Anyone using the BCD396XT for NASCAR??

[Rastaman147]

Not really a tech support question, but this looks like the closest sub-forum......

Anyway, I'd like to know if anyone has any tips for organizing the frequencies. I am kind of thinking the only practical way to organize 40 - 50 channels would be to have a separate system for each one.

For the most part, I would only be listening to 1 or 2 teams, but I would want to be able to quickly toggle on any one of the other teams if something interesting was going on with that team ( a pit-stop, battle for position, wreck, etc). In no cases would I want to be listening to more than 2 or three frequencies at the same time.

Also wondering if there is a way to listen to the TV broadcast frequency primarily, but interrupt it if there is any activity on a team frequency -- Would scanning the TV broadcast frequency and my favorite team with the team frequency set as a priority channel accomplish this? The TV broadcast frequency would be transmitting 100% of the time during the race.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Quiet1]

Rastaman147,

I have used my 396XT at Indycar events in Baltimore and Pocono the past several years.

Here is how I set up my scanner so I can quickly access each driver via SQK or GQK.

I created several Systems

Indycar Officials[SQK 81]
Indycar Media [SQK 82]
Indycar 0 - 9 [SQK 90]
Indycar 10 - 19 [SQK 91]
Indycar 20 - 29 [SQK 92]
Indycar 30 - 39 [SQK 93]
Indycar 40 - 49 [SQK 94]
Indycar 50 - 59 [SQK 95]
Indycar 60 - 69 [SQK 96]
Indycar 70 - 79 [SQK 97]
Indycar 80 - 89 [SQK 98]
Indycar 90 - 99 [SQK 99]

Then under each System I would create 10 Groups representing the car number.

So under System
Indycar 0 - 9
Car #1 [GRP 1]
Car #2 [GRP 2]
.
.
Car #9 [GRP 9]
Car #0 [GRP 0]

Indycar 10 - 19
Car #11 [GRP 1]
Car #12 [GRP 2]
.
.
Car #19 [GRP 9]
Car #10 [GRP 0]

... and so on.

Then each group would contain all the frequencies for that driver over the season. I add them as the season goes on as new ones are added. I think Nascar is a little more stable on the frequencies they use.

Indycar Officials[SQK 81]

Officials [GRP 1]

Indycar Media [SQK 82]

Radio [GRP 1]
TV [GRP 2]
PA [GRP 3]

This seams to work ok although I do have to practice before hand to remember how to switch Systems and Groups quickly.

You can set up the channels as priority and listen to MRN but you will hear interruptions in the MRN broadcast as the scanner checks for the priority frequencies. Most people recommend backfeeding a second radio set for MRN to your headphones.

Let me know if you have any questions.

--
Mark

 

[Rastaman147]

Thanks, Mark -

I think your setup might work well for what I want to do. A couple questions:

1. I haven't quite wrapped my mind around the group quick key usage. I've had my scanner for about a year now, and since my scanning interests are very basic ( I have about 15 systems, and only listen to 2 or 3 regularly), I have programmed group quick keys for all my groups, (to set them up "properly") but I don't use them -- I use the system quick keys exclusively.

There are only 9 group quick keys -- Does toggling a group quick key #4 turn off group #4 only for the system the scanner is currently scanning, or does it toggle all group #4s in all systems? Since the scanner goes through systems so rapidly, it would be difficult/impossible to toggle a group for a specific system on the fly, so I would need to pause the scanner and use the selector knob to cycle through all the systems/groups to get to the one group I want to toggle. If I am understanding this correctly, this would be a huge PIA while I am trying to watch a race.

2. Using the system# for the first digit of the car# and the group# for the second digit sounds like an excellent way to immediately know where a car is in your system, eliminating the need for a printed cheat sheet, except for the problem I mentioned above in #1. What is your physical step-by-step procedure for toggling a particular car during a race?

3. Do you backfeed a second radio to listen to the broadcast, or do you just switch between the broadcast and your teams? I am trying out the priority channel method now by listening to a weather frequency, with 5 or 6 other frequencies set to priority, but all I hear is the weather -- No interruptions that are discernible, but I am not hearing any transmissions from my priority channels, either, so maybe I'm doing something wrong.

4. What do you use for a headset? I read somewhere on scannermaster.com that the race headsets cannot \ should not be used with a regular scanner because the scanner output is too low. Did you modify your scanner, to increase the volume output?

Thanks again for the input -- Greatly appreciated!

 

[rhaasjr]

Some input from my experiences taking scanner to the races:

I find the easiest way to program the 396XT is to make a separate system for each driver and set the system quick key the same as their car number. So Gordon has SQK 24, Stewart is SQK 14, Dale Jr is SQK 88, and so on for every driver/team. For my favorite two or three drivers I set their frequencies as priority channels. I typically like to hear the pit road officials, so I will make the NASCAR official frequencies priority channels also. The 396XT allows a maximum of 99 priority channels, so there are plenty to use.

Make sure to go into the 396XT menu and look for the Set Priority option. Priority needs to be turned on and set the Priority Interval (I use 10 seconds for the interval). If you hold on a channel that is constantly active (such as the weather channel or the MRN broadcast) you should hear a short "pause" every 10 seconds while the scanner checks the priority channels for activity.

For the headset, I use one that has volume controls on the ear cups. This way I can set the scanner volume around half way and then fine tune the volume to a comfortable level using the volume control on the headset itself. I have never had to modify a scanner for listening at the races.

Hope this helps.

 

[Rastaman147]

Thanks, Rhaasjr -

I didn't know there was a separate setting to turn priority on and off - After turning it on, the priority channels do interrupt the weather broadcast, and if I try real hard, I can sort of hear the very brief pause when the scanner checks for activity on the priority channels. This would definitely be acceptable for keeping the scanner on the race broadcast and having my teams set as priority channels. Good deal.

I was hoping that Mark would stop back to explain how he toggles his groups quick keys on and off without pausing the scanner (or if anyone else knows how to this, please chime in.....), cause I would prefer to set my teams up the way he does....

The way you have a system quick key for each team with the sqk matching the car# sounds like it would be easier than the way I was going to do it, so that might work, too. Either way, I'm going to need to re-number my existing systems, which I'm not crazy about doing, especially since 99.99999% of the time, I won't be using the scanner for nascar.... I guess I could just set it up that way, save the entire system with freescan, put my original setup back in the scanner, then download the nascar setup when I go to a race.

Thanks again, all, for answering my questions! I'm confident that this scanner will work well for Nascar -- I can't wait to go to a race and try it out!

 

[JamesO]

Easier to Read BCD396XT Digital Scanner Manual

 

[garetgarrett]

Either way, I'm going to need to re-number my existing systems, which I'm not crazy about doing, especially since 99.99999% of the time, I won't be using the scanner for nascar.... I guess I could just set it up that way, save the entire system with freescan, put my original setup back in the scanner, then download the nascar setup when I go to a race.

Maybe you could use Startup keys for this? If you have enough memory for everything, you could "boot up" into either NASCAR or normal configuration.

 

[Quiet1]

Rastaman147,

Let me try to answer your questions,

1) Since the scanner is relatively new to you, I would highly recommend reading the Easier to Read BCD396XT Digital Scanner Manual online. It's a great reference page.

There are 10 GQK (0 - 9). Groups keys are specific to the system you are currently scanning. As you indicated, if the scan happens too quickly to catch it in the system you want to enable / disable the group key, you will have to put the scanner on HOLD and then scroll to the system you want and then enable / disable the group key. Yeah, it is inconvenient but that is how the scanner works. As for performing this during a race, it is not all that bad but I always have to review it before race weekend so I become efficient at it as I don't use it often during normal use of the scanner. I usually have SQK 0 - 9 for what I scan day to day so it is quick and easy.

I came up with this system as I could not find anyone doing something similar.

2) The sequence I go through is taken from the link I mentioned above. To enable / disable a particular car / driver while scanning, you have to perform the following:

"Press and hold Func to 'lock' Function mode. Scroll to the (enabled) system that contains the (enabled) group you want to turn on/off then press the corresponding number key(s). Press Func twice to 'unlock' Function mode and resume."

3) I see you figured out the Priority Scan. You will want to program all cars / drivers as Priority and MRN as non Priority. I see that you have it set to Priority set for 10 seconds. You may want to increase this because sometimes the transmissions are quick and you may miss it. But it does increase the interruptions. It is really what you can live with. I have not done the "backfeed" thing but I did see someone recently mention about using a second radio and using earbuds underneath there headphones. I thought that was an interesting idea.

4) I am using the Racing Electronics Platinum headset. I also have a stereo to mono adapter. The BCD396XT has a "stereo" output and the headphones are mono. If you use the headphones without this there is a volume reduction in the headphones. I did compare the volume with a standard pair of stereo headphones and the volume is the same with the stereo to mono adapter. There is no modification to the scanner at all.

I would love to use just earbuds but I don't think you will get the noise reduction anywhere near using headphones. I have seen on Racing Electronics they have "molded" earplugs but they are expensive and I did not want to chance buying them and not reducing noise enough for that price.

Additional:

1) Be sure to take spare batteries.
2) I also have a screen protector for the scanner to reduce glare. I can not remember where I got it from but I saw it mentioned recently in the forums. It worked very well for outdoor use.
3) I also have the Racing Stub antenna
4) I always buy a Frequency Sheet from Racing Electronics trailer to ensure I have the latest frequencies although last year they did have some frequencies incorrect (my buddy rented one of their scanners and we found discrepancies between the printed race sheet and the rented scanner). That is why I created groups for each car / driver so if they change to something different the team used in the past I have it already programmed and it does not take that much longer to scan it.
5) I have not played with the System Startup key. That might have some possibilities. I thought the same as you when designing it the way I did because I did not want to have to reprogram the scanner for the race versus day to day. I will have to investigate more.

 

[Rastaman147]

Thanks for replying back, Mark. Appreciate the tips, especially about the headset and mono adapter - I'll check out the platinum headset at Racing Electronics. Also for the tip about buying the frequency sheet. I will definitely be doing that -- It would suck to get to the track and find out your favorite driver's frequency changed....

WRT to the startup keys, unless I am totally missing something, this is an almost worthless feature IMO. After playing with it and realizing the shortcomings I ended up using it in a way that is not intended. The way I use the startup keys is to program every system in my scanner with the same startup key#, and in the event of an emergency, instead of doing the hold thing and scrolling through all my systems to see which ones are off and which ones are on, I can just restart the scanner with the startup key, and be assured that all of my systems are on. Then I can toggle off the ones I don't need.

Yeah, I know that's not the way you're supposed to use it, but unless you fly around the country and have completely different geographical setups, the startup keys are not practical. There are certain systems that I would always want on, and you can't use startup keys like that -- If they're on using a one startup key, they have to be off if you're using a different startup key. Just my opinion, and like I said, maybe I'm totally missing something, but I don't think so.

Anyway, thanks again for the input -- Really looking forward to taking my scanner to the track!

 

[skipfitz]

All:
Can all these freqs be input using the Freescan software?

Thanks