful however i still don't know how to read the refference charts that you guys provide on this site. http://www.radioreference.com/modules.php?name=RR&ctid=1876
In other words i don't know if the frequencies i want are trunked or conventional (and if they are trunked how do i know what type of system they are). Looking at my first post you guys can see what i want i want to progra in, if you guys could let me know if those are trunked it would be a big help.

thanks for all the help i feel like i am in way over my head.

 

[n2mdk]

The frequencies listed in the links the ones below are trunked,

System Name Type City
Atlantic ExpressTransportation (Amboy Bus) LTR Standard Staten Island
Babylon LTR Multinet Babylon
East Hampton Motorola Type II Smartnet East Hampton
Mobex LTR Passport New York
New York State Wireless Network (800 MHz) OpenSky Standard Statewide
Norcom Communications (Motorola) Motorola Type IIi Hybrid Bay Shore
Norcom Communications (Suffolk) LTR Standard North Bay Shore
Suffolk County Motorola Type II SmartZone Suffolk County
Suffolk County Communications (Farmingville) LTR Standard Farmingville
Suffolk County Communications (Selden) LTR Standard Selden

The frequencies listed on the page below these links are conventional
The ones in the links tell you the trpe of trunking system it is like LTR Multinet, Motorola Type II Smartnet etc.

 

[Carter840]

OK well I spent a few hours reading that well writen manual and playing with the scanner. I have programmed all of my local area frequencies. I am not getting that much on the scanner at my home and the police station is only about 4 miles from my home so i feel like i am missing frequencies. How do i just scan the air so see what is near by? I could just park near ht police station the and see what frequencies come up.

thanks

 

[ka3jjz]

Generally speaking the antennas that come with HTs aren't worth more than a wet noodle. The lower the frequency, the less efficient they become. But before we get to that - I would strongly suggest getting the UASD from the Uniden website and dumping the contents of what you have programmed into your scanner. Other NY scannists can then take a look at your settings and make suggestions on improvements. Or, as suggested in message 4, get a predefined file for your area - that's not a bad way to get started. Just copy it before you actually start messing around with it - do that, and if you should mess things up, no harm done. Remember, backup, backup, backup 73s Mike

[edit] Our wiki page has the link under the software section, listed for the UASD - it leads to the Uniden customer area. Register (free) and go from there.

http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/BC246T

 

[loumaag]

Generally speaking the antennas that come with HTs aren't worth more than a wet noodle. The lower the frequency, the less efficient they become. But before we get to that - I would strongly suggest getting the UASD from the Uniden website and dumping the contents of what you have programmed into your scanner. Other NY scannists can then take a look at your settings and make suggestions on improvements. Or, as suggested in message 4, get a predefined file for your area - that's not a bad way to get started. Just copy it before you actually start messing around with it - do that, and if you should mess things up, no harm done. Remember, backup, backup, backup 73s Mike

[edit] Our wiki page has the link under the software section, listed for the UASD - it leads to the Uniden customer area. Register (free) and go from there.

http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/BC246T

Um, AFAIK, the UASD software for the 246 is not "free"; I think only the versions for the 396 & 996 are. Not sure about the 15.