Uniden scanner programming Problem.

[hiegtx]

Remember that simulcast problems are extremely dependent on location. While the 325P2 might work in your area, if and only if, you were at a location where terrain or buildings blocked the conflicting signals from other simulcast sites, that does not mean it will work everywhere. Location is critical enough that sometimes, someone has reported that the moved their scanner a few feet one way or another in their house, and the issues changed significantly.

For a more specific answer regarding the above, see this post in a different thread.

I am going to take Jon's side. I live in an area of simulcast "h***". I have a friend that invested in a 996P2 & 325P2. They both miss a large amount of traffic on our state simulcast system due to the problem. We have tried more antenna gain, less antenna gain, attenuation, moving the scanners - everything you can think of. IT DOES'T HELP ! ! ! Setting the SDS200 next to them shows the advantages that the SDS series provides.

So Jon is spot-on. While those scanners are fine units (I'm certainly not disputing that), they are not the best solution for some locations. After reading some of the posts, if I were a newbie I'd think that the 996P2 or 325P2 work work for me as a lower cost solution (as my friend thought). That's simply not the case and people should be careful about the opinions they make as it could lead some people to make purchase decisions later finding that the scanners won't work for them and they can't return them.

IMHO

That quote is from near the end of this thread:

Uniden Bearcat BCD996P2 Police Scanner

I currently own a Bearcat BCT15X scanner and want to upgrade to digital. Any pros or cons on the BCD996P2 scanner. I liver in Chester County PA, with an outdoor antennae would I be able to receive Philadelphia Police? Thanks Steve

forums.radioreference.com

The 996P2 is the base/mobile sibling to your 325P2.

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

LunaScan7:
Any time you see the word "simulcast" in the site name, you're going to have a hell of a hard time trying to pick it up on a scanner that isn't an SDS100 or a 200. Sure there are workarounds but they don't work in every scenario. Have a read here about simulcast distortion

 

[LunaScan7]

Last night I drove over to Alpine NJ radio tower which has the south simulcast sites for Bergen County New Jersey. I parked my car across from the tower and scanned with my Bcd325p2 which was programmed for groups 1204 & 1202 nothing came up. I then did a (Public Safety) scan and received many different hits.

This morning I went back to a older post I have on radio reference outlining my problem. Steve did a great job writing and outlining step by step how to go about programming with freescan.

This morning I read Steve’s post again very carefully. I then went on freescan and followed Steve’s directions as closely as I can.

I created a new program which I documented and I created an link for you to see. See all 21 photos link below.

Even with this new program the scanner is still not receiving anything from group 1204.

I’m hoping after someone look over my screen shot they can figure out the missing piece of the puzzle.

Just to let you know as I scan south simulcast the signal strength is 3 to 4 bars that pop on and off as it scans through.

Thanks ahead of time for your help.


Freescan Photos

 

[hiegtx]

Last night I drove over to Alpine NJ radio tower which has the south simulcast sites for Bergen County New Jersey. I parked my car across from the tower and scanned with my Bcd325p2 which was programmed for groups 1204 & 1202 nothing came up. I then did a (Public Safety) scan and received many different hits.
.....
Even with this new program the scanner is still not receiving anything from group 1204.

I’m hoping after someone look over my screen shot they can figure out the missing piece of the puzzle.

Just to let you know as I scan south simulcast the signal strength is 3 to 4 bars that pop on and off as it scans through.

Thanks ahead of time for your help.


Freescan Photos

When near the Alpine tower, were you receiving 1202, but not 1204? Or not hearing either. Looks like you only programmed 1204.

I think what I'd do is also program the other talkgroups, then when near the Alpine tower (a quarter mile or less away), see if the other talkgroups are coming through, just not 1202 and/or 1204. That would confirm, to me, that possibly they may be using something different.

Also, try holding on either of those two talkgroups, when close to the site. See if "Enc" (encysted) shows on the display. If they went encrypted, then the scanner is simply ignoring those TGIDs in normal scanning.

Since you are hearing some things, when using the Public Safety scan, that indicates that the scanner is hearing something. That service scan, though, would be Vhf & Uhf frequencies, not a trunked system. There's a chance that the scanner is deaf on the 800 MHz band but works on other frequencies. Not real common for that, but it is possible. You could rule that out if you just loaded all the talkgroups as I listed above. If you are hearing some of those, then reception on the scanner is OK in general, so that would indicate to me that either they are using different talkgroups now, or possibly went encrypted. Actually, you could simply set the system to ID Search, instead of ID scan, which would pick up anything active, as long as it is not locked out. You can flip the scanner into ID Search by pressing the Function key then the Scan key. You would see "ID Search" scrolling across the display when scanning the system, but not stopped on a talkgroup. If you went back to ID Scan, then ID Scan would be scrolling instead of ID Search. Note that if in ID Search, you would see the text tag for any talkgroups you have programmed. If an active talkgroup is not programmed, you'd see only the TGID number, but not a text tag. ID Search, as well as ID Scan, will ignore any programmed talkgroup that is either locked out, or in a group that is locked out.

Just looked at your screenshots one last time. For each of the sites that you scanned, individually, I see no signal strength bars. If you are getting a good signal, and the programming is correct, you should be seeing those bars even if no talkgroup is currently being heard. While, on a trunked system, they may not stay on all the time, you should, at least, see them come on and off if viewed for several seconds.

While this is a screenshot using my 536HP, which is connected to my desktop PC for logging and control in ProScan, you can see the signal bars. The display on your 325P2 will be different, but you should still see the signal bars in the upper right area.

 

[LunaScan7]

Yesterday I went out with my new uniden BCD325p2 scanner programmed with Bergen county NJ Tg. 1204.
As I explained earlier at home I do not receive anything.

This time I drove from Northvale NJ to Paramus NJ. On the way I received 4 hits. The first 3 were choppy and short. The last one was Closter NJ dispatch & mobile talk back. That call was pretty good.

99% of of the trip the radio was silent. The drive was one hour round trip.
I’m sure this uniden Radio is a good radio but not for my location.
Analog works works much better around here.

For my location I would probably need a Uniden SDS100.

I’m retuning my BCD325p2 and will think about the SDS100.

I really liked the size of the 325p2 which is the same size as my BC125at. The SDS100 is much larger and allot more expensive.

The other concern I have with the SDS100 is, we know it’s the best (p25 ll simulcast) scanner available today but if my location is a problem and it doesn’t receive much then I might need an antenna outside or in the attic which defeats my purpose of being portable around the house.

I like having my portable scanner wherever I go around the house or just for sitting in the back yard. I don’t like being tied to an antenna wire for reception.

My last thought is, if the police decide to go encrypted anytime soon we are out all that money. It appears buying any scanner is a gamble. With analog the the gamble was under $200. With digital it could easily be a thousand bucks or more.

This reminds me of my first HDTV 46’ rear projection. Price $3,200 and the picture we good. Today 55” HDTV could be found for under $500 and the picture is excellent.

Could this happen with digital scanners anytime soon?

 

[hiegtx]

Yesterday I went out with my new uniden BCD325p2 scanner programmed with Bergen county NJ Tg. 1204.
As I explained earlier at home I do not receive anything.

This time I drove from Northvale NJ to Paramus NJ. On the way I received 4 hits. The first 3 were choppy and short. The last one was Closter NJ dispatch & mobile talk back. That call was pretty good.

99% of of the trip the radio was silent. The drive was one hour round trip.
I’m sure this uniden Radio is a good radio but not for my location.
Analog works works much better around here.

For my location I would probably need a Uniden SDS100.

I’m retuning my BCD325p2 and will think about the SDS100.

I really liked the size of the 325p2 which is the same size as my BC125at. The SDS100 is much larger and allot more expensive.

The other concern I have with the SDS100 is, we know it’s the best (p25 ll simulcast) scanner available today but if my location is a problem and it doesn’t receive much then I might need an antenna outside or in the attic which defeats my purpose of being portable around the house.

I like having my portable scanner wherever I go around the house or just for sitting in the back yard. I don’t like being tied to an antenna wire for reception.

My last thought is, if the police decide to go encrypted anytime soon we are out all that money. It appears buying any scanner is a gamble. With analog the the gamble was under $200. With digital it could easily be a thousand bucks or more.

I doubt that you would have a problem receiving Bergen with the SDS100. Mine is sensitive enough that I hear systems in a couple of the next counties that are 20 to 25 miles away, or more. If you get the SDS100, you might find that tweaking the filters helps. For some systems it does, but for others, no filter is needed. I'm using the Remtronix antenna that is specifically made for the SDS100. (REM-820S, one of the three antennas on this page. Also available at ScannerMaster, and other dealers.)

I do like the size and feel of my 325P2, but not where simulcast is an issue.

A change to encryption is becoming more common lately, but for now, most of the systems I listen to are either in the clear, or at least Dispatch is, with some Tac channels encrypted.

This reminds me of my first HDTV 46’ rear projection. Price $3,200 and the picture we good. Today 55” HDTV could be found for under $500 and the picture is excellent.

Could this happen with digital scanners anytime soon?

While, over time, prices might come down, but not by as much as you'd expect. Back at the end of 2013, I ordered a 436HP after they were announced. That shipped in late January, cost $499.95. Current cost at ScannerMaster is still $499.95. A couple of other sources are 10 to 20 bucks lower. Amazon is normally in the $450-460 range, but only source there at present is a marketplace dealer who wants $777.00. All others you usually see on Amazon are out of stock. Amazon has run a couple of sales in the $370-380 range, but it's been a while, and those were for only a few days. So, for now, you would not be able to buy a six year old model for that much less than when first released.

I suspect that the SDS series will hold their price range as well. Most dealers are in the $650 range, with a few sources wanting much more due to currently limited stock available.

 

[LunaScan7]

Steve Nice reply. I think the reason for the price staying hight is demand and no real competition. Also the Scanner market is a fraction of what the HDTV market is.
I’m very surprised Motorola hasn’t jumped on board making Radio Scanner.

 

[hiegtx]

While, I'm sure, Motorola would be more than capable of developing a scanner, I suspect that they would not want to be approaching their clients, especially a public safety agency, to sell or upgrade a new system while making a publicly available product to listen to that same system. Especially when they are also pushing the 'upgrade' into encryptoin.

 

[wtp]

kind of like radio shack selling cell phones and scanners to listen to them...

 

[Bob1955]

I doubt that you would have a problem receiving Bergen with the SDS100. Mine is sensitive enough that I hear systems in a couple of the next counties that are 20 to 25 miles away, or more. If you get the SDS100, you might find that tweaking the filters helps. For some systems it does, but for others, no filter is needed. I'm using the Remtronix antenna that is specifically made for the SDS100. (REM-820S, one of the three antennas on this page. Also available at ScannerMaster, and other dealers.)

I do like the size and feel of my 325P2, but not where simulcast is an issue.

A change to encryption is becoming more common lately, but for now, most of the systems I listen to are either in the clear, or at least Dispatch is, with some Tac channels encrypted.


While, over time, prices might come down, but not by as much as you'd expect. Back at the end of 2013, I ordered a 436HP after they were announced. That shipped in late January, cost $499.95. Current cost at ScannerMaster is still $499.95. A couple of other sources are 10 to 20 bucks lower. Amazon is normally in the $450-460 range, but only source there at present is a marketplace dealer who wants $777.00. All others you usually see on Amazon are out of stock. Amazon has run a couple of sales in the $370-380 range, but it's been a while, and those were for only a few days. So, for now, you would not be able to buy a six year old model for that much less than when first released.

I suspect that the SDS series will hold their price range as well. Most dealers are in the $650 range, with a few sources wanting much more due to currently limited stock available.

hiegtx,
I personally don't feel that the SD models dictate their prices but you are right, due to shortages in parts and Covid-19, they will hold their prices but Bearcat Warehouse told me today that they all will drop again shortly(Not the SDS-100/200). When the 436HP "WAS" at $370-$380, that's a great deal but my friend has one and it is NOT good on VHF/UHF analog compared to his Bearcat BC-125 AT. We compared the (2) units on VHF/UHF analog and both had a Diamond RH-77CA on them and the WINNER was the BC-125AT. I'm sure some "nerdy" moderator will suspend me for my behavior but think first as before you do this, I've HELPED numerous new members and they have purchased at Bearcat Warehouse which this group fully endorses!
Have a good weekend and stay safe.

 

[LunaScan7]

I own the Bc125at. It is a fantastic scanner. I just ordered the SDS100. I wonder how the analog channels on are on the SDS100 in contracts to my Bc125at.