BCD996XT help

[dgruver911]

Any 996 users around that can help me? My son brought me his because he said it quit scanning, and I cannot get this stupid thing to work. It has only one system, site and talkgroup list in it for Sedgwick County. When it comes on, it says nothing to scan and no matter what buttons you press it will not activate or find the Sedgwick County list to scan. Nothing is locked out. It has been reset to defaults. Using ARC-XT to program. All it seems to want to do is service searches. If I add in Harvey County/KSICS it sees that just fine. Why does Uniden have to make this so impossibly difficult?

 

[dgruver911]

Of course, all it took was for me to type that and hit send, then I figured out the issue. Somehow the trunk frequencies had gotten deleted out of the system. It's working now. But I still dislike Unidens

 

[dispatch235]

Of course, all it took was for me to type that and hit send, then I figured out the issue. Somehow the trunk frequencies had gotten deleted out of the system. It's working now. But I still dislike Unidens

I started out with Radio Shack units, then got a Uniden 996xt and hated it at first.... but after my old Pro197 died after a storm I learned the in and outs of Unidens and have several different models now and love them lol

 

[dgruver911]

Well apparently it's still not picking up anything. I just put SGCO in it, no KSICS, it acts like it's scanning but hearing nothing. Anybody have any clues? I took it back to him Tuesday thinking it was working, but it's not. I verified all control channels were in there, and it just has a couple dozen talkgroups entered (WPD, Fire, & EMS dispatch, Tac chs and Derby). Help? I'm wondering if it went deaf on him but I know it was picking up some KSICS stuff before I edited it down. Is there something special about how to program the SGCO system on Unidens?

UPDATE: He says if he does a Public Safety scan it picks up non-SGCO radio traffic. So it almost has to be something in the way the SGCO system is set up.

 

[hiegtx]

Well apparently it's still not picking up anything. I just put SGCO in it, no KSICS, it acts like it's scanning but hearing nothing. Anybody have any clues? I took it back to him Tuesday thinking it was working, but it's not. I verified all control channels were in there, and it just has a couple dozen talkgroups entered (WPD, Fire, & EMS dispatch, Tac chs and Derby). Help? I'm wondering if it went deaf on him but I know it was picking up some KSICS stuff before I edited it down. Is there something special about how to program the SGCO system on Unidens?

UPDATE: He says if he does a Public Safety scan it picks up non-SGCO radio traffic. So it almost has to be something in the way the SGCO system is set up.

By SGCO, I presume that you are referring to this system:

Sedgwick County Trunking System, Wichita, Kansas

Sedgwick County Trunking System Profile

www.radioreference.com

Correct?

Sedgwick County's system only has one site. Unfortunately, it is simulcast:

Sedgwick County Trunking System, Wichita, Kansas

Sedgwick County Trunking System Profile

www.radioreference.com

Unless he is very close to one of the sites (a quarter mile or less), the signals from the various locations, arriving at his location, are not in sync due to the varying distances. While the time differential is minimal, it's still enough to hamper the scanners ability to monitor the system. In some cases, a directional antenna (such as a yagi) aimed at one specific site may be able to deal with the problem. See the Simulcast Distortion Wiki page for more ways you might be able to deal simulcast. Simulcast Distortion - The RadioReference Wiki

The fact that he can receive conventional (non-trucked) transmissions rules out a completely defective receiver in the scanner. Try some of the measures on the Wiki page & see if any of them help. The KSICS site in Sedgwick County is not simulcast, so that should be monitorable, but the bulk of Sedgwick County agencies are on the county's system, not KSICS,

 

[dgruver911]

Steve. Thanks for your reply, I forgot that this is a national forum and others may not read between my lines. While most of your response was completely unnecessary to me, it may be helpful to others. But I think you hit the nail on the head, it's very likely the simulcast messing with an older radio. We're looking at other options.

 

[tvengr]

Of course, all it took was for me to type that and hit send, then I figured out the issue. Somehow the trunk frequencies had gotten deleted out of the system. It's working now.

To work correctly, all 20 frequencies of the Sedgwick County system must be programmed. The control channel frequency may change on a regular basis.

RFSS	Site	Name	Freqs
1 (1)	001 (1)	Simulcast	854.0625a	854.3875a	855.2875c	856.2625a	856.4625a	856.7375a	856.9625c	857.2625a
			857.4625a	857.7375a	857.9625a	858.2625a	858.4625a	858.6875a	858.7375a	858.9625c
			859.2625a	859.4625a	859.7375a	859.9625a

 

[tvengr]

Any 996 users around that can help me? My son brought me his because he said it quit scanning, and I cannot get this stupid thing to work.

I have 3 ARC-XT files for Sedgwick County. One is the county trunked system. Another is the KSICS statewide trunked system. The third is conventional frequencies for Sedgwick County. I am very happy to share them with you. Please let me know if you are interested.

 

[tvengr]

Please check your PM.

 

[Mollys70]

My Uniden BCD996XT has a problem with the Sedgwick County Simulcast system & I live close to a tower.
My SDS 100 & 200 have much improved performance, not perfect, but darn near perfect.

 

[wtp]

since you are in a different county....that will have an effect on reception.

 

[Mollys70]

since you are in a different county....that will have an effect on reception.

Correct, I was just stating I have the same problem with the 996 fairly close to one of the towers. It would be reasonable to think reception would be diminished 30 miles to the north.