what kind of scanner to buy for Dallas, Texas?

[nexus]

YES to hiegtx you listen to!!!

You're not going wrong with the 246t. Trust me you're not going to get it home and turn it on to nothing but static. Even if it didn't have the agencies in your local area already preprogrammed (which is cool) you'd still be able to find stuff to hear right out of the box with the search features.

I'd have one right now if it wasn't for the fact that most everything around me is digital and I've been waiting all year long for the new Uniden BC-396D to come out. Now I just need to save 519 bucks.

 

[hiegtx]

Where Jlac is, Preston & Belt Line (from an earlier post) in North Dallas, is where several cities come together. The fire departments use what they term 'automatic assist'. The fire may be, for example, in Dallas. However, the closest fire companies could include units from Carrolton & Addison. If you monitored Dallas only, you'd miss the boat on some things. Have heard as many as three different departments answering an initial fire call; maybe a Dallas battalion chief & truck company, engines from Addison, Carrolton, sometimes Plano. Can't tell the players without a scorecard. You'll also have Dallas units answering an Addison or Carrolton fire because they are closer than the home cities units.

 

[Jlac]

Ok, I will go and get one in the morning. I thought I had to type all that in...

Yes, Preston and Beltline and almost at that exact corner is where I will be stationed 95% of the time. I work at home so this is the area of most interest. Addison, Ndallas, Plano, Richardson, Carrollton are really the only areas I want to monitor. PD, Fire and EMS, I'm thinking.

I wonder if there's much going on in those cities?

 

[hiegtx]

There's enough. Your scanner will also have the Garland & Lewisville system's as well (Lewisville includes Coppell), plus Mesquite & Irving. So you've got the area covered. You can always turn off the ones you don't want to listen to right now, then turn them back on later.

Once you get it, & get comfortable, add a few of the local media freq's, like WFAA (Ch 8) & KDFW (Ch 4), to give you a heads up if somethings brewing that hasn't caught your ear yet.

 

[loumaag]

Moving this to Texas.

 

[Jlac]

Ok, I have the 246t here. It's scanning all over the place though.

What do I need to do to get started?

I about to throw this thing already. XP won't find the serial port connector.

 

[hiegtx]

First suggestion: Eliminate the systems that are of no interest to you & that are obviously out of range.

Get out your owner's manual. You can download a copy as well, in *.pdf format, from: http://www.uniden.com/pdf/BC246Tom.pdf
With the copy on your pc, you can pull it up with Adobe Acrobat Reader & do a quick search by key word. Sometimes that's helpful to quickly find every place a given function is shown.

Another member has posted a simpler version of operating instructions in the Uniden forum: http://www.radioreference.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=28398

On page 119 of the manual (your page # could vary, as your scanner is later production than mine) is a set of instructions for locking out systems that you do not want to scan. Doing this will speed up the time your scanner spends searching for traffic on the ones that do interest you & that are in range.

There is a table of the preprogrammed systems that were preloaded in the scanner. Based on your stated interests, lock out everything except : Dallas MOT, Dallas Conv, Carrolton MOT, Richardson EDACS. You might also leave Lewisville MOT, Garland MOT, Irving EDACS, & Mesquite MOT turned on (not locked out) as they also cover parts of Dallas county. This will give you plenty of local action to listen to, without the scanner spending dead time trying to scan something in Florida that it's never gonna hear.

As you become more comfortable with the scanner, you may wish to delete some of the unused systems in other areas. Instructions for that are on page 70. But be careful not to delete one you are listening to.

Plano is not a preloaded system. You will need to create it. See the simplified version link above to read over till you get used to the radio & feel ready to try it.

Software is available to make programming a new system, or modifying an existing one, much easier. BC246TUASD is Uniden's software, which I use. You can download a demo version from their website, with limited functionality. The cost for an unlock key is $29.95. Another maker of software is Butel, Their ARC246T software has gotten many favorable comments from other members in other posts. I've never used it personally. Scannermaster, among others, sells Butel. I'm sure there are addition software programs that I'm not familiar with.

Lock out the extra systems first & scan the local stuff for a while.

 

[hiegtx]

fyi: demo software download is free, link here: http://www.uniden.com/rn_productsupport_downloads.cfm?product=BC246TUASD[/url]

 

[Jlac]

I got that but for some reason Windows won;t find a good com port.

 

[musicman476]

Jlac,

If you haven't found it already, be sure to keep an eye on the dfwscan yahoo list at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dfwscan/
Like the boards here, it's a great way to get help with your scanner and keep abreast of changes and news etc for all the local stuff.


Dustin

 

[Jlac]

Thanks Musicman.

I am not having very good luck here. It's my usd files I think. I don't have any good ones for Plano, Dallas and Richardson.