BCD996T to BCD996P2 Experience – Freescan + Easier to Read Manual = Quick Keys Rule
I am moving from a BCD996T using ARC996PRO to a
BCD996P2 using
FreeScan. I made limited use of the quick keys on my 996T but the 996P2 holds more systems/sites/groups so I am trying to do a better job of understanding the capabilities and organizing the programming. Below is a summary is what I have done so far.
The 996P2 comes with a printed manual but Mark's
Easier to Read BCD996P2/XT Digital Scanner Manual is very helpful, especially the part where he writes about "
Planning Systems, Sites and Groups". Using Freescan and a RR subscription it was pretty quick to set up 17 conventional and 4 trunked systems, including quick keys for each system/site and group, a startup quick key for my typical configuration and a number tag for each system.
As mentioned in various places the question of how to arrange quick keys is important and I suspect there is no single correct way to do this because it depends on the systems to be monitored, mobile vs. base, and likely other things. Freescan makes it easy to change quick keys as the plan evolves, and I reorganized mine several times during the first afternoon I was setting it up. I saved the Freescan file as a different version each time (BCD996P2_V001, BCD996P2_V002, etc.) as I worked on the various aspects of each system. When I changed something significant I appended a suffix to indicate this, e.g. BCD996P2_V007_SYSTEM_NUMBER_TAGS.
I ended up reserving system/site quick keys 01-49 for sites in the
Bell FleetNet - Ontario Provincial Government Zone 1 Trunking System, then divided the remaining system/site quick keys into groups of 10 based on categories I chose including Government Trunked, Government Conventional, Transportation, Commercial and Amateur & Miscellaneous. Within each system I used the "Find" button in Freescan to assign a quick key to each group, then adjusted these to combine related groups under the same quick key (e.g. all Ministry of Health groups on Fleetnet as group 3).
In the Freescan "System Quick Key Editor" (control-K) I selected "All Off" which causes the scanner to start with "Nothing To Scan" displayed. With 21 systems programmed it seemed best to start with nothing and add the ones I want to listen to, rather than have it start by scanning everything. I also assigned each conventional system a number tag corresponding to the system quick key, and each trunking system a number tag corresponding to the quick key of the primary site I monitor. I still need to assign number tags to each of the groups, but
number tags are for convenience of viewing and selecting channels in the scanner menu so not having them assigned does not affect scanning or searching of programmed systems and groups.
Finally I assigned a "Startup Key" of 1 to the three trunking sites I typically monitor, so by holding the 1 key as the scanner is being turned on only these three sites are activated. There are ten startup keys (0-9) so I can use the other nine for other combinations of systems.
In addition to selecting systems/sites and groups using quick keys there is a lockout function at various levels, and I am applying that as experience identifies things I don't want to monitor. The trick with this is to update the lockouts in the Freescan file as well as locking them out in the scanner, or alternatively upload from the scanner to capture anything changed in the scanner before making changes in Freescan.
I am using the BCD996P2 as a base unit, but for mobile use (without GPS) I can envision using startup keys to select a configuration for using the scanner in various locations.
Based on what I have read and tried so far this scanner requires / deserves some effort in learning how to use it and particularly in organizing the systems and quick keys. But with the "Easier to Read" manuals, Freescan and a Radio Reference subscription it is reasonably quick and easy to get started, and it keeps getting better the more I work on it and try different ideas.
