AZScanner
Member
Hi gang. Maybe the mods will smile on this thread and make it a sticky.
The idea here is to post tips and tricks to get the most out of your old BC296D and/or BC796D. Lots of us with no money to upgrade (yet... someday, dammit, either I will win the lottery or UPMan will finally let me beta a new scanner) still have these old scanners kicking around and as I found yesterday, they can actually be made to work reasonably well on these confounded P25 systems - if you get them dialed in right. I got the idea for this thread after spending some time yesterday tinkering with mine and found out how to get rid of (on my local DTRS anyway) the annoying habit the 796 has of jumping back to the control channel before the conversation has finished. I figured maybe we can all share some knowledge and get these old scanners running at their best.
Some general P25 info: As we all know, (well maybe not all of us, so I'll say it here) the best way to track 800MHz P25 systems is to program ONLY the control channels, NFM mode, and make sure you do NOT set a CC Only plan. Also, make sure you only scan/program control channels with a STRONG signal. Anything less than 3 bars on the display will be next to useless to monitor. These scanners need a clear signal to work properly. I also recommend a talkgroup delay setting of 1 second if you like to use the priority feature, instead of the default of 2 seconds. I also set the steps from Auto to 6.25khz, but I didn't notice much of a difference when doing so - but I wanted the scanner to perform at it's best for the system, so I did it anyway. I also use the scanner ONLY for digital scanning so I have the squelch set to FULL OPEN which seems to help decoding for some reason. If you turn it up too high, the scanner won't decode anything.
Anyway, as I was saying I noticed that during scanning the scanner kept jumping back to the control channel in the middle of a conversation, whereas on manual talkgroup hold, it didn't. I figured this had to be some sort of setting causing the issue, so into the programming menu I went. What you want to do is head into SCAN OPTION->TRUNK->(select the applicable bank)->then scroll down to STATUS BIT and END CODE. The default (and culprit) setting for these is ON - turn both of these OFF. Hit Scan or Resume to exit when done and voila - no more jumping back to the control channel prematurely!
I also have a tip for the digital decoder setting (to access this, hold 9 whle on an active P25 frequency). Conventional wisdom says to set the decode value so that the number displayed during decode is lowest, ideally 0000. I found that it's actually better to find that setting and dial it back one, i.e. if the "sweet spot" for your system is 533, set it to 433. The voices don't seem as bassy that way, and it makes it easier to understand what they're saying.
That's all I have for now, but if I come across any other tips, I'll post them here. In the meanwhile, if you know a trick or tip with your old X96D, feel free to share! I'm always looking for new ways to tinker with my old toys.
-AZ
The idea here is to post tips and tricks to get the most out of your old BC296D and/or BC796D. Lots of us with no money to upgrade (yet... someday, dammit, either I will win the lottery or UPMan will finally let me beta a new scanner) still have these old scanners kicking around and as I found yesterday, they can actually be made to work reasonably well on these confounded P25 systems - if you get them dialed in right. I got the idea for this thread after spending some time yesterday tinkering with mine and found out how to get rid of (on my local DTRS anyway) the annoying habit the 796 has of jumping back to the control channel before the conversation has finished. I figured maybe we can all share some knowledge and get these old scanners running at their best.
Some general P25 info: As we all know, (well maybe not all of us, so I'll say it here) the best way to track 800MHz P25 systems is to program ONLY the control channels, NFM mode, and make sure you do NOT set a CC Only plan. Also, make sure you only scan/program control channels with a STRONG signal. Anything less than 3 bars on the display will be next to useless to monitor. These scanners need a clear signal to work properly. I also recommend a talkgroup delay setting of 1 second if you like to use the priority feature, instead of the default of 2 seconds. I also set the steps from Auto to 6.25khz, but I didn't notice much of a difference when doing so - but I wanted the scanner to perform at it's best for the system, so I did it anyway. I also use the scanner ONLY for digital scanning so I have the squelch set to FULL OPEN which seems to help decoding for some reason. If you turn it up too high, the scanner won't decode anything.
Anyway, as I was saying I noticed that during scanning the scanner kept jumping back to the control channel in the middle of a conversation, whereas on manual talkgroup hold, it didn't. I figured this had to be some sort of setting causing the issue, so into the programming menu I went. What you want to do is head into SCAN OPTION->TRUNK->(select the applicable bank)->then scroll down to STATUS BIT and END CODE. The default (and culprit) setting for these is ON - turn both of these OFF. Hit Scan or Resume to exit when done and voila - no more jumping back to the control channel prematurely!
I also have a tip for the digital decoder setting (to access this, hold 9 whle on an active P25 frequency). Conventional wisdom says to set the decode value so that the number displayed during decode is lowest, ideally 0000. I found that it's actually better to find that setting and dial it back one, i.e. if the "sweet spot" for your system is 533, set it to 433. The voices don't seem as bassy that way, and it makes it easier to understand what they're saying.
That's all I have for now, but if I come across any other tips, I'll post them here. In the meanwhile, if you know a trick or tip with your old X96D, feel free to share! I'm always looking for new ways to tinker with my old toys.
-AZ