First... it is highly unlikely that there is anything actually wrong with the 996XT; so take a deep breath. The 996XT is arguably the finest, most sophisticated and most suberbly designed base/mobile EVER produced. Do not confuse your lack of experience with state-of-the art DMA scanners with poor design. There is a BIG learning curve with the new scanner technology that you, as have the rest of us before you, will have to endure until you reach that moment of enlightenment where it all suddenly makes sense to you. Trust me; it will come.
1. I had an antenna up and was recieving clear signals for about 40 miles, decoding and all.. clear as day.. Tonight i cant get those at all.
If you are referring to UHF or, more likely, a trunked radio system; your experience is very common. Reliable trunked radio system range is typically 20-30 miles max. under ideal conditions. Greater reception range during periods of atmospheric temperature inversions is common but, unpredictable and sporadic. Reliable reception with an good external antenna from 20-30 miles out is the norm. Generally speaking; anything beyond that may come and go depending upon current conditions. If you were only getting one or two bars of signal strength under ideal conditions, the signal may be simply too weak from a fringe distance under less than ideal conditions for the scanner to lock onto and decode the control channels. 800 mHz radio systems are relatively short range systems and that is why most have multiple tower sites to provide coverage across a large geographic area. If you're 40 miles from the closest tower site for that particular system; reception will come and go (mostly go) as previously stated. You can prove this to yourself by simply putting the scanner in the car with just the "back of set" antenna and driving 20 miles closer to that tower site. Those "disappearing" signals will magically re-appear with crystal clarity.
You don't state what radio system, frequency or agency you are referring to here so it is impossible to offer further explanation or suggestions for what you are experiencing. For example, if it is a trunked radio system, have you programmed ALL of the systems control channels and alternate control channels into your radio? If not, and the control channel changed (as they routinely do in some systems) you may not be scanning the control channel being used at the moment thus, no comms received.
When you post a problem relating to reception, try to give us detail as to the type of system, location (county), agency(s) you are trying to listen to, etc. It will go a long way towards helping others help you troubleshoot the problem.
2. i started seeing garbage characters on the control screen in butel arc-xt
In defense of the XT, this is a software problem; NOT a problem with the scanner. When does this "garbage" appear? What display lines are being affected? Does the issue come and go and if, so, what activity seems to bring it on? If you close and then re-open the software, does the issue disappear. Again; not enough detail from you to help diagnose the problem.
3. i now cant use virtual control in free scan, i get the following error.
Are you trying to run virtual control in both ARC-XT and FreeScan at the same time? If so, close one of the virtual programs before trying to use the other. Both programs can't communicate with the scanner and PC at the same time. Choose one or the other.
CANNOT ESTABLISH, BAD DATA or INCOMPATIBLE
BCD996XT MOT, 30B,0,2BFB,SID-3619
if it does work the volume control and sql and online light on the freescan program go nuts.
I did a new firmware update, i did a hard reset..
after the reset i tried to load one system back into the scanner,. the scanner shows two systems in on read.. name is this character []
i try to load a system in and i get error scaner resourses.
I finaly got one system back in and still the garbage characters, in free scan the sql and col control go nuts.
I have tried both usb and serial cables as well.
What does "goes nuts" mean??? This type of description of a problem for purposes of troubleshooting is useless.
What type of computer and operating system are you using?
Why don't you try attaching your FreeScan file into this thread so we can all take a look at how you have things set up?
While you may not agree; I am absolutely convinced that there is nothing wrong with your 996XT. The answers lie elsewhere in your programming, software or PC or.... all of the above.
Again.... for the best advice possible: Attach your FreeScan file into this thread so we can all take a look at how you have things set up. You've already made a few statments that strongly suggest user programming errors.
Another tip: Don't keep starting new threads relating to your 996XT issues. Keep everything in this thread for simplicity's sake since everything you are seeking help with is inter-related. It will provide you a single reference point for troubleshooting as you move forward rather than having to jump back and forth thru your various threads to find answers.