BCD996XT navigation

[AE7Q]

Questions:

1. Sometimes I would like to go directly to a given (conventional) Channel and listen. What I presently do is:
a) Press Hold.
b) Press Func, and while that is active, scroll to the System the channel is in. This isn't too bad, as I don't have too many systems.
c) With Func inactive, I scroll to the Channel within the system. This is annoying, since I have one system with about 200 channels. It would be nice to scroll directly to/through the Groups, and then scroll to the desired Channel. However, pressing a digit doesn't take me to a Group, but instead invokes "Direct Entry".

Is there a better way to go directly to a known System/Channel and listen, WITHOUT assigning tags (a truly laborious task)? I can go to a Channel easily through the "Program System" menus, but I can then only change settings, not LISTEN. Ugh.

2. Using Group Quick Keys [Edit: answered by experimentation]

3. When in Direct Entry mode, what does the "i" character mean at the beginning of a frequency? [Edit: Motorola "I-Call". I still don't know what it is, but I've figured out from Mark's documentation, that I don't need to know ...]

 

[W8RMH]

Number Tags

 

[AE7Q]

Number Tags

As I said above, "WITHOUT assigning tags (a truly laborious task)".

Unless of course you know of a way to automatically assign them to 1287 channels. Then there's the problem of remembering them ...

Number tags sound like an excellent idea for just a few channels where you can remember them, but not for hundreds of channels.

 

[blue5011]

Put a "copy" of whatever conventional channel you want to listen to in a new system. Then assign it a "quick key". Give the other stuff you listen to a different "quick key". I use this method to switch between ham repeaters and simplex freqs. My QK #1 is simplex VHF. QK #2 is the repeater freqs. QK #4 is the Law Enforcement.

Other question is, are you using software, i e, Freescan to control and manipulate the scanner? It would be way to much work to enter everything by way of the scanner keys...

 

[AE7Q]

Put a "copy" of whatever conventional channel you want to listen to in a new system. Then assign it a "quick key". Give the other stuff you listen to a different "quick key". I use this method to switch between ham repeaters and simplex freqs. My QK #1 is simplex VHF. QK #2 is the repeater freqs. QK #4 is the Law Enforcement.

Other question is, are you using software, i e, Freescan to control and manipulate the scanner? It would be way to much work to enter everything by way of the scanner keys...

The problem is, the channels I may want to navigate to, are all VHF/UHF amateur repeaters (about 200 in all). I would like to easily navigate to any one of those 200 repeaters, and listen to just that one. There aren't that many Quick Key numbers, and that would also mean that I would have to disable (via Quick Keys) on all the other systems I monitor (Air Traffic Control, police, fire, hospitals, etc). However, parts of your idea (if I understand it correctly) have merit; I could break my single amateur radio System into multiple ones (eg, by band) and that would shorten the effort to get to a particular repeater, but I've already got about 30 systems (3 are trunked, and the rest are conventional); each has a unique System Quick Key.

I use FreeScan to set up the scanner, but I don't use it (except out of curiosity) to control the scanner.

 

[blue5011]

I understand your dilemma a little better... (My dumb question would be why try to monitor 200 repeaters) Is there a specific need to use the 996 for the frequency? Why not set a cheapo scanner or radio up to monitor ham VHF? I have a FT-2500 (Yaesu) for just that thing. Or buy another 996XT as I did...

200 ham repeaters, mind boggling. I got 8-10 here I can pick-up, and days go by when I don't hear a peep out of most of them.

I live in the sticks, so all my police, fire, and EMS are going to be on one "channel" QK, and I have aviation as an additional "channel" QK.

Good luck in your quest for the answer!

 

[AE7Q]

I understand your dilemma a little better... (My dumb question would be why try to monitor 200 repeaters) Is there a specific need to use the 996 for the frequency? Why not set a cheapo scanner or radio up to monitor ham VHF?...

200 ham repeaters, mind boggling!

All the repeaters are reasonably local, but I don't know how many are active, which is one reason they're in the scanner, to find out.

Yes, I've exported the repeater list into other (amateur) radios that are more convenient for quickly accessing a given repeater. I just wanted to see if that capability is in the scanner.

 

[UPMan]

You could assign a channel number tag to each one and go to it directly that way.

 

[Nawton]

I can go to a Channel easily through the "Program System" menus, but I can then only change settings, not LISTEN. Ugh.

I'm not sure why you say you can't listen after locating the channel through the "Program Systems" menus. After highlighting the channel in the "Edit channel" menu, press "Hold" and you're listening.

 

[AE7Q]

Solution!

I'm not sure why you say you can't listen after locating the channel through the "Program Systems" menus. After highlighting the channel in the "Edit channel" menu, press "Hold" and you're listening.

That's exactly what I was looking for. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!