So maybe I'm putting the cart before the horse...

[Contact]

...but I have been investigating this BCD396T scanner for the last week or so, and the main thing I keep hearing about is how tough they are to program. I don't own the scanner yet, but I wanted to save a database in my computer so that when I get the scanner, I can write everything to the scanner and I can get right down to scanning!!

My father purchased one of these scanners a few days ago, and I was trying to guide him through the software, but even I didn't understand it.

So I beg all of you to answer the following questions please:

I downloaded the Uniden software off the website, but I can not make any sense of how to proceed, when I open it up, and click the database tab, and new, what should I name the new system? I live in Wayne County, MI and want all of the downriver departments to be in the scanner. Should I name the system "Wayne County" or do I have to create a system for each individual city?

When I click on the Database link on RR.com, I then click Michigan_Wayne and go down to Allen Park I see "423.42500 428.42500 KQB291 RM 103.5 PL Police - Fallback FM" which looks like a traditional frequency, but if I click Michigan_Wayne and then under "Trunked Systems, Downriver Mutual Aid Public Safety" Allen Park also lists Talkgroups....Which brings me my next question...Why does Allen Park also have a regular freq. and also a talk group??

What is a System, Group, and Talk group? Does each police officer have a unique ID that would allow the scanner to keep track of the individual officers as they Key their preps?

With regard to the UASD software from uniden, I understand that I do not yet have the scanner, but can I at least set up everything so all I have to do is plug the scanner in, upload everything and get to listening? If so, is there a step by step procedure somewhere that would even allow a dope like me who is still listening to an old Uniden BC350A, the ability to set everything up easily, possibly with a step by step procedure? I understand a lot of you say it is easy, but please understand I am not familiar with digital trunked systems at all.

I'd like examples, if at all possible, in-fact I'll try one right now. In the downriver area here, we have the following cities: Allen Park, Melvindale, Lincoln Park, Taylor, Southgate, Ecorse, Westland, Inkster, Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, Trenton and River Rouge. There is also Wayne County Sheriffs and Michigan State Police. Lets say I wanted all these cities in the scanner. Would I need one system, or a system for every police department? I would think the system would be the county all the cities are in, and then each city is an individual talkgroup. Is this correct?

Would I then program all the fire and ems in different systems?

My dad said he finally figured out how to program it this afternoon, but he did it all manually. Seems like a lot of work, and it seems like the people who have figured out the uniden software think it's very easy to learn.

Is there a step by step walk through for the uniden software? Sorry for all the questions, even though I don't even own the scanner yet!! LOL I plan on getting it in the next few weeks though, and when I get it, I want to get it up and running ASAP!! Thanks a ton everyone!!

 

[mbird97x]

And if you think the Uniden software is easy, try Butel's ARC396 software. Becoming a paid subscriber to this site along with ARC396 you can download the systems and it will put it in the scanner for you.

 

[MarkWestin]

I find the Uniden UASD software to be rather difficult to operate. I have had much better luck using ARC396Pro. (download the demo and try it out). A few pointers:
1. You can't have both trunked frequencies and conventional frequencies in the same system. (more on that later).
2. Talk Groups are used only in trunked systems.
3. A System can be whatever you decide you want it to be. You could decide to have all your conventional fire department frequencies in one System and then put each city's frequencies in its own Group. Or you could have a separate system for each city and put each emergency service in its own Group.
4. If you want to listen to a trunked system and the "fallback" frequencies at the same time, you would put them in two systems (one trunked, one conventional) and then assign the same Group Quick Key to both systems.
5. In a trunked system, each user can (probably does) have their own unique identifier. When one user wants to talk to another, your scanner can pick it up by using a feature known as I-Call.
6. The State Police, County Sheriff, etc. should probably be in separate systems, maybe even in multiple systems if it is a State Wide system.

You can get a lot more information from the WIKI section (Link at the top of any page) on the BCD396T page under Radio Models - Uniden, and on Trunking on the main page under General Information - Trunking.

After you get over the initial steep learning curve, I think you will really like the new memory structure. It is not "harder" just "different"

Mark

 

[Contact]

And if you think the Uniden software is easy, try Butel's ARC396 software. Becoming a paid subscriber to this site along with ARC396 you can download the systems and it will put it in the scanner for you.

Actually I ment to convey that I wasn't sure how to use any of the software. I did download the trial of ARC396, but my lack of knowledge makes it impossible to make any sence of where to enter what information.

I plan on becoming a paid member, but I see the subscriptions are only good for 90 days (iirc), and since I don't have the scanner yet, it would be a waste of subscription bucks.


MarkWestin, I found your information very valuable, and thanks!! Can you tell me what the fallback frequency is? I noticed that was a traditional frequency value, whereas the trunked systems typically were all numbers.

Alright, I think I may have the hang of the ARC software now, I think my problem was I was under the impression that systems and groups had to follow a certian routine. I thought systems had to be one thing (either the city, or what service), and groups had to be another thing.

I think it's a little less confusing now that I realize the database is more user defined than it is parameter defined.

Okay, let me know if I have this correct:
Just as a rudementary start, I have two systems, one for police, and one for fire/rescue.

In each system, I renamed group one "Allen Park" and under the police group I entered the 3 talkgroup police ids, and I did the same thing under the fire group. I made sure that under the system I selected it as an APCO 25 system. How can I verify what system is the right one to choose? I notice there are 10+ options, how do I know?

What I am looking for is when the scanner stops on a frequency, I'd like to see the city that the transmission is coming from, whether it is police or fire, and which frequency it is (dispatch, secondary or car-to-car). From the configuration I have now, is this what I'll end up with?

 

[Contact]

Alright...for whatever reason everything simply clicked all at once.

I am in the process of building my database now!! This ARC software is extremely user friendly!!!

How do you guys build yours?? Any tips?

I'm not sure if it would be more efficient this way:
System 1= City 1
....Group 1= City 1 Police
....Group 2= City 1 Fire
....Group 3= City 1 EMS
System 2 = City 2
....Group 1= City 2 Police
....Group 2= City 2 Fire
....Group 3= City 2 EMS
System 3 = City 3
....Group 1= City 3 Police
....Group 2= City 3 Fire
....Group 3= City 3 EMS

...OR if it would be more efficient this way:
System 1 = Police
....Group 1 = City 1 Police
....Group 2 = City 2 Police
....Croup 3 = City 3 Police
System 2 = Fire
....Group 1 = City 1 Fire
....Group 2 = City 2 Fire
....Group 3 = City 3 Fire
System 3 = EMS
....Group 1 = City 1 EMS
....Group 2 = City 2 EMS
....Group 3 = City 3 EMS

I'll have to admit, I'm kind of anal about order, so I'd like it to be as organized as possible, and I'd like to make it as easy as possible to add systems in the future and have them still follow the same type of scheme.

So, how do all of you order your systems??

 

[ampulman]

Alright...for whatever reason everything simply clicked all at once.

I am in the process of building my database now!! This ARC software is extremely user friendly!!!

How do you guys build yours?? Any tips?

I'm not sure if it would be more efficient this way:
System 1= City 1
....Group 1= City 1 Police
....Group 2= City 1 Fire
....Group 3= City 1 EMS
System 2 = City 2
....Group 1= City 2 Police
....Group 2= City 2 Fire
....Group 3= City 2 EMS
System 3 = City 3
....Group 1= City 3 Police
....Group 2= City 3 Fire
....Group 3= City 3 EMS

...OR if it would be more efficient this way:
System 1 = Police
....Group 1 = City 1 Police
....Group 2 = City 2 Police
....Croup 3 = City 3 Police
System 2 = Fire
....Group 1 = City 1 Fire
....Group 2 = City 2 Fire
....Group 3 = City 3 Fire
System 3 = EMS
....Group 1 = City 1 EMS
....Group 2 = City 2 EMS
....Group 3 = City 3 EMS

I'll have to admit, I'm kind of anal about order, so I'd like it to be as organized as possible, and I'd like to make it as easy as possible to add systems in the future and have them still follow the same type of scheme.



So, how do all of you order your systems??

For my money, the first option makes more sense. Let's say that you are driving in (by) city #2. You hear sirens. Flipping on your scanner and selecting the city #2 system, you can quickly scan police, fire, and ems channels to determine what the emegency is.

Having done this, you can then 'subdivide' your system depending on what the emergency is. Example: the First National Bank is being held up, so you would initially turn off the fire and EMS groups and concentrate on the police. Later, you hear that the robbers have barracaded themselves in the bank and have stated a fire. What to do? Add 'fire' to the mix, and so on.

To respond to your initial question about programming. I labored for several months over which scanner to buy and briefly owned a '96 (returned it). Talk about programming confusion.

The decision to go with the 396 was made after laboriously pondering over the manual (online). After 3 or 4 reads of the significant portions, it finally made complete sense.

On receiving it, I programmed it out of the box (manually) and have been doing so ever since. No big deal. I guess someday, I will get around to using the software.

AM

 

[Contact]

Great answer AM, I think that's what I'll do. Next question, does the way I organize the systems and groups anything have any bearing on the speed of the scanner? If I have 20 systems with 3 groups per system, is it any faster or slower than having 3 systems with 20 groups per system?

 

[Lodis]

Using software to program the BCD396T saves alot of time and really makes scanning alot more enjoyable. However, I think it is very important to make sure that you know how to program everything manually as well because if you want to change something, delete, modify or monitor a different system when you are out away from the computer, you will be stuck.

I use ARC396 to program everything on my BCD396T but I also know how to program the same systems manually. If you want to get an idea of how systems and groups are organised, you could always join the BCD396 Yahoo Group and download a few memory files to take a look at.

You will also want to change the default squelch level when your BCD396T arrives, for some reason it is set on a level that makes it a near deaf experience, you will want to change it to squelch level 1 but the default is 4.

 

[loumaag]

...In each system, I renamed group one "Allen Park" and under the police group I entered the 3 talkgroup police ids, and I did the same thing under the fire group. I made sure that under the system I selected it as an APCO 25 system. How can I verify what system is the right one to choose? I notice there are 10+ options, how do I know? ...

Assuming you are using the Wayne County TRS, it is not an APCO25 system, it is a Motorola Type II Smartzone system, see the "System Type" line on the general information of the TRS. Choosing "P25" is incorrect. You should choose "Motorola 800MHz Type 2 Standard".

Just for general information, the choice "Motorola P25" describes something that does not exist, Motorola has nothing to do with APCO25 Project 25 systems, but that is another thread.

 

[Contact]

100% Right!! Hey, I never said I knew what I was talking about!!

Actually the one I was talking about is http://www.radioreference.com/modules.php?name=RR&sid=101 which is Downriver Mutual Aid Public Safety. But I still had the terminology incorrect. I found a .mem file for the whole downriver system on the BCD396T yahoo group and I think I'll use that is a base for building my database up the way I want it.

I'll just add in the hopsitals and malls around here as well as my college campus safety.

I just need the scanner!! :lol:

 

[oritpro]

Alright...for whatever reason everything simply clicked all at once.

I am in the process of building my database now!! This ARC software is extremely user friendly!!!

How do you guys build yours?? Any tips?

I'm not sure if it would be more efficient this way:
System 1= City 1
....Group 1= City 1 Police
....Group 2= City 1 Fire
....Group 3= City 1 EMS
System 2 = City 2
....Group 1= City 2 Police
....Group 2= City 2 Fire
....Group 3= City 2 EMS
System 3 = City 3
....Group 1= City 3 Police
....Group 2= City 3 Fire
....Group 3= City 3 EMS

...OR if it would be more efficient this way:
System 1 = Police
....Group 1 = City 1 Police
....Group 2 = City 2 Police
....Croup 3 = City 3 Police
System 2 = Fire
....Group 1 = City 1 Fire
....Group 2 = City 2 Fire
....Group 3 = City 3 Fire
System 3 = EMS
....Group 1 = City 1 EMS
....Group 2 = City 2 EMS
....Group 3 = City 3 EMS

I'll have to admit, I'm kind of anal about order, so I'd like it to be as organized as possible, and I'd like to make it as easy as possible to add systems in the future and have them still follow the same type of scheme.

So, how do all of you order your systems??

You might have to experiment a bit to see what layout works best for you. I prefer to plit my systems up on a per county basis. Here in Portland, Oregon, (Multnomah County), the BOEC system is too large for the 396 to handle as a single system because of the 200 TCID per system limitation. As a result, I have three separate systems for Multnomah Country alone; Portland Police only, all Multnomah County police services including the sheriff's department, and Fire/EMS only. All three of these systems use the same control frequencies so each system contains only the appropriate talkgoups, and each is set to ID Scan instead of ID Search.

There are two other major counties in my area, Clackamas and Washington which actually share the same system. Despite this, I have them programmed the same way as Multnomah county with Police and EMS services in separate systems and on a per county basis.

This setup has worked out quite well for me and when something big is going down I can lock into the action quickly.

Your mileage may vary so experiment and see what works best for you. The Arc 396 software makes this extremely easy to do.

 

[MarkWestin]

When I bought my BD246T, before I received it, I set up the software so that the scanner would work when I received it, but how I thought it worked was not how it actually works. After I discovered how it actually worked, I was able to change my data so that it worked the way the scanner works. You may have to reconfigure your scanner a few times before it is set up the way you want it to be. The software makes this much easier.

Mark