BCD325P2/BCD996P2: BCD996P2 programming there has to be a faster way...

[trevin8]

Hello all.
I just picked up a BCD996P2 that I will be using in some upcoming road rallies. I purchased the GPS unit to go with it Id like to be able to listen to Highway patrol, police and sheriffs as i pass through each county. I have scanpro and I have started working on a database to upload to my unit but it seems to be incredibly time consuming.
The other issue is states that have too many counties when i got to upload it gives me a warning about groups of 20 or more that its my max. Not sure how to break them apart.
I have successfully uploaded everything in my area and its working great but im a total noob.

Any hints or tricks here that i'm missing?

Thanks in advance.

 

[BC_Scan]

welcome to the world of programming a scanner, I feel the pain but it beats programming by hand , u are in the same boat that we all are, you could have saved a minute of time maybe with sentinel and a bcd536 as many things are allready in a database, but with that model you got to have patience . no other way, of course save your work then adding as needed becomes easier.
As i travel my province for work Im constanly adding to my two portables
good luck

 

[trevin8]

welcome to the world of programming a scanner, I feel the pain but it beats programming by hand , u are in the same boat that we all are, you could have saved a minute of time maybe with sentinel and a bcd536 as many things are allready in a database, but with that model you got to have patience . no other way, of course save your work then adding as needed becomes easier.
As i travel my province for work Im constanly adding to my two portables
good luck

Ok, well then that verifies it. Thank you for that. I guess just sitting down and making lists.
How about the grouping? How do i break them up so they are less than 20 if there are too many counties in one state? Cant seem to figure that out.

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

How about the grouping? How do i break them up so they are less than 20 if there are too many counties in one state? Cant seem to figure that out.

Are we talking conventional channels or a trunked radio system? What state? What counties? Welcome to the forums

 

[trevin8]

Are we talking conventional channels or a trunked radio system? What state? What county? Welcome to the forums

Howdy,
Happy to be here. I guess both conventional and trunked.
I want ALL states and ALL counties. I suppose i can build it out for the ones i will be passing through but I do a lot of driving. Realistically I probably should have just got the BCD436HP but I got a steal of a deal on this one. Its also forcing me to learn.
Ok, so i am making a list on ProScan that i can upload. Its been really time consuming. I thought it would be easier to just grab everything under the categories that would be meaningful for me. So for context in ProScan i was just going to "import"then RR and then selected "united states", then select a state lets say "Florida" since that's the one im currently looking at.
I select under "state sytems" "FL Department of Highway and safety and Motor vehicles" then "check all" and "import" then go to "state trunked systems" and select "statewide law enforcement radio systems" "check all" and "import"

Figure it would be easier to just grab everything but to my dismay as soon as i try to upload to the scanner I get errors that say "Arkasas wireless contains 131 channel groups Exceeded the limit of "20" and another about "1197 channels per trunking system exceeded the limit of 500"

(as info I was able to load my local municipalities just fine)

Ideally I'd like to be able to hear Highway patrol, local police and sherrifs.

I was thinking that with the GPS unit that i ordered it wouldn't matter how may counties i uploaded the gps will sort it out.

The other thing i was thinking was maybe I just upload my county and state and use it for around here and for my upcoming event i just use the "Close call" button and hear everything on the way?

 

[ProScan]

I would make a 2nd system with both systems containing the same sites but system #1 contains the 1st 20 groups and system #2 contains groups 21 - 40. If more than 40 groups then make a 3rd system.

Using ProScan is easy. I would start over and do this.
1. Import the system, Making sure all the sites and groups to be imported are checked.
2. After the system has been imported, duplicate the system by clicking on the system node to highlight it then click the Copy (menu item in Red) then click the Paste (menu item in Red). Now you should have a duplicate system.
3. Click the system #1 node and delete all the groups after the 20th.
4. Click the system #2 node and delete the 1st 20 groups.
5. I would go over all the database items such as renaming the 2nd system. Since you are using GPS, I would go to the Tools menu and click on Google Maps to see a visual representative of the locations of all the sites and groups.

6. Upload the database to the scanner.

{edit}

Figure it would be easier to just grab everything but to my dismay as soon as i try to upload to the scanner I get errors that say "Arkasas wireless contains 131 channel groups Exceeded the limit of "20" and another about "1197 channels per trunking system exceeded the limit of 500"

That's a scanner limitation.

 

[trevin8]

Ahhh. Thank you. Still extremely tedious but doable. I would think that someone would have this done and have posted the file. Once I'm done maybe i can share this file for others.

Is there a way to batch enable the GPS to "on"?

There still has to be a faster way haha.

 

[buddrousa]

An SDS100/200 or 436/536 which has the entire US Database would have been and is the better choice and they work with the GPS.

 

[trevin8]

An SDS100/200 or 436/536 which has the entire US Database would have been and is the better choice and they work with the GPS.

Yep I realize that now. Trying to make this work. I probably could have bought one with what i've spent in total on antennas, power adapters, GPS unit ect... was told this one was the bees knees so I went with it trying to save a buck.

 

[trevin8]

Is it a fuax pas to ask if anyone has a file that they have already put together nationwide highway patrol?

 

[ofd8001]

You could look into getting ProScan software and becoming a Premium RR member. That way you can download much, if not all, of the "stuff" you need.

You mentioned Florida. A lot of their radio systems are encrypted, so you might be out of luck there.

While decent scanners, the x96 line of scanners was not built to handle large statewide or even regional trunked systems because of memory limits. There are some work-arounds noted above, but they are no fun.

That's not to mention a potential dilemma with simulcast systems.

 

[trevin8]

You could look into getting ProScan software and becoming a Premium RR member. That way you can download much, if not all, of the "stuff" you need.

You mentioned Florida. A lot of their radio systems are encrypted, so you might be out of luck there.

While decent scanners, the x96 line of scanners was not built to handle large statewide or even regional trunked systems because of memory limits. There are some work-arounds noted above, but they are no fun.

That's not to mention a potential dilemma with simulcast systems.

I have ProScan and i am a Premium RR member for this reason. I am going through state by state. The issue im running into is i can grab all the data but say for example there is 30 counties in a state then its over the "20 group limit" likewise i think there is a 500 TGID limit per group as well.
I don't mind not having some states. Thats fine. Itll work where it works. Just seems like a TON of work to import then seperate it then test it one state at a time on my scanner then combining them then going on to the next state. Im getting through it slowly. Im creating files for each state so i can work through them individually then I will combine.
It might just be in my best interest to Load my state and then use the close call feature maybe?
Im looking at getting a SDS100 now. Thought i could save some money. I might make this scanner a base station for home or put it in my pickup.
The setup im trying to build is giong into a dedicated rally car. Primarily spending its time in the western side of the US. Luckily i think those will be the easier states to figure out.

 

[buddrousa]

It would be alot of work but you could do the US for your path in several different setups load them on a laptop take the laptop and do uploads for each area on the road. This is how we diehards have done it for years before the database scanners were built.

 

[trevin8]

It would be alot of work but you could do the US for your path in several different setups load them on a laptop take the laptop and do uploads for each area on the road. This is how we diehards have done it for years before the database scanners were built.

Thats a good idea. I think if i can just get Highway Patrol for each state id be happy and that shouldn't be too bad. Im still a tad confused on my group limit when uploading. Trying to figure out how to break them apart without copy pasting as suggested above. Again i think a SDS100 is in my future.

 

[trevin8]

I would make a 2nd system with both systems containing the same sites but system #1 contains the 1st 20 groups and system #2 contains groups 21 - 40. If more than 40 groups then make a 3rd system.

Using ProScan is easy. I would start over and do this.
1. Import the system, Making sure all the sites and groups to be imported are checked.
2. After the system has been imported, duplicate the system by clicking on the system node to highlight it then click the Copy (menu item in Red) then click the Paste (menu item in Red). Now you should have a duplicate system.
3. Click the system #1 node and delete all the groups after the 20th.
4. Click the system #2 node and delete the 1st 20 groups.
5. I would go over all the database items such as renaming the 2nd system. Since you are using GPS, I would go to the Tools menu and click on Google Maps to see a visual representative of the locations of all the sites and groups.

6. Upload the database to the scanner.

{edit}

That's a scanner limitation.

Is there anything wrong with just making for example "North Dakota" i just make 5 systems and call them North Dakota 1, North Dakota 2,3,4 and 5. Then grabbing the groups and dragging them to their new places. Does it really matter where they end up? Its the whole county.

 

[hiegtx]

Yep I realize that now. Trying to make this work. I probably could have bought one with what i've spent in total on antennas, power adapters, GPS unit ect... was told this one was the bees knees so I went with it trying to save a buck.

Much of what you purchased for the 996 would work on the SDS200 (or SDS100).

ProScan works on the SDS and x36HP series scanners as well as your 995P2.

Having the main database loaded on an SD Mini card would save you a lot of time programming multiple states. Use the main database, a range, selected service types and you’re good to go. But, you can also use ProScan to customize your lists if desired for certain areas.

If you bought the Uniden GPS kit, it has everything you need to connect the GPS to any of these scanners. If, instead, you bought the puck and a cable for the 996, that still works for the 536HP or SDS200, and (I could be mistaken) the 436HP as wel, The SDS100 needs a different cable, but there is one that lets you power both the scanner and GPS puck from the same power source, as well as connecting the SDS100 to the GPS.

Any antennas you bought would work in any of these scanners. You would need an SMA to BNC adapter for the SDS100 or 436HP, but that adapter comes with the scanners from Uniden.

Since your intended use is for a rally car, that likely would be go through (or near) a number of urban metro areas, you will be hitting simulcast system sites along the way. The x36HP scanners are marginally better than the P2 series in handling simulcast, but the SDS scanners are the best choice.

 

[hiegtx]

Thats a good idea. I think if i can just get Highway Patrol for each state id be happy and that shouldn't be too bad. Im still a tad confused on my group limit when uploading. Trying to figure out how to break them apart without copy pasting as suggested above. Again i think a SDS100 is in my future.

What ProScan (& the 996P2 scanner) calls ‘groups’ is the Departments listed for the system. For a state’s Highway Patrol, these are usually split up into a ‘department’ for each troop’s region. Such as “Troop A” or “Region”, with a listing of the various cities or counties, with the talk group (trunked system) or channel (frequency for non-trunked systems).

No reason you cannot use ProScan to drag and drop more than one department (group) to combine them and let you include more of them as long as you do not exceed the channel limit.

For the SDS and x36HP (database) scanners, your only limit is that a specific list cannot exceed a one megabyte size. But you can have up to 256 lists loaded. Of course, using the main database with location and range settings, you can just let location control handle things.

 

[trevin8]

Much of what you purchased for the 996 would work on the SDS200 (or SDS100).

ProScan works on the SDS and x36HP series scanners as well as your 995P2.

Having the main database loaded on an SD Mini card would save you a lot of time programming multiple states. Use the main database, a range, selected service types and you’re good to go. But, you can also use ProScan to customize your lists if desired for certain areas.

If you bought the Uniden GPS kit, it has everything you need to connect the GPS to any of these scanners. If, instead, you bought the puck and a cable for the 996, that still works for the 536HP or SDS200, and (I could be mistaken) the 436HP as wel, The SDS100 needs a different cable, but there is one that lets you power both the scanner and GPS puck from the same power source, as well as connecting the SDS100 to the GPS.

Any antennas you bought would work in any of these scanners. You would need an SMA to BNC adapter for the SDS100 or 436HP, but that adapter comes with the scanners from Uniden.

Since your intended use is for a rally car, that likely would be go through (or near) a number of urban metro areas, you will be hitting simulcast system sites along the way. The x36HP scanners are marginally better than the P2 series in handling simulcast, but the SDS scanners are the best choice.

Thank you for the reply. I bought the Uniden BC-SGPS Serial GPS adapter kit.
I'm getting through the states fairly quickly. It'll be a good setup for now for testing purposes in my state and a couple states over where I need to get fuel mileage averages and data built out for the car. Ill then retire the 996P2 to live in my pickup or the house. (if my wife will allow it. haha drives her nuts.. until its something interesting then shes all ears). So at the end of the day I spent $250 on this one and the rest of my accessories will work with a different model liek you've suggested then that will be fine.
I would imagine the sds200 would be similiar in size and i could mount that in the car where i had this one. Where the handheld might be good to pop in and out of rigs.

 

[trevin8]

What ProScan (& the 996P2 scanner) calls ‘groups’ is the Departments listed for the system. For a state’s Highway Patrol, these are usually split up into a ‘department’ for each troop’s region. Such as “Troop A” or “Region”, with a listing of the various cities or counties, with the talk group (trucked system

Ok. So lets say for all intents and purposes there is more than 20 say 25 and i create a new "system" and toss the other 5 that my machine seems to limit out at in the new system lets call it "system 2" will that work?

 

[hiegtx]

Ok. So lets say for all intents and purposes there is more than 20 say 25 and i create a new "system" and toss the other 5 that my machine seems to limit out at in the new system lets call it "system 2" will that work?

Or, simply use ProScan to combine them. I would note, however, that the location data used by the GPS is entered at the Department (or Group) level, so there is that to consider if combining some of them.
you could also divide it as noted, splitting them into a “System 1” and “System 2” if needed to stretch the groups and fit all of them in.