BCD396T won't pick up hardly anything

[jscott488]

Got it Saturday. Been trying to get it figured out. I am picking up stuff like Blue Springs PD, Independence MO Fire, Eastern Jackson Co......

It won't pick up anything else. Nothing from Kansas City, Clay County, Platte, etc...

I imported the list straight from RR into Freescan. I've done it several ways, including leaving the list bone stock, completely untouched as far as locking unwanted stuff out. I've taken it in the truck with me, thinking maybe it was a signal issue. Still nothing.

What am I missing?

 

[rwier]

Got it Saturday. Been trying to get it figured out. I am picking up stuff like Blue Springs PD, Independence MO Fire, Eastern Jackson Co......

It won't pick up anything else. Nothing from Kansas City, Clay County, Platte, etc...

I imported the list straight from RR into Freescan. I've done it several ways, including leaving the list bone stock, completely untouched as far as locking unwanted stuff out. I've taken it in the truck with me, thinking maybe it was a signal issue. Still nothing.

What am I missing?

I no longer have a 396T and I have never used Freescan. I can only offer you encouragement. You have came to the right place. Most of all BE PATIENT. Members familiar with your scanner and your location will assist you when they see your question.

 

[mmckenna]

It's all about the antenna. You can spend all you want on scanners, but if you don't have a good antenna, it's not going to do you any good.

Not being familiar with your area, take this with a grain of salt:
At home, you need an antenna outside your home and up as high as you can safely get it. Connected with good quality coaxial cable to your radio. Since VHF and UHF mostly work by line of site, the higher your antenna is, the farther off your radio horizon is.

Same with your truck. Inside a steel cab, tinted windows, lots of electronics, it's radio hell. An external antenna outside the truck, preferably mounted on top of the cab, will do wonders.

 

[talkpair]

Keep in mind that not all talk groups will be broadcast over every subsection of the MARRS system.

For example, you won't hear Platte county sheriff over the Cass county simulcast site.

From the looks at what you 'are' receiving, I'd say the radio is locked in on the East Jackson county site.

 

[scannerowner]

I confirm with Talkpair. If you program in the KC Simulcast "Site" you'll hear everything, except Cass County.

 

[jscott488]

I have tried multiple different programming configurations. The scanner will not pick up anything that I hear over the live broadcast from RR (broadcastify). If I'm hearing this, they are not encrypted unless I'm misunderstanding this, and someone with an encrypted radio is streaming.

Tried the different sites in different systems. Tried control channels only, which give the exact same result as programming the groups with the IDs.

Antenna is on roof of house in area of I-70 and Noland in Independence at about 20' AGL. Full signal strength on display. Nearest tower is 1.18 miles as the crow flies, with the FCC license stating antenna is around 50' AGL. I cannot imagine a scenario where signal strength is an issue.

MSHP Troop A comes in fine through both MoSwin and Kansas City MO simulcast. Blue Springs PD shows up.

On the Platte County site only, I hear stuff on KCMO PD Center, East, and North, but whatever it is doesn't match whats coming over broadcastify, which won't shut up with KCMO IDs and what sounds like normal PD dispatch traffic.

I've been a ham for 19 years. I have been programming radios for over 10 years. I admit I'm brand new to this system, but I still feel like an idiot.

 

[AB5ID]

You might try putting the scanner on search ID mode on a p25 system. Manually create a site with a single control Channel with the scanner in search mode.
Here is an easy to read online reference guide http://marksscanners.com/396/396.shtml#scanning

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

 

[ko6jw_2]

You need to make sure that the 396T has the latest firmware since this is what enables it to monitor re-banded systems. The latest and last update is 3.02.02. Press menu, settings, see scanner info and firmware version. Should show as above. If not it needs to be updated. Frescan has not been updated for some time, but should still work.

After checking the firmware, then follow some of the advice above regarding antennas etc.

 

[scannerowner]

It also could be that there's a delay on the audio feed, or it's other traffic you aren't scanning.

 

[ko6jw_2]

Some systems in the MO area are using P25 Phase II. The 396T can only receive Phase I.