What have I done? Or how i learned that I'm clueless to new scanners.

[nevets2968]

Hello all -

Many years ago I had (and still have) a Bearcat BC80xlt ( i believe that was the model name) scanner. I recall going to Radio Shack (r.i.p.) and getting this scanner guide. I went home and plugged in the "codes" for my local area. And it worked well.

Well now my town is on some new system (see attached picture) and I was like...hmmm. I work for a VAR - value added re-seller - essentially we install workstations and servers. That being said my boss said I'd like to give you a gift . I thought....SCANNER!

I ended up getting a BCD325P2 scanner...it looks nice but that's where the love affair ends. Reading the manual - in it's tiny 1pt font glory- I'm going crossed eyed. I have nary a clue about talk groups and all that. The manual is written for those in the know obviously not a newbie like me.

So...all i want to do is listen in on the local police / ems / fire departments ( local as in Wayne - Paterson,etc)

thanks in advance.

 

[clbsquared]

What state are you in?

Sent from my HTC One A9 using Tapatalk

 

[n9mxq]

You can use Freescan to import the systems and program them to the scanner. Lots easier than trying to put them in manually, especially if you're new to P25 scanning.

 

[Spitfire8520]

You might want to take a shot at the Easier to Read BCD325P2 Digital Scanner Manual to see if it clears up some of the stuff about using and programming the scanner. There is also a collection of links to different wiki articles located at Programming Your Uniden Scanner. The BCD325P2 falls under the category of Dynamic Memory Architecture (DMA) scanners so those articles might help.

From your screenshot, you will want to program the system linked for Police and EMS and the conventional frequencies for Fire. FreeSCAN, as mentioned above, is a software option to programming with a PC rather than by hand.

If you would like to get a better idea of what a trunked radio system and what a talkgroup is, then you may want to take a look at the Trunking Basics wiki page.

 

[ofd8001]

You could also go to this site: https://www.uniden.com/scanner/id-BCD325P2/BCD325P2_Handheld_TrunkTracker_V_scanner choose Product Support and download an electronic version (PDF) of the manual. Once downloaded, you can enlarge the size to make it more "eye friendly". It's also good for searching if you are looking for a specific word or phrase.

 

[wtp]

nevets

check for a personal message.
he is in passaic county new jersey.

 

[nevets2968]

Thanks for the replies one and all.
After futzing around with the radio it's way beyond my skill set. That being said the HomePatrol looks simple enough ( enter zip code and away we go.)
Hence I'll be contacting Amazon and send this particular bearcat away.

Hopefully it will be like my Tesoro metal detector...simple to use (and effective.)

Once again thanks one and all.

 

[W8RMH]

Thanks for the replies one and all.
After futzing around with the radio it's way beyond my skill set. That being said the HomePatrol looks simple enough ( enter zip code and away we go.)
Hence I'll be contacting Amazon and send this particular bearcat away.

Hopefully it will be like my Tesoro metal detector...simple to use (and effective.)

Once again thanks one and all.

Easier to Read HomePatrol-1/HP-2 Digitall Scanner and Sentinel Manual

 

[nevets2968]

Easier to Read HomePatrol-1/HP-2 Digitall Scanner and Sentinel Manual

Thanks for the link (I'll be reading that between jobs today.)

 

[nevets2968]

UPDATE : I returned the fore-mentioned scanner to Amazon ( i'm waiting to see if they received it) and ordered a HomePatrol-2.

After some shipping snafu , I finally received the h.p.2. and updated the firmware & database. For my needs it's super easy to use.

Thanks one and all for your replies.