396t and BCtool

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22b873

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Trying to program my 396t with BCtool and I'm not able to hear anything. I've been able to transfer the frequencies and call groups (Fauquier County VA, Mot2 800) with RR but its not hitting any calls. I've tried changing the mode to Mot2 800 custom and it will try to program for hours until I end program. I'm sure it is just a setting issue. Any ideas anyone?
 

22b873

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firmware had been updated. Tried BCtool again and same issue. Did not see BCtool on the list for custom table, so switched to freescan. Now it is saying there is not enough memory. The scanner has been cleared.
 

ka3jjz

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Since we're not talking about BCTool anymore, this should go to another thread...but...

In FreeScan, when you open up the upload screen, there's an option there for Erase all Systems and Settings. This will insure that you aren't repeating the same system over and over again, which is very easy to do and is a very common way to cause that message to occur. This will wipe the scanner clean and reload from whatever you're sending. Have you tried this?

best regards..Mike
 

22b873

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Went back to BCtool even though it wasn't listed as being able to do the custom tables. I seem to be getting farther with it. It programs my scanner. I put in the sites to be mot custom. But still no hits. I have a different scanner going and when that one hits, the 396t displays the talk group for less then a second. Its got to be a setting issue. What else can I try?
 

ka3jjz

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yes, still "not enough memory".

It might be best to reinitialize the scanner completely - hit 2,9,ENT while powering the scanner on - when it asks you if you wish to reload systems, say NO. Then use FreeScan using the Erase function to start from scratch.

Be aware that there are specific limits to the number of systems, sites, groups and talkgroups you can have - see the wiki for all of that...sometimes that too can cause an out of memory issue. I would try to first just load the trunk system only. Loading a system at a time should bring out real quick which one is the culprit.

There are no other settings beyond the ones already mentioned AFAIK. best regards...Mike
 
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ka3jjz

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Just a thought here - if you did indeed clear the scanner completely, you wouldn't by chance be trying to build your new systems on top of the pre-loaded stuff that's already in the scanner? If you are, that's a complete waste of resources and time - after all, you wouldn't need to have a system in Arizona if you're in Virginia.

Most of us that use the scanner for travel construct different sets of files for each area - not only does it consume far less resources, it will scan your desired systems faster, since it doesn't have to go through systems that it can't possibly hear.

best regards...Mike
 

W8RMH

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I ran into a similar problem with my 396T in that it will only take a maximum of 200 talk groups per system.

Make sure you do not attempt to enter a trunked system with more than 200 talk groups.

I had to create several duplicate systems to accommodate the large TG lists.

Free scan will indicate on the system page the number of talk groups. BcTool did not do this and I had to manually count them.

This was improved in the XT models which handle 500 TGs per system.
 
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22b873

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116 talk groups.
The scanner reads nothing to scan. I did not load any of the preloaded stuff, because its outdated for VA.
firmware is 1.20.13
I cannot load anything with freescan. Still getting the error message. With BCtool the scanner loads and looks like the talk group displays when my other scanner goes off but only repeatedly for a sec. when they are speaking and then goes away (if this makes any sense).
Tried id scan and id search. The system is set to Mot. 2, the sites are set to Mot2 custom.
 

22b873

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In Freescan the error reads
Unable to set WX
Error setting AGC
Error setting Global P25 wait time
ERROR: Scanner max channel or max TGID limit reached
ERROR: Scanner max channel or max TGID limit reached
 

ka3jjz

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Well one thing is clear - the firmware is NOT up to date. That would cause your rebanded system to not track properly if at all. See the updating the firmware link I gave in message 3. You must have version 3 firmware or better in the 396 for this to work.

As to the Not Enough Memory - time to let us see what your file looks like. Take your .996 file from FreeScan, compress it using one of the popular tools (WinZip, etc.) and attach it to your reply. Then we can all take a look and see what's going on. It's not just the number of talkgroups that can be maxed out - one of us will see it.

best regards..Mike

[edit] there is a 6000 channel limit - perhaps it's time to initialize, then load one system at a time, and see which system is the one that fails. Tedious but it would be immediately obvious from where you should start looking
 
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cpuerror

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With the outdated firmware, it doesn't support creating rebanded sites, with no site there is no memory allocated to channels & you are getting an out of memory error. If you upgrade the firmware you should be good to go.
 

22b873

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Because I had .13 I only did the first half thinking that is all I needed to do. Thank you very much for your help.
 
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