Just got my Uniden BCD325P2

[live4him]

Howdy,

I am new to the scanner world and would like to find out the easiest way to program as much as I can for Dallas County, Tarrant County, Ellis County, and Collin County.

The Grand Prairie Fire Department should fall under Dallas County with the details below.

Frequency License Type Tone Alpha Tag Description Mode Tag
482.96250 KNS502 R GrndPra Fire Grand Prairie Fire Dispatch (Simulcast) FM Fire Dispatch

If someone programs them and can help me I would be greatly appreciative.

 

[hiegtx]

Howdy,

I am new to the scanner world and would like to find out the easiest way to program as much as I can for Dallas County, Tarrant County, Ellis County, and Collin County.

The Grand Prairie Fire Department should fall under Dallas County with the details below.

Frequency License Type Tone Alpha Tag Description Mode Tag
482.96250 KNS502 R GrndPra Fire Grand Prairie Fire Dispatch (Simulcast) FM Fire Dispatch

If someone programs them and can help me I would be greatly appreciative.

Welcome to RadioReference.

Grand Prairie is actually on this trunked system: Fort Worth Regional Radio System Trunking System, Tarrant, Johnson Counties, Texas - Scanner Frequencies

Grand Prairie is on site 1 (1) 007, sometimes referred to as a 'layer'. Arlington & Irving are also on separate layers on this system, as are Johnson County, Mansfield, Northeast Tarrant County (NETCO), plus Layers 1 & 2 utilized by Fort Worth, Tarrant County, and the smaller cities in Tarrant. Grand Prairie, Arlington, and Irving are P25 Phase II, which your 325P2 can handle. However, virtually all PD talkgroups for Arlington, Fort Worth, and Grand Prairie are encrypted, which no scanner can decode. Fire TGID's are not encrypted at this time.

Dallas (city) as well as Dallas County are still conventional, though Dallas does have some talkgroups on the City Government TRS used for interop as well as PD. Garland & Mesquite are on separate trunked systems, though they are jointly building a new P25 Phase II system that they will share along with the smaller cities (Sachse & Rowlett) that are on the current Garland system. Other cities in the counties mentioned are also on trunked systems. See each county's database page for what a specific city is using.

The easiest way to program all of these is via software and a Premium subscription to RadioReference. You could then import the desired information into the software from the website, then load it into your scanner. The scanner can indeed be programmed manually through the keyboard. However, it is much quicker and often more accurate to use software. Manually, you are entering information a little at a time, changing screens in the scanner. With software, you are seeing virtually all of the required fields at one time, making it easier to spot simple errors and omissions of data. FreeSCAN, which as the name implies, is free, will program your scanner, with or without using software. ProScan and ARC-XT are two other choices; both have a free trial period, but after that you'd need to either purchase a license for the software, or discontinue use. I use both FreeSCAN and ProScan on my BCD325P2.

Start with these Wiki pages, exploring the various links on each:
Uniden DMA FAQ - The RadioReference Wiki
Program your DMA Scanner - The RadioReference Wiki
Also Easier to Read BCD325P2 Digital Scanner Manual

 

[live4him]

Steve,

Thanks for the help. I signed up for a premium account and downloaded free scan and did an import directly through the freescan software and downloaded several cities in dallas county and they show up on my 325p2 but for some reason all I hear is static. Is there a way to get rid of the static. I did a weather scan and can hear the weather perfectly. When I am listening to the Grand Prairie Fire Channel in Dallas County ut is static. I also can not figure out a way to get it to scan to other departments. Any help is appreciated.

 

[safetyobc]

Maybe your squelch is set to low. Try setting it to a higher setting. 4 is a good starting point I think.

 

[hiegtx]

Steve,

Thanks for the help. I signed up for a premium account and downloaded free scan and did an import directly through the freescan software and downloaded several cities in dallas county and they show up on my 325p2 but for some reason all I hear is static. Is there a way to get rid of the static. I did a weather scan and can hear the weather perfectly. When I am listening to the Grand Prairie Fire Channel in Dallas County ut is static. I also can not figure out a way to get it to scan to other departments. Any help is appreciated.

If you are using FreeSCAN, can you attach your file to a post?

The file format for FreeSCAN, *.996, is not valid for Forum posts, but there are a couple of work-arounds for that. Do one of these two options:

Zip (compress) your file before attaching it with a file utility such as the free 7-Zip.

Or, simply rename a copy of the file. For example, let's call your file 'myfile.996' (without the quotes, of course).
Rename myfile.996 to either myfile.txt or myfile.996.txt
Then whoever downloads it to take a look simply changes the name back.

Which "Grand Prairie" are you hearing static only on? If it's this one,
Frequency License Type Tone Alpha Tag Description Mode Tag
482.96250 KNS502 R GrandPrairie Fire Grand Prairie Fire Dispatch (Simulcast) FM Fire Dispatch

That license expired in 2011, and GP is no longer licensed for that. I doubt it was used as late as 2011, as everything was on the old, analog, trunked system by then.

If it is on the trunked system, then either your squelch is incorrect, as safetyobc suggested, or something is entered incorrectly.

Try the attached file. Unzip it before trying to open in FreeSCAN.