Just Upgraded To BCD396XT!

[mrkelso]

Nice little radio Good Luck with it. Mine worked right from the box and never gave a any problems at all. It is still going strong.

 

[pinballwiz86]

Nice little radio Good Luck with it. Mine worked right from the box and never gave a any problems at all. It is still going strong.

That's great! I'm loving my new scanner. Hearing stuff I hadn't heard for ~8 months due to the switch to digital P25.

I have found two new talk groups in the area already with the "ID Search" feature! They sound like inter-op talk groups.

 

[pinballwiz86]

I've come across two military police talk groups and can't hear anything. I see "ENC" so I guess they're encrypted. Bummer. There's still lots of other digital stuff out there in the area to listen to!

 

[teufler]

Texas county just added a group on moswin. The robot sound is the scanner decoding the audio. If you don't travel around much, you can adjust this somewhat. If you travel around, you are going to adjust this audio alot as no two systems decode the same. I think my 296d sounds better on digital than the 396xt, and its easier to adjust the audio for a more normal sound. The sound girgles on digital. You , after you now have the radio, may want to get a better antenna. I use the austin condor antenna. Its taller, and receives, by the signal strength indications, 1 to 2 bars stronger than the antenna that came with the 396xt. For a base , try a so239 to a sma adapter, then screw on to your two meter antenna. I take it your a ham. Did you work the 100aw rally that was just held in salem, mo?

 

[pinballwiz86]

Texas county just added a group on moswin. The robot sound is the scanner decoding the audio. If you don't travel around much, you can adjust this somewhat. If you travel around, you are going to adjust this audio alot as no two systems decode the same. I think my 296d sounds better on digital than the 396xt, and its easier to adjust the audio for a more normal sound. The sound girgles on digital. You , after you now have the radio, may want to get a better antenna. I use the austin condor antenna. Its taller, and receives, by the signal strength indications, 1 to 2 bars stronger than the antenna that came with the 396xt. For a base , try a so239 to a sma adapter, then screw on to your two meter antenna. I take it your a ham. Did you work the 100aw rally that was just held in salem, mo?

No, I didn't get a chance to go to the race in Salem. A couple of hams from my area did go. KC0LIR and KD0NUI and they had a good time.

Thanks for the audio tip. I'll just have to mess with it a little bit. I have a Diamond SMA I'm thinking about using on it. But my precious scanner, the 346XT, actually received better with the rubber ducky. Go figure.

I'm liking the scanner a lot. Wasn't too hard to program and I'm finding new frequencies that aren't on radio reference's database. I'll add the Texas Co frequency as well. Thanks for the tip. It's nice to meet another Missouri ham. (I'm fairly new to the hobby)

 

[dbsar]

Please post a link on how to adjust p25. Thanks

 

[teufler]

its in the easy to read 396xt online manual. Easier to Read BCD396XT Digital Scanner Manual

 

[SpockVulcan]

Definitely get freescan and a Radio Reference membership, easiest way to interface with this receiver. Also one thing I discovered accidentally that is a life saver, press and hold "Hold" to enable system hold, very useful for trunking systems.

 

[bravo14]

I had the 396xt for years and still working hardly any scratches on it. Where I use to live I used it for getting the Fire Tone Outs now that city/county is on P25 l 800 system no more tones or vhf. It sounds like you are going to have fun with the radio. I use FreeScan also.

 

[pinballwiz86]

Definitely get freescan and a Radio Reference membership, easiest way to interface with this receiver. Also one thing I discovered accidentally that is a life saver, press and hold "Hold" to enable system hold, very useful for trunking systems.

Thanks for the FreeScan tip. I went ahead and just programmed everything by hand. Took me about an hour to do so.

I had the 396xt for years and still working hardly any scratches on it. Where I use to live I used it for getting the Fire Tone Outs now that city/county is on P25 l 800 system no more tones or vhf. It sounds like you are going to have fun with the radio. I use FreeScan also.

Thanks. I'm having fun already hearing stuff I wasn't hearing before. Like I found some hidden treasure! I guess that's what I really like about the scanning hobby.

The only drawback about the 396XT is the slow scanning of several P25 systems and analog systems. I don't have that many talk groups and conventional channels. Maybe after the weekend I'll switch the digital stuff to ID SCAN instead of ID Search to speed it up some.

 

[Nightjock]

I have a shiny new BCD536HP and it is awesome. That being said, I STILL love my 396XT. Such a great radio. Enjoy learning its secrets and discovering new signals.

Tip: Use software to program the bulk of it, but learn how to do it "by hand" as well. Totally adds to the enjoyment of this piece of gear, and comes in handy in an emergency.

 

[pinballwiz86]

I have a shiny new BCD536HP and it is awesome. That being said, I STILL love my 396XT. Such a great radio. Enjoy learning its secrets and discovering new signals.

Tip: Use software to program the bulk of it, but learn how to do it "by hand" as well. Totally adds to the enjoyment of this piece of gear, and comes in handy in an emergency.

I programmed it all by hand. It doesn't take too long after you have a rhythm going. Congrats on the 536HP. Hope you're enjoying it.

 

[bravo14]

Thanks for the FreeScan tip. I went ahead and just programmed everything by hand. Took me about an hour to do so.



Thanks. I'm having fun already hearing stuff I wasn't hearing before. Like I found some hidden treasure! I guess that's what I really like about the scanning hobby.

The only drawback about the 396XT is the slow scanning of several P25 systems and analog systems. I don't have that many talk groups and conventional channels. Maybe after the weekend I'll switch the digital stuff to ID SCAN instead of ID Search to speed it up some.

When you do a ID Search make sure you hit E.yes button it will save it. Also if your Fire Dept area uses fire tone outs that has a search on it you can get the tones for A/B.

 

[pinballwiz86]

When you do a ID Search make sure you hit E.yes button it will save it. Also if your Fire Dept area uses fire tone outs that has a search on it you can get the tones for A/B.

Thanks for the tip! I've been going through the menu to add new TGID. But, I will try the E button instead. I think one time I did do that and it created a new system.

 

[pinballwiz86]

Thanks for the tip! I've been going through the menu to add new TGID. But, I will try the E button instead. I think one time I did do that and it created a new system.

I figured out what I was doing wrong. When you hit E, hit the . or NO then select the correct group otherwise it'll save the talk group to Qck Save Grp.

I'm still loving the new scanner. I had a chance to take it with me to Springfield the other day and monitored the city's analog 800 mhz Motorola Type 2 Smartzone system. It sounded great! Very neat system and was my first time listening to an analog trunked system. I was glad to find out the BCD396XT handed it with ease. Great sound quality too. I heard some cool stuff.