Uniden BCD996XT Pre Purchase question

[MadSpleen85]

Like the title says, I am looking at purchasing a Uniden BCD996XT. I figured I would browse through the forum and see what if any issues have been giving anyone trouble, found more then I was hoping to see actaully. The one that I am looking at is coming from a friend so the price is right, I just want to have some idea of what I am getting myself into. This would be my first Uniden Bearcat. I currently have 3 scanners, all Radio Shack, 2 desktop, 1 handheld.


Basically, what do I need to know going into being an owner of a Uniden scanner compared to my 3 radio shack? Bugs? Hardware I should look at purchasing? That kind of thing.

Anything helps as I am completely new to Uniden. Thanks in advance.

 

[ka3jjz]

Hi Mad - you can use the 'Search' tool in the blue toolbar to look for issues. Personally speaking, I think a chunk of them (maybe not all) can be attributed to not understanding all the things this scanner does. It takes time to learn it - I know that's the case with my 396T, and on occasion I'm still making mistakes.

Here's a few places where I would start if I were new to the Uniden world - if other people have better ideas, chime in...note that anything in blue, both here and in our wiki, is a link

Uniden DMA FAQ - The RadioReference Wiki

Read up on what DMA is, and how systems, sites and groups work with one another. Understanding just those 2 topics will be very helpful. If you have trunking systems that use multiple sites, then reading the multi site trunking thread is also recommended.

BCD996XT < UnidenMan4 < TWiki

Uniden's 996XT wiki

Connecting scanners via USB - The RadioReference Wiki

An area that trips lots of folks up is when they have to use USB to get the PC and scanner talking. I don't know whether you are using the RS USB cable now, but I don't believe the 2 would be compatible. That might present some issues.
At the bottom of the article is a TWiki link where a link for the latest Prolific drivers can be found. Although the article is written from a XP viewpoint, there's enough information here to get you started. Uniden sells their USB-1, which is available through Scanner Master

At some point, you're likely going to want software to up/download changes, control the scanner and so forth. Uniden never developed a UASD for the XT scanners, and I'd like to thing that it was because FreeScan knocked it out of the park. The user guide for this software is here

That should be enough for one day. 73 and HH Mike