996xt & Freescan - "Nothing to scan"

[JohnDistai]

Hi. I was playing around with my new 996XT and some Freescan starter files. My scanner was working fine, but I tried to tweak the file to improve scanning performance. Upon loading the file, the scanner now says "Nothing to scan". I've tried reloading the original Freescan starter files which, again, were working fine, but now all I can get is "Nothing to scan". During the load sequence it appears that Freescan is talking with the scanner.

Any idea what is going on? I've also tried unlocking things through the Lockout Manager, but that didn't help. Any help is appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[Highpockets]

Hi. I was playing around with my new 996XT and some Freescan starter files. My scanner was working fine, but I tried to tweak the file to improve scanning performance. Upon loading the file, the scanner now says "Nothing to scan". I've tried reloading the original Freescan starter files which, again, were working fine, but now all I can get is "Nothing to scan". During the load sequence it appears that Freescan is talking with the scanner.

Any idea what is going on? I've also tried unlocking things through the Lockout Manager, but that didn't help. Any help is appreciated!

Thanks!

Just a guess, go to the Tools Menu on top and choose System Quick Key Manager and make sure your Q keys are activated where you have programming.

 

[ka3jjz]

This is such a common question, our FAQ has an article on it - just click on the blue text...

Nothing to Scan - The RadioReference Wiki

It's a good idea to have quick keys assigned for all systems, sites and groups. Make sure nothing is locked out.

73 Mike

 

[IFDret103]

'0 Systems Loaded' in freescan

I too am receiving the "Nothing to scan" message. I've assigned QuickKeys to my Groups and attempted to for the System but the QuickKey I choose always reverts back to [By Site]? See below for freescan Send to Scanner results. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks all, Fred

 

[KE4ZNR]

This is such a common question, our FAQ has an article on it - just click on the blue text...

Nothing to Scan - The RadioReference Wiki

It's a good idea to have quick keys assigned for all systems, sites and groups. Make sure nothing is locked out.

73 Mike

Yall need to read the link Mike posted above.

Your answers will be solved once you do that

Marshall KE4ZNR

 

[JohnDistai]

Thanks. What is particularly frustrating is that while using Freescan, if I try to select and upload certain systems from the starter file you provide, I get the "Nothing to Scan". I haven't done anything other than say which data from the file I want. If I load the entire original file it works, but performance is slowed.

Is it me, or does Freescan have some bugs in it? It's certainly more difficult to use than it should be. Is there a software package that is easier to use? I'd be happy to buy it.

Thanks!

 

[KE4ZNR]

Thanks. What is particularly frustrating is that while using Freescan, if I try to select and upload certain systems from the starter file you provide, I get the "Nothing to Scan". I haven't done anything other than say which data from the file I want. If I load the entire original file it works, but performance is slowed.

Is it me, or does Freescan have some bugs in it? It's certainly more difficult to use than it should be. Is there a software package that is easier to use? I'd be happy to buy it.

Thanks!

My file was a pretty generic setup file. I did that by design so that it kind of forces the end user to learn how to customize it to fit their monitoring interests. What I like to monitor is gonna be different than what you like to monitor.

Freescan is the easiest and most reliable program (IMHO) out there to program the XT radios. What you are encountering are not "bugs". It just takes a while to get used to the learning curve of programming scanners with all of the features available such as System Quick Keys, Group Quick Keys, System Number Tags, Channel Number Tags, etc.
Give it time and you will quickly get used to how to setup systems & groups so that they can be turned on/off in an instant.
Marshall KE4ZNR

 

[JohnDistai]

Okay. Thanks. I think I am getting the hang of it a bit more.

This leads me to a new dumb question. If I am in Freescan, and I use the "Tools > Automatic Scanner Optimizer", am I optimizing the list shown on the computer screen, or is it optimizing in the memory of the scanner?

When I use this feature it seems to complete its actions so fast that I doubt it did anything in the scanner. I am assuming that it optimizes the stuff there in Freescan, and then I have to upload the newly optimized file into the scanner. Is this correct?

Thanks!

 

[cpuerror]

Yes, you do need to upload the changes to the scanner for them to take effect. I have found early on some scanner software will change settings on the scanner on its own accord, and didn't really like this behavior, so FreeSCAN will only make changes to your scanner after you tell it to.

Okay. Thanks. I think I am getting the hang of it a bit more.

This leads me to a new dumb question. If I am in Freescan, and I use the "Tools > Automatic Scanner Optimizer", am I optimizing the list shown on the computer screen, or is it optimizing in the memory of the scanner?

When I use this feature it seems to complete its actions so fast that I doubt it did anything in the scanner. I am assuming that it optimizes the stuff there in Freescan, and then I have to upload the newly optimized file into the scanner. Is this correct?

Thanks!

 

[JohnDistai]

Another question - If I download my file from Freescan and edit in Excel, what format do I save it in in order to get it to load back into Freescan? I've tried several different file formats, but I haven't found the one that Freescan will recognize.

Thanks!

 

[ka3jjz]

You want to save whatever you're editing in a comma separated values format or .csv. Then you can use EZ-Grab (which is also detailed in the user manual) to pull the data into FreeScan.

The user manual can be accessed in FreeScan via Help/Online Help. It's housed in our wiki, starting here...

FreeScan User Guide - The RadioReference Wiki

You can also edit the data in FreeScan; the editor isn't all that good IMHO; it's the weakest part of the program. But it does work. I would make sure I saved a copy under another name, so if you mess something up, the only thing you've lost is a little time.

I would also take some time to read the 996XT Easier to Read manual before you really hose something up (hi). You can find the link to it at the bottom of the Uniden DMA FAQ;

Uniden DMA FAQ - The RadioReference Wiki

73 Mike

 

[JohnDistai]

Thanks! I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. I took a working list of all the systems and decided to change the names to ones I could follow more closely. After several systems I started to understand how it was organized and see all the repeats. My uploads and scanning has been more successful so far (knock on wood)! Thanks for the help!

 

[KE4ZNR]

Thanks! I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. I took a working list of all the systems and decided to change the names to ones I could follow more closely. After several systems I started to understand how it was organized and see all the repeats. My uploads and scanning has been more successful so far (knock on wood)! Thanks for the help!

Glad to hear things are progressing smoothly.

BTW: You are more than welcome to join us for the next Tarheel Scanner/Shortwave Radio group meeting in Raleigh on Monday October 18th. Meetings are usually the 3rd Monday of each Month. We meet at the Red, Hot, & Blue BBQ Joint on Falls of Neuse Rd.

I always have my Uniden radios on hand and the 20 or so Radio geeks that show up have good radio geek discussion.

Email me directly if come across more NC related scanning questions...be glad to help ya out!

Happy Monitoring
Marshall KE4ZNR

 

[JohnDistai]

I really appreciate the help and the invitation! Thanks!

 

[JohnDistai]

I'm scanning through my newly edited and uploaded programming, and the scanner keeps stopping on an entry titled "Public Safety". I've been pressing the "L/O" button whenever something appears, but the scanner continues to stop on the next part of that frequency band.

I've searched all through my programming and I can not find an entry titled "Public Safety" that I can lock out or delete. Is there a way to get rid of this?

Also, when it does stop on this, the line with the "S" number (usually "S0" when scanning) has "S7". The number "2" on that line also flashes. Can someone please help me lockout or delete this?

Thanks!

 

[ka3jjz]

I'm willing to bet you've got all your system quick keys active and they're attached to the service searches, of which public service is one of them. The user guide warns that FreeScan defaults all the system quick keys to active in the SQK Manager. You can change that by using the Auto Select function. That should enable only those quick keys you've allocated, and nothing else

You can read about setting up service searches in the Easier to Read manual under the Search for topic.

73 Mike

 

[JohnDistai]

Thanks. I think I figured it out. I used the "auto" quick key selector and also found some sort of esoteric search area in Freescan and locked out "Public Safety". I haven't had the problem since.