HELP PLEASE! BCD996XT

[Ceilteachbandia]

Please help me! Ive already been deceived & ripped off now Im thinking this is the 3rd time. I just need to be able to hear Barre City police digital channel. Ive asked sellers if the model picks up the digital police channel... oooh yeah definitely.. they say... then I find out that though it says its a digital scanner it doesnt pick up digital frequencies..
Its TrunkTracker IV BCD996XT..
I put some channels in and its picking up not a thing which, I know cant be, cause BCPD is ALWAYS active these days. I live on the other side of a paper thin wall to a crime den (drugs, guns, you name it) and need to know if police are heading to the neighbors so I can get my kids & I out BEFORE bullets start flying.

 

[W1KNE]

Yes, the BCD996XT does in fact pick up P25 transmissions. It doesn't pick up Phase II (TDMA) trunking transmissions, which is irrelevant to you here. We have no record of Barre being P25 here or at Scan New England. How confident are you that they are , in fact P25?
Here is the quick way to check:
Follow EXACTLY as I state here.
Press MENU ...Srch/CloCall Opt ... Tone/Code Search ... Set it to P25 NAC. Press Enter for it to take, then press MENU twice. It will go back to the home screen.
NEXT... Press Hold/Resume ... Type in 460.075 ... Do NOT press Enter. Press Hold/Resume. If this frequency is still the main, last identified 3 years ago as being it, then you'll hear radio traffic. You'll be able to tell if it is Analog or Digital simply on how it sounds.

If you do NOT hear any radio traffic, do the steps from "NEXT" above, and enter 460.125. Same thing.

If you do hear a quick burst of voice followed by a bunch of weird distorted audio, then it means Barre PD is likely P25 Encrypted.
A lot of North West Vermont is Encrypted so don't be too surprised if it is.

The DB may not be accurate as the last updates came from when one of us traveled up there for vacation. There aren't a lot of locals who monitor and/or submit to the DB.

 

[wtp]

ceilteachbandia, i sent a personal message.
look to the top right of this page.

 

[Sh3rb3rt]

First I'm sorry you are dealing with this Ceilteachbandia, it sounds like a bad situation all around.

I can hear the Montpilier PD digital frequencies on my BCD396XT's. The 396xt is the handheld version of the BCD996xt, so your scanner should be able to pick up Barre's digital freqs if they exist and are not encrypted. The 996xt will not do DMR but, I know of no public safety agencys using DMR in Vermont.

If anyone knows of a digital PD channel for Barre Please share it.

Here are some frequencies I'd punch in to your scanner to try and hear police in Barre.
Barre Town PD 453.450 88.5
Barre City PD 460.075 118.8
VSP Berlin Analog 460.425 136.5
VSP Berlin Digital 460.425 NAC A3
WCSO Analog 460.350 411
WCSO Digital 460.350 NAC 223
V-LAW-31 155.475 156.7
U-TAC-43D 453.8625 156.7
"Channel 2" 460.500 118.8

If your still not hearing anything Check your antenna connections?
Are you using Proscan Freescan or manually programming your BCD996XT?

 

[wtp]

squelch set to 2 ?

 

[Ronaldski]

Press the WX button for about 5 seconds and it will scan for the noaa weather broadcasts. Hopefully you'll hear something, if you do, then it's programming. Press SCAN button to resume scanning.

 

[Ceilteachbandia]

First I'm sorry you are dealing with this Ceilteachbandia, it sounds like a bad situation all around.

I can hear the Montpilier PD digital frequencies on my BCD396XT's. The 396xt is the handheld version of the BCD996xt, so your scanner should be able to pick up Barre's digital freqs if they exist and are not encrypted. The 996xt will not do DMR but, I know of no public safety agencys using DMR in Vermont.

If anyone knows of a digital PD channel for Barre Please share it.

Here are some frequencies I'd punch in to your scanner to try and hear police in Barre.
Barre Town PD 453.450 88.5
Barre City PD 460.075 118.8
VSP Berlin Analog 460.425 136.5
VSP Berlin Digital 460.425 NAC A3
WCSO Analog 460.350 411
WCSO Digital 460.350 NAC 223
V-LAW-31 155.475 156.7
U-TAC-43D 453.8625 156.7
"Channel 2" 460.500 118.8

If your still not hearing anything Check your antenna connections?
Are you using Proscan Freescan or manually programming your BCD996XT?

Manually programming.. wish I could just hook it to my pc and program it that way, but no cord. Thank you all so much! Great tips!

squelch set to 2 ?

It was set to 1... should it be on 2? Im just no novice scanner user... I only know very basic basics... frequency codes lol

Yes, the BCD996XT does in fact pick up P25 transmissions. It doesn't pick up Phase II (TDMA) trunking transmissions, which is irrelevant to you here. We have no record of Barre being P25 here or at Scan New England. How confident are you that they are , in fact P25?
Here is the quick way to check:
Follow EXACTLY as I state here.
Press MENU ...Srch/CloCall Opt ... Tone/Code Search ... Set it to P25 NAC. Press Enter for it to take, then press MENU twice. It will go back to the home screen.
NEXT... Press Hold/Resume ... Type in 460.075 ... Do NOT press Enter. Press Hold/Resume. If this frequency is still the main, last identified 3 years ago as being it, then you'll hear radio traffic. You'll be able to tell if it is Analog or Digital simply on how it sounds.

If you do NOT hear any radio traffic, do the steps from "NEXT" above, and enter 460.125. Same thing.

If you do hear a quick burst of voice followed by a bunch of weird distorted audio, then it means Barre PD is likely P25 Encrypted.
A lot of North West Vermont is Encrypted so don't be too surprised if it is.

The DB may not be accurate as the last updates came from when one of us traveled up there for vacation. There aren't a lot of locals who monitor and/or submit to the DB.

So even though it says trunking tracker iv, its trunking incapable?

 

[W1KNE]

So even though it says trunking tracker iv, its trunking incapable?

It is trunking but you're not picking up a trunking system. You're picking up a conventional system.
Don't confuse trunking/conventional with analog/digital.
Trunking/Conventional is HOW the scanner decodes. Analog/Digital is WHAT the scanner decodes.

And yes, Squelch needs to be on "2".

Now go back and follow the steps I outlined above, line by line.

 

[Ronaldski]

Well try again, did you try getting NOAA WX radio?

While hopefully not, but I have seen it happen three times per the link in my area where peoples 996XT stop picking up anything. They had to send into Uniden to replace IC21. Scanner UNIDEN BCD996XT has stopped receiving

 

[fxdscon]

wish I could just hook it to my pc and program it that way, but no cord.

This cable will connect the front port on your BCD996XT to your PC for programming:

https://a.co/d/8d0qs2C

 

[Ceilteachbandia]

Yes, the BCD996XT does in fact pick up P25 transmissions. It doesn't pick up Phase II (TDMA) trunking transmissions, which is irrelevant to you here. We have no record of Barre being P25 here or at Scan New England. How confident are you that they are , in fact P25?
Here is the quick way to check:
Follow EXACTLY as I state here.
Press MENU ...Srch/CloCall Opt ... Tone/Code Search ... Set it to P25 NAC. Press Enter for it to take, then press MENU twice. It will go back to the home screen.
NEXT... Press Hold/Resume ... Type in 460.075 ... Do NOT press Enter. Press Hold/Resume. If this frequency is still the main, last identified 3 years ago as being it, then you'll hear radio traffic. You'll be able to tell if it is Analog or Digital simply on how it sounds.

If you do NOT hear any radio traffic, do the steps from "NEXT" above, and enter 460.125. Same thing.

If you do hear a quick burst of voice followed by a bunch of weird distorted audio, then it means Barre PD is likely P25 Encrypted.
A lot of North West Vermont is Encrypted so don't be too surprised if it is.

The DB may not be accurate as the last updates came from when one of us traveled up there for vacation. There aren't a lot of locals who monitor and/or submit to the DB.

I didnt hear anything and it wasnt letting me do it a second time... so I dont know what I did wrong or messed something up fiddling trying to get it to pick something up. The antenna is fine though.. (someone else had asked that).. it had picked some long off station for something during a scan/search.. another channel playing morse code.
Its user error. Ive really bad PTSD.. customers & dealers from next door have attacked me.. one of the times, my black lab (she LOOKS friendly but is actually opposite).. he changed his mind about putting hands on me.
Im sorry Im so ignorant about all this but I'm trying my very best to learn & be proactive in protecting my kids.
My thanks to you all for any/all help with this... and to help me get this thing working.
I have all the local channel/frequency #s.. I know how to use buttons: "menu", and knob, as well as: 4=back, 6=forward, E=YES, & .=NO...... thank you I know also know this trick too...
But I still don't have Barre City Police etc on here and scanning.

 

[Ceilteachbandia]

This cable will connect the front port on your BCD996XT to your PC for programming:

https://a.co/d/8d0qs2C

Thank you soooo much!!! 🫶🏼