BC296D: BC296D still not trunktracking after firmware update

DVINTHEHOUSEMAN

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I ended up with a programming cable for my BC296D and I upgraded the firmware to 3.6 and the card to 1.3. I'm unsure if there's any updates after it, but it still refuses to decode bandplan information from WISCOM's control channel. I don't know if it's because it's multi-block or if the update I installed wasn't new enough. It also won't accept an offset below 380, so that either was an issue that was never fixed or I don't have the firmware revision I need.

It decodes the MPSCS just fine, but it doesn't require bandplan information for 800 systems.
 

KevinC

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No experience with this, but I believe multi-block was way after the 296 era.
 

DVINTHEHOUSEMAN

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Both Ashland and Bayfield county's towers.

Also, the BC296 recognizes voice grants even with multi-block, it just doesn't have/refuses to accept the information it needs to get to the correct voice channel.
 
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tvengr

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I recall having to enter a band plan on a BC796D for a P25 UHF T-Band system in my area. The RR database listed the band plan for the system. I would assume that is also necessary for a P25 VHF system. I have seen other reports that the band plan is not necessary for P25 systems. I am just speaking from my own experience.
 

DVINTHEHOUSEMAN

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The problem with the bandplan is the offset can only be as low as 380 and as high as 749(?), not 0. Otherwise, it would be able to trunk just fine since it detects channel grants and TG information. The bandplan can't be entered correctly, and it doesn't download from the control channel. I'm unsure if there's newer firmware after the 3.6 update, and if there is, I'm unsure where to find it.
 

tvengr

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You have the latest firmware for the scanner and digital card. The last scanner firmware update enabled the use of rebanded frequencies. The last firmware update for the card eliminated the frequent card error problems. We had several BC796D.s in our newsroom. I inherited them after we updated to newer scanners. I have one of my own as well.
 

KevinC

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The band plan isn’t really used in multi-block system channel assignments. We’d need to know for sure if the 296 supports multi-block or not. I “suspect” it doesn’t, but that’s just a guess.

UPMan would know, but unfortunately he can’t answer.
 

DVINTHEHOUSEMAN

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I figured out what it's doing, it thinks the input frequency for the channel grant is the output and it switches to that instead of the output frequency. It is the correct input for the output it's trying to get to however.

It's probably something that could be fixed, but that would likely require toying with the firmware, and I don't think anyone has access to the source code or has reverse engineered it.
 

KevinC

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I figured out what it's doing, it thinks the input frequency for the channel grant is the output and it switches to that instead of the output frequency. It is the correct input for the output it's trying to get to however.

It's probably something that could be fixed, but that would likely require toying with the firmware, and I don't think anyone has access to the source code or has reverse engineered it.

So it doesn’t under multi-block messages.
 
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