Kafx_radio
Member
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2022
- Messages
- 31
What is WFM and NFM for in my uniden?This may be a little easier to read:
Setting a Search Range
Before you can use a range search, follow these steps to program at least one of the 10 custom search ranges.
1. Activate the search range mode by using the menu: 1:SERVICE OPTION → :CHAIN SEARCH → 2:SEARCH RANGE or by pressing and holding SRCH for 2 seconds.
2. Use the scroll bar to select the range you want to program, then press E.
3. Set the following options:
--1:RANGE Select, then follow the prompts to enter the lower and upper frequency limits for the search range.
--2:STEPS Select, then set the step size to use while searching the custom range. If you select 9:AUTO, the scanner will use the step sizes most -often assigned for each band.
--3:MODE Select, then set the modulation mode to use while searching the custom range. If you select 5:AUTO, the scanner will use the -------modulation mode most often used for each band.
--4:ALPHA TAG Select, then assign an alpha tag to the search range.
--5:TRUNK See “Searching for Trunk Systems.”
4. Press MENU, then repeat Steps 2 and 3 for additional search ranges.
Searching for Trunk Systems
1:SERVICE OPTION → :CHAIN SEARCH → 2:SEARCH RANGE → Select the range → 5:TRUNK
This option lets you search for a Motorola trunking control channel within the selected range. To activate this function, select 1:ON, then select an appropriate trunk plan. Most areas use Plan 1, so this setting should work in most cases.
Note: This feature only works for 800 MHz and 900 MHz Motorola trunking systems.
If the scanner detects a trunking control channel, it will begin to track that system. The scanner displays the talk group numbers as they become active.
NFM is narrowband FM which is used with digital signals and some splintered frequencies that are usually half the bandwidth of the original analog signal. As an example, let's say you have 153.920. While they don't always do it this way, if it was 153.9275 that would possibly be a user of NFM. But then again nowadays the user could be on 153.920 and still be using NFM. The analog signals have a 15 kHz bandwidth and are wider. But a digital signal should be 7.5 kHz in a lot of instances and that would be narrow band.What is WFM and NFM for in my uniden?
thank you. I'm from Mexico and I'm using this scanner for the first time, I just bought it for 500 Mexican pesos. I want to know if I can pick up a p25 frequency automatically in SEARCH or do I have to program some option to be able to pick up p25NFM is narrowband FM which is used with digital signals and some splintered frequencies that are usually half the bandwidth of the original analog signal. As an example, let's say you have 153.920. While they don't always do it this way, if it was 153.9275 that would possibly be a user of NFM. But then again nowadays the user could be on 153.920 and still be using NFM. The analog signals have a 15 kHz bandwidth and are wider. But a digital signal should be 7.5 kHz in a lot of instances and that would be narrow band.
As for WFM, that's wideband FM. Also just called Wide FM often. That's going to be a 100 kHz spacing or bandwidth on a scanner. FM broadcast stations or back in the day analog TV signals monitoring would require this mode. There probably won't be too many instances you will need that WFM unless you are listening to something like FM radio stations on your scanner. But like I mentioned, your scanner should default to WFM if you program in a station like I mentioned. As you go to program some of your custom searches, you should create one custom search bank with 88.1 MHz for the low frequency and 107.9 for the high frequency. It should default to 100 KHz (WFM) automatically but you might have to change it to WFM? It's been a while since I've done it on the 796D and I don't even think it will receive those frequencies. Maybe it will though?
Brian
COMMSCAN
As long as the scanner does have the P25 card installed (and that's easy to tell just by whether or not you receive a digital P25 signal and can hear it or if it sounds like solid static when you're monitoring a digital P25 signal), it should be able to.thank you. I'm from Mexico and I'm using this scanner for the first time, I just bought it for 500 Mexican pesos. I want to know if I can pick up a p25 frequency automatically in SEARCH or do I have to program some option to be able to pick up p25
Is there a way to know if my scanner already has it installed? I only have this information. THANKSAs long as the scanner does have the P25 card installed (and that's easy to tell just by whether or not you receive a digital P25 signal and can hear it or if it sounds like solid static when you're monitoring a digital P25 signal), it should be able to.
You also have to determine if the P25 signal your trying to receive is Phase 1 or Phase 2 If it's just a single frequency and not part of a trunk radio system, or TRS, it should be Phase 1. And there are some TRSs that are still Phase 1 also so it doesn't mean you won't be able to monitor one just because it's a TRS. The 796D Will only receive the P1 signals and not the P2 on a trunk radio system. But it definitely does have to have the digital card installed in it and I believe only the very first generation of the Uniden BC796D scanners were the ones where you had to purchase the P25 digital card and install it. I think the ones that came out after that first batch all had the card in them. I'm sure somebody will correct me if that's not the case.
I'm not real familiar with the radio systems in Mexico right now, but it should be easy to determine if you have a known P25 digital frequency you can program in and see whether or not you're able to hear it.
The only other factor I can think of is whether or not the P25 signal is encrypted. If it's encrypted you wouldn't be able to receive it no matter if it was a P1 or P2 type of system. You might look on the radio reference.com database and see if there are any listings for what you are wanting to monitor. It should tell you if it is P1 or P2 and whether or not it is encrypted. Good luck!
Brian
COMMSCAN
Yes!With that display, the card is installed. If you remove the single screw at the top of the cover labelled EXPANSION SLOT on the rear of the scanner, you will see the digital card. If you frequently get a display that says CARD ERROR, there is a firmware update for the digital card to fix that problem. Yes, the card has its own firmware.