bcd396xt help

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krs3

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I posted awhile back and I have now purchased the bcd396xt. I am learning slowly. All I am concerned about at the moment is Kershaw County EMS.

I will learn the rest of the programming later without worrying y'all...hopefully.

I have looked at the frequencies and such on the Palmetto 800 site and I am 7 miles away from the Middendorf tower at this time, but will be commuting between Camden and Chesterfield County so I guess I need to be able to monitor both of the the sites...I guess.

This online instruction manual is not that great in my opinion and I need some help on how to program for this EMS agency. Any tips on how to program this scanner for a newbie? Thanks

Also is there software that I can download to program or do I have to do this manually.
 

ka3jjz

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This article from our wiki has all the links (always in blue) that you will need to get started..

Program your DMA Scanner - The RadioReference Wiki

You can use the manual - if one can call it that - Uniden supplies to help start a fire in your fireplace :.>> Get the Easier to Read manual, the links for which are at the bottom

FreeScan is the premier freeware for most all of the DMA scanners. There's a link in one of the articles, along with a link to the user guide, which is also hosted here

HTH...Mike
 

krs3

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I have the scanner programmed and I am receiving Kershaw EMS on the Camden site. I did this with Free scan and download from the radio reference site. However the transmission is very scratchy and I also have the Chesterfield site/tower programmed. I locked out the channels I did not want to hear and there is a channel that shows Chesterfield and KC ems but I can't pick up anything when I use the Hold button on this channel. I can on the Camden KC ems channel but it is not clear.
Should I be able to monitor KC ems off of the Chesterfield tower? All other transmission are really clear that I am receiving off of the Chesterfield tower. Thanks
 

krs3

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I think I got it figured out...receiving EMS off of the Camden tower and Chesterfield. Also bought the 800mhz antenna for this scanner from radio shack and it helped alot.
 

krs3

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One more question...if the Kershaw EMS service is in the camden area and talking off of the Camden tower/site...I am up the road near the Chesterfield tower/site. (I do have this site and the Camden programmed).

Should I be able to pick up their transmissions off of the Chesterfield tower also or only the Camden tower which is what they are utilizing?
Like if I were to lock out the Camden site while I am in the Chesterfield county to get a better/clearer signal. Thanks
 

brian

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That's the trick about a smartzone system like Palmetto 800. You won't know at any given time if that talkgroup will work on that site or not.

The talkgroups that are carried on a particular site are determined by whether a subscriber radio (in this case, a radio in a Kershaw EMS ambulance vehicle) has affiliated with that site. The radios are designed to affiliate to the closest site, or rather, the site that the radio determines has the best signal, therefore the best chance of receiving and rebroadcasting the transmission from that radio. So, the Kershaw EMS talkgroup will be heard only on the sites that have a Kershaw EMS radio affiliated to it at that time.

There are limits to that process - not all talkgroups can affiliate to all sites. Agencies pay a monthly service fee to Palmetto 800 based on the number of subscriber radios, the number of talkgroups they use, and the number of sites they can access with those talkgroups. Only truly state-wide talkgroups can be carried "state wide". It's unknown to me whether Kershaw EMS pays to be able to access the Chesterfield tower with their talkgroups. Most agencies with multiple talkgroups have one that has state-wide access, typically called "Roam". The others are limited to one or a few local sites.

So you'll just have to listen to the Chesterfield site and see if you hear Kershaw EMS at all, and if so, how often. This is where a control channel decoding application comes in handy - you can park your radio on the Chesterfield CC frequency for days and let the software (such as Trunk88) log activity on the site. This can give you an indication of if and how often Kershaw EMS uses that site.

Hope that helps.

Brian
 
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