Official BCD996T Prerelease Thread

[UPMan]

I would be very interested in seeing a "map" of a beta testers unit in how they use the LBS for the areas they monitor.

Ok, below is a snippet. The large circles are the default settings for Fort Worth and Arlington systems. However, for my day-to-day use, I've split the area into multiple systems with multiple "sites" in order to limit my reception to the immediate area that I am in. I've shown what I did with Arlington, below (did similarly for Ftw, but not shown). I have 3 Arlington systems: North, West, and East. Each corresponds to the patrol maps for PD and has only the TGID's for that patrol's PD operations. All systems carry FD/EMS (which are dispatched citywide off of the same channel).

The use of multi-site allowed me to create irregularly-shaped coverage areas for each system to more closely approximate the system's coverage to the patrol area being traversed.

 

[swest90]

Well most of you answered your own questions. With GPS scanning you wouldnt want to put ALL of the texas DPS or CHP frequencies in one system anyway. You can set each zone as a system then have it unlock the sytems as you travel through them. I have no need to listen to the Austin area highway patrol frequncies if im in Dallas.. If they are the same I can duplicate them with plenty of room to spare, thats the tremendous benefit of the dynamic memory. I care a lot more about my usage then how much memory the scanner uses (Havent managed to fill the 396, even with about everyting in SoCal you can find). You can make all the related systems have the same quick key so it would be easy to remember to press 1 for highway patrol, doesnt matter where you are.. press one and it starts to scan the systems that are in-range and have been unlocked by the gps functions. If you have frequencies that are used all over the state, dont define a GPS range for it, and assign it the same quick key.

 

[STiMULi]

I think that 50 miles would be a fair as a radius but not a diameter.

Many of the repeaters in Arizona are on mountain tops, some of them 4000ft higher than the surrounding area. It is not uncommon for coverage areas to exceed a 50 mile diameter. I honestly think that the future owners of this radio would be better served with larger LBS ranges.

The main selling point of the this radio is the LBS and the POI (and related features). A larger LBS range and a POI that covers an area would make lots of sense.

There is an entire community nearby that has a reputation of being a speed trap. Having the choice of an area vs. a point would make for a very useful alert tool. I will say that choosing a DRD on each major thoroughfare may be the best bet.

I also see where many users would be happy to exclude certain systems after they pass through them and other users would be happy to include them until they are out of that major metropolitan area.

UPMAN, Thanks for the map.

A couple of questions of you so I can get a better understanding.

Do you have the purple, green and blue areas in each of thier own systems as well as all the groups together in the smaller red circle in a system?

Because there is no legend to the map could you describe the circle sizes and how you use the systems?

 

[rdale]

"Many of the repeaters in Arizona are on mountain tops, some of them 4000ft higher than the surrounding area. It is not uncommon for coverage areas to exceed a 50 mile diameter. I honestly think that the future owners of this radio would be better served with larger LBS ranges."

If the range really is that large - my guess is you aren't going to be turning the systems/banks on and off very frequently. That's what the GPS option is inteded for - changing systems as you change location. If that system can be received everywhere you go, you don't need this.

"There is an entire community nearby that has a reputation of being a speed trap."

And you regularly forget that? I doubt it. Seems this is much better for entering points, it doesn't do much good to be constantly alerting in an entire city.

- Rob

 

[STiMULi]

If that system can be received everywhere you go, you don't need this.

I think you are misunderstanding my intent. It is not that I want to hear it. I want the scanner to scan what it can hear and not waste time on what it can't hear. That would be accomplished in the manner I am speaking of. Having a diameter that was larger would allow for less redundant programming and would allow the scanner to concentrate on what it can hear. Automating the process as much as possible is why I would buy this radio over the GRE equivelent.

There is an entire community nearby that has a reputation of being a speed trap.

And you regularly forget that? I doubt it. Seems this is much better for entering points, it doesn't do much good to be constantly alerting in an entire city.

Again, I think you are missing the point. The POI or DRD as a range would not be to alert the entire area. It would be to alert of the fact of crossing the border into that area.

I rarely forget that I am approaching the Speed Trap area.

I hope to be able to assist others with interests in knowing where those types of towns or locations might be. I would expect in time, in the same manner as we record, post and refernce frequencies, soon there will be a database (somewhere if not here) of POI, DRD or DXG's.

Using the max alert distance of any of the 3 Non-Radio Location based Features (NRL) may not close be enough to alert if I am approaching that area from a parallel road. Allowing for a longer range would be significantly more useful.

 

[hotdjdave]

Speedtrap Web Site

http://www.speedtrap.org/

 

[STiMULi]

Cool Site! I am a regular contributor. Most people do not use GPS coordinates though.

I wonder if BuTel is working on the GPS portion of 996 as well. It would be great to do some sharing, importing and exporting of this information too.

SpeedTrap City

Other's Comments - 3/2005 - The whole town of Oro Valley is a speed trap. They have just added 2 more motorcycles. I have seen as many as 6 out at a time. Also, N. Copper Spring Trail north of Tangerine is frequently patrolled. They sit on the bikepath at the intersection of Tangerine and N. Copper Spring Trail.

 

[UPMan]

I think that 50 miles would be a fair as a radius but not a diameter.

The setting is for the radius, not the diameter.

UPMAN, Thanks for the map.

A couple of questions of you so I can get a better understanding.

Do you have the purple, green and blue areas in each of thier own systems as well as all the groups together in the smaller red circle in a system?

Because there is no legend to the map could you describe the circle sizes and how you use the systems?

The smallest circle is .5-miles radius. The next up is 1-mile radius. The larger colored circles are 3-miles radius. The circle around Arlington is 10-mile radus.

Each purple/green/blue area is its own system, yes. Each of the sites in these systems is also assigned to Configuration Key 1 (CK1).

I also have a system that has all of my Arlington TRS channels of interest all in 1 system (the red circle around Arlington). Its single site is assigned to CK 2, but I don't have GPS enabled for it.

When I need to monitor something at my desk (where I usually need to get indiscriminate traffic) or when the batteries in my GPS are dead (and so scanning every single site...which takes forever to completely cycle through), I hold 2 while I turn on the scanner. This will lockout all of the CK1 sites and unlock the CK2 sites. When I'm going to be driving around with the GPS connected (and in this mode, I normally want to limit reception to my immediate vicinity), I hold 1 while I turn on the scanner, unlocking the CK1 sites and locking out the CK2 sites.

 

[STiMULi]

The setting is for the radius, not the diameter.

Each purple/green/blue area is its own system, yes. Each of the sites in these systems is also assigned to Configuration Key 1 (CK1).

I hold 2 while I turn on the scanner. This will lockout all of the CK1 sites and unlock the CK2 sites. When I'm going to be driving around with the GPS connected (and in this mode, I normally want to limit reception to my immediate vicinity), I hold 1 while I turn on the scanner, unlocking the CK1 sites and locking out the CK2 sites.

Radius!!!

YES!!!

Makes me feel much better.

How you explained the use pf the map is how I would have expected the use. Thanks again for your explanantion.

Recently (yesterday and early this morning) I traveled from Tucson to Denver via automobile. I was using my BCT8 and Pro-96 (programmed with the help of users on this site that live or operate in the areas I traveled in). Needless to say I was wishing that I had the BCD996T instead.

Open this link in another window as it takes a while to load

The link above represents the trip from the persective of APRS nodes/repeaters that could recieve my signal. As you could see I took the most direct route. It was absolutely not the fastest but it was the most fun. Please ignore some of the excessive speeds listed as they must be errors in the reception of the data .

I did get pulled over 2x and both guys were cool cops. It doesn't hurt to have all of this Ham Radio gear in the vehicle and have a Veterans Plate too. Hence the Avatar

Anyways...

Given all of the I have obtained all of the proper data (freqs,waypoints and radii) would I be able to successfully scan the agencies that operate in those areas as I moved through them?

Would I need to manually manage the channels or systems?

UPMAN thanks again for all of your help! Needless to say I am really looking forward to using this scanner

 

[UPMan]

Given all of the I have obtained all of the proper data (freqs,waypoints and radii) would I be able to successfully scan the agencies that operate in those areas as I moved through them?

Would I need to manually manage the channels or systems?

The feature moves the manual work from during the trip to before the trip. So, once you have set up all of the systems and sites the way you want (which will take some time and thought), on the drive itself, you just sit back and listen. No button presses, no needing to remember which system is assigned to what quick key.

I'll give everyone a little head start this week...QA just released the UASD for the 996, so I'll push it over to our web guys to get up on the Uniden site this week. A slightly different look than the versions for other models, but it will look familiar if you have used any of the other versions of UASD.

 

[WX5JCH]

Paul, any word on the BCT-15 version? I don't need digital... yet

Jim

 

[UPMan]

Still looking good for early Summer on the BCT15.

 

[STiMULi]

The feature moves the manual work from during the trip to before the trip. So, once you have set up all of the systems and sites the way you want (which will take some time and thought), on the drive itself, you just sit back and listen. No button presses, no needing to remember which system is assigned to what quick key.

This may give a whole new perspective on the Database here at RR. As I stated before I feel that there will be a Uniden resource or another provider that will provide some sort of map based relational database that will associate GPS coordinates to frequencies.

I look forward to it

 

[STiMULi]

From the PreLim:

When connected to a GPS, you can program specific location information which
will trigger an alert from the scanner. The following geographically based values
are typical of the use you might find valuable while traveling. Use the menu to input
the necessary data to enable each.
• Dangerous Xing — Stores location, and direction of travel. If you are in range,
traveling in a direction that will take you to that Point, the radio sounds an alert
at .5, .25, and .1 miles from the point.
• Dangerous Road — Stores location, direction of travel, and speed. If you are
traveling at a speed greater than that specified and if you are within range of
the set location, the scanner sounds an alert at .5, .25, and .1 miles from the
point.
• Points of Interest (POI) — Stores location and range. If you approach the set
location, the radio sounds an alert.

What is the Range on POI's? Is it the same as .5, .25, and .1 miles from the point as stated on DXG and DRD?

 

[kikito]

. As I stated before I feel that there will be a Uniden resource or another provider that will provide some sort of map based relational database that will associate GPS coordinates to frequencies.

Yeah, that resource will be us, the hobbyists and the provider will be this website.

 

[STiMULi]

Yeah, that resource will be us, the hobbyists and the provider will be this website.

With the help of Percon

US Frequency Database

Number of Searches: 35
Number of Output Options: 22
Number of Records: 9,028,379
Updated: Daily

Description: Contains all records from the FCC Master Frequency File updated daily. The database features 16 fields (NEW FORMAT) of information per record. Fields include Frequency, Callsign, DBA Name (Company Name), Radio Service Code, Class of Station Code, Transmitter City, County, State, Latitude, Longitude, and Number of Units, Number of Trunked, Type of License, Expiration Date and Emissions .

http://www.perconcorp.com/spectrumonline/index.html

 

[UPMan]

What is the Range on POI's? Is it the same as .5, .25, and .1 miles from the point as stated on DXG and DRD?

User can select from: 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1.0, 1.5, or 2.0 miles

 

[UPMan]

BCD996T UASD is now available for free download from Uniden's download area.

 

[tbrady]

I would like to know if the BC996 and BC396d could be firmware updated to add allowing user selection between individual radio IDs only(not I-Call Mode) or regular group IDs(Talkgroups),this would allow listening to just the radio IDs talking without hearing everything else on the talkgroup.Thank You. Tony.

 

[vince48]

Great question! This would be a real neat software addition.