billsimpson771 said:
]i didnt say that either radio was good or bad- gre makes an excellent receiver. the uniden radios can do real time scanning with software (scancat etc) but the radio shack radios cannot. i think its something radio shack left out. the point is-if you have no talkgroups at all, the uniden radios can (with software ) find talkgroups real fast by just listening to the data channel -with the radio shack radios, i beleive you have to enter the talk groups manually ( although i dont know if it can automaticlly store them).
You can only find the talkgroups as fast as they come up in the data channel on any radio/computer combination. But be realistic, if you have a handheld radio do you want to hook up and drag a laptop around with you to find new talkgroups? The PRO-96 in real life and from this users experience wins hands down compared to the BC296D handheld, or for that matter any other ‘scanner type’ radio I have had owned or used before. It is a CLASSIC in its class!
A PRO-96 can do things you must have a computer for if you have any other type of scanner!
But let’s skip ahead to the issue of finding new talkgroups. I am going to describe the operation of both digital radios from a user’s perspective and you be the judge of which is better. OK?
FINDING A NEW TALKGROUP
Step One – SET MODE
BC-296D (also 250D, 785D and 796D)
Place the whole radio in ID SEARCH MODE (this applies to all 10 banks at once and all 1000 channels).
Hit SCAN. As the radio hears a talkgroup in each trunking system it displays either the text tag if the ID was stored or the word NEW. You hear the traffic on that talkgroup. If you desire you can hit lockout and that talkgroup goes away dumped in a lockout list never to be heard again until the lockout list is full or the list is cleared.
PRO-96
Set the bank to OPEN MODE. That is the one with the little plus sign under the bank number which means logically you wish to add to this bank’s trunking ID list new talkgroups. This setting applies to each BANK not to the whole radio at once! That means you can scan one or more trunking systems in what Uniden calls ID SCAN MODE (PRO-96 it is CLOSED MODE) while also searching for new talkgroups in one or more banks in OPEN MODE.
The user benefits are enormous with the PRO-96. You can monitor a busy trunking system using only the desired talkgroups you have in your known talkgroup list while at the same time SEARCHING for new talkgroups in one or more less active trunking systems that you are interested in.
STORING A NEW FOUND ID.
BC-296D (also 250D, 785D and 796D)
This sequence is so bizarre compared to the PRO-96, I am going to paste the instructions actually found in the Uniden manual.
--
59
Storing Found Talkgroups
While you are ID Searching (see “Searching for Active
Talkgroups”), you can quickly store an active talkgroup ID into
an ID memory.
1. While the scanner is receiving the talkgroup, press
HOLD/MAN to hold on that talkgroup.
2. Press TRNSFR. The scanner displays the lowest
numbered empty ID group memory.
3. Use the scroll bar to select the memory you want to store
the ID into, then press E.
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A Total of FOUR STEPS (two steps in 3) to store one new lousy talkgroup ID! That includes the need to scroll to a new memory location in the 100 slot ID list to store your found talkgroup in. Forget to select a new location in the trunk list in and you write over the last one you stored, losing it! That has bitten me more than once! (IMHO really DUMB features UNIDEN!)
PRO-96
Press
TRUNK key while the talkgroup is active.
That is it!
Which is easier? Can you now begin to discern why many who know how the PRO-96 works literally begin laughing to them selves every time some poor individual says the Uniden Digital scanner is easier to operate?
BTW how do you know if the talkgroup is new on the PRO-96? If the talkgroup has been stored it will either have your text tag or a default text tag assigned to it which looks like this. “ID:talkgroup number”. If the scanner has found a new ID it displays “MOT:talkgroup number”. If you hit TRUNK by mistake it will not auto store the same ID all over again but the display will briefly say “ID was found.”
If you actually stored a new ID when you hit TRUNK the PRO-96 briefly acknowledges this with “ID Stored” You can store up to 150 found IDs in each ID list, 50% more than the Uniden Digital does.
Which would you rather have, 150 talkgroups for each bank you trunktrack and the words ‘Radio Shack’ in small print on the front of your scanner or one third less talkgroup capacity for each bank you trunktrack? If the words Radio Shack bother you just take some silver paint and blot them out!
FINDING NEW TALKGROUPS RAPIDLY
BC-296D (also 250D, 785D and 796D)
It can’t be done without a computer attached to the Uniden DIGITAL scanner!
This is where programs like TRUNKER or Andy’s Spreadsheet are nice to have. But you no longer have a nice portable handheld you can slip in your pocket while finding talkgroups rapidly, you have a cumbersome setup with power wires and data cables. Yuck! I know, I remember carrying all this crap into the motel and then worrying if some maid or flunky would rip it all off while I was at dinner!
There is one mode where you can look at the talkgroups as they flash by on a trunking system but you can’t do anything other than that, not even hear them on both scanners. On the Uniden it works like this.
To see all of the ID’s that are active on the system, while monitoring a trunked system press TRUNK. The scanner stops trunking the system and instead holds on the system’s control channel. You hear the control data and the scanner displays every talkgroup ID as it becomes active in the system. To resume trunktracking, press TRUNK again.
PRO-96
It is laughably easy with the PRO-96 even with out a computer. You have two choices. Just watch the screen and every time you see MOT appear – hit TRUNK and see “Id Stored” You can listen to all the trunk traffic this way as you find more and more new talkgroups.
The second way is far faster using another design trick in the PRO-96. When you hear a talkgroup, press LOCKOUT, the talkgroup is auto tagged, stored in your ID list and for the time being locked out. You don’t even have to look at the display. You can be driving or reading a book. Just press the key anytime you hear something. Before you know it you have stored all the active talkgroups!
This is great when coming upon a very active system you know nothing about and all you want to do is find new talkgroups.
Either method works while eating dinner as I can take the little handheld 96 with me. It drops nicely into my pocket or inside my jacket.
I like method one better because I like to tag talkgroups as soon as I realize what they are being used for. That is another simple task using the keyboard on the PRO-96.
CONCLUSION
That is more than enough for now. Ponder the above when someone who hasn’t used both families of scanners and who is not proficient with them both, insists the Uniden Digital is the easier scanner to use.
TIP
Step 1
Here is a tip if you really want to see for yourself. Buy a PRO-96 and play with it for 28 days. Figure out how it works and how to make it work for you. Read all the tips you can find on the web. Download Win96 and try it. At the end of 28 days take it back and get a refund from Radio Shack.
Step 2
Then go looking for a Uniden Digital Scanner, see if they will give you the same customer satisfaction deal or your money back. When you find it buy and try the Uniden Digital scanner the same way.
Don’t try to figure out both scanners at the same time. That is too much for most people. That way you will not be mislead by BS but you will know you have found the perfect unit for your own particular needs. There are many happy campers who are delighted with the Uniden Digital products.
They probably never performed step one.
ki4je
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