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Programming Woes - BCD-396T Scanner by Uniden
I recently got a plea for help on my youtube page. A fellow has trunked system in his area and could not figure out how to program his scanner. He needs to set it up for Motorola P25 Type II. Here is the reply I sent him. It has some good links and advise. If you have one of these scanners, or a BC996T, I hope it helps you to:
Ok, It sounds to me like you are trying to do this the hard way - directly on the radio with no software. It can be done but it is a royal pain.
First thing, use PC based softweare to program this radio. The menus on the radio or terrible and some features just do not show up this way. I suggest you get Freescan (link below), a free software programming tool for this radio right away. You will also need the PC cable. It is an RS-232 on one end and USB for the radio on the other. If you do not have a RS-232 connection on the PC you are using you will need an RS-232 to USB adapter. These are available on ebay and locally at Microcenter and other good electronic stores. They are not expensive. The other advatage to using Freescan is that, with a paid subscription to radio reference, you can download ALL the frequencies you want directly into the radio through this software. No typing required!!!!
So, what to do to get you going manually:
1. Log into Radioreference.com
2. Find the department you want you want to scan.
You need the a) type of digital vendor, Moto type I, type II, etc, b) primary control channel frequencies, c)Talkgroup numbers for the agencies you want to listen to. All this is on Radio Reference.
3. To Program a new Motorola/P25 system:
- Press Menu. At 'Program System' press E/yes.
- At 'Select System' scroll to 'New System' and press E/yes.
- At 'Select Sys Type' scroll to 'MOT' and press E/yes.
- Scroll to the type of Motorola system you want to program and press E/yes.
Note for Motorola/P25 systems: If you are not sure if the system is Motorola or P25, look at the system voice in the RR database for your system. Those entries that say System Voice: Analog and APCO-25 Common Air Interface are not true Project 25 systems as they have one or more analog talkgroups. Program these systems as a Motorola system and let the scanner detect the digital. If the System Voice says System Voice: APCO-25 Common Air Interface Exclusive then the system is a true Project 25 system and program it as a P25 system.
- Use '800MHz Standard' for 800 MHz systems that use the standard band plan.
- Use '800MHz Custom' for rebanded 800 MHz systems that use a custom band plan.
- Use '800MHz Splinter' for 800 MHz systems that use the splinter band plan (typically systems near the international borders).
Use 'P25' for a Motorola Astro APCO 25 system in any band.
- At 'Confirm?' press E/yes.
- At 'Edit Name' press E/yes. To name the system, see Entering Text.
- Scroll to 'Set Frequencies' and press E/yes.
- At 'New Frequency' and press E/yes.
- At 'Input Frequency' enter the frequency and press E/yes.
- At 'Edit Frequency' press Menu and scroll down to 'New Frequency', then press E/yes. -
- Repeat to program the rest of the trunking frequencies. Press Scan to exit.
That is a lot of work as you can see. GET THE SW!!!! You will be very glad you did. Now, here are some links to help:
www.radioreference.com - Radio Reference web site
http://marksscanners.com/396/396.shtml - An easier to read manual for the scanner!
http://scannow.org/ - FREESCAN software
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BCD396T/ - BCD396T Discussion Group
Ok, It sounds to me like you are trying to do this the hard way - directly on the radio with no software. It can be done but it is a royal pain.
First thing, use PC based softweare to program this radio. The menus on the radio or terrible and some features just do not show up this way. I suggest you get Freescan (link below), a free software programming tool for this radio right away. You will also need the PC cable. It is an RS-232 on one end and USB for the radio on the other. If you do not have a RS-232 connection on the PC you are using you will need an RS-232 to USB adapter. These are available on ebay and locally at Microcenter and other good electronic stores. They are not expensive. The other advatage to using Freescan is that, with a paid subscription to radio reference, you can download ALL the frequencies you want directly into the radio through this software. No typing required!!!!
So, what to do to get you going manually:
1. Log into Radioreference.com
2. Find the department you want you want to scan.
You need the a) type of digital vendor, Moto type I, type II, etc, b) primary control channel frequencies, c)Talkgroup numbers for the agencies you want to listen to. All this is on Radio Reference.
3. To Program a new Motorola/P25 system:
- Press Menu. At 'Program System' press E/yes.
- At 'Select System' scroll to 'New System' and press E/yes.
- At 'Select Sys Type' scroll to 'MOT' and press E/yes.
- Scroll to the type of Motorola system you want to program and press E/yes.
Note for Motorola/P25 systems: If you are not sure if the system is Motorola or P25, look at the system voice in the RR database for your system. Those entries that say System Voice: Analog and APCO-25 Common Air Interface are not true Project 25 systems as they have one or more analog talkgroups. Program these systems as a Motorola system and let the scanner detect the digital. If the System Voice says System Voice: APCO-25 Common Air Interface Exclusive then the system is a true Project 25 system and program it as a P25 system.
- Use '800MHz Standard' for 800 MHz systems that use the standard band plan.
- Use '800MHz Custom' for rebanded 800 MHz systems that use a custom band plan.
- Use '800MHz Splinter' for 800 MHz systems that use the splinter band plan (typically systems near the international borders).
Use 'P25' for a Motorola Astro APCO 25 system in any band.
- At 'Confirm?' press E/yes.
- At 'Edit Name' press E/yes. To name the system, see Entering Text.
- Scroll to 'Set Frequencies' and press E/yes.
- At 'New Frequency' and press E/yes.
- At 'Input Frequency' enter the frequency and press E/yes.
- At 'Edit Frequency' press Menu and scroll down to 'New Frequency', then press E/yes. -
- Repeat to program the rest of the trunking frequencies. Press Scan to exit.
That is a lot of work as you can see. GET THE SW!!!! You will be very glad you did. Now, here are some links to help:
www.radioreference.com - Radio Reference web site
http://marksscanners.com/396/396.shtml - An easier to read manual for the scanner!
http://scannow.org/ - FREESCAN software
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BCD396T/ - BCD396T Discussion Group
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