Uniden 796D & Atlanta Public System P25

[parkerjones]

Hi All,

Thanks in advance for any help you all might be able to provide. I got out of scanning about 5 years ago but am interested in getting back into it.

I've got a new in the box Uniden 796D (P25) that I bought about 6 years ago and never got around to programming or even opening it. I know it's outdated and probably an obsolete unit now. I manually hand programmed my previous 796D with all of the metro atlanta public safety frequencies in 2004/05 (It took 10 hours or something like that.) But it worked well at the time and gave me pretty much everything I needed. I also had the newer 996T for a while but somebody else programmed that one for me. I am really only interested in the City of Atlanta Police and Fire, but the others would be nice to have as well.

Anyway my questions:

1. Will the 796D work with Atlanta's Public Safety new P25 system?
2. If yes, Can I program Atlanta Police/Fire frequencies on P25 with the programming software that comes with the unit?
3. I'm pretty sure I have the male-female switcheroo serial cable to connect to my PC, but is there a better software (hopefully free) that would make programming it easier?
4. Are there any issues, sound quality, etc with the 796D in regards to the P25 systems?


Finally if any of you guys have other suggestions on how I should approach this, or if I should just buy a new scanner and start over that way let me know.

Thanks so much for any guidance!

Parker Jones
Atlanta, Ga.

 

[rmiller818]

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. Yes, Freescan
4. Don't know as I don't own one. My guess would be not as good but I remember reading that some people say it decodes better then the 996T but I do not know for sure. Sorta want one myself to try it.

 

[b7spectra]

Welcome back to scanning!

 

[Highpockets]

Hi All,

Thanks in advance for any help you all might be able to provide. I got out of scanning about 5 years ago but am interested in getting back into it.

I've got a new in the box Uniden 796D (P25) that I bought about 6 years ago and never got around to programming or even opening it. I know it's outdated and probably an obsolete unit now. I manually hand programmed my previous 796D with all of the metro atlanta public safety frequencies in 2004/05 (It took 10 hours or something like that.) But it worked well at the time and gave me pretty much everything I needed. I also had the newer 996T for a while but somebody else programmed that one for me. I am really only interested in the City of Atlanta Police and Fire, but the others would be nice to have as well.

Anyway my questions:

1. Will the 796D work with Atlanta's Public Safety new P25 system?
2. If yes, Can I program Atlanta Police/Fire frequencies on P25 with the programming software that comes with the unit?
3. I'm pretty sure I have the male-female switcheroo serial cable to connect to my PC, but is there a better software (hopefully free) that would make programming it easier?
4. Are there any issues, sound quality, etc with the 796D in regards to the P25 systems?


Finally if any of you guys have other suggestions on how I should approach this, or if I should just buy a new scanner and start over that way let me know.

Thanks so much for any guidance!

Parker Jones
Atlanta, Ga.

I remember reading something about Uniden coming out with a firmware update for the 796D that will allow you to monitor that type of system without putting in the Trunking Tables. I hope someone will agree or correct me on this, it's been along time since the upgrade and I'm going by memory. I also don't know how to check and see if the scanner was upgraded.

 

[Metrofire31]

Bc796d

Parker:

I actually use a 796D myself, in addition to my 996XT. I operate them side-by-side and honestly cannot tell you that there is a big difference in the audio in monitoring the P25 systems. I use the ARC software as well as the Freescan software - whichever you use, fire that puppy up and enjoy listening. Congratulations for hanging on the the 796D!!!

Mike
"Metrofire31"
Smyrna

 

[parkerjones]

Thanks for all of the support and info!

If I bring my laptop, serial cord and scanner to the ScanIn, do you think one of you guys could show me how to get going on programming it? I will be happy to bring some food/beverages.

Let me know.

Thanks again!

Parker

 

[N8IAA]

Depends on what kind of food and beverages
Larry

 

[Metrofire31]

Bc 796d

Parker:

I'd be glad to help you with it. Send me a PM and let me know your email address and I'll contact you.

Mike
"Metrofire31"

 

[parkerjones]

Will do Mike. Thanks!

I will bring whatever beverages we are allowed to bring to the ScanIn . I'm a fan of PBR...lol!

As it turns out I could not get my USB to serial cable to work on my current machine. Apparently the last time I used that hardware and programming software I was on a Windows 2000 machine and I wasn't able to find any drivers for XP.

Anyway I got the Atlanta police and fire freqs and talkgroups loaded up and working. I did it manually, it wasn't too terrible, took about 2 hours and it works OK. However, I noticed there are quite a few control channels that do not sound good). I also noticed that on the 796D, if you adjust the P25 Audio range on one control channel it automatically uses that setting for all of them, which kinda stinks.

Thanks!

Parker

 

[b7spectra]

Can't bring booze to the Scan-In since it is going to be at PDK airport (see Scan-In thread in this forum).