Uniden BCD396XT Programming

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mrkaye

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Can anyone help me with programming a BCD396XT for Harford County, Maryland, for Sheriff, EMS, State Police & Medevac? I'm confused by a couple of things and believe I'm not scanning everything I want to scan.
 

mrkaye

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Thanks. I'm used to the old banked scanners. I just need someone to walk me through if I'm set up correctly. I'm a little confused about trunking, conventional, and the different trunking systems, and how they all scan together. I have all the Medevac channels entered, but don't hear any activity.
 

teufler

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Here is a file for Harford Cty, Md. Its a Freescan file, zipped per RR requirements. Win Zip or 7 zip arfe programs that are used for unzipping. Maryland State Police are TDMA so they are out for the 396xt. Still you have plenty to listen too.
 

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mrkaye

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Uniden BCD396XT Programming for Harford County, Maryland

Here is a file for Harford Cty, Md. Its a Freescan file, zipped per RR requirements. Win Zip or 7 zip arfe programs that are used for unzipping. Maryland State Police are TDMA so they are out for the 396xt. Still you have plenty to listen too.

Thanks! I appreciate all of the help from everyone. I have the USB cable arriving tomorrow, and I have downloaded FreeScan. Just looking at FreeScan, I believe it will resolve any remaining confusion I have. Seems like a pretty well-written program and the short instructional videos are good and concise. Hopefully, I'll be answering questions for others in a week or two
 

ka3jjz

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AFAIK MSP Waterloo (near Jessup) is still just on low band, and not on FiRST as yet. Not all barracks have moved...

Anyway, this article from our wiki contains links to everything you will need to know to understand how to program these scanners. The links for trunking and the Easier to Read manual (at the bottom) are 2 good places to start.

Program your DMA Scanner - The RadioReference Wiki

Mike
 

mrkaye

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AFAIK MSP Waterloo (near Jessup) is still just on low band, and not on FiRST as yet. Not all barracks have moved...

Anyway, this article from our wiki contains links to everything you will need to know to understand how to program these scanners. The links for trunking and the Easier to Read manual (at the bottom) are 2 good places to start.

Program your DMA Scanner - The RadioReference Wiki

Mike

Thanks! The one area I'm still unsure of is MSP Medevac. I don't seem to hear any traffic on that, but I have all of the freqs entered that I know. In conventional days, it was on 154.28. If there was a Medevac in the area, you could hear ground and air. It was a Mutual Aid channel. I'm hearing most of the MSP Barracks traffic in my area though, and I think they may be using some of the Harford County trunked system when collaboration is required.
 

mrkaye

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BCD325P2

A friend purchased a BCD325P2. I told him I could program it, as I did with my BCD396XT with Freescan. So far, I have tried everything I know, but cannot get the computer to recognize the scanner. I have downloaded the drivers, rebooted several times, and still no luck. It just says that it can't find the port that I'm connected to.I can't believe Uniden makes it this difficult. Anyone provide some guidance?
 

maus92

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A friend purchased a BCD325P2. I told him I could program it, as I did with my BCD396XT with Freescan. So far, I have tried everything I know, but cannot get the computer to recognize the scanner. I have downloaded the drivers, rebooted several times, and still no luck. It just says that it can't find the port that I'm connected to.I can't believe Uniden makes it this difficult. Anyone provide some guidance?

The newest version (2.18) of Freescan supports the 325P2 / 996P2 *experimentally.* I've gotten it to work with my 996P2, but occasionally it "makes mistakes" and I need to reload the programming. I'm going to assume you know how to use FreeScan to find available serial ports.
 

mrkaye

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The newest version (2.18) of Freescan supports the 325P2 / 996P2 *experimentally.* I've gotten it to work with my 996P2, but occasionally it "makes mistakes" and I need to reload the programming. I'm going to assume you know how to use FreeScan to find available serial ports.
Thanks so much! Yep, I'm an old computer hack. My problem is still getting the computer to even see the scanner. I've changed ports multiple times, but it sounds like the 325 interface is not ready for prime time?
 

maus92

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Thanks so much! Yep, I'm an old computer hack. My problem is still getting the computer to even see the scanner. I've changed ports multiple times, but it sounds like the 325 interface is not ready for prime time?

No, I wouldn't say that - it's actually the Freescan software that's the problem in that it's not always reliable. Have you confirmed that your version of Freescan is 2.18? It does work with the 996P2, so it *should* work with the 325P2 as well. There are more expensive 3rd party software that works with the 325P2 / 996P2 that seem to do a better job. Anyway, I'd triple check that a Uniden serial port exists on your computer when you plug in the scanner to the computer (using Device Manager.) If you don't see a port created when you plug in the scanner, then the problem is the computer. I'm not sure if the 325 requires any keypresses to tell it to use a serial port vs. mass storage - my 996P2 does not. These are just some suggestions you can try...
 

hiegtx

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Have you run the install program for the serial port? While the 325P2 connects via a USB cable, it's actually treated as a serial port by the scanner. You need to have the correct driver installed. See http://info.uniden.com/twiki/pub/Uni...den_usbser.zip

I"m using FreeSCAN for my 325P2, and it works fine. I already had the virtual serial port installed on my pc because it is also used for the BCDx369 series.
 

hiegtx

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No, I wouldn't say that - it's actually the Freescan software that's the problem in that it's not always reliable. Have you confirmed that your version of Freescan is 2.18? It does work with the 996P2, so it *should* work with the 325P2 as well. There are more expensive 3rd party software that works with the 325P2 / 996P2 that seem to do a better job. Anyway, I'd triple check that a Uniden serial port exists on your computer when you plug in the scanner to the computer (using Device Manager.) If you don't see a port created when you plug in the scanner, then the problem is the computer. I'm not sure if the 325 requires any keypresses to tell it to use a serial port vs. mass storage - my 996P2 does not. These are just some suggestions you can try...
No 'key-press' required, since the 325P2 does not have the SD card where 'mass storage' mode is required.
 
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