uniden BC72XLT, wilmington nc

[quickie2010]

i have a uniden BC72XLT scanner and im in wilmington NC. i can pick up some channels but i think im missing alot of them. for instance, the channel this website picks up and broadcasts i cant get on my uniden. am i doin something wrong or is it the scanner? if its the scanner, can i upgrade the software or would it be better to just get another scanner?

 

[wfdbackdraft]

Welcome to the forum!

The scanner that you have is not the correct one that you need for the radio system in our area. Our system has switched over to a digital format, and requires a newer scanner. They are expensive, and I can't afford to buy one myself right now. Your best bet, is to listen to the Live Feeds at the top of the page. Once you get to New Hanover County, click on the speaker next to: Wilmington City, New Hanover and Columbus Counties Fire and EMS. This is the better feed for our area. The other one doesn't have City Fire, even though it says it does. (At least the last time that I was listening to it) You won't be able to hear anything but the dispatchers, but it's better than nothing. Now you will be able to hear Columbus county, both dispatch, and in the car.

Michael

 

[intiractive]

another wilmingtonian!!! welcome to the forum. it depends on what youre trying to receive. what are you listening to that you think you are missing out? i live in wilmington and have a uniden bearcat bc350a and can receive the same frequencies that your scanner can and there is tons of traffic. just got to know what to look for, and when. the aviation band is non-stop with traffic. the ham bands are mostly active when everyone is getting off work. fire and ems is always active. there is business bands such as cab companies and towing companies that dont transmit often, but there is occasional traffic. marine band is hard to pick up unless you live ON the beach, or have a really high antenna like i did.

if you are impling you are missing out on traffic because of location, think about getting an external antenna and mounting it as high as you can (or HOA allows) and hooking it up to your scanner.

 

[quickie2010]

another wilmingtonian!!! welcome to the forum. it depends on what youre trying to receive. what are you listening to that you think you are missing out? i live in wilmington and have a uniden bearcat bc350a and can receive the same frequencies that your scanner can and there is tons of traffic. just got to know what to look for, and when. the aviation band is non-stop with traffic. the ham bands are mostly active when everyone is getting off work. fire and ems is always active. there is business bands such as cab companies and towing companies that dont transmit often, but there is occasional traffic. marine band is hard to pick up unless you live ON the beach, or have a really high antenna like i did.

if you are impling you are missing out on traffic because of location, think about getting an external antenna and mounting it as high as you can (or HOA allows) and hooking it up to your scanner.

thanks for the quick reply!. when i say im "missing out" i mean the scanner i have doesnt pick up the signals that this website does. My uniden is not digital (wfdbackdraft confirmed what i thought) so i only get a few signals here and there. maybe i should get the same scanner you got? where did u get it, how much did u pay, and can u give a good recommendation about it? thanks!

 

[RMPDCOP]

thanks for the quick reply!. when i say im "missing out" i mean the scanner i have doesnt pick up the signals that this website does. My uniden is not digital (wfdbackdraft confirmed what i thought) so i only get a few signals here and there. maybe i should get the same scanner you got? where did u get it, how much did u pay, and can u give a good recommendation about it? thanks!

Welcome to RR.com,
If you are interested in listening to Wilmington PD and New Hanover County you will need a Digital capable scanner for they have gone P25. There are several different types of Digital scanners. It all depends on if you want a base/mobile or a handheld. I personally use the Uniden 396XT and the 996XT.
If you can afford it I would go ahead and make the investment. You can purchase some older digital scanners for around $350.00 or less but a new one will run you anywhere from $400.00 to $500.00. Take a look in the WIKI and read over the Newcomer section, thios should help you out.

 

[quickie2010]

i found this scanner on amazon...Radio Shack Pro 97 Triple-Trunking Handheld Scanner. looks like a good one. any thoughts?

 

[quickie2010]

can a scanner with double/tripple trunking do the same job as a digital scanner?

 

[KE4ZNR]

i found this scanner on amazon...Radio Shack Pro 97 Triple-Trunking Handheld Scanner. looks like a good one. any thoughts?

The Pro 97 is an analog only scanner and cannot handle digital comms.
The Triple Trunking referes to the fact it can follow analog Motorola, EDACS, & LTR systems.
Marshall KE4ZNR

 

[KE4ZNR]

can a scanner with double/tripple trunking do the same job as a digital scanner?

Dual Trunking Scanner can handle Analog Motorola & EDACS systems.
Triple Trunking Scanner can handle Analog Motorola, EDACS, & LTR Systems.
You need to find a digital capable scanner like those in this list in the Wiki:
Categoryigital Scanners - The RadioReference Wiki
Marshall KE4ZNR

 

[quickie2010]

thanks alot guys, now i know what i need, and im a little smarter too now i just gotta save up and get a good scanner. dont wann skimp on it now and be dissappointed later.

 

[intiractive]

thanks for the quick reply!. when i say im "missing out" i mean the scanner i have doesnt pick up the signals that this website does. My uniden is not digital (wfdbackdraft confirmed what i thought) so i only get a few signals here and there. maybe i should get the same scanner you got? where did u get it, how much did u pay, and can u give a good recommendation about it? thanks!

if youre interested in just hearing police and fire frequencies, then you might not hear much.

BUT. your scanner also covers: 24-54mhz, 108-174mhz, and 406-512mhz. To find out whats - what, check out this webpage The World Above 30 MHz .

For a couple quick frequencies to try your new scanner out, try listening to 118.250mhz which is the Approach frequency for Wilmington International Airport. 119.900mhz is the Tower frequency for ILM. Both of those should have alot of traffic on them pretty much non-stop. Try searching around 144-148mhz, that is the 2 meter ham band, which has alot of traffic mostly when people get off work around 4pm to on into the night.

Here is another website with frequencies listed for ILM of like local businesses such as tow companys, cabs, concrete trucks etc... Wilmington, North Carolina Scanner Frequencies

 

[quickie2010]

ok guys, i just got a radio shack pro 96 scanner and i got a question. on this site i found a couple of pages with scanner freqs. on page has codes like 154.29500 (which i programmed in the scanner) and another page that has code with DEC and HEX on the top of a table. how to i program those code ( the dec and hex table) into the scanner or do i even do that? thanks for all the help so far!

 

[quickie2010]

its me again, i programmed my Pro 96 digital trunking scanner with the group ID's and scanner freq.'s i found on this website (it shows MO on the top right) but im still not picking up anything, any thoughts?

 

[KE4ZNR]

quickie2010--
Please keep your questions and comments to this thread only.
Having you ask the same questions in different threads makes
it difficult to help you.
As for getting you set: Are you using Win96 to program your Pro96?
If so I can send you a "starter" Win96 file to help give you an
idea of how to setup your Pro96.
Marshall KE4ZNR

 

[quickie2010]

quickie2010--
Please keep your questions and comments to this thread only.
Having you ask the same questions in different threads makes
it difficult to help you.
As for getting you set: Are you using Win96 to program your Pro96?
If so I can send you a "starter" Win96 file to help give you an
idea of how to setup your Pro96.
Marshall KE4ZNR

i am using my scanner to input freq's directly into it. i dont have the cable because i dont have a dataport on my comp. so i have to do it manually. i have heard its hard to program these things manually, now i know it first hand