Uniden BCD996XT on DTRS

[jmaslak]

(Background: I've been involved with Radios for a long time - my first scanner was a wonderful 8 crystal unit with a neat Night Rider LED display, but since then I've used many scanners - most recently, a RS Pro-106; I understand the basics of Trunked radio systems and scanners generally)

I just purchased a BCD996XT for mobile monitoring. I'm seeing plenty of differences between the Pro-106 and the BCD996XT, specifically the strange (coming from GRE) limitation on how many trunk groups per "system" can be loaded while also having a scanner with tons more memory. I like much of the Uniden, specifically the GPS capability and the capability to easily turn on and off monitoring of specific sites - will be very useful mobile! (so far, having used both the GRE-ish and Uniden modern models, they both seem to work well for decoding DTRS and the Arvada system; The Uniden seems to pull Denver in better from my home, the GRE seems a bit faster at scanning multiple systems)

I'm using Arc XT and FreeScan (both have different advantages it seems) to program the radio.

So, my main question:

How do most people here set up DTRS on these rigs, particularly while mobile and traveling through Colorado (I don't have a GPS hooked up yet, but will later)? What tips could you give someone just starting to program it that might save me some grief? I'll also likely be listening (at times) to some of the municipal (Lakewood, Denver) trunked systems. I won't be listening to much conventional.

Some other questions:

What I did on the Pro-106 was to set it up to listen to Lookout (good signal at home) and add all the talkgroups that would commonly be heard on Lookout. I then locked out anything I wasn't interested in, but set the radio up with a wildcard talk group. This let me hear new TGs that might not be listed in any public database - something I found interesting. When the call came through on a new TG, I'd hit F3, save it, and then revisit it later (typically looking here for information). Is there some similar feature on the Uniden?

I've noticed scanning multiple systems feels "slow" (for instance, I might want to monitor an incident that involves Jeffco SO and Arvada PD). I've set the system/site hold times to "0". Is there anything else I should be doing?

Basically, I'm looking for "tips and tricks" to this scanner with a Colorado slant.

 

[soundchaser]

If you haven't already, you might check this thread for some hints since it's similar: http://forums.radioreference.com/co.../194688-new-396xt-programming-quick-keys.html

What I did on the Pro-106 was to set it up to listen to Lookout (good signal at home) and add all the talkgroups that would commonly be heard on Lookout. I then locked out anything I wasn't interested in, but set the radio up with a wildcard talk group. This let me hear new TGs that might not be listed in any public database - something I found interesting. When the call came through on a new TG, I'd hit F3, save it, and then revisit it later (typically looking here for information). Is there some similar feature on the Uniden?

You use ID SEARCH mode instead of ID SCAN mode (you switch modes by pressing the function knob, then pressing the Scan/Search button). You can still lock out talk groups that you don't want to hear, but anything else that comes up you'll hear. If you want to save the talk group, press the E/Yes key and you'll be prompted if you want to save it.

 

[letarotor]

I've got a 996T. When I've traveled to Colorado in the past I had the unit hooked to a Garmin E-Map and each site around the state programmed into the scanner with 10, 30, and 50-mile radius's. 30 miles works well with most sites. On some of the higher sites like Cheyene Mnt a 50-mile range worked better, 10-mile ranges in the Denver area. This way the scanner wasn't scanning basically beyond its range to listen, and scanning through too many sites at a time. You need to make sure the GPS function is enabled on each site and correct degree, minute, second coordinates, not decimel degree coordinates are programmed into each site. The 250 talkgroup limitation per system has been a problem for me, but the XT model gives you, what, like twice that much? Pick the more prevelent talkgroups you are interested in listening to and assign them alpha tags. Set each site HOLD TIME to 0. This is the only way to make it scan cycle through sites or systems any faster. Leave each site in SEARCH mode and you will see numbers for all the other talkgroups that pops up. I love the GPS feature, all I do is turn on the GPS and scanner and the combo is completely hands off as I drive. The scanner gives a nice little chime each time it opens or closes a site for scanning, suttely reminding me its still there doing its job!

I've got a GRE PSR-500, and I have yet to figure out the best way to make it work efficiently on the DTRS. I've found that it really doesn't like to have more than one site programmed into a system. And my recent experience is that it gets confused (no matter what cc channel setting you use) when it hears more than one active control channel. And it doesn't seem to cycle through systems any faster than the Uniden.

Real Motorola radios can only monitor the talkgroup you are on and ten in the scan list, but they have much better reception capability. So what scanners don't make up for in reception capability, they make up for in flexibility.

 

[firescannerbob]

I've got a GRE PSR-500, and I have yet to figure out the best way to make it work efficiently on the DTRS. I've found that it really doesn't like to have more than one site programmed into a system. And my recent experience is that it gets confused (no matter what cc channel setting you use) when it hears more than one active control channel. And it doesn't seem to cycle through systems any faster than the Uniden.

I'm a little curious about your observations. I have a PRO106 in my car, and have it programmed for every tower in the area (since I'm constantly moving around, I want to be able to follow traffic from site to site). I have not seen the PRO-106 get "confused" (?) even with the plethora of control channels, nor anything that indicates it "doesn't like" to have more than one site programmed into a system.
Maybe I'm missing something, so please do explain.

 

[letarotor]

Hey Bob, thanks for the response. Before leaving on a trip to Coloroado right after I got the PSR-500 I tried breaking down sites into specific areas; for instance filling up all 32 available frequency slots with control channels. Then I added the talkgroups for those specific areas. I was missing a lot of traffic that my BCD996T was picking up, which was hooked to a GPS locking and unlocking sites as I drove. Perhaps I had the settings wrong, but it seemed to lock onto one control channel and wouldn't keep scanning. So then on the next trip I entered individual sites into individual systems and that seemed to help, but then two problems surfaced: copying the talkgroups into each system quickly ate up the memory capacity; and I was still limited to 20 quick keys. I am alway open to a better way.

 

[abqscan]

When I drive around the state, I use the roam feature so the radio locks on to the CC it CAN hear vs. the stationary setting that tells the radios to look at every CC that is programed in even if nothing active on any other CC.

 

[letarotor]

I believe I initially had the Multi-Site Mode set to OFF or STAT. I'm pretty sure I tried changing the setting to ROAM and it really didn't help any. Bottom line, I passed up the Rat Shack Black Friday sale in favor of purchasing another BCD996T or XT in the near future so I can have one in the house and one in the truck.

 

[firescannerbob]

Here is the approach I take, and it seems to work:
I program the "banks" on my Pro-106 based on content. The first one is CSFD, the second is CSPD, the third is EPSO, the fourth is El Paso County fire, another "bank" for CSP, and one for Pueblo County.
The first 4 use the same CC's and alternate CC's, with the only difference being the TG's they use. I have them programmed with all the sites in Zone 4 (PPRCN).
The CSP bank has all the DTRS towers along I-25 from El Paso county down to the Greenhorn site, and TG's for CSP district 2.
The Pueblo County site has the CC's that are in and around the county, plus Cheyenne Mtn (due it's large footprint), along with TG's for the city and county.
I don't know if this is the most efficient way to do things, but it seems to work fine. Each "bank" is scanning numerous CC's and TG's, and I have never experienced it getting stuck on one CC or anything else...in fact, in my experience, it seems to work as intended...jumping from one tower to another as I move around.
On the other hand, the scanners I use for my feeds are only programmed with the towers that I can reliably receive at home (however, in that case, those scanners are Pro-96's). I has been my experience that the Pro-96 will "lock up" on a CC with marginal signal strength as though it was working hard to decode it.

 

[letarotor]

I like your programming method Bob. In your system settings, which setting do you use in the Motorola P25 Settings Multi-Site Mode: Off, Stat, or Roam?

 

[04Z1V6]

I like your programming method Bob. In your system settings, which setting do you use in the Motorola P25 Settings Multi-Site Mode: Off, Stat, or Roam?

I also use this type of programming method my feed scanners are set to Stat and the pro-106 is stat at home and roam will traveling around the state or metro Denver, I only use the pro-2096 at home with only three cc programmed that have the largest hit count and best receive percentage for the tg's I monitor.

 

[tbiggums]

On my 396XT, I make a "system" for each county or major city. If the county/city uses DTRS, I try and carefully choose 2-5 sites that best serve that county. It's nice with the XT's that it's fairly easy to go into the menu and lock/unlock various sites on a system as needed. I usually leave at least two sites unlocked, as it increases the chances of hearing talkgroups that may not have a lot of users tuned to them (like car-to-car or TAC channels). I rarely have more than 5 sites unlocked at any one time, since it takes the scanner about a second to sample each one, you can miss a lot of traffic if the scanner is constantly checking sites that don't carry the TG's you're interested in.

The key is to carefully pick the sites that you want listen to. You want sites that always or almost always carry the traffic you want--not ones that sometimes do. To help me do this, I made a file with all the DTRS sites on Delorme TopoUSA (topo map program), so I can zoom in on unfamiliar counties and get a good feel on which sites are really going to cover them well.

I usually run ID SEARCH mode when I'm outside the front range area (east of Ft. Morgan or Limon, or west of the divide). Since the Uniden's don't follow P25 patches, it's harder for the CSP TG's to hide that way!

On the newer GRE units, I rarely use the ROAM feature. Unless you know that the TG's you want to listen to are always on ALL of the sites the scanner might lock on, it could very well end up on a site that doesn't have the traffic on it you want. This is especially true in rural areas, or even in the metro area where TG's are denied on some sites. For example, in Grand County, there's like 4 sites that can be heard along the most of the major roadways, but there's usually not many CSP troopers in the county (I think 1-2 usually). So that means CSP can usually only be heard on one or maybe two sites at a time (whichever sites their radios happened to be affiliated with). If your scanner is in ROAM and locked on to one site, you've got a 1 in 4, or 1 in 2 chance of hearing them. In Grand County, I have to constantly scan (STATionary mode) Mines, Blue Ridge, Table Mountain, and Grouse Mountain (and soon Sunspot!) to have a chance of hearing CSP. I do often miss the beginnings of transmissions having to scan all four sites, but it's better than hearing nothing at all.

The dumb thing with the GRE units is the one place I want to use ROAM--I can't! Wheat Ridge and West Metro Fire are always heard on both the Green Mtn and Mt. Morrison EDACS sites. I'd like it to roam between the two when I'm in Wheat Ridge or along C-470, but the PRO-197 doesn't support ROAM with EDACS.

But of course the GRE's now support P25 patches, which is a huge plus over the Unidens, so that's what I have in my vehicle.

 

[firescannerbob]

I like your programming method Bob. In your system settings, which setting do you use in the Motorola P25 Settings Multi-Site Mode: Off, Stat, or Roam?

Multisite mode is set to "Off"