BCD396XT QUESTION

[Bassin13]

Hey,i'm new to this forum & this scanner. I will be getting it tomorrow but did have a quesion on if you will be able to scan by Alpha Tags? I plan on downloading the city database from RR and would like to only listen to certain divisions of the LMPD. I may be putting the horse before the cart as to not having it programmed yet.
Thanks

 

[ka3jjz]

No; you scan a trunked system only by talkgroups. You would need to build a few group(s) to cover the divisions you want to hear, if your system is set up that way, and scan using ID Scan mode.

Mike

 

[UPMan]

Well, I'm not as sure of the OP's question. Bassin13: What do you mean by "scan by Alpha Tags." Do you mean can you put alpha tags on your channels and see those instead of the TGID # (or frequency)? If so, the answer is "yes."

 

[Ronaldski]

I believe you dont mean by alpha tags, but by talkgroups. I feel what you just want to do is listen to certain areas. Easiest is to just get everything then go one by one and lockout what you dont want, or as the radio is scanning, if an undesired comes up, just hit the L/O button for temporary or push twice quickly to lockout permanently. Temporary means that talkgroup will be re-enabled upon shutting the radio off then upon starting it up. Permanent means you will have to go into the system and unlock it.
Look at this re-written manual Easier to Read BCD396XT Digital Scanner Manual
or look at the manual on the cd.

Also do a search on this site as there are a lot of thread questions for the radio or the desktop equivalent 996XT.

 

[Bassin13]

BCD396XT Queston

Thanks - things sure have changed since banks & channels. I'm sure it will be a long night. I will take a look at the link. The more I read the, the more questions come to mind. Thanks again.

 

[wtp]

fast hit

if you hear a group you don't want to hear, you have to hit lockout twice fast. if you hit it once or too slow then after a power cycle (off then on) it will be back,once is temporary twice is full time.
also the group can be brought back by typing the group and hitting lockout to unlock it.

 

[Bassin13]

Got the radio today and up an scanning. A little disappointed in the audio, some plain and some not. Will a external speaker help. This is the BCD996XT. Thanks for the links on the easy read manual.

 

[lep]

. A little disappointed in the audio, some plain and some not. Will a external speaker help. This is the BCD996XT. .

I use a surplus MOT #HSN 4023B bought at a flea marekt like new for $5. this is NOT an amplified speaker but the 996XT has more than adequate drive power, I normally put the VOL level at 10.

 

[W8RMH]

Got the radio today and up an scanning. A little disappointed in the audio, some plain and some not. Will a external speaker help. This is the BCD996XT. Thanks for the links on the easy read manual.

"Some plain and some not"? Are you referring to the digital audio decoding? If so a speaker will not help.

I highly recommend an 800 MHz. antenna. The better you receive a P25 system the better it sounds.

Also be sure the scanner has the latest firmware update which greatly improves P25.

http://forums.radioreference.com/un...996xt-v1-07-03-firmware-update-available.html

 

[ofd8001]

The MetroSafe system that you are listening to for LMPD, is a simulcast system. Because you are probably receiving a couple of sites at the same time, your scanner is having trouble with the decoding the multiple signals and you get some garble. (There's lots of posts on this subject elsewhere).

At the risk of confusing a new scanner user, let me offer up a suggestion to try.

You can adjust the P25 Adjust Mode and P25 Adjust Level which may improve things. To do so, turn the scanner off. Then while holding down the "HOLD/RESUME" button, power the scanner back up. Go to SETTINGS>P25 ADJUST MODE. Change the number to 13 and hit enter. Then go to P25 ADJUST LEVEL and change that number to 175. (Probably wouldn't hurt to note the original settings just in case these new values don't make things better and you need to return to the default.)

I listen to the MetroSafe system regularly. Out in my part of the county, the 13 and 175 values seem to give me the least amount of "garble", though there is still some present.

You may also wish to check which firmware version your scanner has. If it isn't the 1.07.03 version listed toward the top of the Uniden forum, you may wish to download the 1.07.03. (I found the 1.07.03 version made some improvement on the MetroSafe system, but not nearly as much as the 396XT firmware update did on the same system).

An external speaker will not improve the audio. I've got my fingers crossed that Uniden will come up with another firmware update that will make the 996XT sound as good on simulcast systems as the firmware they did for the 396XT.

It's also worth noting for the benefit of the new scanner user that a number of police talkgroups (LMPD and others) are encrypted and your scanner won't receive them. These are noted by an "E" in the Mode section of the RR database. There are a couple of different encryption systems in use (I won't confuse you with more on this). Depending on which is used, your scanner may stop on a talkgroup and you'll hear some weird sounds - nothing intelligible.

 

[Bassin13]

"Some plain and some not"? Are you referring to the digital audio decoding? If so a speaker will not help.

I highly recommend an 800 MHz. antenna. The better you receive a P25 system the better it sounds.

Also be sure the scanner has the latest firmware update which greatly improves P25.

http://forums.radioreference.com/un...996xt-v1-07-03-firmware-update-available.html

Yes it's digital decoding. Just bought the radio new, wouldn't it have the updated firmware?

 

[captclint]

Yes it's digital decoding. Just bought the radio new, wouldn't it have the updated firmware?

Definitely NOT

 

[W5RGP]

Definitely NOT

My new 996xt had newest firmware out of the box

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