BC796D: i need help for My scanner uniden

[Kafx_radio]

hello friends. I have my Uniden bc796d. I want to know how I can search for Frequencies as in the radioshack pro 164. search for 25-13000 mhz. I can't find that option, to search for chain frequencies (NOT SRVC) a kind of "spectrum swiper".

 

[letarotor]

I'm not sure if it was you or another forum member that asked this question just the other day. There were a lot of good answers and it is easy to do.

I'm not going to be able to tell you how to do it step by step right now. But if you look at the manual, or download from Uniden their PDF manual, the description and instructions/steps start on page 29 in the PDF manual and probably the hard copy of the manual. You're going to be reading on the topic of setting up a CUSTOM SEARCH on your BC796D.

I will include a screenshot that you might be able to read from? I'm legally blind so I can't really tell if this is something you can read off of this image but I'm thinking most people can probably see it.

Just remember you can program 10 different CUSTOM SEARCH ranges. Be sure to set your step size to the right setting if it isn't already there by default. And make sure you are setting the radio up to search between a high and low frequency using the right mode FM / AM / WFM / etc. For instance, if you're searching 225-380 MHz for military aviation traffic, be sure the scanner is set to the 25 kHz step size and it's in the AM mode as you program it. All of these settings and options you can change as you are setting up your CUSTOM SEARCH perimeters.

Hopefully this will help you and here is the screenshot I was talking about. It really is an easy task and once you get used to it it should be no problem whatsoever. And good luck!

Brian
COMMSCAN

 

[tvengr]

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.

 

[Kafx_radio]

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.

What is WFM and NFM for in my uniden?

 

[letarotor]

What is WFM and NFM for in my uniden?

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.

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

 

[Kafx_radio]

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.

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

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

 

[letarotor]

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

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.

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

 

[Kafx_radio]

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.

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

Is there a way to know if my scanner already has it installed? I only have this information. THANKS

 

[jtwalker]

APCO P25 Card Installed 👍

 

[tvengr]

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.

 

[Kafx_radio]

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.

Yes!