BCD436 Help

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morganAL

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Trying to help a buddy locally. He picked up a BCD436 but is a little overwhelmed by the programming. Does anyone have a file that contains North AL stuff t hey are willing to share?

Thanks
 

jonwienke

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The scanner database already has it, if it has been updated.
 

troymail

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Trying to help a buddy locally. He picked up a BCD436 but is a little overwhelmed by the programming. Does anyone have a file that contains North AL stuff t hey are willing to share?

Thanks

Maybe a bit more helpful response...

You'll certainly want to start at least skimming the online user guide:

Easier to Read BCD436/536HP Digital Scanner Manual

But for basic programming as a starting point, there are steps that should be taken to get going:

BCD436HP < UnidenMan4 < TWiki

After that, to begin listening, it is as simple as

Press the ZIP CODE button and enter a zip code.

Press the SERVices button and select the types of things to monitor (Fire Dispatch, Law Tac, etc.).

Press the MENU button and scroll to Location Settings then scroll to 'Set Range' -- consider a value smaller than the default (20?) to improve the rate of scan and avoid trying to scan things too far away.

You might also look at the MENU options to disable Nationwide Frequencies as well to improve the scan rate.

Using a zip code (like 35670) isn't the optimal way to scan.... but take one step at a a time....

Folks here will help but you'll have to read and help yourself a bit as well.... or, at least your friend will need to.

https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?ctid=52
 

morganAL

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Thanks for the pointers. Not my scanner but trying to help someone else out. Hopefully this will get him headed the right direction
 

dallascowboys

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Morning, I have a question for troymail, you stated that using a zip code is not the optimal way, I have had my 436 for a few years now and that is the only way I knew how, what is the other / best way ? thanks.
 

troymail

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Morning, I have a question for troymail, you stated that using a zip code is not the optimal way, I have had my 436 for a few years now and that is the only way I knew how, what is the other / best way ? thanks.

Zip code programming works but tends to load a lot of stuff that you may not want. This can actually slow down the scan rate because of the amount of time it takes to cycle through everything.

Having said that - if it works for you and you are happy with it, by all means use it.

On the other hand, if you know more specifically what you want to scan, use Sentinel to create favorites list(s) that contain only the systems, sites, talkgroups and frequencies you want.

There's a lot more options than just zip code programming...
 

troymail

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Thanks for the info did not know this, also what should I use for my range you stated less then 20 ? thanks again for the info.

That is something you'd need to decide for yourself and can vary from place to place....

Something to understand about locational type programming is that is uses whatever the RR database admins and submitters of information opted to use for location and range.

For the most part, every system, site, and group of users (Uniden calls "departments") has a LAT, LON, and RANGE assigned. These values may or may not be correct. They also could be HUGE (hundreds of miles) or TINY (as small as 1/2 mile). In some cases, the (bad) location data places systems, etc. in Tibet, China, etc due to missing characters..... In other cases, the location data is just wrong (I've personally submitted numerous updates as I find these issues).

If you can, picture all of these LAT/LON points and RANGE circles as rings on a map.

Now, your location (zip code or otherwise) and "range" setting also essentially resolves to a point and a circle around it on a map.

For locational programming, everything/anything in the database with a "circle" that overlaps with "your circle" will be loaded and scanned (except for items with those service types you've disabled and/or items that you've locked out).

With large range settings you are obviously going to have the radio trying to scan a whole lot more stuff than is likely to be in reception range. Some of this can include items that might be in the next state (or in some cases even beyond) because of the large "circle" required to cover some areas on a map (i.e. if the jurisdiction is "wide" or "tall", etc.). I've seen some cases where the radio tries to scan Virginia and even West Virginia from my location here in southeastern North Carolina (wasteful).

Conversely, if you set the range very small (even down to 0), you'll be more likely to narrow the list of items significantly - but also potentially remove "departments" and other things that have small "circles" assigned (example, a county or state trunk system with large footprint but some "small town departments" carried on the system are set to 0.5 miles).

There's lots of Nationwide things typically included also that you may or may not want to include (but you have options to disable those).

If you really want to see what the radio will try to scan using a zip code/location and a range, there is a function in Sentinel (Edit -> Add Channels on Range) that will help you see what the radio is/will try to scan using various locations and range settings. Before running this, go into the Profile editor and enable Full Database. Note: this could potentially be a good starting place for building your own favorites lists (delete the stuff you don't want).

It all comes down to how much you want to learn, understand, and use to optimize performance.
 
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