I have a new to me a very used scanner BC796D. Used Proscan and a subscription to Radio Reference to set it up and do receive regular channels, however it will not receive Riscon channels. I live in West Warwick and am mostly interested in Warwick & Providence fire. Tried using the Metro and South tower, nothing. Scanner does have a digital card and it does have some other issues. Since I downloaded everything it should be correct, just wondering what I am missing or is it the scanner itself and if so how can I check.
new BC796D Riscon problem
- Thread starter Martya115
- Start date
This could be your issue.
That update doesn’t apply to P25 systems.
^^^ THIS!
OP would be much better off using a Uniden SDS100 or 200 if this is a frequently monitored system
Simulcast Distortion - The RadioReference Wiki
Especially in West Warwick, some parts of town have elevation and could easily receive multiple simulcast cells at once.
Try putting each zone in it's own bank, make sure the bank is on. Make sure you are hearing the control channel.
Marty, what happened to the Whistler 1040? You never had that one working right. It must be your programming or understanding of trunk scanning.
Do you still have Win500? I can send you a file.
Marty, what happened to the Whistler 1040? You never had that one working right. It must be your programming or understanding of trunk scanning.
Do you still have Win500? I can send you a file.
Last edited:
Good memory, returned the Whistler while I still could. This one was much cheaper (as in free), have other scanners for the other channels that I want to listen to, just got this scanner given to me and thought why not for the 2 departments that I am missing, Providence I can get off the internet Warwick I cannot. Just figured if I downloaded everything I should not have an issue, but I must be missing something or something is wrong with the scanner itself.
I do have two banks setup one for each zone, the banks scan but never stop. What do you mean by hearing the control channel?
Try this file for RISCON. Use banks 1-4
tvengr
Well Known Member
Except for the SDS100 and SDS200, my BC796D surprisingly handles simulcast better than many of the newer scanners.
Yup. Unless you have the golden SDS it might as well be considered encrypted
mine definately does not.
Loaded it same result. Wanted to try it again tomorrow with a different antenna I also need to hook it up to a computer to see the screen and then use the ipad to monitor Providence so I know when they are talking. Trying to make sure it will work before spending any money on it. Guessing that if the digital card is bad the scanner would complain about it. I get over 50 over the air channels on my TV, on my BC125 I can listen to what I want including Cumberland FD, so also guessing that my area is not a total dead zone. Thoughts on the update mentioned in one of the first responses. Thanks for the file and checking on me, really appreciate it.
Marty, Try this one.....
Did you try and do the firmware update??
Tim, that update won't help in this situation. You're going to make him do more work than he needs to for a fix that won't resolve the issue.
Marty, I hate to say this, but I just don't think this receiver is going to do what you want it to do.
You're in an area that almost definitely has simulcast involved (meaning getting several towers) and are suffering from simulcast distortion.
You can try reducing the antenna gain some, using a smaller antenna, etc., that sometimes helps. But I am afraid ultimately you're suffering from S.D.
Quick update. Had some time, display was not working so opened up the case and found 2 disconnected ribbons, reconnected reloaded channels and both display and Riscon are/were working (to a point).
Confusion I though all towers transmitted all communications, I appear to be wrong I seem to get the same channels on the same towers 99% of the time, I am picking up Metro, North and South. I can live with that, just confused.
However I seem to have done something because I no longer receive Providence Fire. They were coming in on the Metro tower which I had in bank 1. It does not look like I locked the bank out, but I must be missing something. The display shows ID Scan/List with numbers and then Bank with numbers not sure how to interpret the ID Scan/List, the List only shows a few numbers. IF I press hold the L/O for 2 seconds I get "Nothing L/O ID review" not sure if that is good or not. I must have hit some combination of buttons but not sure what.
Confusion I though all towers transmitted all communications, I appear to be wrong I seem to get the same channels on the same towers 99% of the time, I am picking up Metro, North and South. I can live with that, just confused.
However I seem to have done something because I no longer receive Providence Fire. They were coming in on the Metro tower which I had in bank 1. It does not look like I locked the bank out, but I must be missing something. The display shows ID Scan/List with numbers and then Bank with numbers not sure how to interpret the ID Scan/List, the List only shows a few numbers. IF I press hold the L/O for 2 seconds I get "Nothing L/O ID review" not sure if that is good or not. I must have hit some combination of buttons but not sure what.
I love my BC796Ds, and I have a couple of suggestions for you...
In order to switch between ID Scan/List and Bank displays, press the . (dot) button, next to the "0" button. ID Scan/List shows which talkgroups banks are active. Bank display mode shows which Banks are active.
I'd also recommend trying to zero in on just one tower, but remember that each site, i.e., Metro, South, etc., are made up of several or more towers. To do this, you find the approximate location of your monitoring site on the RR site map (here, I'm using the South Simulcast map), then point a directional antenna (like a yagi) directly at the tower to isolate your scanner's reception to that one tower. You might have to experiment a bit to select the best tower for you.
Hope that makes sense--English isn't my first language!
Good luck!
Great news!! Maybe you turned off the bank. Press #1 when in scan mode.
