ARC996T beta

[mancow]

I will try to recreate it but it's one of those things that you don't realize until it happens. I didn't keep track of every step of the procedure because, of course, I didn't know it was going to happen.

From what I recall I had both programs open. I read the 396 and did some editing. I opened 996 and read the radio. I deleted all the preprogrammed stuff except the nationwide system. I did some on-line downloading of trunked and conventional systems then I started cutting and pasting from 396 to 996.
I would click the top of the freq. and label columns so they would all turn blue then use the right click to copy it. I did the same to paste it back to the 996 fields.

When I was satisfied with it I unplugged the 396 and plugged in the 996. I told it to clear the radio completely then load all the systems from the 996 program.

When I was done things didn't seem quite right. I read the 996 again and stuff was strewn all over the place. There were frequencies in the label fields and vice versa.

The data seemed to be offset in a pattern with blanks across the fields like this

------**********
---------- **********
---------------**********
-------**********
-----------**********
----------------**********


I know it's not alot but it's the best I can recall.

 

[Butelsoftware]

mancow, please contact us by email,

Gommert
www.butelsoftware.com

 

[Woodie]

I purchased this software a week ago and some new versions have been released. Where do I down load these new versions?

Cheers

 

[Butelsoftware]

Goto www.butelsoftware.com and select 'downloads' section.

Gommert
www.butelsoftware.com

 

[Woodie]

Goto www.butelsoftware.com and select 'downloads' section.

Gommert
www.butelsoftware.com

I did this. The version I get is .092. I though there was later versions.

Cheers

 

[JASII]

V 0.920

Gommert (and the group),

I am using the Version 0.920 and I cannot save more than 200 conventional channels in a group. The software appears to let me save 250, but when I read it back only 200 are saved.

Another issue is with Easy Fill. When I select 7.50 steps it does not fill correctly.

 

[Butelsoftware]

The software appears to let me save 250, but when I read it back only 200 are saved.

Another issue is with Easy Fill. When I select 7.50 steps it does not fill correctly.

I will fix the channel problem so 250 channels are saved.
Easyfill checks if the calculated freq is valid. If not it will be rounded.

Gommert
www.butelsoftware.com

 

[JASII]

Conventional Searching/Scanning Routine with PL/DPL Enabled

Now I know most people probably get the BC996D for trunking, BUT I still rather enjoy listening to old fashioned analog conventional channels. Anyway, back when I still had the BC796 I started this routine and now I am trying this with the BC996. I liked to have the BC796 doing some snooping for me under Butel ARC250 Pro computer control. Then when I returned home I could check the history log for activity. I have done this two different ways.

The first way was to load up a number of frequency and PL/DPL combinations and just scan them. With the BC796 and its 1000 channel capacity I was only able to program 7 different frequencies with all of the possible PL/DPL combinations that the BC796 had to choose from. I would be at work and come home later to find which frequencies and tones had been active. I actually found several new frequencies that I was totally unaware of this way. The bad thing about doing it this way is that when a frequency has a transmission on it. Say 155.8800 mHz with PL 162.2 hZ. If the radio is on 67.0 hZ, it would take a little while to get up to the active PL of 162.2. Now at this point you might be thinking, gee why go that route when the radio has a PL/DPL search function. I have had the experience that the BC796 PL/DPL search was slow. Also, by listening in the carrier squelch mode over such a wide swath of frequencies, the possibility of hearing mixing, intermodulation, front end overload, etc. was pretty good. By using the above method I seemed to get pretty much just legitimate active channels.

The second way that I started doing a similar routine with the BC796 was using the chain search function with the PL/DPL decoder on. I was able to search 10 different frequency ranges. One shortcoming was that only ONE PL/DPL could be selected for ALL frequency ranges. In some respects this was a more effective way of searching the airwaves because when a given frequency was active, the radio slowed slightly to determine if it was matching the correct PL/DPL or not and then scanned on if not the correct PL/DPL. I tried to keep records, of course, of the active frequencies that were found.

Now fast forward to the BC996. As near as I can determine now, there is no way to do a chain search with PL/DPL enabled on the BC996. The PL/DPL search is possible, but I haven't figured out a way to select just one. Anyway, the BC996 was such a large channel capacity that I am essentially doing the same thing by scanning. Right now I have almost 6000 conventional channels programmed with PL 131.8 hZ to try this routine. Since there are a number of local frequencies using that PL it didn't take long to get activity. I also have experimented with the channel delay, attenuator on or off, etc. You may also want to lock out known active frequencies to continue searching for the more elusive ones.

Anyway, if anyone is interested in finding new frequencies, I would encourage you to try this method. If you have the BCD996T and are using the Butel ARC996, why not put that computer and scanner to work for you while you are sleeping or at work. The other fun thing can be to just scan through your known hits and try to determine the user. For example, I have about 1000 frequencies with PL/DPL that have been heard from my monitoring post. When I hear a channel active, I put the frequency in an FCC Location/Frequency Range Query with my location as the center of the radius. I them review the licensed users to see who the likely user is.

 

[JASII]

History Log

Since I have been using the ARC996 Beta I have noticed that even when you close the program, reboot the computer, and re-start the ARC996 that the History Log saves the data. Today, however, when I re-booted the old History Log data was gone. I can't seem to find any settings that I changed. The ARC250, on the other hand, seemed to clear the History Log every time the program was closed.

Also, has anybody used the Log To File feature? How well does it work.

I would also like to cut and paste frequencies from the History Log. I haven't been able to do this in the past. Does anybody know if there is a work-around for this?

 

[JASII]

Gommert,

I have noticed that if a conventional frequency is programmed with a PL or DPL, that PL or DPL does not display when in the manual mode and no signal is being received. The actual radio, on the other hand, does display the subtone. Is there any chance hat this could be added in a further upgrade?

 

[JASII]

ARC996 Lockouts

I am trying to determine with the ARC996 software is it is able to distinguish between Temporary Lockout and Permanent Lockout. I suspect that anytime lockout is selected in the software it is permanent. Does anybody know for certain?

 

[blueline_308]

I am wondering if this software, that many of us have allready paid for, will ever make it out of BETA stage and be a full release. How much playing around does a programer need before they get it right? Is the 996 THAT much different than the 396 from a software standpoint?