Service search and custom search BCD396XT

[billybob]

The other night I was listening to the local Hams on 448.675Mhz on my BC785D when one of the hams said he was going to change frequencies. I used my BCD396XT in service search mode and was unable to locate him. As I continued to search the 440Mhz to 450Mhz band in NFM, my BCD396XT would stop on other active repeaters but while the 448.675Mhz repeater was active on the BC785D, my BCD396XT passed by the frequency without stopping. When I pressed hold and manually tuned to 448.675Mhz I was able to pick up the radio traffic.

I created a custom search between 448.0000Mhz and 449.0000Mhz in both FM and NFM with the spacing in auto at 12.5Khz and still the BCD396XT would not stop on the active 448.675Mhz repeater. After I narrowed the spacing to 5.0Khz the BCD396XT now stops on 448.675Mhz and can also be heard on 448.680Mhz.

Has anybody else experienced this? How much radio traffic am I missing when I search for new frequencies in the correct Khz spacing?

[DaveIN]

I've not experienced that problem, but outside of the Ham band the default step is 12.5KHz. You could use the Ham Service search and get the repeater.

[billybob]

I tried searching with the service search and had the same results with the custom search. I have tried NFM and FM. I searched the internet and the KHZ spacing is supposed to be 12.5 KHZ. Right now I’m waiting for more traffic to check my BCD396T’s custom and service search.

Happy father’s day everyone. My wife and I did a little DX’ing at Fort Rosecrans in Point Loma today. We also visited my father in law who is buried there. He’s got a nice view of North Island.

[DaveIN]

Not sure why it wouldn't work on Ham Service search? The Service search isn't using steps, just preprogrammed frequencies. Did you try changing your squelch setting?

[billybob]

Yes. The funny thing is that I can search and then press hold to stop just before the desired frequency and then turn the knob to the frequency and I’ll pick up the signal.

[Stevenme]

Originally Posted by billybob

Yes. The funny thing is that I can search and then press hold to stop just before the desired frequency and then turn the knob to the frequency and I’ll pick up the signal.

Could you have locked out that frequency by accident? When you manually tune to it do you see L/O at the top of the display?

[pdfdems286]

could he have gone to simplex or Dstar ?.

[Stevenme]

Oh, and one other thought. One of the nice features of Uniden scanners is that search only stops on the actual frequency of the received signal. This prevents the scanner from being fooled by a strong signal that breaks squelch across several steps (e.g. 146.635, 146.640, 146.645). Now if the repeater you are trying to search for is slightly off frequency, especially if the steps are large, it may not stop where you expect (or at all).

So in your case if 448.680Mhz is the actual center frequency of the repeater and the step size is 12.5Khz, then the search function will try 448.6750 and 448.6875, and not stop. By setting a smaller step size you have allowed the search function to tune to the actual center frequency.

Of course the opposite could be true as well, that your scanner is slightly off in that range. Do you have another radio you can baseline against?

[FlashP]

Part of the confusion is the misnomer in the menus. It's not a service SEARCH as much as a "Preprogrammed Conventional System." So it doesn't necessarily find every active ham/marine/... channel. If Uniden would just put these service lists into the main list of systems, and let the users set all the normal options (quick keys, lockouts, GPS,...) for them, it might be less confusing. Just put something into the system name to indicate that it can't be deleted, only made active/inactive.

Flash

[billybob]

No the channels is unlocked. I have the BCD396XT and the BC785D on the same antenna. I will have the BC785D on a local repeater (448.6750Mhz) listening to a analog conversation and use the BCD396XTin either custom or service search with all channels unlocked and the BCD369XT will skip right over the active 448.6750Mhz frequency.

Thanks for all your input. I’ll continue to play with it. It just might be one of those problem I’ll have to live with. Thanks

[DaveIN]

Originally Posted by billybob

No the channels is unlocked. I have the BCD396XT and the BC785D on the same antenna. I will have the BC785D on a local repeater (448.6750Mhz) listening to a analog conversation and use the BCD396XTin either custom or service search with all channels unlocked and the BCD369XT will skip right over the active 448.6750Mhz frequency.

Thanks for all your input. I’ll continue to play with it. It just might be one of those problem I’ll have to live with. Thanks

Is the repeater using a CTCSS tone? Maybe you should do a custom search with CTCSS search.

[DaveIN]

Originally Posted by FlashP

Part of the confusion is the misnomer in the menus. It's not a service SEARCH as much as a "Preprogrammed Conventional System." So it doesn't necessarily find every active ham/marine/... channel. If Uniden would just put these service lists into the main list of systems, and let the users set all the normal options (quick keys, lockouts, GPS,...) for them, it might be less confusing. Just put something into the system name to indicate that it can't be deleted, only made active/inactive.

Flash

I think that's why they included 10 custom search limits.