programing BCD996XT

[PCorradini]

A question for the group. I have a new BCD996XT that I use in my semi. I travel all over the state and have been trying to figure out the programing for UCAN. I have used the ARCXT software and entered all the sites and the talk groups that I want to hear. I'm hearing a lot of traffic, but am unsure If I have everything set up right. Do I need a custom band plan because of re-banding, or is the 900 standard band plan what I want?

 

[qlajlu]

A question for the group. I have a new BCD996XT that I use in my semi. I travel all over the state and have been trying to figure out the programing for UCAN. I have used the ARCXT software and entered all the sites and the talk groups that I want to hear. I'm hearing a lot of traffic, but am unsure If I have everything set up right. Do I need a custom band plan because of re-banding, or is the 900 standard band plan what I want?

Welcome to the Utah Forum of RR.com​

PCorradini!​

The 900 band plan is only relevant for those systems that have 900 MHz frequencies. You need to run the 800 MHz Rebanded band plan. The entire state of Utah under the UCAN System (7202) has been rebanded and is a Motorola 800 MHz, Type II, SmartZone. You will hear traffic without that custom band plan, but you are missing traffic when the Controller sends traffic to a frequency that is not defined properly by the 900 band plan you are now using.

I cannot help you with programming the BCD996XT because I am not familiar with that scanner or the ARC software. Hopefully, someone with that model can give you a hand.

Again, welcome.

 

[bchris]

UCAN Band Plan for BCD996XT

A question for the group. I have a new BCD996XT that I use in my semi. I travel all over the state and have been trying to figure out the programing for UCAN. I have used the ARCXT software and entered all the sites and the talk groups that I want to hear. I'm hearing a lot of traffic, but am unsure If I have everything set up right. Do I need a custom band plan because of re-banding, or is the 900 standard band plan what I want?

PCorradini,

I do not (yet) have a BCD996XT, but I think I can help. I do have a BCT15, and I believe the setup and programming is almost identical.

This is out of the BCD996XT Users Guide....

Rebanded Motorola Systems


When you create a system that has been rebanded to use the frequencies newly added for use by the FCC, you have the option now of selecting 800MHz Custom as the Motorola system type.

Once you create the system, you can set the custom band plan as follows:

1. Edit System Option --> Edit Band Plan
2. Select the band plan entry to edit.
3. Set each of the following entries for the band plan:
   1. Set Base Freq (Lower and Upper)
   2. Set Offset
   3. Set Spacing

For <Motorola 800Mhz> rebanded systems, you need to set Band Plan 1 and Band Plan 2 as:

Band Plan....Base Freq (Lower)....Base Freq (Upper)....Offset....Polarity....Spacing
.......1............851.0250MHz..........854.0000MHz...........440.........+..........25 kHz
.......2............851.0125MHz..........868.9875MHz.............0...........+.........25 kHz
.

When you first create the system in the scanner, you must choose Motorola 800Mhz Custom. In the other Uniden scanners this can not be changed after it is created. This is likely still the case with the BCD996XT. If you already have a bunch of stuff set up but the system type is wrong, use FreeScan software to fix it. FreeScan will read the system out as one type, then you delete the old system, create a new one, and reprogram your old data into the new system.

The band plan above looks different than other band plans posted in this forum, but let me assure you it is saying essentially the same thing, just in the 'Uniden' format. When I have more time, I will follow up on this post with information on how I set up my BCT15 using the GPS. If you travel around Utah with your scanner, I guarantee you will love it.
.
--bc

 

[PCorradini]

thanks for the reply

I did finally figure it out after I posted the question. The last scanner I had was a BCT-7, so the BCD996XT is a big step up. I travel a lot into Colo. Ca. and Wy, so the digital ability is a big plus.