possible to pause during conventional scan? reversing direction too?

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McRadioface

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Sometimes I have a need to pause a conventional scan in real-time to camp out on a hit for a while and see what else pops up, or maybe even reverse the scan direction to go back to something I may have missed. Is it even possible with the 536?
 

SChuck

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You can do all those things with your BCD536HP. I suggest watching some you tube movies, Their are some good ones.
Just search BCD536HP on You Tube. Have fun scanning.
 

McRadioface

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I think you may all misunderstand what I'm trying to accomplish, my fault for not being clear enough:
In conventional discovery mode not just run of the mill bank or system/dept scanning that most folks seem content with, in manuals and youtube videos theres no mention of holding or pausing or reversing direction during a hit or when conventional discovery is in motion.
Gents, I've read the manuals and watched all the videos. With all due respect to folks who post them and swear by them, the vids are dramatically void of in-depth programming details, and are mainly overviews of functionality.

This is during conventional discovery mode, you know, manually picking two frequencies to scan between? that thing. not just turning on and letting the radio go through the pre-selected systems and departments. That stuff is ok, I'm trying to find new stuff.

tl;dr: Pressing the channel button (or any other button, or knob spin) does not pause a conventional discovery scan even during a hit, and spinning the function knob does not reverse direction of a conventional discovery scan.
 

McRadioface

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Further, for anyone still with this topic:
Non-obvious workaround--
The unit appears to pause/hold during custom search scans with the channel button so its a matter of application.
Ergo, if I wanted to search with a conventional discovery scan I would be much better off with doing a custom search within bands I have modified. But this still requires modifying the custom search bands, a multi-minute expenditure of menu detours.
The custom search seems to be able to replace traditional conventional discovery scans by allowing a pause/hold, a reversal -and- to my satisfaction, a convenient quick save. The conventional discovery scan as is implemented in the 536 does not appear to do this, tossing decades of convention and utility out the window :)

tl;dr: The custom search mode allows a pause/hold and save and even the ability to step through the range with a function knob spin. Use that instead of conventional discovery mode.
 

phask

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Your verbiage is what was confusing, in none of the previously mentioned is there scanning, it's discovery or searching.

FWIW - Discovery is intended (more or less) for n unattended session, that is what it also has a provision to import into Sentinel. It's not really designed for pausing.

Much easier to use Custom Search - you can also re-assign in Sentinel, and not THAT difficult to change on the fly. Though I'll admit, I don't use it much anymore as most everything local is trunked.
 

McRadioface

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ok phask, I will give you that if we are gonna nitpick semantics, its is a -scanner- though, as opposed to a searcher or discoverer :)
so in that context I can see where one may not have understood the gist of what I was getting at. But now that the air is cleared, I have figured out how to -discover- during an attended discovery session using a custom search via software as a baseline to configure the ranges independently of the radio itself.
Some folks like myself like to see whats available outside of canned trunking channel lists and prefer to have that ability readily available.
You and everyone else may not think its a pain to get to, but even if I'm in the minority who believes its a pain to get to, then its a pain to get to as I use it frequently as a sigint analyst, and all-around nerd who likes the ability to gear up rapidly to -discover- things with flexible ranges.
 

McRadioface

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'Soitanly --

First we gotta specify the range:
"Menu" button ->scroll with "Function" knob to "Search for..." -> scroll to "Edit Custom" , gonna choose "Custom 0" because its right there so press "Function" knob -> scroll with "Function" knob to "Edit Srch Limit" -> use keypad for lower limit 118.000 "Function" knob push to enter it - upper limit 119.000 "Function" knob push to enter it (lets keep it simple, just a -scan- between 2 freqs, so modulation and all that other stuff are an exercise left up to you, I just wanna get this thing moving and go listen to pirates on HF, the band is popping pretty nicely right now with xmas tunes)-> press "Menu" key to escape upwards out of that current menu tree just -1- level... -> (now we scan the range!!!) at this point the menu will show "Custom Search" so pressing the "Function" knob should start the scan at your "Custom 0" range that you just specified. Hows that for a tutorial? Pressing keypad keys during the scan will enable the other custom seach ranges as well. An exercise left up to you if you so choose.

This is what works for me.
Note that this kinda detail I havent found anywhere else.
Comprehensive steps like this are not plainly laid out in manuals or videos.
Further note: you can pause/hold this scan with "Channel/Dept/System" and can even reverse direction with the "Function" knob. "Avoids" are also thankfully in effect at least per live session. Keeping them intact from session to session is another story for another gripey thread.
Anyways, this is how I figured it out, there may be other ways to accomplish it, but poking around led me to this method.
Back to the grind.
 
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