BCD325P2/BCD996P2: I'm new to digital scanners

[blottobox]

I live in Williamston, MI. in Ingham county I have an old Bearcat BD355N and just bought a BCD996P2 during a black friday deal.
I haven't used a scanner since everything seemed to go digital. I got my new scanner programmed and everything seems to be working well except for signals often cut out. My old bearcat still picks up Shiawassee County Fire & EMS very well which I'm assuming are both analog. I programmed them into my new bearcat and it struggles to capture the signals. I've ordered an inexpensive antenna to stick to my mobile home roof. I'm wondering since the old bearcat picks up Owosso/Corunna in Shiawassee county so well, is there some setting I'm missing in the new scanner that's making it such a wimp signal wise.

 

[bearcatrp]

If your area is simulcast, your scanner will have issues. I have the 325p2, which is the handheld version of yours. Mine does pretty good on the open road but get into a simulcast area, it doesn’t do very well. You should post in the Michigan area to get better advice from folks in your state. Also, by getting a better antenna, just makes it worst as it tries to receive from multiple simulcast antennas. Our scanners do well on analog systems and DMR receiving (if you bought the upgrade) if you want real good reception in a simulcast area, get the SDS200. Just sold mine as most of our state went encrypted. Good luck.

 

[RaleighGuy]

Sounds like the issue you are having is that the Ingham site is simulcast and that scanner is not designed for simulcast.

 

[RMason]

As others have mentioned, simulcast is a possibility.

Another thing to consider is that the priority modes will cause interruptions in the received signal. Check to see if you have any of these turned on:

Close Call​

Weather Alert Priority​

Priority Scan​

 

[Chris0516]

The 996p2 comes w/ P25, but. Is not Simulcast-capable

There is only one P25 system listed in your county: Michigan's Public Safety Communications System (MPSCS)

The one tower in your county, on that system is Simulcast.

In the neighboring counties, of:

Clinton-Simulcast
Eaton-Simulcast, (non)Simulcast
Jackson-Simulcast
Livingston-(non)Simulcast
Washtenaw-Simulcast

so, You could try the (non)Simulcast towers in Eaton n' Livingston counties

Also, Disable weather alerts and Close Call

 

[ratboy]

I listen to the MPSCS in SE Mich (Monroe, Ann Arbor, Wastenaw, etc) a lot on my older scanners and it's an odd mix of really clear and other stuff sounds very bad and is difficult to understand. My SDS200's in my apartment do a decent job(they are not nearly as sensitive as the GRE made handhelds), but most of the time I'm in the car and using one of my old GRE radios. I'm thinking about an SDS150, but I've seen a lot of QC issues with the SDS100's and they seem kind of fragile.

 

[n1chu]

After you have done what has been suggested so far, such as affirming any priority features are turned off, and you still suffer from dropped calls, it could be a simulcast issue you are experiencing. And since simulcast issues are totally location specific, what works for one location may not work for another. (Even the SDS100/SDS200 which were designed to combat the effects of simulcast need to follow this same advice when using the filters included with the SDS models… it’s all location specific.) So, where you are, specifically your antenna’s location, has an impact when dealing with simulcast. But the cure may be easier than you think, especially for stationary monitoring stations such as yourself. (Mobile installations are a lot more problematic.) And relocating your outside antenna just a few inches, maybe a few feet, might just do the trick. And it’s not about what kind of antenna you use, some have experienced great reception on a paperclip! You could try swapping out antennas, or just using the one that came with and attaches to your scanner from inside your mobile home… and move that around if you experience the same problem. Sometimes having less signal gives you more reception.

 

[richardbritt]

I think everyone is assuming you are referring to trunking and not the analog frequencies you are asking about. Simulcast is a trunking thing and doesn't apply to the analog frequencies you listen to on your older scanner. Those should come in better using the outside antenna you ordered. Since you are living in a metal trailer, it will help. The metal trailer acts as a RF shield from the signals.

Welcome to the site

 

[n1chu]

I think everyone is assuming you are referring to trunking and not the analog frequencies you are asking about. Simulcast is a trunking thing and doesn't apply to the analog frequencies you listen to on your older scanner. Those should come in better using the outside antenna you ordered. Since you are living in a metal trailer, it will help. The metal trailer acts as a RF shield from the signals.

Welcome to the site

Ha! Great catch! I just followed along with the same assumption stated previously. Oh well, at least he can save what was offerred once he starts looking at the digital stuff. Currently, it looks like he is only listening to analogue and the dropouts are probably caused by priority weather settings or channel settings that automatically revert back to scan every couple of seconds but comes back to where it stopped to begin with. Just turn off all priority settings.

 

[smithken]

Most of Ingham County is on MPSCS and a lot of the law enforcement is full time encrypted but fire is in the clear.