BCD396XT Stopped Broadcasting

[Harvester]

Hi guys, let me start off by saying i am very new to this scanner and still learning....so my problem is, earlier I was listening to my scanner and my battery symbol started flashing so I took out my batteries and charged them up, no big deal. After replacing batteries, I turned on the scanner and inputed my normal channels that i listen to but no sound, meaning I cant hear any of my programmed stations. I have lots of battery power, all the beeps and sounds work when you turn the volume up and down so I know my speaker is fine but just keeps scanning all my channels but nothing is broadcasting?? I did fiddle around with the cc feature but I have since turned this off.

The only thing I see different is where it use to say "nothing to scan"... before I picked a couple of channels to scan, it now always says "close call" and the word scan scrolls across the bottom even though I do have it turned off because the logo is not in the bottom right corner of the screen. I feel that I must have shut something off or changed a setting inadvertantly when I was fiddling with it prior to replacing the batteries. I am lost at what happened. I really don't want to do a factory reset as I dont know how to program all my channels as I had bought it pre programmed.

So I am hoping and praying that someone can help direct me in the right direction on resolving my issue, and also go easy with me as I am a complete noob.

Thanks

 

[ofd8001]

The factory/hard re-set is a "nuclear option". It should only be used if things are so messed up you have no where else to turn and your programming is stored on a computer for retrieval (which you probably do not have).

First thing comes to mind is that you may be pressed a system quick key which may have toggled off the system you had been receiving. Without knowing how your scanner is programmed, I can't tell you which button is the "culprit". You could try pressing 0-9, one at a time, to see if that fixes the issue.

Are you not able to recharge batteries by simply plugging in the "wall wart"? That should alleviate the need for battery removal.

You may wish to consider getting Freescan and trying your hand at programming. While daunting at first, most folks get it figured out. Once you get that going, you'll probably be very happy you did. To get started in programming, there are are several You Tube vidoes that are quite informative.

 

[teufler]

Sent you a pm message.

 

[teufler]

OH YOU SHOULD REVIEW THIS TOO. Bet when you laid the radio face down, and inserted batteries you heard a beep when you were putting the batteries in or the cover back on. Radio got programmed by touching the surface while face down. The close call setting are covered very good in this manual.
Easier to Read BCD396XT Digital Scanner Manual
this is your new bedtime story. Anything youi want to know, should know, and have forgot but need to find again, you will see it in this.

 

[scanman1958]

With the nothing to scan note on your screen you somehow turned off the system you had programmed with what you want to hear. If you know that system number turn it back on and you should be ok.

 

[davepm]

Maybe a problem could be that Peel region went P25 phase 2. Are you trying to hear police, fire and ems?

 

[Harvester]

Maybe a problem could be that Peel region went P25 phase 2. Are you trying to hear police, fire and ems?

Yes I am but I mainly listen to opp Toronto and Mississauga. Seems strange that they would have changed right after I changed my batteries in 1 hour? but anything is possible.

thanks for your response

 

[Harvester]

With the nothing to scan note on your screen you somehow turned off the system you had programmed with what you want to hear. If you know that system number turn it back on and you should be ok.

It shows all the programmed channels being scanned, just no sound. I have been going through everything but just cant figure out how to turn everything back on.

Thanks for your help

 

[Harvester]

The factory/hard re-set is a "nuclear option". It should only be used if things are so messed up you have no where else to turn and your programming is stored on a computer for retrieval (which you probably do not have).

First thing comes to mind is that you may be pressed a system quick key which may have toggled off the system you had been receiving. Without knowing how your scanner is programmed, I can't tell you which button is the "culprit". You could try pressing 0-9, one at a time, to see if that fixes the issue.

Are you not able to recharge batteries by simply plugging in the "wall wart"? That should alleviate the need for battery removal.

You may wish to consider getting Freescan and trying your hand at programming. While daunting at first, most folks get it figured out. Once you get that going, you'll probably be very happy you did. To get started in programming, there are are several You Tube vidoes that are quite informative.

Yes I am going to try this this software and see if it will help.

Thank you for your help

 

[Harvester]

Sent you a pm message.

Hi, thank you for your suggestion I am going to download this software and try what you said. Afterwards I will send you my email.

Thank you for your help

 

[ofd8001]

You being in Canada is somewhat of a "wild card". Ordinarily I would have suggested a weather service scan to see if anything is received and heard through the speaker.

 

[Harvester]

Yes I tried that and still get nothing also my cc isn"t even working now as I have a 2 way radio that I use to use to catch the frequencies off of but now thats not even working. something is really screwwy

 

[ofd8001]

If you are saying that 2 way radio isn't receiving either, then there are some external influences at play.

Whether the system you are listening to is off the air, or perhaps something around your scanner and radio is generating RF and desensitizing both should be considered. I suspect the de-sense as weather isn't being received.

 

[Harvester]

No my scanner wont pick up my 2 way radios

 

[teufler]

watch how close you get to the scanner if you are keying up two way radios near the scanner. You do not want to overload the receiver. Are you seeing any bars on the upper right corner of the scanner, while it scanns through the frequencies. They have been reports that the external speaker jack got screwed up and muted the radio. Also to see if the radio generates noise, press the left top button, on the left side, then press the volumne knob, and then turn squelch to 0'. If you got noise, then the speaker is working so that can be ruled out.

 

[Harvester]

watch how close you get to the scanner if you are keying up two way radios near the scanner. You do not want to overload the receiver. Are you seeing any bars on the upper right corner of the scanner, while it scanns through the frequencies. They have been reports that the external speaker jack got screwed up and muted the radio. Also to see if the radio generates noise, press the left top button, on the left side, then press the volumne knob, and then turn squelch to 0'. If you got noise, then the speaker is working so that can be ruled out.

Yes I have verified that my speaker is working, for some reason the 1 close call that is stored in the scanner still works but I only hear from that frequency when I'm at work as it is a 2 way radio frequency as well.

 

[Harvester]

Also, no I'm not seeing any bars in the upper right corner and now that I think about it there use to be??

 

[W6KRU]

If you keyed up a transmitter with it's antenna near the antenna of the scanner, you could have damaged the scanners receiver even if it wasn't powered on.

 

[Harvester]

This all started after replacing the batteries, I also plugged it into a wall socket minus the batteries same result.

 

[XTS3000]

Try and tune in a weather frequency 162.xxx. Do you receive it?

A friend blew out the front end of his 396xt (or for DDan 396XT...lol). It cost him somewhere around $60 for Uniden to fix it because it was out of warranty. He's happy with the repair and service from Uniden. Took 3 weeks in total.