BCD436hp HELP NEEDED

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cuelc001

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May 23, 2012
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Location
Houston Tx
Greeting everyone - I have a couple of questions in regards to my Uniden BCD 436 HP.

- Are quick keys necessary in order for the scanner to work correctly?

- In regards to sites. I live in Houston, Tx & there are a number of sites that my scanner picks up ( I have my range set to 0). Is it a good idea to avoid some sites in order for the scanner to scan my favorites list faster?


{I have my service types set to Law Dispatch, Law Tac, Interop}
 

ofd8001

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Louisville, KY
Quick Keys are optional - scanner functions fine without assigning/using them.

Answering the second question is difficult without knowing which systems and sites you are scanning. The more you scan, the longer it takes so if you want to hasten the scanner getting to the "important stuff" you might want to avoid "less important stuff".

It sounds like you may not be interested in Quick Keys. These can be a way of quickly turning those "unimportant things" off (or back on when desired) rather than go through the process of avoiding Systems/Sites/Departments.
 

cuelc001

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May 23, 2012
Messages
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Location
Houston Tx
Thank you for the reply back. I’m at a loss because if I’m scanning my
Favorites list, my scanner can sit silent for 5-6 minutes
Before anything comes up

Current favs:
HPD Central / Harris county PCT 1

Current Sites
Harris County Simulcast
Harris County Public Safey Sites
 

hiegtx

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May 8, 2004
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11,169
Location
Dallas, TX
Thank you for the reply back. I’m at a loss because if I’m scanning my
Favorites list, my scanner can sit silent for 5-6 minutes
Before anything comes up

Current favs:
HPD Central / Harris county PCT 1

Current Sites
Harris County Simulcast
Harris County Public Safey Sites
From what I understand, if you are trying to hear Houston's PD, you should be using the Houston sites in Layer 3, not the Harris County sites in layer 1.

See this article in the Wiki. I would also suggest that you request your thread be moved to the Texas forum. Several Houston metro area members check that forum and post there. They would know the system setup better than someone not from the area. [FONT=&quot]To do that, do not create a new thread. Instead, click on the red outlined triangle in the upper right corner of your original post, and request that a moderator move your thread to the Texas state forum. Someone in the area would be more likely to see it there.


You might also attach your Favorite's list to a post there. So that someone can take a look and perhaps spot an error or omission.

To do that, export[/FONT] each Favorite as an 8.hpe file, using Sentinel. The export function is under the File menu. Note that if you have made changes on the scanner, that are not in Sentinel, then first 'read' the scanner into Sentinel to capture the changes before exporting.

Note: To upload an *.hpe file, to the Forums, you must change the file extension to one acceptable per forum requirements. To do that, note where your exported *.hpe file is saved on your PC.
Using Windows Explorer, find the file.
There are two ways to do this. You can either change the file extension itself, or compress the file using 7-Zip or other file utility. The *.zip file extension can be attached to a post and uploaded to the Forums.

Or, using Windows Explorer, rename your file one of these two ways:
For illustration, let's call your exported file 'MyFile.hpe' (without the quotes).
<Right><Click> on the file & choose Rename from the pop-up menu.
You can then rename your file to MyFile.txt, or MyFile.hpe.txt in order to attach it to a post. Whoever views the file will need to reset the file name back to MyFile.hpe, then it can be imported into Sentinel for viewing.
 

Flywheel17

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Oct 12, 2014
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Yes - you want to avoid things that you don't want - not so much that it slows down the scan, but because if it picks something up - you will miss something else (this is why you need more scanners!!!LOL)

I am outside of Austin and I don't do favorites. I fell that I would be potentially missing something. But at the same time, I don't want everything in range because I pick up ALL of Austin.

I also pick up UT, and ACC (colleges) and so I use avoids.

When I turn on my scanner and there are no avoids, then the first time I get Austin PD, I hit Dept, Avoid. This will avoid ALL Austin PD (not just that channel) until such time that I turn off the avoid OR restart my scanner. When I get UT, I hit Avoid, Avoid. This will permanently avoid UT so that I do not have to avoid the next time I turn on my scanner.

So two takeaways

1) You can block out a whole chuck of channels int he same Dept by pressing Dept, Avoid.
2) You can temporarily or permanently avoid by hitting avoid once or twice.

Hope that helps 'cause You sound like you are using it the same way I do.
 
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