Programming with FreeSCAN

[toastycookies]

This is my first Uniden raido so I am not familiar at all with the menu system or programming. An included manual would have been nice...
Was advised FreeSCAN is the best way to program this radio so this is the only software I have used on it.
Wondering if I am doing this right. (I only have non-trunking conventional frequencies I plan to program in)

Seems to be working I think?

If I do not assign a "quick key" to a group will it scan anyways by default? Having only 10 quick keys I imagine I will eventually run out of them as I continue to add frequencies.

Is there a way to turn a group on/off besides the "Locked out" check box in FreeSCAN?

What is the easiest way to setup close call to run and log all active frequencies it finds?
Say I want to leave it running all day while I am working and be able to check a log of all the active frequencies it has found for the whole day.
I do have an extra computer I am planning on dedicating to the scanner, so I will be leaving it connected to it 24/7.


Thanks to all in advance.

 

[UPMan]

It will erase first, then write to the scanner. Prevents you from having multiple iterations of the same system(s) in the scanner. If you are intentionally writing a new system into the scanner that is not already on the scanner, you would leave it unchecked.

 

[Blackink]

Hi Scott. I just selected the "Erase all systems and settings" box and the only thing it did was once the download was complete, my scanner was stopped on frequency 39.1000 and it was in Hold mode, as in it was like I pushed the Hold button on that frequency.

Once I pressed the Scan/Search button, my scanner resumed scanning the frequencies that were in it from the last time I uploaded from FreeScan.

One thing I want to mention is that when I selected just the "Erase all systems and settings" box, when the scanner was done downloading what I had programmed into my scanner, it was then that the scanner was on that 39.1000 frequency in Hold mode.

When I selected all the boxes on the right side of the "Read From Scanner" window, even the Erase....box, when the scanner was done downloading, it just resumed scanning like nothing happened.

It does have what you had programmed into the scanner, show up in a new window in FreeScan and asks you if you want to save it when you try to leave or try to open another System that is in FreeScan.

So basically it doesn't really erase anything to your scanner or to FreeScan. As far as I can tell, it doesn't erase anything when you download from the scanner and you have that Erase all Systems and Settings" box selected.
It just downloads what you have programmed into your scanner, it doesn't download what is programmed in the scanner that was originally there from the factory.

Now if you select that "Erase all systems and settings" box during the Upload process, it'll erase what you had programmed into the scanner before uploading what you are trying to now put into your scanner.

Hope this helps....

 

[ka3jjz]

If memory serves, there is a 'resume scanning' checkbox that will do exactly that once the upload finishes. No more frequencies on hold....Mike

 

[phask]

Yes - red erases all.

Some always use this. I vary. If you make any radio setting changes you must. also if you rename a sys. it's best to.

I also do it every so often just as a clean up. If I'm just working on 1 system over & over, I do not.

If you just run the RED box and nothing else, I believe it clears all.

 

[marksmith]

What delete all does is clear out the scanner so that what you download to it will be what is there.

I always use this. It deletes everything on the scanner and then puts on it what you have selected for that download.

It also results in all of your systems being in alpha order on the scanner. It takes a few more minutes but instead of just updating what you have changed, or causing duplicate systems if you happened to change the name of one, its a clean copy of what you have in Freescan.

Mark
536HP/HP1e/HP2e/996P2/996XT
996T/396XT(2)/PSR800/PRO668

 

[Blackink]

I keep going back to the wiki to try to figure this all out and I have a feeling that the wiki is very, very wrong.

It makes no sense logistically and seems reversed.

toastycookies.....have you figured the process out yet?

The Wiki isn't wrong, you're just having a hard time understanding the layout of creating the steps to get your scanner operational.

We're here to help, don't be afraid or be too embarrassed to ask.

Steve

 

[UPMan]

The erase happens only when you choose to write to the scanner and it also happens before anything is written to the scanner. The intent is to end up with only the systems you've loaded into Freescan on your scanner, with nothing else. If you don't erase, first, it adds to what is already there.

Writing to the scanner isn't like a memory copy (clone). It actually creates the new systems/groups/channels on the scanner one at a time during the write process.

 

[toastycookies]

toastycookies.....have you figured the process out yet?

The Wiki isn't wrong, you're just having a hard time understanding the layout of creating the steps to get your scanner operational.

We're here to help, don't be afraid or be too embarrassed to ask.

Steve

Yes I think I have it figured out basically.
I have been all through the DMA wiki and the BCT15X wiki as well as the Easier to Read Manual.

However...
Another problem has arisen.

I left the scanner on all day while I was at work using the Virtual Control and the Service Scan as to log new frequencies I can pickup which I don't have programmed in.
I stopped it this after noon and figured I would program in these new to me frequencies.

So I tag the Log window to show the frequencies it stopped on in descending order just to make it more easily readable / keeping all the frequencies together in order instead of all spaced out according to the time in which they were "heard".

Looks fine.

Create a new CONV system and a group under it to program in the new ones.

I figure I'll just go through frequency by frequency, using the Find box to see which ones I have and which I do not. Flippinig back through the find box, the Log window, and the main FreeSCAN window that lists my systems, groups, etc.

Here is where everything stops making sense.

I start programming in a channel in the new group. Seems fine. Another one. Goes in fine.

Then randomly when I hit the green + to add a new channel the whole window fills up with a ton of channels all blank.

"Hmm that was strange," I think to myself, "thankfully I can reload the saved file and only lose the few channels I had just programmed in."

So I load it up and start going from window to window and entering new frequencies.

And then it seems to randomly move / change / edit other channels in other groups every couple of channels I am working on after I tab from the Alpha tag to the frequency box on the new channel.

Again, this was very random.

It got to the point where I would just save after every channel I successfully got to go in correctly and once it started the random moving of channels to other groups while over writing another channel in that group I would just reload and try again.

Took about 30minutes to get in 20 or so new channels.

I am not sure if it was from leaving the program on for too long and it got a memory leak or what the problem was but I had never seen that before.

Anyways, I made SURE to only upload that one new system to the scanner, and it seems to be working fine as of now.

I plan to download the list currently in the unit now to work from before I do any other changes to the DMA, and hope I did not lose any channels I had previously programmed.

Seems like some kind of bug within the FreeSCAN software itself.

Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[Blackink]

usually when i start getting weird problems that are similar to yours on my PC, I do a full re-start of the PC.

Hopefully that will help. Something sounds screwed up, that's for sure.

 

[hfxChris]

Just a couple comments here, even though you said you've got it Others may find this useful.
The thing a lot of people have trouble with when they first try and figure out the Uniden DMA structure is groups and systems, and how they relate to each other, and quick keys and what they do. My explanation pertains specifically to conventional systems mind you. Trunking systems are similar but also slightly different.

Systems contain groups, groups contain frequencies.
You have to have at least one group in a system.

Quick keys allow you to turn systems and groups off and on using the keypad on the scanner. There are two types of quick keys:
System quick keys (SQKs) turn systems off and on, and there are 100 of them (0-99)
Group quick keys (GQKs) turn the groups within each system off and on, and there are 10 of them per system

You can assign the same SQK to more than one system. It will turn them all off and on at the same time when you push that SQK
You can assign the same GQK to more than one group within a system. It will turn all of those groups within that system off and on at the same time.

You can create groups and systems without quick keys assigned to them, however you cannot easily turn them off and on using the keypad on the scanner. They are essentially "always on" unless you lock channels out.

 

[mikewazowski]

Thread moved to Scanner Programming Software forum.

 

[toastycookies]

Thread moved to Scanner Programming Software forum.

Could you please move it to the Software category, http://forums.radioreference.com/software/

as per the Forum Rules.

Uniden Software Discussion
Topics shall be specific to Uniden produced software though third party non-programming software is permitted. Please see the Software category for all third-party programming software.


Thank you.

 

[Blackink]

Just a couple comments here, even though you said you've got it Others may find this useful.
The thing a lot of people have trouble with when they first try and figure out the Uniden DMA structure is groups and systems, and how they relate to each other, and quick keys and what they do. My explanation pertains specifically to conventional systems mind you. Trunking systems are similar but also slightly different.

Systems contain groups, groups contain frequencies.
You have to have at least one group in a system.

Quick keys allow you to turn systems and groups off and on using the keypad on the scanner. There are two types of quick keys:
System quick keys (SQKs) turn systems off and on, and there are 100 of them (0-99)
Group quick keys (GQKs) turn the groups within each system off and on, and there are 10 of them per system

You can assign the same SQK to more than one system. It will turn them all off and on at the same time when you push that SQK
You can assign the same GQK to more than one group within a system. It will turn all of those groups within that system off and on at the same time.

You can create groups and systems without quick keys assigned to them, however you cannot easily turn them off and on using the keypad on the scanner. They are essentially "always on" unless you lock channels out.

Great explanation on differentiating the Quick Keys....

 

[toastycookies]

Great explanation on differentiating the Quick Keys....

And now the group quick keys are a question.

I have gotten a grip on the System quick keys and how they show up on the bottom of they scanner.

However, how do the Group quick keys show?

 

[Blackink]

Well, this is what I can tell you from me poking around with my scanner tonight and skimming through the easier to Read Manual for the BCT15X scanner:

My scanner display is set up on "Conventional Display Mode 2", as what is shown in the Easier to Read Manual.

If you have Group Quick keys programmed into your scanner, and when your scanner is in Scan mode, meaning the scanner is scanning the analog frequencies programmed into your scanner, pressing the Function button once will show the Group (GRP) Quick Keys, on the display under the SO:1234567890 keys, that are assigned to the Groups in that System that the scanner was on when you pressed the Function button.

If you press the Hold button while scanning and then press the Function button, you'll see the GRP (on the display) and the Group Quick Key number assigned to that Group on the display under SO:1234567890

Example: I have the Vermont State Police (VSP) set up on System Quick key #4. In that System, I have VSP-Police on Group Quick Key #1, and I have VSP Dispatch on Group Quick Key #2.
If I press the hold button while the scanner has stopped on a frequency in VSP Dispatch and then press the Function button, right below the SO: (System Quick Keys I have assigned in my scanner) I'll see GRP-2--------- displayed.
If I press Hold while my scanner has stopped on the VSP-Police Group and then press the Function button, I'll see GRP1----------.

I have other Systems set up with as many as 5 Groups in them with Group Quick Keys assigned to them all, so if I press the Hold button while on that particular System and then press the Function button, the line below the SO: 1234567890 will show something similar to GRP - - - - 5 - - - - -, if I happened to stop on the Group that had Quick Key #5 assigned to it.

Now as far as keeping that GRP line on the display all the time, I don't know how to do that. For the above example and instructions I provided, that GRP line only stays on the display for a few seconds.

Not sure if this was what you were looking for.
And the above instructions are for Conventional Analog Systems only, I don't do talkgroups.

 

[marksmith]

I have a 15x. You cant do it. One of the enhancements that came along with the 996T was the group keys staying on the screen. On the 15x to my knowledge there is no trick available to keep the group keys lit. You need to hit the function to get them.

Mark
536/HP1e/HP2e/996P2/996XT/396XT/PSR800/PRO668/PRO652

 

[toastycookies]

bummer.