396XT

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Toocool

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I have a R/S scanner that has gone Tango Uniform. I have a BCD 396 XT on the way and looks like I will need some help. I will subscribe to the RR data base and get some programming S/W. What S/W should I consider. Thanks in advance.
 

fxdscon

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INDY72

Monitoring since 1982, using radios since 1991.
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For the Uniden, PROSCAN... It not only gives you the programming ability, but scanner control, streaming over internet, and more... Or you can check out ARC software packages from Butel. Check out the wiki for much more data.
 

Toocool

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New scanner

I received my BCD396XT and am playing with it till my USB cable arrives. I came preloaded with some systems. I managed to find the Arkansas AWIN system and have it scanning but am receiving nothing.

The display indicates the following.

Arkansas AWIN
ID Scan (moving right to left)
NFM
S2:*2******* (the numeral 2 is flashing.
GRP----------

I don't have a clue what is going on. Anyone?
 

Toocool

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I am programming my new scanner using Freescan and the conv freqs are not problem. When trying to get the SO AWIN dispatch in it requires me to select a site or group. I have no idea which one to select. Can some one clear this up please?
 

INDY72

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Set up at least the 3 sites nearest your home/travel areas... And then add the TG's you want to hear that are in use in the areas. You should be able to pick up at least 2 of them pretty good, and maybe 2 of them OK.... Maybe even more depending on weather etc... I remember from where I used to live in Pearcy, I picked up 3 AWIN sites almost consistently perfectly, and 2 were pretty good, with 2 that were very spotty. Same with Entergy, 3 excellent, 2 pretty good, and 3 that were hit or miss... Most of the time the Hot Springs system was almost perfect, with some days a tad iffy.

You will definitely want to load the ASP troop K TG's, your SO's/OEM's, AHP, ALL the ADEM's. Then add whatever else your interested in. (You should also add in the ASP's Troops surrounding the region, and other OEM's/SO's of surrounding Counties so you know whats going on... And trust me on this one, events never tend to stay localized for big stuff.. Chases from Garland county or other surrounding Counties, forest fires, storms and floods....) You will always be hearing something... And if you decide to stream a feed, your in a good area that isn't being fed.. Plus if you decide to purchase PROSCAN, you can do a feed vias that also, and have remote access to your scanner from anywhere...
 
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INDY72

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ASP Troops youll most likely get traffic from...

Of course Troop K
Troop G
Troop H
Maybe Troop J

AHP:
Districts 2, 1, 4

ADEM:
Central, Northwest, Southwest, and the 2 Statewide TG's

MED net, and Trauma Center.

And who knows, you may be able to find and ID new TG's for us too...
 
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Toocool

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You've given me a lot to digest, most of it over my head. The learning curve on this scanner seems pretty steep. I just have the stock antenna. Do you have a recommendation? More questions to follow.
 

INDY72

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Not too familiar with FreeScan, as the scanners I have had run best with Starrsoft's WIN92, WIN96, and Butel's ARC96.

As for antennas, at the very least you need an 800 MHz type such as the one they sell at Radio Shack for mobile use, and if you decide to put up a pole/tower you'll want to get an 800 MHz Yagi style for best reception, or even run two ants with a splitter. One for VHF High, and the 800 MHz. Or you could just go with an basic discone and get pretty good reception on both bands and from all directions. Check out some of the ones that get a lot of talking about in the forums here, such as Scantenna etc.... Are you in a higher elevation or down in a valley over there?
 

ka3jjz

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Looks like the site&group to select is High Peak, I think.

Let's back up a minute here and see if we can't get some terms defined.

In the DMA world, when you think of sites, you can consider them as transmitter sites. With the XT scanners, you may have many sites under a system (a system, in this case, is a logical placeholder for all the site information). Under the sites, you have your groups which consist of talkgroups in groups that you define.

This is an important concept - if you have multiple sites, all sites share the same groups - this is the essence of multi site scanning.

So let's get an example. I will leave it to the Arkansas folks to define which site(s) are good for you to use

Let's say you live in Jefferson County - you've got 3 sites - White Hall, Sulphur Springs and Pine Bluff. You would download those 3 sites using FreeScan, and it would set up 3 sites under one system (call it AWIN Jeff for now). Now you would likely want to set up 3 site quick keys (one for each site). Use the pulldown next to the site name in the Site Setup form.

Now to make sure you've set this up correctly, and the site Quick Keys are correctly allocated, go to Tools / System Quick Key Manager. ALWAYS hit the AUTO SELECT button on the bottom of the form before proceeding! This forces FreeScan to refresh its memory

Now float your mouse to one of the numbered boxes - if your system or site name show up in the white box on the right, the allocation is correct. Be sure to put a check mark in that box (let's say it's box 0 for argument's sake) to enable it in the scanner when it's uploaded

Last are the groups. Download what you want using the web interface - remember it's your responsibility to allocate the quick keys (although you can allow FreeScan to do it for you, it's good practice to do it yourself. After all it might allocate something you don't want...). Again, use the pulldown next to the group name.

Usually all the group QKs are checked 'on' on the Trunked System Setup form. That's fine, although I find it a bit wasteful since it allocates GQKs that aren't being used.

If you have already ERASED and gotten rid of all the pre-allocated systems that were copied in the scanner when you got it, so much the better (you should do this the very first time you upload). From this point on, REPLACE is a much better option - only use ADD if you're going to add something to the system that does not currently exist.

A few more random things to add here -

a. Multi site scanning is most useful when you are using Location Based Scanning with a GPS. No one likes to sit around and fiddle with keys while you're driving to enable/disable things. This article (with many links to our DMA FAQ and the Uniden TWiki) explains it in detail ..

Location Based Scanning - The RadioReference Wiki

b. Unfortunately most consumer scanners don't work very well with multi site digital trunks that echo the same talkgroup across many sites, because more than one signal is being received at the same time, which can and often does cause distortion issues. Again, here's an article from our wiki that goes into much more detail about this annoying problem

Simulcast digital distortion - The RadioReference Wiki

c, I would urge you to spend some time with the Easier to Read manuals (they're all linked at the bottom of...

Program your DMA Scanner - The RadioReference Wiki

and the FreeScan User Guide is available from FS in Help/Online Help from the toolbar.

d. Lastly we have a scanner software programming forum - feel free to post FreeScan questions there (and make it easy for Assaf and others to spot it - be sure to say 'FreeScan' in the title of your question)

That should be enough to convince you to get something cold to drink - you're going to need it :D

HTH...Mike
 
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safetyobc

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Toocool

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I now have a massive headache! Following ka3jjz instruction the one site in my area is Norman. Using Freescan import from radioref, select Arkansas, Montgomery Co, and AWINS. Norman does not appear under sites and groups. If I roll my cursor down the lists and sites and groups I find Ktroop in High Peak, Jack Mountain, Mountain Pine and Tall Peak. The trunk freq listed for the 4 sites are all differerent. I down loaded High Peak and I get K troop traffic but don't how who it is. Also some of the audio will drop in and out while the scanner stays locked on the the freq. Is this a know issue.?
 
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