Using Uniden with Philly PD

[noacoh]

Hi everyone,
I am a complete newbie with setting this stuff up so apologies in advance...

I have a Uniden BCD396XT and am trying to get Philly PD setup on it. I was previously using a laptop app to do it all for me, but that's no longer an option as I went from PC to Mac.

Is there a tutorial on how to get Philly PD working on this scanner? I would be fine with not even district level talk groups, but just J-Band and T-Band. I have gone through some tutorials on YouTube but it's not working. In some cases, I do hear some radio traffic but it seems to merge PD and FD sometimes.

At this point, I've got no idea what I'm doing! Any links or advice you can provide would be a big help. Thanks everyone. Be safe.

 

[doctordialtone]

Any links or advice you can provide would be a big help.

I recommend the "Easier to Read" manual.

Easier to Read BCD396XT Digital Scanner Manual

Keep in mind there are "Systems", then "Sites", then "Groups.

1st Set up the System
2nd Add frequencies
3rd Add Talk Groups

Great scanner. Enjoy!

 

[soberbyker]

~snip~I do hear some radio traffic but it seems to merge PD and FD sometimes.

~snip~

For what it's worth, you will hear medic dispatches on the PD system.

Can't help ya with the setup, don't know the scanner.

Good luck.

 

[noacoh]

Thanks. That's interesting because I did start hearing medical stuff and figured I had it setup wrong. You are saying that's normal for Philly?

I wasn't sure if I got the "control" freq correct. It was a mix of medics and police chatter sometimes.

 

[doctordialtone]

I wasn't sure if I got the "control" freq correct. It was a mix of medics and police chatter sometimes.

You should understand the difference between "ID Search" and "ID Scan" mode.

In ID Search mode the scanner receives all talk groups on the System.

In ID Scan mode, it only receives the Talk Groups you programmed.

To toggle modes, while scanning press "Fn+Scan".

You'll see which mode you're in on the display.

 

[noacoh]

I'm getting an "ID SEARCH" message now and it's silent which makes no sense considering all the activity in Philly.

Would this be a P25 setup too? Just want to be sure I did it correctly from the start.

 

[doctordialtone]

Just want to be sure I did it correctly

If you did it correctly, you'll see the Control Channel on the display briefly.

If it just shows "NFM" , you're not receiving the Control Channel.

 

[noacoh]

Anyone familiar with Philly know the right freq? I put in what I found on the RR database, but does not seem to work.

 

[u2brent]

Try them all the CC may have rotated to a CH not designated on the DB Page..


System Frequencies

Red (c) are primary control channels | Blue (a) are alternate control channels | Site Map(s): FCC Callsigns RR Locations

RFSS	Site	Name	Freqs
1 (1)	003 (3)	Zone 1 Simulcast	851.2875	851.3625	851.8375	852.0625	852.0875	852.5625	852.5875	852.8625
			853.0625	853.0875	853.2875	853.5875a	853.7875a	853.8125c	853.8375a	857.7375
			858.7375
1 (1)	004 (4)	Zone 2 Simulcast	851.100	851.3375	851.5875	851.6875	851.7875	851.800	851.8125	852.100
			852.1125	852.350	852.575	852.8125	852.8375	852.9375	853.050	853.3125a
			853.3375a	853.5375c	853.550	853.5625a
1 (1)	005 (5)	Broad St Subway Zone	774.48125a	774.49375a	774.90625a	774.91875c

1 (1)

006 (6)

Market-Frankford Subway Zone

774.91875

769.08125

769.09375

769.35625

769.36875

769.75625

769.76875

 

[noacoh]

Thanks! Added a lot of these and it seems to be working now. Appreciate everyone's help.

 

[soberbyker]

Thanks. That's interesting because I did start hearing medical stuff and figured I had it setup wrong. You are saying that's normal for Philly?

I wasn't sure if I got the "control" freq correct. It was a mix of medics and police chatter sometimes.

Yes, but only the dispatch, you'll hear them say after giving the location something like ; switch and operate on north medical band.

.

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

Thing with Philly Fire/EMS talkgroups is they divide primary channels North/South Fire and North/South Medic. The primary fire & medic bands are used for response, on scene, and the occasional incident reports, not much else. Fireground operations occur on tac channels and these are encrypted

 

[phillydjdan]

Also, you likely will not get good reception with that scanner on the Philadelphia system, as the system uses LSM modulation and that model scanner is pretty much useless with it. You will miss entire transmissions.

 

[noacoh]

I got it working but am having trouble hearing district level talk groups. Some are OK, but others like North Central do not come through. J and T band are clear just the districts are the problem sometimes. Anyone know what I'm doing wrong here?

 

[soberbyker]

I got it working but am having trouble hearing district level talk groups. Some are OK, but others like North Central do not come through. J and T band are clear just the districts are the problem sometimes. Anyone know what I'm doing wrong here?

See phillydjdan's post just above yours, probably your answer.