Freescan for BCD325P2

[rs16]

I'm considering buying the BCD325P2. There no way I can program it by hand. Is it relatively easy to use Freescan to program it? The screenshots I've seen don't look too bad. What I want to do is program the 3 or 4 surrounding counties (which is about as far as the antenna will receive). I don't travel so other areas are not an issue. Bearcatwarehouse charges $70 for 1 county and $35 for each additional county, It can get super expensive just to program it. The programming of these is what's holding me back in this hobby-not the scanner cost. I would get the RadioReference premium membership if i can just download whole counties.

Is Freescan the way to go?


I had a 436 for about a week, but sold it on ebay as I found the menus and operation beyond my level. My local police is digital, everything else is analog. I used to have a 125AT and 92XLT which were easy for me to use.

 

[W8RMH]

FreeScan is the best. It is better to program it yourself. That way you know how, so when there are changes (which occur quite often these days) you know how to update them.

 

[MStep]

....................I had a 436 for about a week, but sold it on ebay as I found the menus and operation beyond my level. My local police is digital, everything else is analog. I used to have a 125AT and 92XLT which were easy for me to use.

I'm about to do some research into the 325P2 as I am not familiar with it and a good friend was inquiring about it. Does Uniden provide a program similar to Sentinel for the 325? I bought a 536 about a month ago, and I have been listening to and programming scanners for 5 decades, and even I was a little put off by the complexity of the 536, which is essentially the same as the 436.

It took me a good two weeks to get fairly comfortable with the unit, but scanners have changed quite a bit from the days of the simple 10 channel programmables, where all you did was punch in a frequency and hit Enter.

It's virtually impossible to get the full value out of something like a 436 or a 536 without an accompanying computer program to do in an hour or two what would now take you weeks of programming and hair-pulling were you to even attempt to manually programming these units.

Incidentally, you can download the instruction manuals and the accompanying programming software to get some idea of the complexity of the unit before you purchase. Could save a bit of time and grief. Best of luck with whatever unit you decide on.

 

[rs16]

No, the Sentinel program doesn't work for the 325. So that's why I'm inquiring about Freescan, because the programming for these is my problem.

 

[MStep]

No, the Sentinel program doesn't work for the 325. So that's why I'm inquiring about Freescan, because the programming for these is my problem.

I know Sentinel would not work with the 325--- I would have thought that Uniden would have had a similar program that would work with that unit. I guess I will have to take a look at Freescan to get some idea of whether my friend will be able to handle it.

 

[teufler]

Uniden has really dropped the ball, they don't have software, just allow Butel, or others to create something that will talk to the radio. Even my old 780xl, I had to buy software to program. I think the GRE scanners had to have store bought software.Like MStep has said, your new Bible book will be the printed manuals to study study study. Then the hit and miss of getting the "girgle " out of the sound. This is a never ending story doing this.

 

[marksmith]

The 325p2 can be programmed without software, but it is just easier to use Freescan, and that way you also have a backup to restore the radio if anything happens.

None of the software is very difficult to use. The learning is in learning how trunked and digital systems work. Once you understand that, the rest falls into place.

Freescan is the main software available for the 325p2 and it is free to download and use. I actually like it better than most of the ones you pay for.

If you have a premium membership to RR you can download systems to the software and upload them to the 325p2 without really understanding the real programming that is going on.

You can also program the radio manually using the info from RR, which pushes you to understand what is going on.

I would never, ever, pay any of those outfits to program my radios. I prefer to program specifically what I want to listen to, not every random thing that might be in a county that took some shmuck 20 seconds of work to upload.

Mark
WS1095/536/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/325P2/396XT/PRO668/PSR800/PRO652

 

[MStep]

..................................... Bearcatwarehouse charges $70 for 1 county and $35 for each additional county, It can get super expensive just to program it. The programming of these is what's holding me back in this hobby-not the scanner cost. I would get the RadioReference premium membership if i can just download whole counties....................................................

I agree that it seems somewhat unreasonably expensive to have a firm program your scanner, and that you might be much better off learning how to do it yourself. Of course, there are situations where money is no object--- perhaps for news agencies and towing companies that can afford to throw that kind of money around. But if you are a hobbyist, you really owe it to yourself to try to master programming the unit on your own. Not only will you gain confidence and become more adept at handling your radio, but you'll potentially save enough to put towards your next piece or gear and have the satisfaction of being able to do it yourself.

Of course that decision is yours--- I know that you mentioned you had returned your 436 because you felt that it was somewhat overwhelming. Another option is to find a fellow scanner enthusiast in your area who you can trust to help you out.

A piece of nostalgia by the way--- as an aspiring ham radio operator when I was much younger, I and many others who were in our very early teens received a great deal of help and tutoring from old-timers in the hobby who were referred to as "Elmers".

Scanning and radio monitoring is really a wonderful hobby, plus it gives you a great head-up on a lot of the local news events, so regardless of what course of action you pursue, good luck and best wishes in your endeavors.

 

[darunimal]

Freescan 2.18 Beta3 works with the BCD325p2 , no real problems to speak of. Uniden will not spend a dime more than it has to. Unless you think the scanner is worth an extra $100 for Uniden to come up with said program, I doubt they ever will included software again.

 

[Ronaldski]

Its now beta 5.
Downloads - Sixspot Software

 

[darunimal]

Yes sorry about that. I had a version that worked on Window 7 Ultimate 64x with the small glitch of not changing start-up message in the BCD325p2.

 

[RoninJoliet]

Im not trying to be a "smart-alik but the 325P2 is so easy to program by hand even a old dummy like me can do it....Its just like its brothers 396/996XT,....Read "Marks Easy Programming on line manual, create a system, choose what kind ex25, put in the freqys as you follow the menu, create "New Group' and in that group put the analog freqys or if its a trunk system the talk-groups , assign it a Quick Key # and press scan.....Once you get going its easy, then get Freescan to finish the job....Just trying to help out.....Its no where near the jumbled mess the Uniden 436 is made of.....

 

[Voyager]

Try programming 2500 channels and tell me how easy it is.

 

[rs16]

Thanks to all for the advice and info.

 

[wa4ids]

I have purchased a BCD325P2 and received by shipping. I am a 5-year user of FreeScan on a 396XT. The 325P2 came with a USB cable but not a serial cable. I downloaded the latest (2.18.b6) version of FreeScan and installed it on my Win XT computer.

How do I connect the scanner to the computer where I can upload the programming that I have been using on my 396XT? Computer USB port to scanner USB port does not work. Software is looking for a COM port. The 396XT cable is a serial cable, but the scanner end will not fit the 325P2.

I have been scanning for 3 decades, but I am stumped this time. Help!!!

 

[UPMan]

Download and install the drivers for the scanner.

BCD325P2 < UnidenMan4 < TWiki

 

[wa4ids]

UPMan,

Thanks! That did the trick. I now have all my 396XT programming loaded into my new 325P2. My regular systems sound a whole lot better.

 

[mjd92]

sixpot uniden software

Does anyone know what happened to the Freescan site?

 

[darunimal]

It may be temporarily offline

 

[rs16]

The Freescan site still appears to be gone. I hope it's not gone permanently. Could that be possible?