page 41 owners manual
States DAT -appears when data on a control channel is being received
that means you are on a recognized p25 frequency, but that does not account for being on a talkgroup
as for 996 ? well maybe they are not receivng same freq.
when i scan thru a p25 system display shows DAT when it looks at control channel then when changes to LNK when it shifts conversation to the frequency of the trunked system
does that help ?