396xt programming to another state

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fenderblue

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Now I have kinda learned how to program for my local 4 county area and now how to delete and add at anytime using freescan as using my laptop and saved all of my programs in one. Now I am going to another state and want to program the freq's in that state while I am there and back to my 4 county area. Can I scan just the new state with out scanning my home freq's with out having to use a laptop to program when I get to that state. Another words can a person put several programs or would you call groups, in the scanner and only using whatever you want to listen with just the radio and not freescan. Thanks
 

ka3jjz

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Sure you can. There are a couple of ways to do this - use Location Based Scanning (LBS) or manually lock or unlock systems as you go. Do it all the time when I was traveling with my 396T up to NJ. Wish my 396T supported LBS, as fumbling with the keys is dangerous when going 70 up I-95...

It's all about Systems - they are the highest level in the DMA world, and use conventional freqs - and trunks are always set up at the Site level. Not groups, which are the lowest level.

We have a very extensive article on LBS in our wiki...

Location Based Scanning - The RadioReference Wiki

and locking out systems and sites is covered in the Easier to Read manual...

Easier to Read BCD396XT Digital Scanner Manual

Understanding the difference between systems, sites and groups will be critical to your planning.

Mike
 

AC0RV

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Here's how I do mine. First I find the states, then counties,cities and towns along my route.

I use the varios quick keys to sectionalize them need. (Since there will be more than twenty systems to be load into the scanner. I use the same keys for several of the systems (generally witht the same state.)


I use a spread sheet to layout the info in the manner(order) that I want it in and use the Freescan program's EZ Grab to place them into a program that will upload the file I created into the 396xt.

To help out with the scanning I use location Based scanning with a GPS unit from the Uniden Corp.

I used this on serveral of my visit to and from Louisiana.

Any questions, I will be glad to attempt to answer. Good luck.
 

ofd8001

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I agree that your main answer is assigning quick keys. Even with a GPS unit I've found using quick keys makes things simpler for me to understand and more efficient for me to us, which I'll explain below.

I used excel to create a Quck Key Matrix. Typically the first digit corresponds to a state with the second digit corresponding to areas of the state or "special" systems that I'm interested in monitoring.

Here's where assigning quick keys to supplement GPS/location scanning has been helpful to me. Say I'm within range of a several systems but I want to concentrate on one or two of them. I use the quick keys to "shut off" the undesired systems.

Of course brainstorming and configuring quick keys is more art than science. What looks good to one may be awful for another.
 

fenderblue

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Thanks guys. I found that I had 9 Quick keys used on my radio and 3 were not used? Went to easy read and found how to turn QK's off and on etc. Now I can go to the race track just listen to a QK that has the racing freq's there and after the race I can turn that freq off and turn the other road ems on. Am I correct? I am sure there other ways as I will learn also.
 

ka3jjz

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If you mean 'turn that quick key off' instead of 'turn that freq off', then yes, absolutely, you can simply disable that quick key until the next time you need it...Mike
 

ofd8001

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Thanks guys. I found that I had 9 Quick keys used on my radio and 3 were not used? Went to easy read and found how to turn QK's off and on etc. Now I can go to the race track just listen to a QK that has the racing freq's there and after the race I can turn that freq off and turn the other road ems on. Am I correct? I am sure there other ways as I will learn also.

Yes, that's exactly what I would do. Your scanner can handle right at 100 quick keys - any quick key higher than 9 is accessed by pressing the period (.) button then the two digits. For example Quick Key 99 is .99.
 

fenderblue

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My display shows me 9 quick keys which are correct. Am I suppose to have a group number also on the bottom line? Did I not enter something in freescan when I entered sites etc?
 

ka3jjz

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There are not '9 channels' - I think you mean Group Quick Keys and there are 10, not 9 of them. They are analogous to bank switches - these enable you to disable or enable groups.

I would step back and read some of the materials that were pointed out earlier. They're all linked from this wiki article, and take your time. There are a lot of new concepts and sometimes it takes a bit to get them all down

Program your DMA Scanner - The RadioReference Wiki

There is also an excellent article in the FreeScan user guide on quick key processing that should be a must read...

Freescan and Quick Key Processing - The RadioReference Wiki

Mike
 

RF23

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My display shows me 9 quick keys which are correct. Am I suppose to have a group number also on the bottom line? Did I not enter something in freescan when I entered sites etc?

Don't forget to count Zero (0) as a Quick Key then 1-9 (nine more Quick Keys) = 10 Total (however there are more you can use).

I think they used "0" as a Quick Key designator to get as many Quick Keys as possible available in a single digit format.

I know several people who also thought they 9 quick keys so you are not alone thinking that.
 

ofd8001

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There are several reasons why you may not see any Quick Keys greater than 9 on the top row (and it could be one or combination of the following):

1. You do not have any systems or sites programmed in your scanner that have been assigned a System (or site) Quick Key greater than 9
2. Any Quick Keys greater than 9 may be disabled (as in not active).
3. Any Systems (or sites) with a Quick Key greater than 9 are in a lock-out state either due to location based scanning (if you have a GPS attached to the scanner), or you have locked them out via programming (either computer or keypad programming).

(This is based on what I've seen from my scanner).
 
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I have a bcd396xt handheld that I use mobile and a bcd996xt that is a base. I got both about a year ago when my county switched to a digital trunked radio system. I use freescan to program my scanners. I use the copy and paste method from RR database. I have been working on the way that I have my scanner programmed constantly. I have tried things then made changes to make it easier. I finally have it almost complete. But I think I will always be changing how data is in my scanner.

The SQK and the GQK got me confused at first. to turn on and off GQK's you have to hit the function key first. You can have 99 SQK's and each of those 99 systems can have 10 GQK's This is how I explain quick keys and lock outs to people. My example is the electrical system in your house.

Your circuit breaker box = The scanner
Each breaker = Radio systems / sites (SQK)
Switched outlet = Groups (GQK)
Lamp = Radio channel, frequency or talk group.
Turning lamp on or off on the lamp = locking out a Radio channel, frequency or talk group

Lets take the living room circuit for example. You can quickly turn off all lamps in your living room by turning on or off at the breaker. The SQK (system quick key) is like the circuit breaker. Then in your living room you have a switch that controls an outlet. This is like a Group (GQK). Then the lamp you plug into the outlet is the Radio channel, frequency or talk group. The switch can turn any number of lamps on or off at one time. Then you can also turn the lamp off or on using the lamps own switch. This is like using the lock out feature. The problem with lock outs is it is not easy to unlock them. I usually leave most frequencies unlocked and then temporarily lock them out when they get annoying. Then if you power off the scanner those temporary locked out will be unlocked

You also have other outlets that are not switched. This would be like having a group in a system with out a GQK assigned to it. You can plug a lamp into this outlet but the only way to turn it on or off is using the switch on the lamp. Not as easy using a wall switch. This is hard to do in the scanner without a quick key.


The way I have my system set up are the 0-9 SQK’s are for local systems where I live and travel most often. 11-99 are for other areas that i don't travel as often. I only give one SQK to one system. I might assign a GQK to more then one group, but this is rare. You could also duplicate systems and have different GQK’s turn different things on and off. I also do this. Here in Wisconsin in my area most of the counties have a county dispatch center. So everything is done by county for me. I do have some exceptions. I do set a few systems that I call “Travel”. These systems are conventional frequencies so this makes life easier. I just make groups in this “Travel” system that follow the highways that I travel. I can turn GQK’s on and off as I travel.

My county has a new digital TRS system. Most public safety is on the new TRS. SQK 1 is for the TRS. SQK 2 is my county for the conventional stuff. Each system can have 20 groups, but only 10 GQK’s per system. So I never use more than 10 groups per system. The other thing that helps is to put the SQK’s and GQK numbers in the system or group test ID’s. Example: System display = (My County System 1) and Group displays would be (1 County Sheriff), (2 Police Department), (3 County Fire Departments), (4 City Fire Departments). It helps you remember by seeing them. I put system numbers at the end and group numbers at the beginning. I try to keep a pattern for every system and county. GQK is always County Sheriff.
Here is an example of how my scanner is set up. I have a list made in Microsoft Word that lists the systems and groups and their corresponding quick keys. I also try to use the same pattern for every system or county that I set up. That way I always know that the Sheriff is in Group 1.

County A TRS 1 (SQK1)
1 Sheriff (GQK 1)
2 County Rural Fire (GQK 2)
3 City A Police (GQK 3)
4 City A Fire / EMS (GQK 4)
5 City B Police (GQK 5)
6 City B Fire / EMS (GQK 6)
7 University Police
8 Jail
9 Hwy Depts, City Dpw’s (GQK 9) (Stuff I usually never listen too)
0 Mutual Aid, Special Events, Etc. (GQK 0)

County A Conventional (SQK2)
1 Law (GQK 1)
2 Fire (GQK 2)
3 State Police (GQK 3)
4 Mutual Aid, Interoperability (GQK 4)
5 Local Business (GQK 5)
6
7
8
9 Hwy Depts, City Dpw’s (GQK 9) (Stuff I usually never listen too)
0 Mutual Aid, Special Events, Etc. (GQK 0)

and so on.....
 

fenderblue

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maybelater9181---I am not a very fast at learning but I installed six SQK's and I can listen to where I want to or where I want to travel. Home-I35S-I35-N-US36E-US36W-Speedway Freq etc. So easy to turn off or on easily. Lot handier than a Home Patrol which is my base scanner. Hope my new scanner coming,536, will be easy to program and use. It will be my mobile eventually. Thanks for all the tips. Dave
 
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