Can't seem to pickup Fremont CA PD or Fire

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swilson317

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Dec 23, 2004
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Hi there,

I haven't used my scanner (Uniden BCD436HP) for quite a while. I decided to dust it off, refresh the firmware, and download an updated database. I live in Fremont. I don't seem to be picking up any Fremont PD or Alameda Co Fire. I cam picking up BART, BART PD, San Jose, CHP, etc. All services are turned on and I am currently scanning the full database for my zip code. I am probably missing something obvious, but am running out of things to troubleshoot. Any thoughts?

Thanks, Steve
 

swilson317

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Thanks for your reply! I'm assuming that if I'm scanning the full DB for the area, that I would be scanning all of the EBRCS sites. On my BCD396XT, which I retrieved from the car for comparison tests, I have all EBRCS sites unlocked. It's almost like there is a control channel missing. But again...I would expect issues on my 396, but would expect a current download of the full DB on the 436 to successfully "hear" the EBRCS system.
 

qc

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What kind of antenna are you using stock? have you tried to put in one of the control channels manually to see if you getting any data? 772.84375 for ALCO SW
 

Oakland_Tower

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There are many dead spots in Fremont for EBRCS. As mentioned above, be sure you are listening to the ALCO SW site as the others may not work in some parts of Fremont. Might even be better to mute the other sites and force the SW to work. If you are in a marginal area, you may have to move around the house or even out of your neighborhood. I live here in Fremont and listen to the PD daily, so it is working.
 

swilson317

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Fremont, CA
Thanks for the feedback and comments. It seems that I may have a couple of issues. One could be location. I am close to the hills near Niles.

I took a little drive, yesterday, out to the entrance to Ardenwood Farm. I brought both the 436 and the 396. the 396 picked up Fremont just fine. The 436 did not. It seems to be deaf. I had the full DB loaded with all services On. I swapped antennas as a sanity check, with no difference. So...the 436 seems to have issues. All I found myself picking up was Bart, Dept. of Forestry, Santa Clara, and San Mateo. Weird. I will take a look at what is loaded in the 436 compared to what I programmed in the 396. Certainly is frustrating that the 436 isn't working, considering the full DB capability. <sigh>
 

jonwienke

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Did you update the database in the 436?

And unless you have GPS connected to the 436 driving around while scanning the database is pointless. The scanner is going to scan stuff near whatever location you set before you started, and will keep scanning that stuff no matter where you go, even if you drive hundreds of miles away.

With a GPS, the scanner will automatically know which sites are nearby, and scan those. And as your location changes, it will automatically adjust which stuff gets scanned, so it always scans the closest sites and systems, no matter where you go, as long as the database covers your location.
 

swilson317

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Dec 23, 2004
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Fremont, CA
Did you update the database in the 436?

And unless you have GPS connected to the 436 driving around while scanning the database is pointless. The scanner is going to scan stuff near whatever location you set before you started, and will keep scanning that stuff no matter where you go, even if you drive hundreds of miles away.

With a GPS, the scanner will automatically know which sites are nearby, and scan those. And as your location changes, it will automatically adjust which stuff gets scanned, so it always scans the closest sites and systems, no matter where you go, as long as the database covers your location.

I disagree with your statement. If I am dealing with an issue where my home (which is near a small range of hills) is protected from all sites, then it totally makes sense to drive away from the hills towards the Bay to see if there is a change. A GPS isn't going to do much more than keying in a zip code.
 

jonwienke

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Unless you're only going a few blocks, and enter your actual location coordinates instead of a zip code, you're wrong, for several reasons.

ZIP code isn't all that accurate. It looks up the coordinates of the geographic center of the ZIP code, and sets your location there. Depending on the size of the ZIP code service area, the actual location set in the scanner can be off by 10 miles or more. Entering a ZIP code resets global Range to 10 miles to compensate for that, which means you're scanning a lot of extra stuff, especially when scanning the database.

When scanning the database, Location Control is always on. If it was disabled, the scanner would try to scan everything in the entire database, which would take hours, and crash the scanner trying to load it all. So the scanner is using the location you've set, either manually or via GPS, to decide what to scan. If the location isn't accurate, the scanner isn't going to scan some things you want to hear, and will waste time scanning stuff too far away to hear. Best practice is to set your location as accurately as possible, and keep the global Range setting under 5 miles. But that requires a GPS, or manually entering your coordinates instead of a ZIP code (if you're scanning from a fixed location).

If you're driving more than a mile or two, the list of sites and systems that are "in range" will change. It's best to let the scanner adjust what it scans on the fly, to minimize needlessly scanning stuff you can't actually hear. GPS is better and faster at doing this than manually toggling stuff on and off.
 
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