Impossible?

[ChaserChris]

I'm completely new to the scanning world and all this stuff, but it seems that these radios are impossible to program! I've tried reading the manual and doing it as per the instructions but I still can't figure out how to program these things, it's driving me nuts!! I'm trying to program three BCT15 radios and one BCD996T with no luck...anyone have anything they can say to help me out!?!

 

[slicerwizard]

anyone have anything they can say to help me out!?!

Sure - tell the fine folks here where you live and what you want to monitor.

So are you media or a vulture?

 

[ka3jjz]

If you are media, logic would suggest that you would want to program and learn one of the BCT15s first. Then when you are comfortable, clone that radio to the other two. It is then a short step from the BCT15 to the 996, as the two are related. The 15s can only copy analog transmissions, while the 996 can handle digital.

Our wiki is an excellent place to start understanding what you will need to learn. I've got to put together a little Scanning 101 article for folks like you to have a place to start; however, this is as good a place as any...note that anything in blue or underlined is a hyperlink

http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Uniden_DMA_FAQ

At the very bottom of this article are links to the 'Easier to Read' online manual series. I would bookmark the ones for the BCT15 and 996. But let's here the answers to slicerwizard's questions first.

73 Mike

 

[Don_Burke]

I'm completely new to the scanning world and all this stuff, but it seems that these radios are impossible to program! I've tried reading the manual and doing it as per the instructions but I still can't figure out how to program these things, it's driving me nuts!! I'm trying to program three BCT15 radios and one BCD996T with no luck...anyone have anything they can say to help me out!?!

I got someone local to me to program a BCD996T for me at first. I downloaded the program from that and programmed another BCD996T with it.

That got me started. Since then I have figured it out enough to get by.

 

[ChaserChris]

Sure - tell the fine folks here where you live and what you want to monitor.

So are you media or a vulture?

Sorry Im from Ontario and want to listen to OPP (Got the 996 for that) aswell as Police/Fire/EMS for York, 23/22/31/32 Div. I want to put all the EMS on one radio, all the PDs on one radio and all the Fire on another radio and then program it so I can just listen to York or 22 or 23 etc one at a time. Im going to be using these in a tow truck so I want to just listen to the radios of where I am. I wouldnt mind having Peel on it either though.

I thought after a couple hours last night I had it figured out as Im trying to follow the manual and using the database here to program in York PD but nothing was coming up when I had it on.

 

[captclint]

Disregard. Duplicate answer

 

[ka3jjz]

OK now that we know what you want to do...

Go to our Eastern Canada forum; On 2nd thought, view this post...

http://www.radioreference.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17856

Mike Oxlong wrote a FAQ about setting up scanners for the Bell Fleetnet system. While it covers the 396, the 996 is quite close. A couple of questions will no doubt clear up the confusion. Perhaps you can get him to write one for the 996 as well. It is a little complex, but perhaps someone on that forum can send you a file to use, as someone here has already suggested.

73 Mike

 

[garys]

Are you trying to do this manually or are you using software? These scanners are a bear to program manually, especially if you are trying to do four of them. If you don't have software, then I'd suggest downloading BCTool. It will work with both scanners, and it's free although you will probably be so happy that you'll want to make a donation. You can share files between the two scanners, which will save you some time perhaps. Since you are a member, you should be able to download data from this site directly into the program.

 

[torontokris]

They can be done in 15 minutes with software / Premium account on here

 

[ChaserChris]

Oh man I wish I had been able to get online yesterday and view this. I just paid someone to program my radios for me since i needed them today. Oh well, I also had an offer of help via PM so thanks to him and everyone here for the help Im still going to look into the software though since Ill be getting more radios when I can afford them and because this stuff is fun to play with!

 

[fredmertz51]

I'm completely new to the scanning world and all this stuff, but it seems that these radios are impossible to program! I've tried reading the manual and doing it as per the instructions but I still can't figure out how to program these things, it's driving me nuts!! I'm trying to program three BCT15 radios and one BCD996T with no luck...anyone have anything they can say to help me out!?!

After 30 years of scanners, I purchased a 996. At the end of the first day I was trying to figure out what I was going to tell my wife when I gave up and went back to my old BCT8. By the end of the second day I had everything programmed. All of a sudden it all seemed to make sense. Don't give up, stay with it. Get your system frequencies programmed first. Big difference between the 8 and the 996 is that with the 996 you don't need to program in the blank channels. Then work on your ID's within your groups. Over simplified, but when it hits you, it will be second nature.