Bct8 & fleetnet zone 1

[unpltd]

Hello people, Have a quick question.

Picked up my BCT8 about 8 months ago now and love it, I listen to peel trunk and Brampton LTR. But I want more, so I was trying to program Bell Fleetnet zone 1 Mississauga tower in to my scanner For MOH Mississauga, and I input it all in to my scanner and nothing just sits on the control channel and will not trunk. Meaning I input all the freq. in order from the list, set all three sets of spacing and offset and even put a couple TGID's in and nothing just the control sound.

Am I missing somthing or cqan it not be done with this sanner?

I under stand that I can't hear the digital but I should be able to get the analog stuff right?

Thanks

 

[mciupa]

Welcome to RadioReference.
It won't do a thing unless you have created scan lists for it to track in TRUNK SCAN mode.

Throw it into TRUNK SEARCH mode , and it should liven up.

Then create a custom list of the talkgroups you are interested in and scan away.

 

[unpltd]

Thanks for the welcome.


That’s the thing though I think I have it right, ok I’ll try and break it down a little better.
Off the top of my head because I'm not in front of my scanner.

So this is for a BCT8 and the system I'm trying to program is Bell Fleetnet - Ontario Provincial Government Zone 1.

I press and hold trunk for a second and it beeps into program mode.

Then I select my bank (say bank 4) and it goes to select trunking system type.

So I select E2-HI (Motorola type 2 VHF) and press enter, and it enters the menu.

Then I select input frequencies and enter Britannia (Mississauga) in this order:

141.42000* 142.18500 142.36500 142.66500* 142.99500 143.07000 143.31000 143.50500 143.73000

And then I go to spacing/offset and hit enter and 123 start flashing so I hit 1 and enter
and enter Base: 141.015 Spacing: 15.0 Offset: 380 and for 2 Base: 151.7300 Spacing: 15.0 Offset: 579 and finally 3 Base: 154.3200 Spacing: 15.0 Offset: 632

And finally the S-bit is turned on and the other one can't remember what it is turned on too.

So that should be it right, it should trunk? Even without TGID's it should still search.

So I hit hold a bunch of time and get out of the menu and start scanning.

I'm in my PVT bank 4, TRUNK is on, the little "M" is on beside Trunk but it will not kick over to ID SEARCH. It just scans conventional and stops on the CONTROL sound.
The sound is fairly clear maybe a tiny bit of noise, but nothing bad.

Even if I go back and program some TGID's in like say:
35760 "Peel North"
35776 "Peel South"

Or

36384 EGH Etobicoke General
36400 The Credit Valley Hospital - Mississauga
36416 Trillium Health Center - Mississauga

NO DICE.

I am using the stock telescope antenna in the house and an Phantom® Elite™ Mobile Antenna (ETRAB8063) and stock wire antenna with a T connector in the mobile.

Al info from **HERE** and **HERE**


Any help would be awsome so let me know what you think.

Thanks

 

[lightsandsirens]

Do you still have warranty on this unit?

I had to send my BCT8 back twice while under warranty. Once the 800MHz band became totally un-useable due to a faulty audio capacitor, the 2nd time it was exactly the same issue as what you are having. No matter what I tried to do, the machine just wouldn't go into ID scan on any of the fleetnet systems, even though the control channel was coming in clear.
I don't know what they did, but the problem is fixed now.

 

[slicerwizard]

E2-HI for VHF? What does it use for UHF?

 

[unpltd]

Do you still have warranty on this unit?

I had to send my BCT8 back twice while under warranty. Once the 800MHz band became totally un-useable due to a faulty audio capacitor, the 2nd time it was exactly the same issue as what you are having. No matter what I tried to do, the machine just wouldn't go into ID scan on any of the fleetnet systems, even though the control channel was coming in clear.
I don't know what they did, but the problem is fixed now.

Well that just might suck, and you don't know what they did. You wouldn't happen to know whats it's going to cost me to have this thing looked at and/or fixed.

Or does anyone know what to look for or test to see if he is right?

E2-HI for VHF? What does it use for UHF?

E2-uhf.

 

[Chrome69]

I would suggest programming it with ARC8 first before sending it in for repairs. Lectron is very good for repairs. Download a demo and try doing the fleet again through that first...

 

[Pyr8]

Hello people, Have a quick question.

Picked up my BCT8 about 8 months ago now and love it, I listen to peel trunk and Brampton LTR. But I want more, so I was trying to program Bell Fleetnet zone 1 Mississauga tower in to my scanner For MOH Mississauga, and I input it all in to my scanner and nothing just sits on the control channel and will not trunk. Meaning I input all the freq. in order from the list, set all three sets of spacing and offset and even put a couple TGID's in and nothing just the control sound.

Am I missing somthing or cqan it not be done with this sanner?

I under stand that I can't hear the digital but I should be able to get the analog stuff right?

Thanks

Umm...your issue is due to the fact that you do not have a digital scanner! You have to have one in order to listen to Fleetnet.

 

[slicerwizard]

MOH isn't using digital.

 

[mikewazowski]

Umm...your issue is due to the fact that you do not have a digital scanner! You have to have one in order to listen to Fleetnet.

An analog scanner works perfectly fine on Fleetnet.

 

[unpltd]

I was messing with it again the last couple nights and it still doesn't work.

I try reprogramming everything with ARC8 and the same thing.

If I flip through the channels I hear people.
I get the control fairly clear.

I was always on the fence about weather or not it would work because of being mostly digital but I thought I should be able to trunk the analog stuff, because I think I've read both that it works and it doesn't.

 

[mikewazowski]

I checked the manual and your scanner should work fine.

Here's a few things to check:

Did you select E2-Hi for the system type?

Did you enter in all the frequencies for the site closest to you? Did an "M" appear in the display to indicate that you've entered the frequency into a Motorola trunking bank?

Did you enter in the base, offset and spacing?

When scanning, does the scanner stop on the control channel briefly? Make sure the control channel is not locked out.

Do not use control channel only trunking. It appears this only works on 800Mhz systems.

 

[Pyr8]

An analog scanner works perfectly fine on Fleetnet.

So why the need for Digital? Is it for MTO and OPP only?

 

[mikewazowski]

So why the need for Digital? Is it for MTO and OPP only?

Yes, check the database and note which agencies have a "D" beside their talkgroup and which have an "A".

Obviously if the talkgroup is marked "D" then you won't be able to listen with an analog scanner.

 

[Pyr8]

Yes, check the database and note which agencies have a "D" beside their talkgroup and which have an "A".

Obviously if the talkgroup is marked "D" then you won't be able to listen with an analog scanner.

Thanks for the clarification "Mike"...you learn something new every day!

 

[frankh]

you say you've got ARC software hook it up, and just for giggles hit the read from scanner key/box and see if its what you think it is(programming maybe other then what you think).

 

[motomeso]

Maybe read the scanner and post the ARC file here and we can take a look.

 

[unpltd]

you say you've got ARC software hook it up, and just for giggles hit the read from scanner key/box and see if its what you think it is(programming maybe other then what you think).

I've tryed both ARC8 and punching it in manualy, but you never know.

Maybe read the scanner and post the ARC file here and we can take a look.

I will try tonight..

 

[phyberoptics]

There is a known issue with this scanner, I've personally repaired many for this problem (Receives trunk fine on 800mhz but not on VHF).

You need to remove the cover with the speaker, and find the main coil on the inside of the unit (a metal can with a round opening and a "screw" inside, just under where the internal speaker is). Adjust the coil *EVER* so slightly (less then 1/8 of a turn) in either direction using a small flat screwdriver (non magnetized would be great). You should try to have a reference scanner there so you know when it should be receiving. If not, put the unit into search mode, and once it starts locking on TG's (even if it stops on a digital TG, it will lock on but the audio will of course be digital and unintelligible, but that doesn't matter so long as it locks on to a TG you've hit the sweet spot). Before you drop the screws back in, just drop the cover in place to make sure the internal speaker doesn't throw it off again.

This problem is most prominent on the Nascar versions of this scanner, and seems to happen *mostly* with VHF trunking.

You may even find that as soon as you take off the speaker cover, it will start working, this is a sure sign that the coil needs to be adjusted (the magnetic field from the internal speaker alters the properties of the coil). With the drastic changes in weather the cold and heat can also alter the inductance properties, hence throwing the unit slightly out of alignment.

 

[unpltd]

And it just so happens that I have a Nascar one.

Thanks allot I will try taking the speaker off tonight and see if it helps any. I use an external speaker anyways.

I had the cover off the other day but I didn't have the scanner on.

So I just adjust until it flips over to trunk scan??

I don't think I can get another scanner to reference from, aside from going out and buying one.


And the thing that bugs me most is that the shop I bought it from gave me an extended warranty and this has always been like this but I always thought I was doing something wrong as this is my first scanner. But that warranty is long gone now.