BCT15 programming advice for a newb

[NorCalDiesel]

Greetings, Just received my BCT15 and I'm stoked. Keep in mind I am new to the radio / scanner world. So far everything has gone well. I have updated the FW to 1.06, downloaded BCTool and got connected. I then used BCTool to pull some programming off the RR DB and uploaded it to the BCT15. That went well and it is working well.

My question is related to optimizing the programming for an upcoming trip from Sacramento to Ogden Utah. Not knowing enough about the "how-to" I used BCTool to again pull what I thought might be interesting in terms of what CA, NV and UT and the counties I would be traveling through. I saved this in BCTool and uploaded those systems.

Now, if I want to monitor / scan Highway Patrol for the most part, how do I ensure I have the correct system defined for the CA, NV and UT Highway Patrol freq's ?

basically I want to lockout the assorted systems I have uploaded until I am in those locations and continue monitoring HP since I will be on the interstate highways.

Thanks in advance for all the help and patience,
pat

 

[mlconnell]

Pat assign Quick Keys to the systems you are programming in your scanner. In bctool if it is a Trucked system click on SITE and the Quick Key goes in there. If it is in a CONV system just click on the name of the system and you'll see Quick Key. There are 2 types of quick keys in this scanner.

System Quick Keys and Group Quick Keys.

For example I have El Paso Police assigned in my BCT-15 to Quick Key 0.

Then I have

Police Patrol = Group Key 0
Police Detectives = Group Key 1
Police Impact = Group Key 2
Police Tactical = Group Key 3
Police Detectives = Group Key 4

etc.. etc... you get the idea.

Then when I have SQK 0 activated and it's scanning the EP Police I press the F Dial once and you can toggle off the keys by pressing the numbers you've assigned them. It will look like this:

S0:*********0 (0 Here because the system 0 is selected)
GRP123*567**0 Here I only have 0123567 groups toggled on. If the groups are not assigned you will see a - instead.

Hope I'm not confusing you. Once you get the idea it will be easy to understand.

 

[davidmc36]

basically I want to lockout the assorted systems I have uploaded until I am in those locations and continue monitoring HP since I will be on the interstate highways.

Thanks in advance for all the help and patience,
pat

If you have specific systems that are for certain counties, get a GPS, put the locations of those counties into the location info area for the matching system and let it do the switching for you. You can also make multiple systems for the HP stuff and put the appropriate frequencies or talkgroups in each system and program location info for that too.

 

[NorCalDiesel]

David, Thanks for the info. I have a handheld Garmin that will work with the BCT15. I am going to get that wired into my mobile installation, I just have to determine how to get it installed so that I don't have cables etc running all over the dash area.

I have tried to set them up as Quick Keys and Quick Key Groups, but I don't have that down yet.

I had about 3 days to get it installed and programmed for a trip I am on from Northern Ca to Utah. I am a computer programmer so the Dynamic Mem and programming comes somewhat natural. I just have to get a little further through the learning curve. BCTool is excellent and being a premium subscriber makes life very easy while learning. This forum is also much help, I have read much about the BCT15 and have done a decent job getting it setup so far. I will try your advice this evening and send what I come up with over to the radio since I have everything I need with me in Utah.

Thanks for everyone's advice so far,

Pat

 

[davidmc36]

David, Thanks for the info. I have a handheld Garmin that will work with the BCT15.

Once you get that GPS hooked up and the radio programmed for it you will like it a lot. I have a 996 with a Magellen 315 and will never travel with a scanner again that is not GPS capable. I even found a car mount for it on E-bay and have all the cables hidden with the scanner in an extra ISO mount that most newer cars have now. I got a nice extension speaker and have it on the dash. I have everything under the sun in my area and all the location info for them and never look down from the road to fiddle with the scanner. Having the quick keys all set up is very important too so you can turn off a system that is tying up the airwaves with stuff that you are not interested in at the time, like radio checks and the like. I find a lot of Fire Depts. like to do that each morning or whatever and I just hit the quick key for a few minutes till they are done. With all the keys memorized for your favorite systems you can do it without even looking.

 

[Dubbin]

I have tried to set them up as Quick Keys and Quick Key Groups, but I don't have that down yet.

You may want to try ARC15 to help you out with the quick keys and groups. It is much easier to understand then bctool when it comes to the quick keys.

 

[ka3jjz]

<ahem> FreeScan also works with the BCT15. I find it a bit easier to use than BcTool for programming, particularly since it now supports the new firmware versions, and it's free. ARC15 does supports the new firmware as well, as I understand it.

73 Mike

 

[NorCalDiesel]

I will look into ARC15 and Freescan. I already have ScanCat Lite (Bought it from Brearcat Warehouse), AUSD (for Firmware) and BCTool, which I found the easiest. I want to settle on one and if it is freeware I will donate, since I have a soft spot for software developers.

I really appreciate all the great info and help,
Pat