Newbie Needs Guidence

[broncofan69025]

Hello everyone, just decided to get a scanner, been looking for a while and finally pulled the trigger. If I say something dumb, please excuse me, this seems like a steep learning curve. I purchased a BCD996P2, tried freescan, couldn't get it to work then i found i was not using the newest version. loaded it up but the scanner is QUIET! not a sound, I live in Curtis, Nebraska. can anyone help me make this work?

Is it possible the frequencies have been encrypted? I have tried close call and pick up nothing. I have tried using all the frequencies on radio reference, pick up nothing. I have tried going to the FCC website and looked under the universal liscensing system and tried all the frequencies there that are shown for police, fire, public safety, get nothing I have watched many videos how to set up close call and read the easy manual that someone has posted. My scanner is quiet, no sounds coming from it. I have a Uniden BCD996P2 scanner, squelch set at 2, If I tune down into the fm radio frequencies i do pick up radio stations. I can do this with a radio! I live in Curtis, Ne. I'm sure I'm just doing something wrong but cannot figure it out, have used freescan so I'm hopeful that I have the correct seettings. If someone could just point me in the right direction I would be very greatful. right now I I have a $400 paperweight! Could the sheriffs office change their frequencies to something that could not be picked up by close call?? I'm STUCK!!!!

I have also just downloaded pro scan still trying to figure it out. Will do some more midnight research on proscan to figure out how to work this program, if it doesnt work, I'm not sure what I'll do. I just keep telling myself "keep trying, it will work out"

 

[tvengr]

If you attach your FreeSCAN or ProScan files, I will check them for problems. You will need to right click on the files and Send to Compressed (zipped) folder to be able to attach them. Click on Attach files and Open the zipped folder.

 

[broncofan69025]

hope you can help

 

[W0JJK]

What are you trying to listen too?

 

[broncofan69025]

frontier county sheriffs office, fire and ambulance

I think I sent the wrong file, here is the correct one I am trying

 

[sonm10]

Frontier county?

Frontier County, Nebraska (NE) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference (radioreference.com)


Not much to go on. Sheriff is DMR. No Color Code - could be a copy from FCC License
Fire/EMS is analog with DPL.

You will need to purchase the DMR upgrade for your 996p2. I would purchase directly from the Uniden website. You will need to register with Uniden before purchase of the update.

Also, being the database seems bare, you may need to do your own homework and research. I would start by perusing FCC Licenses
FCC Licenses and Scanner Frequencies for Frontier County, Nebraska (NE) (radioreference.com)

 

[tvengr]

Do you have the DMR upgrade? The RR database shows the Sheriff to be using DMR. As stated by sonm10, your scanner needs the DMR upgrade to receive it. FreeSCAN only partially supports DMR. For the Sheriff, you should hear a buzz on transmissions if the Audio Type is set to Analog only. If you hear the buzz, the Sheriff is DMR. ProScan fully supports DMR and is excellent software. You can also try Butel ARC-XT which also fully supports DMR. I use ARC-XT Basic to program my BCD996P2. Both have a free trial period. The DMR upgrade already resides in the firmware of the scanner. You just need to purchase the key from Uniden and enter it into the scanner to enable DMR. I have found a number of other frequencies for Frontier County in the FCC database which are not listed in the RR database. I can give you the list of them. Do you have the quick keys for the system and groups enabled? Here is a PDF file which will answer all of your questions about using quick keys:

 

[broncofan69025]

After checking I do not have the DMR upgrade, tried to buy it but my ESN will not go in, as it is too long, and it says the sum is not correct. my SN is 14 digits long and it will only let me put in 10. going to have to get a hold of uniden to figure out why. thanks for everyones help.

 

[tvengr]

If you look, the first 4 characters of the ESN are already shown. You just need to enter the remainder of the number. The sum is hexadecimal using the numbers 0 thru 9 and the letters A thru F. Do not confuse the number 0 (zero) with the letter O or the number 8 with the letter B.

 

[broncofan69025]

GOT IT THANKS!!!

 

[broncofan69025]

OK bought the upgrade to DMR now going to try to program with proscan as I see freescan does not support DMR
thanks everyone, hope things are smoother from here on

 

[tvengr]

You can try the Sheriff as a conventional frequency. Using ProScan, you can set the Audio Type to Digital Only and P25 NAC/Color Code/RAN/Area to Search. When the Sheriff transmits, you will see a color code (CC) flashing. You can enter that as the color code in the software. It is possible that the Sheriff is using 2 separate channels on that frequency. That info may not be entered in the database. DMR is TDMA, meaning that you can have 2 separate audio channels using only one frequency. Set up a DMR One-Freq Trunk system using that frequency and color code with the system in ID Search. You may see talkgroup ID numbers and slots displayed when the Sheriff transmits. Check if there are 2 separate talkgroup ID's. Sometimes, the same talkgroup ID will be used for both channels with the channel selected by slot number.

 

[N0ZQR]

The OP is kind of in the middle of nothing! If they are using close-call they are a long way away from what they want to hear.

Looked at the state SRS and none of the tower coverage makes it to Curtis (which I find strange).

Think a outside antenna is what is needed.

Ron

 

[tvengr]

The OP is kind of in the middle of nothing! If they are using close-call they are a long way away from what they want to hear.
Looked at the state SRS and none of the tower coverage makes it to Curtis (which I find strange).
Think a outside antenna is what is needed.

The Sheriff's 460.425 conventional repeater frequency has a site in Maywood which is only 6 miles from Curtis. I don't think an outside antenna is required for the Sheriff. The Fire frequencies show a type of BM. An outside antenna could be helpful to hear the mobiles. If you check, you will notice there are no talkgroups listed for Frontier County on the SRS statewide system. I agree that close call should not be used.

 

[N0ZQR]

tvengr, yea I noticed that, thought maybe they would be able to hear something on the SRS even if it was not his county.

Also traffic is not very heavy in that part of the state (have cousin in North Platte, Lincoln County). State Patrol is the most chatty.

 

[tvengr]

It looks like the closest sites For NESRS are Hayes Center in Hayes Co, McCook in Red Willow Co, North Platte in Lincoln Co, and Cozad in Dawson Co. NE State Patrol North Platte Troop D covers the area.

DEC	HEX	Mode	Alpha Tag	Description	Tag
3083	c0b	D	Troop D Disp 1	Dispatch 1	Law Dispatch
3084	c0c	DE	Troop D Disp 2	Dispatch 2	Law Dispatch
3085	c0d	D	Troop D Disp 3	Dispatch 3	Law Dispatch
3039	bdf	D	Troop D LE 1	LE 1	Law Tac
3040	be0	D	Troop D LE 2	LE 2	Law Tac
3042	be2	DE	Troop D LE SEC3	LE Secure 3	Law Tac
3036	bdc	DE	Troop D ENC	Encrypted (3036)	Law Tac

 

[broncofan69025]

the main county sheriffs tower is in Curtis, 200ft from my back door. WOW I thought freescan had a learning curve, proscan is a huge learning curve!!! still doing lots of reading, gotta figure out this programming!

 

[ProScan]

proscan is a huge learning curve!!!

In ProScan, the database programming steps are
1. Open a ProScan database file or create a new one
2. Getting the data

Import from the RadioReference database​

and/or manual input​

and/or download from the scanner​

and/or using the Get Clipboard function to get channels from a document or web page​

and/or import from another ProScan file​

and/or Import from the Sentinel Database​

3. Looking over the data before uploading to the scanner

Change the text tags if you want​

Change the parameters to suit your needs such as Delay, Quick Keys, Att., etc.​

4. Upload to the scanner

Freescan is about the same.

 

[W0JJK]

The Frontier Sheriff is DMR. I was out there in 2020. I didn't hear anything else when I was there.

The Hayes Tower for NWIN didn't carry much traffic when I was out there.

 

[tvengr]

the main county sheriffs tower is in Curtis, 200ft from my back door.

Are you sure? According to the FCC database, 460.425 is licensed only for locations in Maywood and Eustis.