Uniden BCD-396xt, software update

[herbertbutler]

Thanks for the reply folks I'll give it a try, don,t know if I have the drivers to install anything on my laptop, bought the (Scancat-lite plus) and downloaded it, but it kinda just sits there and dos'nt do anything either, it will not download information from this or any other sites, nor will it read the frequencies I manually programmed into the unit, think it did say something about "installing drivers"?
I travel all over the tri-state area and search scan a lot so I have a lot of frequencies, I.d.ers and stuff but like to update and understand my new radio a lot more, and let you good folks know what I find!

 

[fxdscon]

Thanks for the reply folks I'll give it a try, don,t know if I have the drivers to install anything on my laptop, bought the (Scancat-lite plus) and downloaded it, but it kinda just sits there and dos'nt do anything either, it will not download information from this or any other sites, nor will it read the frequencies I manually programmed into the unit, think it did say something about "installing drivers"?
I travel all over the tri-state area and search scan a lot so I have a lot of frequencies, I.d.ers and stuff but like to update and understand my new radio a lot more, and let you good folks know what I find!

You should study this page:

Connecting scanners via USB - The RadioReference Wiki

.

 

[ka3jjz]

herbert there are a couple of things here -

a. Let's start with the cable between the PC and scanner. Unless you're using an older machine with a dedicated serial port, you will need a USB-serial cable. Fortunately there are many off the shelf models, along with the USB-1 from Uniden, that work. However the tricky part are the 'drivers'. This is software that makes the USB port appear to be a serial COM port. You must have the right version for the operating system you are using (WinXP, Win7, etc.). Our wiki article on this subject goes into great detail about using Device Manager to find out what is happening. As it turns out, the process is kinda dumb - sometimes the driver will allocate a COM port that is already used by something else.

b. Like it says in my sig, NEVER use Scancat Lite Plus for ANYTHING unless there's no other option. For the XT scanners, there are 3 - FreeScan (which is freeware), ARC-XT and ProScan (both commercial but with free trial periods). Many start off with FreeScan and then migrate later.

However, no matter what software you use, you need to have an understanding of how to work with DMA. The Easier to Read manual is the place most folks start, along with our DMA FAQ.

All of this, and a lot more are linked in the following article;

Program your DMA Scanner - The RadioReference Wiki

The Easier to Read manuals are linked at the bottom

Mike