new 396t help

[BBQDON]

just bought the 396t. downloaded bearcat program from uniden to program. manual is no help at all. having a hard time with apco 25. live in buffalo grove il. i have a 250d,296d no problems. maybe i got a bad radio? thanks

 

[ka3jjz]

There is an 'easier to read manual' for the 396; the link is posted on the 396 wiki at:

http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/BCD396T

Perhaps a few more details are in order? What precisely is the problem? We've got numerous 396 owners around, and I'm sure they can help. 73s Mike

 

[BBQDON]

396t Help

I tried every possible way to program Northwest Central Dispatch, an APCO 25 system. I have a 250 and a 296 both with these frequencies and they both work fine. I have also noticed that at the bottom of the display, no groups are showing. Is this an issue? Also noticed that it sounds like APCO 25 trunking is turned off. Is there a specific way to turn it on that I may have been overlooking? Thanks -Don

 

[ervin1]

program in the primary frequency as a conventional frequency (apco25 is conventional) yu should pick up all of the traffic then.. look in the manual on how to program a conventional channel and follow instructions . i had trouble with this for a couple of days i think the best way to learn the scanner is to program it manually yu will catch on in a few days believe me this is one great scanner

 

[ervin1]

if yu dont have any groups programmed into yur system yu must go to www.uniden.com and yu can download them all its free

 

[hiegtx]

I tried every possible way to program Northwest Central Dispatch, an APCO 25 system. I have a 250 and a 296 both with these frequencies and they both work fine. I have also noticed that at the bottom of the display, no groups are showing. Is this an issue? Also noticed that it sounds like APCO 25 trunking is turned off. Is there a specific way to turn it on that I may have been overlooking? Thanks -Don

NWCD is not an APCO-25 system.
System Type:Motorola Type II SmartZone
System Voice:Analog and APCO-25 Common Air Interface
Program it as Motorola Type II. The clue is where system voice says Type II, and the system voice line indicates both Analog & APCO-25 are used.

Compare those system listings to the ones for STARCOM21, the state-run system, which is a true APCO-25 system:
System Typeroject 25 Standard
System Voice:APCO-25 Common Air Interface Exclusive

When you take a system that should be Motorola Type II, like NWCD, & try to set it up as APCO-25 instead, you get unpredictable results. Missed calls, cutting out, poor tracking. This has tripped up more than one user before. You're not the first, & probably won't be the last.

 

[BBQDON]

New 396t Help

Wow. Thanks. That worked. I had always thought it was a P25 system, since I never had to input that into my other scanners. You guys helped me out a lot. -Don

 

[hiegtx]

Don,
The key is in the system description line. Like I said, this has stymied a number of other users. Glad it's working now.