I have got my scanner to scan. I also got it to show up on my computer. Can anyone help me program it to trunktrack and program it the right way I must say this is hard please help thanks.
First let me say,
Welcome to the Utah Forum of RR.com
e3cm3000
I'm not sure you are going to like what we have to tell you. Over the past several months the UCAN Radio Engineers have been in the process of
Rebanding (Blue underlined words or phrases are usually links to other documents - click to follow) radio transmitters used by public service agencies in Utah. Rebanding has changed the way a scanner will be able to follow conversations in a trunked system. All scanners needed to be upgraded to be able to continue working, but some older scanners are not capable of being upgraded in order to continue trunk-tracking. Unfortunately, your scanner is one that cannot be upgraded.
HOWEVER, all is not lost because the Salt Lake City system (AC33) and the Salt Lake Airport system (3521) have not changed and you can continue trunk-tracking those systems. This will allow you to listen to SLC PD, SLC FD, and airport operations.
You are correct, programming these scanners is not intuitive. It has taken a lot of time for all of us to learn how to do it and not being familiar with your particular scanner is not helping. I'm not familiar with the BCT8. I do have a BC780XLT and if they are near the same, I can give you some basic instruction, but you will have to become intently familiar with your owner's manual yourself to learn the basics and be able to tweak the settings.
On my 780 I entered all the frequencies for a site into one bank. I also entered the Talk Groups (TGs) that I wanted to listen to from that site. When programming TGs, use the "Dec" number given for each TG. If you do it this way, you will be running a "closed" system and only hear the TGs you have programmed into your scanner. Select Motorola Type II 800 MHz and then you must press and hold the "Trunk" button until you hear two beeps after entering
each and every frequency. At this point I am going to force you to look around the Radio Reference Web site to become familiar with it. You will find the frequencies you are looking for in the Database (link at the top of each page).
Continue reading your owner's manual to learn how to enter the TGs.
Now, before we go any further, please return to your
User CP (left side of second blue bar from top of any page) and edit your profile to add your location (city & state). Many of the questions posted here require area specific answers and we have so many members that we cannot remember them all. Your location will automatically show in each of your posts and besides, it is just a small courtesy to the rest of us.
Again, welcome. I know this is not all you need to program your scanner, but you must get most of the information from your owner's manual. Someone else with a BCT8 may come along that can lend a further helping hand.