KB2GOM
Active Member
Right now, my only scanner is a Uniden BCD396T. Thanks to some gracious help from a friend, it is programmed with a bunch of counties in upstate New York, and I have a "cheat sheet" for them.
So to turn on, say, Fulton County, I press DOT ONE THREE, and the 396 dutifully scans Fulton County. To turn Fulton County off, I press DOT ONE THREE again. So far, so good. The same procedure applies for any other county that is programmed into the scanner. In addition, I have a system that I have programmed via FREESCAN for civilian air frequencies, and another one for nationwide emergency frequencies. In case you are interested, that list can be found here --https://graywolfsurvival.com/2716/ham-radio-best-shtfdisaster-communication/ -- scroll down a ways.
So yesterday, I am scanning a local county, the air frequencies system, and the emergency frequencies system all at the same time. A bit later, I decided to change what I am scanning. I carefully enter the codes for each system -- the county, air, and emergency. The result should be that the scanner says there is "nothing to scan."
Instead, the scanner is rapidly switching between something call TOC and WPWW86. I can't get it to stop. I turn the scanner on and off. It is still doing it. I remove the batteries and then put them back. Still doing it. I try doing a "service search" and then going back to scanning. No improvement. Clearly, I have invoked something that I don't know how to turn off.
Finally, I notice that when the scanner is scanning systems (ie, not doing a service search), there are two lines at the bottom of the screen.
One says "S", followed by a bunch of Xs and a number, and other line says "GRP", followed by a series of numbers. So, in desperation, every time a number appears the S line, I press that number. The number disappears, and another number pops up. I keep pressing the numbers until the screen says "nothing to scan." Phew.
But then I worry: "Suppose I have turned off all systems so that the scanner is totally deaf or that major parts of systems have been turned off so that when I ask it to scan, say, a county, it will be scanning only a fraction of what it is supposed to scan?"
In the end, I connect the 396 to the computer and use FREESCAN to wipe out the entire memory and than reload everything. It takes about 45 minutes.
So, the questions.
1. With the BCD396T, is there a magic command to get it to stop everything and let you start over?
2. Alternatively, is pressing the numbers that appear in the S line until "nothing to scan" appears the right thing to do?
3. Or maybe I should not tell the scanner to scan more than one system at a time.
Advice?
So to turn on, say, Fulton County, I press DOT ONE THREE, and the 396 dutifully scans Fulton County. To turn Fulton County off, I press DOT ONE THREE again. So far, so good. The same procedure applies for any other county that is programmed into the scanner. In addition, I have a system that I have programmed via FREESCAN for civilian air frequencies, and another one for nationwide emergency frequencies. In case you are interested, that list can be found here --https://graywolfsurvival.com/2716/ham-radio-best-shtfdisaster-communication/ -- scroll down a ways.
So yesterday, I am scanning a local county, the air frequencies system, and the emergency frequencies system all at the same time. A bit later, I decided to change what I am scanning. I carefully enter the codes for each system -- the county, air, and emergency. The result should be that the scanner says there is "nothing to scan."
Instead, the scanner is rapidly switching between something call TOC and WPWW86. I can't get it to stop. I turn the scanner on and off. It is still doing it. I remove the batteries and then put them back. Still doing it. I try doing a "service search" and then going back to scanning. No improvement. Clearly, I have invoked something that I don't know how to turn off.
Finally, I notice that when the scanner is scanning systems (ie, not doing a service search), there are two lines at the bottom of the screen.
One says "S", followed by a bunch of Xs and a number, and other line says "GRP", followed by a series of numbers. So, in desperation, every time a number appears the S line, I press that number. The number disappears, and another number pops up. I keep pressing the numbers until the screen says "nothing to scan." Phew.
But then I worry: "Suppose I have turned off all systems so that the scanner is totally deaf or that major parts of systems have been turned off so that when I ask it to scan, say, a county, it will be scanning only a fraction of what it is supposed to scan?"
In the end, I connect the 396 to the computer and use FREESCAN to wipe out the entire memory and than reload everything. It takes about 45 minutes.
So, the questions.
1. With the BCD396T, is there a magic command to get it to stop everything and let you start over?
2. Alternatively, is pressing the numbers that appear in the S line until "nothing to scan" appears the right thing to do?
3. Or maybe I should not tell the scanner to scan more than one system at a time.
Advice?
