BCD996T and Birmingham System

[dave911]

Has anyone else purchased the new Bearcat 996T digital scanner and tried to scan the Birmingham system? I'm having trouble setting it up. It scans and shows traffic but won't stop. Any ideas?

 

[UPMan]

Make sure you've programmed it as a Motorola 800 Type 2 Standard (not P25) system.

 

[dave911]

UPMan... you're a life saver! The smallest little details can sometimes mean the most. I can't thank you enough!

 

[seamusg]

UPMan... you're a life saver! The smallest little details can sometimes mean the most. I can't thank you enough!

I think a lot of people are being confused by the P25 voice on a Type II system. The Type II has a 3600 baud control channel where as a P25 system has a 9600 baud control channel.
In the RR database a mixed mode type II will be:
System Type: Motorola Type II SmartZone
System Voice: Analog and APCO-25 Common Air Interface
Where as a P25 system will be:
System Type: Project 25 Standard
System Voice: APCO-25 Common Air Interface Exclusive

 

[CSL126]

Hey guys, the fire tones are being played again on bham fire's vhf frequency (154.1900). I have not heard the tones since bham switched over to the digital system. Any idea why they're using them again?

 

[RevGary]

Have a friend in Trussville - I'll see if I can get some info by the weekend...

 

[CyberGoth1440]

I noticed the same thing today, seemed to start during a severe thuderstorm.
One station reported to Fire Alarm that they didn't recieve the call on the "new radios",
but that everything was coming through on the old system.
As I'm writing this Engine 18 is being paged and the old HI-LO tones are being sent,
not shure why. The MOSCAD paging on TG 00336 is also active and digital voice is
working fine, strange......

 

[CSL126]

I guess maybe the storm knocked something out. At least they still have their old vhf frequency as a backup. There's probably no way I could monitor Bham FD at all from over here in T-town if they didn't simulcast on their old frequency.

 

[CyberGoth1440]

The old tones are still being sent tonite. Mabey they are going to leave the setup like
it is.
Tuscaloosa FD is usually strong at my QTH, even on the 800Mhz "rubber-Duck" that
usually seems to attenuate VHF signals somewhat.
If you can hear 154.190, try 154.1300 - thats our old TAC-3 and is sometimes linked
to an active 800Mhz tactical channel (base only), usually TAC-1.