New Owner, Chesterfield, Macmomb County, Michigan

[car7858]

Hello, My name is Carl & I live in Chesterfield, Macomb County, Michigan. I just recently received this nice scanner as a gift but I am having alot of difficulty using it. I loaded Freescan .9 and I have Premium Membership with Radio Reference. I had downloaded the Macomb County Trunked Freqs I wanted when I clicked on the Erase all Settings tab in the upload box; Now, my scanner has none of the settings nor programs of any type in it and it won't accept uploads into the memory of the scanner. I get an error message that tells me my settings (apparently) in the scanner need to be reset/checked. My questions are these:
1. Is there a way to reset this scanner back to factory default?
2. Is there a Uniden site link that can restore the factory settings? and
3. How can I get the memory to accept the uploads from Radio Reference via Freescan?
I really am quite enthusiatic about learning how to properly use this scanner & I would appreciate any input. Thanks.

 

[ka3jjz]

Hey car- since FreeScan is complaining about settings, I kinda doubt you overlaid anything in the scanner, so it's unlikely you would need to go back to factory settings.

There are, however, a few things that need to be done -
- Which scanner are you using? I'm assuming here it's one of the Uniden DMA models, as those are the only ones FreeScan will recognize;
- If it's either the 396XT or 346, we don't have it in our user manual (yet), but with each of the DMA scanners you need to set up the port on the scanner for the correct speed. The FreeScan User Guide has a section called 'Making the Connection' (anything in blue is a link) that outlines how to do this for each of the other scanners, and I'm willing to bet the method is very similar for the new ones;

FreeScan User Guide - The RadioReference Wiki

- Now before you go connecting to the PC, are you using a USB cable? If so, there are a few things you need to do first. Getting the most up to date drivers for the cable is very important (often this can be found on the manufacturer or distributor's website). In general, the steps to follow are;
- Install drivers
- Connect USB device
- Check Hardware manager in Windows to insure that the drivers allocated a COM port that is actually available. Some USB devices will load and stay resident, even if the device is not attached; that gobbles up a COM address
- Connect cable from scanner to USB device

Be a little more specific about what scanner you are using, and whether you have a USB serial cable (knowing which one can be helpful too) and there's lots of folks here that can help 73 Mike

 

[car7858]

Uniden BCD396XT

I actually have both the USB cable (which isn't working) & the Serial Cable, which does work for uploads. I just received a reply from another website that told me how to restore this scanner to factory settings & it did work. I did as he said, held the 2, 9, and HOLD buttons while powering on the unit. I will probably have to reallign the serial COM ports as you suggested and thanks for that info as it will be very helpful. I believe now that I have run throught the Freescan program quite a few times now, trial & error, I saw a link where it will autmatically configre the bps and the COM port for me. I'll reply with my progress and shgould I have any other issues,, I'll come in and ask how to fix them. I do appreciate all the help & info and I believe I may be on the right track of a longer journey learning this scanner, but it's worth it!

 

[ka3jjz]

car, Assaf released .9a version of FreeScan. If you have specific issues with the software, he has his own forum on the same website as you got the software. Although he does show up in the software forum from time to time, it's far faster to register there and ask questions.

As long as you're on the right track...by the way you would need to check which COM ports are being used only if you are using the USB cable. Connecting the serial cable should present far less issues.

Don't forget to check out the Michigan forum for scanning related questions for that state. 73 and good luck...Mike

 

[car7858]

Thanks ka3jjz

I will chedck into Asaaf's forum in Freescan as well. I do have the .9 version & it is quite easy to use. Also agree that the serial cable is alot more dependable & better to use than the USB one, which I had difficulty with loading the drivers properly. I actually delted all the out of state groups from my scanner last night & today I am hoping that since it is restored back to factory settings, the memory will now accept uploads. I'll keep in touch as I have many questions about how to use the scanner for receiving out of state calls, etc. Again, I thank all of you for getting this newbie on the right track.

 

[car7858]

Re; Freescan Site, Etc.

Thanks ka3jjz; I just uploaded the Macomb County, Michigan MPSCS freqs I wanted and they are functioning perfectly! Now that I have the locals I want, I will browse the Uniden User's Manual to first get a better understanding of the scanner itself so I don't just tinker & mess up things again. I found a seller of various antennas in Ebay called Slinky Antennas; This company has been in the radio business for over 45 years & they recently decided to sell their own versions of antenna upgrades so i bought the 15" Jumbo Stick that comes with 7 1/2 feet of coax & connects to the BNC, That should improve my signal quality for now (until I get enough to buy a rooftop set of directional beams LOL). I have to say, this is a very helpful forum & I thank all of you!

 

[dannyhusk]

Hello Carl,
Welcome to R.R.
glad to here you got your scanner up and running.
Good luck in the scanner world.