How to Toggle System Quick Keys Assigned with 2 digits.

[es93546]

I assigned my scan hit storage into Quick Key 99. I can't figure out how to toggle this "System" on and off when scanning. I purchased the "Easier to Read' manual and have read the manufacturer's manual as well and can't figure out how to toggle systems on an off if they have a number of 10-99. So my system with a quick key of 21 is also one I can't toggle on and off from scanning, at least not using the number keys. I think I just have to enter program a system and lock or unlock those, but for some reason I can't get the scanner to ignore my stored close call hits while scanning. The number display show "9" flashing on and off, but when I just hit 9 I toggle quick key system "9" on and off. I have no succes trying to toggle "99" on the scanner and I can't seem to figure out how to lock out the Close Call Hit Storage scan at all. Can anyone help me out here?

Without being able to do this the scanner is of limited use, because it takes so much time to scan the close call hits that are stored. I want to go back to scan the hits at times, so I don't want to eliminate the quick key and I don't want to delete the system. I can't go on to learn about the other methods of operating this radio until I get this one solved. I can find the instructions for toggling systems with my quick call number assignments, but it only deals with quick calls 1-9 and not 10-99. The "Easier to Read" manual is possibly a tiny bit easier to read than Uniden's, but the difference is almost imperceptible. The best way to write a manual is to get a group of people in a room, let them use a product, then when they have questions, write them down and make sure the manual answers those questions. An experienced scanner user or a computer tech will never be able to write any effective manual without at least some type of this effort.

 

[doctordialtone]

An experienced scanner user or a computer tech will never be able to write any effective manual without at least some type of this effort.

For Quick Keys above 9, use the decimal point as the first digit.

.13 is Quick Key 13.

.81 is Quick Key 81

It's explained clearly here:

Quick Keys Above 10

 

[es93546]

For Quick Keys above 9, use the decimal point as the first digit.

.13 is Quick Key 13.

.81 is Quick Key 81

It's explained clearly here:

Quick Keys Above 10

Thanks, I've read through the 10,000 lines in each manual and it did not pop up at me. I just tried it and it WORKED!!!

Later tonight when I get more time I will try to find that in the printed "Easier to Read" manual. I'm going to highlight that one with a different colored pen! I've had this question for several weeks now and should have asked sooner. RR is a great site to be a member of again (second time around for me).

EDIT: I had to find the decimal key first as I had never used it either. It popped up in my face nicely though.

 

[doctordialtone]

I will try to find that in the printed "Easier to Read" manual.

It's in the Table of Contents under

Turning System/Site/Search Quick Keys On/Off

 

[es93546]

OK, I found it and highlighted it in green on Page 72 of the printed manual, which isn't right below the online version of it. The notes on that printed page are in a different order than the online version. I highlight such things in green, which means I'm green with embarrassment that someone had to find it for me!

 

[es93546]

It's in the Table of Contents under

Turning System/Site/Search Quick Keys On/Off

It is under a different heading in the printed version. However, once you find the target it is always easier to back track to tell others how to get there. It's finding something in the first place that is challenging when a person first arrives in unfamiliar territory. This is a phrase and principle I have used when on search and rescues, directing crews to fires, finding fires or portions of large ones or directing trail crews to particular sections of trail that need work and in answering questions from the public when knocking about in remote country. I can hear it now "ranger, ranger, how to we get to (_________)? Fill in the blank with "the tree you can drive through" (tempting answer, "pick anyone you like" after answering that question at least 600 times per month every year) or "those hot springs where the baby was born suddenly a month before mom's due date" or "that campground with lots of aspens next to the lake (let's see, how about we start with which state you might be thinking of) or "that lake with all the fish that have spots on them." It was a privilege to have a job where you could help people with these questions and more. I even wrote a desk reference for the visitor center staff that I revised a few times the first year when a new question was asked or one of our wonderful visitor center staff could not find the answer already given in the book. It's all about how you cross reference the same answer with different words in the index. The index has to get quite large to make the reference useful.

 

[n1chu]

Well stated es93546. When I read the post my first perception was to include a symbol that would tell the scanner I was going after a double digit number. But it’s not my first time dealing with this type of issue. So my perception was an educated one.

Computers, for all their abilities and power, are dumb machines that need to be lead by the hand when using them. True, a computer can be programmed to do what you want, but only after it knows what lines of programming to access. In this case it needs to be able to determine if a single digit entry or a double digit entry is required. We have to differentiate between the two. And since modern day scanners heavily depend upon computer chips, we must observe what you have outlined. (Manufacturers could have included a few more lines of programming that allowed for a message to be displayed when we access QK’s, something along the line of “Double Digit QK’s must be preceded by the Period symbol”, or some such explanatory info, but they don’t.)
In any case, it’s happened to me and I’m sure many others, where, much like the old adage “You can’t Proof Read Your Own Copy”, because our brain reads the copy and corrects what we see, causing us to miss the errors, I chalk it up to the way our brains are wired, the way we think. On occasion, I’ve gone back into the manual, read and ignore exactly what I was looking for!

In this light, overlooking certain aspects of the written manuals are understood. While common courtesy dictates an apology for the oversight should be offered, no apology is necessary… a simple “thanks for the help” should suffice. It’s easy to think “What’s up with that, can’t the guy read, or comprehend what he reads?” …when it is simply not his fault… it’s a matter of oversight. I wish I had a nickel for every time I’ve been caught reminding myself to re-read, or leave the problem and revisit later with a fresh set of eyes. I think it’s the frustration, when we don’t get the expected outcome, that clouds our ability to comprehend. The old adage “If at first we don’t succeed, try try again” gets us into trouble, and is born out by the witty afterthought “If at first we don’t succeed, try try A GUN!” Instead, we need to recognize frustration, be aware of it and (in my case) revisit the problem tomorrow.

 

[AB5ID]

Thanks for asking the question. I've always wondered the same thing but never bothered to look since I don't use more than single digit quick keys but it's good information to know.

 

[es93546]

Well stated es93546. When I read the post my first perception was to include a symbol that would tell the scanner I was going after a double digit number. But it’s not my first time dealing with this type of issue. So my perception was an educated one.

I'm writing a longer response as you have touched on a subject that I have observed since college (B.S. Forestry 1975). The subject is information dissemination. I will finish that post later.

For now I want to comment about thinking a symbol would be an answer to the difficulties I was having. For me, intuitively I would press a number key, then function and then the remaining numbers. That is based on operating other scanners, ham radios and an assortment of electronic devices. I don't find Uniden scanners to be intuitive as much as the now defunct GRE scanners. GRE's demise has forced me back to Uniden. I also found the previous two Uniden scanners I've purchased (BC780 and Pro-2052) to have design flaws. On the 325P2 I noticed the first one as I plugged in the data/power cable and the screen prompted me to say yes or no to having the batteries charged. The button for "no" and is aligned with the screen's word "yes" and vice versa. Each time I plug the cable in I have to stop myself from hitting the yes button as it is right under the word "no" on the screen. This is an error of basic industrial design. I say this based on the high school shop and drafting; college chemistry, physics, drafting and engineering; courses I've taken that touched on the subject. My reaction to this was "oh boy Uniden, here we go again."

My ham radios, Bendix King surplus, Kenwood, Icom and Yaesu units provide an example of that at well. I have 3 Yaesu mobiles, one each car. I used to have a Yaesu handheld. I now have three Kenwood handhelds, two TH-6A's and a TH-28A. These Kenwoods run circles around the other radios as far as being intuitive. As good of a radio Yaesus are I now wish my mobiles were Kenwoods. The King is relatively easy to use, but that is because I used and programmed them on the job from 1987 to retirement. The Icom is still sitting on my workbench waiting for me to replace the PROM battery, so I can't comment on its operation.

People designing radios need to watch people trying to use them in focus type groups that marketing and political types use to design their campaigns. I think Kenwood and GRE might have done so, at least on a limited basis. The GRE PSR-500/600 radios brought on Don Starr, developer of a programming software for these radios to help design the firmware. The combination of the radio and the software is incredibly intuitive, given some basic spreadsheet understanding.

Later . . . . .