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| BCD996T/UBCD996T Digital Scanner Manual |
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| Contents |
| Introduction | Scanning 'Systems' |
| Main Features | Turning System/Site/Search Quick Keys On/Off |
| Understanding Dynamic Memory | Turning Group Quick Keys On/Off |
| Understanding Quick Keys | Display Modes 1 and 2 |
| Conventional Simplex and Repeater Systems | Changing ID Scan/ID Search Mode |
| Understanding CTCSS/DCS | Holding on a ID/Frequency |
| Understanding Trunking | Holding on a System/Site |
| Understanding Multi-Site Trunking | Viewing Active IDs |
| Understanding IDs | Trunking Activity Indicators |
| Terms Used in this Document | Reviewing L/O IDs |
| Turning on the Scanner and Setting the Squelch | Storing a Displayed ID (In ID Search Mode) |
| Keypad and Knob Controls | Optimizing P25 Performance |
| Navigating the Menu | Locking/Unlocking Channels |
| A Look at the Display | Locking/Unlocking Groups |
| Auto Step Size Chart | Locking/Unlocking Systems/Sites/Searches |
| Planning 'Systems' | Priority/Priority Plus Scan |
| Worksheets | **Search/Close Call Options Menu** |
| Entering Text | **Search For... Menu** |
| Programming 'Systems' | Quick Search |
| Conventional Systems | Reviewing Locked out Frequencies |
| Motorola Systems | Searching |
| EDACS Systems | Storing a Displayed Frequency |
| LTR Systems | **Close Call Menu** |
| Copying/Deleting Systems | Managing Close Call Hits |
| Creating 'Sites' | Hits with Scan |
| **Edit Site Menu** | **Weather Operation Menu** (BCD996T only) |
| Creating 'Groups' | **Tone-Out For... Menu** |
| **Edit Group Menu** | **Settings Menu** |
| Programming Frequencies/IDs | Set AGC Settings |
| Quickly Storing a Frequency | Adjusting P25 Wait Time |
| Quickly Storing an ID | Setting GPS Format |
| **Edit Channel Options Menu** | Memory Used |
| Using the U/BCD996T with a GPS | Firmware Version/Updates |
| Location-Based (GPS) Scanning | Cloning |
| Non Radio Location-Based GPS Features | Scanner Reset |
| GPS Display Mode | Related Links/Info |
| GPS Review Location Mode | Preprogrammed Systems |
| **Program Location Menu** |
| Using Startup Keys |
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| Introduction | Contents |
| It does have some
cool features: Dynamic Memory, Scan with Search, Multi-Site
Trunking, Close
Call with
Close
Call Do Not Disturb and Close Call Hits with Scan, an adjustable 'Hold
(scan)' time for each conventional system or
trunking site and each custom/service search band,
Auto Search and Store (actually an old feature
brought back), signal strength bars, and the ability to
hold about 6000 tagged channels. You can store
up to 500 different systems (if there is enough memory).
The Location-Based Scanning (with an optional GPS unit) in a mobile
radio is a nice addition too (set it and forget it). The 'Automatic
Channel Setup' allows you to enter a frequency without having to change
a step size setting. You can assign service and custom searches to
'Quick Keys' (vs. unlocking them) with search and scan. The 'Custom Screen' for Close Call is a plus
if you live in a 'noisy' area allowing you to program
specific ranges the scanner will ignore. You can program
alerts for selected channels, POI's, dangerous
roads/crossings, Close Call hits, and Tone-Outs with
different alert sounds and adjustable volumes. I have
also been able to enter partial IDs for Motorola (Type
I,IIi) and LTR systems, not just EDACS systems. One thing
to remember is that IDs also go into channels (no more
scan lists). And, of course, computer upload/download
clone and control. The system, group, and search 'Quick Keys' allow you to scan and/or search any
combination of systems and search bands. There doesn't
seem to be a limit to how many priority channels you can program (100 like the 996XT?). When 'tone
search' is enabled for searching or for
a channel,
it will search for CTCSS and DCS tones, not just
one or the other. The Close Call and Weather Alert Priority features will run in the
background while scanning and/or searching. You can reverse the
display (and the scanner) to hear the speaker from the top (but it still
sounds like the speaker is inside a box). It also comes with an AC
adapter, computer cable, mobile mounting bracket, DIN-E sleeve, lighter
cord, and a (worthless push-on 21" right angle whip) antenna. The
firmware is
upgradeable for re-banding. There is also the
(optional; expensive)
BC-RH96 remote head for those of you that wish
to hide your scanner in the trunk. Pretty powerful for a mobile scanner all in all. |
| Now the annoying
stuff. Dynamic Memory has its drawbacks because you have
to build everything then program it. Alpha
tagging is best left to the software. Scans multiple
trunking systems relatively slow even with the hold time set to 0
(especially if you have a lot of IDs programmed). You have to hold on a
channel first, to attenuate it. The channels and IDs aren't numbered so
they can be hard to find if you have a lot of them in a group. There is
no 'per channel' delay; you must set the delay for the whole system (all
groups, all channels). Resetting the radio- how many of you can do
that on the first try? The Fire
Tone-Out
works very well (after you find the tones) but because
you can't scan channels at the same time why put it in a
$500 scanner? They should market a 'FTO' only
scanner if that's the way it's going to work. You will also need a better antenna. The stock whip isn't fabulous. RS has the Center-Loaded Telescoping Whip for $16 - better for VHF/UHF. The 800MHz Scanner Antenna for $20 - 100% better for 700+ MHz. You may be able to find others on the web but RS is convenient so you can buy it and take it back in the same day if you don't like it. Read the reviews for each at the site. They also have the right-angle adapter for the base models ($5). An overview of the features can also be view at my Trunking Radio Comparison Chart page. |
| Although the 996 manual is actually very easy to read, it still has pieces of info in the wrong place, features not explained (that I found in the BCT-15 manual), and can be somewhat vague on many other features. This manual has links to all operations, all the selections in the menu, is on a computer screen with links to related features, and is more fun than trying to hold and flip through a small book while trying to figure out the radio. |
| As you have found out by now, this is a whole different scanner as far as scanners go. I have tried to write my manual to follow the menu sequences as closely as possible so you can find things a little easier in the radio. |
| It is also recommended that you download and install the latest firmware upgrade for the scanners if you don't have it. See checking Firmware Version. Another recommendation is the freeware FreeSCAN, a 'must have' for the radio. |
| For those of you who are new to trunking, dynamic memory, or haven't had a scanner in the last 10 years it is a good idea to read the respective sections on those topics. You really have to know how trunking works in order to program a trunking system. It won't do you any good to try to program a trunking system unless you know what the radio needs and is going to do with the data (control channel, IDs, LCN order, etc). |
| I will assume you know how to obtain the basic information from the original manual such as following safety procedures, connecting the antenna, finding specs, etc. and concentrate on the main functions of the scanner. |
| I hereby absolve myself from anything that happens to anyone or the scanner as a result of the information you will be reading. You are welcome to copy and/or print these pages and use them in the scanning hobby as long as don't change them or charge anyone money for them. I have tried the best I can to make sure everything is accurate here but if I missed a step or you see something that's obviously wrong, please email me. |
| Check back often as this document will be updated and revised from time to time. |
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| Main Features | Contents |
| Trunk Tracker IV Operation - follows unencrypted conversations on analog Motorola, Motorola Astro 25 (APCO 25), EDACS, EDACS SCAT, and LTR trunked radio systems, including systems in VHF, UHF, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, and 900 MHz bands. The scanner can scan both conventional and trunked systems at the same time. |
| Dynamically Allocated Channel Memory - organized into 'Systems', 'Sites', (within trunking systems), 'Groups' (within systems), and channels (within groups). Up to 500 systems, 1,000 total sites (max 256 per system), 20 groups per system, and 6,000 channels (250 max IDs per system). |
| Multi-Site Trunking - lets you program the scanner to share trunked system IDs across multiple sites without duplicating IDs, and turn each site on and off independently so that you can select the best site to scan for your area. |
| Control Channel Only Scanning - allows you to enter just the control channels to trunktrack a Motorola system and the scanner will find the voice channels. |
| EDACS ESK Support - provides the ability to monitor analog talkgroups on those systems. (Requires firmware 3.00 or newer). |
| Trunking Activity Indicators - shows you trunking activity when you hold on a control channel. |
| Start-up Configuration - You can program each of your conventional systems, trunked sites, service searches, or custom searches with a 'Startup Key' (0-9) so that when you power up the scanner and press the key number, just those systems/sites/searches assigned to the key will be enabled for scan (groups are not affected). |
| Location-Based Scanning - using a optional GPS unit you can scan your systems based on a set range from your current location. |
| GPS (Location-Based) Alerts - notifies you when you are near an area you have programmed as a dangerous road, dangerous intersection, or a general point of interest. |
| Analog and Digital AGC - helps automatically balance the volume level between different radio systems. |
| Preprogrammed Systems - your scanner is preprogrammed with over 500 agencies (133 systems) covering police, fire, and ambulance operations in the 25 most populated counties in the US, plus the most popular digital systems. |
| Scan with Search Operation - lets you include and/or assign quick keys to selected service/custom search ranges during scan operation. |
| 100 Quick Keys - you can scan conventional systems/trunked sites and groups by assigning them to quick keys. |
| 6 Search Keys - you can assign 6 of the number keys to initiate a search range. |
| Temporary Lockout - automatically unlock temporarily locked out channels/systems when you cycle power. |
| CTCSS and DCS Tone Decode - decodes and displays Continuous Tone Code Squelch System tones being transmitted and plays Digital Coded Squelch being received. Also, a tone code only receive option (per channel). |
| CTCSS/DCS Search - lets you search for CTCSS or DCS tones when it finds an active frequency in search and close call modes. |
| Close Call RF Capture Technology - lets you set the scanner so it detects and provides information about nearby radio transmissions. Close Call 'Do-not-Disturb' checks for Close Call activity in between channel reception so active channels are not interrupted. |
| Close Call Temporary Store - temporarily stores and scans the last 10 Close Call hits in the 'Hits with Scan' system. |
| Fire Tone-Out Standby - lets you set the scanner to alert you if a two-tone sequential page is transmitted. You can set up to 10 settings (transmit frequency, tone frequencies) then select one for standby monitoring. |
| Frequency/ID Auto Search and Store - the scanner can be set to automatically store all active frequencies from a service or limit search in a conventional system you select or automatically store all new talk group IDs into a trunked system you select. |
| Custom Alerts - you can program your scanner to alert you when, a channel is received, you receive a Close Call hit, a talkgroup ID is transmitted with an emergency alert, you get close to a POI (Point of Interest)/Dangerous Road/Dangerous Crossing, or you receive a Tone-out hit. For each alert in the scanner, you can select from 9 different tone patterns and also set the alert volume level independently from the main volume level. |
| Priority/Priority Plus Scan - priority channels let you keep track of activity on your most important channels while monitoring other channels for transmissions and you can scan just the priority channels. |
| Repeater Reverse - allows the scanner to try to switch to the repeater if an input frequency is found. |
| Broadcast Screen - allows the scanner to ignore hits on known broadcast frequencies including pager frequencies in search and Close Call modes. You can also program up to 10 custom frequency ranges that the scanner will ignore. |
| Text Tagging - you can name each system, site, group, channel, talk group ID, custom search range, location, Tone-out, and SAME group, using up to 16 characters per name. |
| SAME Weather Alert/Priority (BCD996T only) - (with programmable FIP codes) lets your scanner alert you when a SAME weather alert is transmitted on a NOAA weather channel. The scanner also displays the alert type. |
| Adjustable Hold (Scan) Time per System/Search - allows you to adjust the length of time spent scanning each system or search. |
| Record-Out Jack - lets you can connect an output jack to a VOX controlled recorder or PC sound input to record the received audio on selected channels, systems, Close Call, Fire Tone-Out, and searches. |
| DIN-E and ISO Vehicle Mountable - using the DIN-E sleeve or a standard ISO technique, the scanner can be easily mounted in most vehicles. |
| Dimmer Circuit - a special wire lets you connect to the dimmer circuit of your vehicle so the vehicle's dimmer also dims the scanner's lighting. |
| PC Control/Clone - you can transfer data to and from your scanner or another scanner and your personal computer, and control the scanner using a computer. |
| Multi-Level Display and Keypad light - makes the display and keypad easy to see in dim light using two color options and three light levels plus off. |
| Signal Strength Meter - shows the signal strength for the more powerful transmissions. |
| 9-13 Service Searches (Both, BCD996T only, UBCD996T only)- frequencies are preset in separate marine, railroad, air, CB radio, UHF CB, police, racing, FM broadcast, TV broadcast, public safety, military air, FRS/GMRS, news, amateur radio, and special (itinerant) searches to make it easy to find specific transmissions. |
| 10 Custom Searches - lets you program up to 10 custom search ranges. |
| Quick Search - lets you search from the currently-tuned frequency or channel or enter a frequency and start searching. |
| Automatic Channel Setup - accepts frequencies on any valid channel step, even if it does not fall within the band plan's default steps. |
| Adjustable Channel/Frequency Step - allows you to set the step (5, 6.25, 7.5, 8.33, 10, 12.5,15, 20, 25, 50 or 100 kHz) for Quick search or Custom search or select auto mode. |
| Adjustable Scan/Search Delay - from 1 to 5 seconds or off (per system or search). |
| Attenuator - you can set the scanner's attenuator to reduce the input strength of strong signals by about 20 dB per channel, search band, close call band, or trunked system. |
| Data Skip - allows your scanner to skip unwanted (conventional) data transmissions and reduces birdies. |
| Duplicate Frequency Alert - alerts you if you try to enter a duplicate name or frequency already stored in the scanner. |
| Search Lockouts - you can lock out up to 500 frequencies (250 temporary, 250 permanent) in search or close call search. |
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| Understanding Dynamic Memory | Contents |
| The scanner's
memory is organized in an architecture called Dynamic
Allocated Channel memory. This type of memory is
organized differently and more efficiently than the
bank/channel architecture used by traditional scanners.
Dynamic Allocated design matches how radio systems
actually work much more closely and make it easier to
determine how much memory you have used and how much you
have left. No memory space is wasted. Since you can only program one trunking system per bank in a traditional scanner, and let's say you only have 10 banks, you can only store 10 trunking systems. Also, since some trunked systems might have hundreds of talk groups you wish to monitor, you might have to enter those systems into multiple banks in order to monitor all the ID's. |
| Instead of being
organized into separate banks and channels, the scanner's
memory is contained in a pool. You build the systems and
groups then use as much memory as you need in the pool to
store frequencies, talk group ID's, and alpha tags. With
all previous scanners, you selected banks to scan that
had channels stored in them. With this scanner, you
select 'Systems' (or trunking 'Sites') to scan that have channel 'Groups'
stored within the 'Systems'. Conventional systems have
frequency groups and trunking systems have ID groups. For trunking systems, you have to
create at least 1 'Site' (Motorola and EDACS only) or
multiple sites first that hold the trunking frequencies
for each site. The ID channel 'Groups' stored within the
trunking systems can be used with all the sites. You can store up to 20 'Groups' per 'System' with up to 500(?) frequencies or 250 IDs in each 'Group'. You can have 1000 total channels per conventional system and up to 256 'Sites' and 750-1000 trunking frequencies per site (depending on the number of IDs in the system) if you have enough memory. You can have a maximum of 500 Systems, 1000 Sites, and 6000 Channels. Understanding Quick Keys 'Quick Keys' are used to turn conventional systems, trunking sites (not systems), channel groups, and custom/service searches on and off (enable or disable for scanning). They are also used when searching (only) to turn custom and service searches on and off. This is not the same as locking out or unlocking systems/sites/groups/searches (which you can also do). They are just the number keys on the scanner but once assigned to systems/sites/groups/searches they become the 'Quick Key's. You can program one or more system/site/group/search to any quick key or, program one or more system/site/group/search with no quick key (that will always be scanned unless you lock it out). There are 100 'System/Site/Search Quick Keys' (0-99) and 10 and 'Group Quick Keys' (0-9). My advice is to assign everything to quick keys so you don't have to remember what to turn off/on or what to unlock/lockout. There are no indicators in the display showing systems/sites/groups with no quick key so you won't know if they are being scanned unless you see (or don't see) them scroll by in the display. Search Keys You can also assign any (1) service or custom search to each of the six 'Search Keys' for quick access to your favorite searches. |
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| Conventional Simplex and Repeater Systems | Contents |
| Simplex systems use a single frequency for both transmit and receive. Most radios using this type of operation are limited to line-of-sight operation. This type of radio is frequently used at construction job sites, and with inexpensive consumer radios such as GMRS/FRS radios. The range is typically 1-8 miles, depending upon the terrain and many other factors. |
| Repeater systems use two frequencies: one transmits from the radio to a central repeater; the other transmits from the repeater to other radios in the system. With a repeater based system, the repeater is located on top of a tall building or on a radio tower that provides great visibility to the area of operation. When a user transmits (on an input frequency), the signal is picked up by the repeater and retransmitted (on an output frequency). The user's radios always listen for activity on the output frequency and transmit on the input frequency. Since the repeater is located very high, there is a very large line of sight. Typical repeater systems provide coverage out to about a 25-mile radius from the repeater location. |
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| Understanding CTCSS/DCS | Contents |
| Continuous Tone
Coded Squelch System (CTCSS) and Digital Coded Squelch
(DCS) are two methods used to prevent interference by
other radio communications. Your scanner can receive
transmissions that use these codes (or more commonly
referred to as tone codes). CTCSS and DCS systems all use some form of coded squelch. Coded squelch techniques involve the transmission of a special 'code' signal along with the audio of a radio transmission. A receiver with coded squelch only activates when the received signal has the correct 'code'. This lets many users share a single frequency, and decreases interference caused by distant transmitters on the same channel. In all major metropolitan areas of the United States, every available radio channel is assigned to more than one user. Public safety radio systems on the same frequency are usually set up at a distance of 40 miles apart, or more. This means that you may hear transmissions from a distant system when your local system is not transmitting. By programming the CTCSS tone for a local channel the scanner will not stop on transmissions from the distant system. With few exceptions, such as the VHF Aircraft and Marine bands, almost every other VHF or UHF radio system uses some form of coded squelch. By far, CTCSS is the most popular mode among non-trunked systems. For more information visit Radio Reference's respective pages on CTCSS and DCS. |
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| Understanding Trunking | Contents |
|
Trunking systems let a large group of 2-way radio users (or even
different groups of 2-way radio users) efficiently use a set of
frequencies. Instead of selecting a specific frequency for a transmission,
the user’s radio selects a programmed trunking bank in the system when
that user presses their PTT (push to talk) button. The trunking system
automatically transmits the call on the first available frequency, and
also sends (on a different frequency called a Data or Control channel) a
code that uniquely identifies that transmission as a talkgroup ID (or just
ID.) So when you are trunktracking a system, you are listening to active
IDs transmitting in the system (each using the first available frequency
in the system.) Trunking systems in general allocate and use fewer
frequencies among many different users. Since the trunking system might send a call and its response on different frequencies, it is difficult to listen to trunked communications using a conventional scanner. These scanners let you monitor the control channel frequency so you can hear calls and responses for users and more easily "follow" conversations than with a conventional scanner. These scanners trunktrack the following types of systems: |
|
|
| When you
program Motorola frequencies into the scanner, one frequency is the
control (or data) channel, and the rest are voice frequencies shared by
all the users. There may be 3 or 4 frequencies assigned as (primary or
alternate) control channels but only one control channel will be active at
a time. These scanners will allow you to program just the Motorola control
channels into the trunking system and the voice channels will
automatically be found. EDACS systems need all the frequencies for the
system programmed and in the correct LCN (Logical Channel Number)
order. The control channel is continually transmitted to the field units and has a sound similar to listening to a boat engine over the phone (in manual mode; you won't hear this when you are trunking the system.) This control channel is also a good check to see if you can trunktrack the system. If you can't hear a control channel when you step through the trunking frequencies (in manual mode), you either don't have all the frequencies or are too far away to receive the control channel and the system. Motorola systems are limited to a maximum of 28 frequencies per system, Ericsson EDACS systems are limited to 25 frequencies per system. LTR systems work a little differently. This type of system encodes all trunking information as digital subaudible data that accompanies each transmission. LTR systems typically do not have a dedicated control channel. The frequencies also have to be in LCN (Logical Channel Number) order or the correct 'slot' for the system to trunktrack properly. Each repeater has its own controller, and all of these controllers are synchronized together. Even though each controller monitors its own channel, one of the channel controllers is assigned to be a master that all controllers report to. Each of these controllers sends out a data burst approximately every 10 seconds so that the subscriber units know that the system is there. This data burst is not sent at the same time by all the channels, but happens randomly throughout all the system channels. If you listen to the frequencies of an LTR system in manual mode (not trunking), on every channel in the system you will hear this data burst that will sound like a short blip of static like someone keyed up and unkeyed a radio within about 500 msec. LTR systems are limited to 20 frequencies per system. Trunkscanning is basically scanning IDs that are programmed into ID locations (same concept as frequencies into channels.) You can then trunkscan just the programmed IDs. Trunktracking is searching for all IDs in a system (same concept as searching for frequencies in a band.) |
| Understanding Multi-Site Trunking | Contents |
| Some Motorola and EDACS systems covering a very large geographic area use multiple antenna sites that each operate on different frequencies and use the same Talk Group ID's for traffic. When programming such a system, you program each site's frequencies into their own site and other settings into the system, then program the channels into channel groups within that system. Each site can have its own quick key, so you can turn each individual site on or off while you scan. Since all sites share all the channels within the system, multi-site trunking is much more efficient than programming each site as a separate system. |
| Radio Reference.com has an excellent page explaining the various types of trunking systems in more detail here. |
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| Understanding IDs | Contents |
| IDs are what you see instead of frequencies when you monitor a trunking system. |
| Motorola IDs come in two formats: Type I and Type II. Each format displays and uses talk group IDs in slightly different ways. |
|
| EDACS IDs come in two formats: AFS and Decimal. |
|
| I-Call IDS (Motorola/EDACS only) are direct unit-to-unit transmissions that are not heard by other system users. I-call IDs are usually 6-digit IDs (ex: 700152). |
| LTR IDS are in the format A-HH-UUU where A is the area code (0 or 1), HH is the home repeater (01-20), and UUU is the user ID (000-254). |
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| Terms Used in this Document | Contents |
| Channel- a programmed frequency or talk group ID location. |
| Searching- the process of searching for active frequencies in quick search, service, custom search, Close Call search, auto search and store, or close call auto store. |
| Scanning- the process of stepping through conventional channels in groups, which are in programmed 'systems'. |
| Trunktracking (ID search mode)- the process of searching for active talk group IDs in trunked systems. |
| Trunkscanning (ID scan mode)- the process of scanning for active programmed talk group IDs in ID groups, in programmed 'systems'. |
| You search for frequencies in frequency bands. |
| You scan programmed channels in groups (in programmed 'systems'). |
| You trunktrack IDs in programmed trunking 'systems'. |
| You trunkscan programmed IDs in ID groups (in programmed trunking 'systems'). |
| Function Mode- the mode the radio is in when it's waiting for another key press or scroll. |
| Hold Mode- the mode the radio is in when its just on, holding on a system, site, channel, or search. |
| Menu Mode- used for programming frequencies, IDs, trunking frequencies/systems/sites/groups/locations/fleet maps, and other 'system' settings. |
| Scan Mode- the mode the radio is in when scanning and/or trunktracking/trunkscanning. |
| Search Mode- the mode the radio is in while doing a quick search, service search, custom search, Close Call search, auto search and store, or close call auto store. |
| GPS Display Mode- the mode the radio is in where you can see location information and information about your position relative to a selected POI (Point of Interest). |
| GPS Review Location Mode- If you have programmed data for a POI (Point of Interest), Dangerous Crossing, and a Dangerous Road, you can review each set on a screen dedicated to showing just that data. |
| Tone-Out Mode- the mode the radio is in when it's waiting for paging tones. |
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| Turning on the Scanner and Setting the Squelch | Contents |
| Note: this applies to a
fresh scanner right out of the box or one that has been reset with the
preprogrammed systems reloaded. Rotate VOL clockwise to turn on the scanner and set the volume to around 6-8. The scanner should start scanning one of the preprogrammed systems after the welcome screen disappears. Press Hold. Find a comfortable volume level. Rotate the SQ knob counter-clockwise all the way then clockwise until the noise stops, then one notch more. Press Hold to resume scanning. |
| Right away you may want to check these settings in the 'Settings' menu. Set Backlight/Dimmer, Adjust Key Beep, Adjust Contrast, and Set Serial Port (if you plan to upload/download). |
| The only things you will be able to scan right out of the box are the preprogrammed systems in the scanner. You will also be able to do a service search, custom search, weather scan, auto search and store, close call search, or close call auto store. |
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| Keypad and Knob Controls | Contents |
|
| Each of the knobs and keys on the (U)BCD996T produce several different results depending upon how you activate them. You can, for example, rotate the knobs as well as press them. Some keys provide one operation when briefly pressed while pressing and holding a key or knob gives a different result. Many controls and keys behave differently depending on the mode your radio is in when you use the key or control. |
| Key | Function(s) |
| 1. VOL,Light | Turns
the scanner on/off and adjusts the volume. Press toggle through the backlight colors and intensities in Any Mode. Press |
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The blue light
flashes with a Close Call hit. The red light flashes once then stays on for a weather alert. (for about 3 minutes?) |
| 2. SQ(Squelch)/ |
Turn
to adjust the squelch. Press to toggle Close Call DND, Close Call Priority, or Close Call Off in Any Mode except Tone-out and GPS. Press and hold to turn on Close Call Only in Any Mode except GPS. Press |
| 3. |
Press to enter
Function mode for 3 seconds. Press and hold to lock
Function Mode. Press again to unlock. Press to select a menu item or save an entry in Menu Mode. Turn to scroll to a menu item in Menu Mode. Turn to select characters when editing text. Turn to select scan/search direction and to continue scan/search in Scan/Search Modes. Turn to select channel or frequency in Scan/Search Hold Modes. Turn to select POIs in GPS Display Mode. Turn to temporary lock out an alert in GPS Display Mode. Turn to select locations GPS Review Location Mode. Turn to select Tone-outs in Tone-out Mode. Press and turn to scroll to systems/sites/searches in Scan Mode. Press |
| 4. PRI | Press to toggle Priority On, Priority Plus, Priority Off in Scan Mode. |
| 5. WX (SRVC on UBCD996T) |
Press to toggle
Weather Alert Priority on/off in Any Mode except GPS. Press and hold to start weather scan in Any Mode except GPS. Press to switch to weather scan in Weather Alert or SAME Mode. (Enters 'Search For...' menu on UBCD996T) |
| 6. GPS | Press
to switch to GPS mode. Press and hold to store (overwrite) current location (with a GPS device connected). Press |
| 7. L/O | Press to toggle the
lockout status of a channel in Scan Mode. Press to toggle the lockout status of a frequency in Search Mode. Press to toggle the lockout status of a location in GPS Review Location Mode. Press and hold to unlock (and enable) all groups and channels in a system in Scan Hold Mode. Press and hold to unlock all frequencies of all search ranges/Close Call in Search Hold Mode. Press and hold to unlock all locations of the current type (POI, DRD, or DXG) in GPS Review Location Mode. Press Press Press Press Press to exit Menu Mode or return to the last mode. |
| 8. Number Keys | Enter any frequency to go directly to in Scan/Search
Hold Modes. Press 0-9 to toggle single-digit system/site/search quick keys on or off in Scan Mode. Press 0-9 to toggle custom searches on or off in Search Mode. Press 4 to move the cursor to the left when editing text. Press 6 to move the cursor to the right when editing text. Press Press Press Press Press Press Press Press |
| 9. (.)No | Press
to cancel an error or warning message. Press before entering a 2-digit system/site/search quick key to turn on or off in Scan Mode. Press to enter a decimal point for a frequency while programming. Press to enter a hyphen when entering an ID while programming. Press to enter an 'i' when entering an 'I-Call' ID while programming. Press twice to delete current character when editing text. Press 3 times to delete all characters when editing text. Press |
| 10. E(Yes) | Press to select a menu item or save an entry in Menu
Mode. Press to store a (blinking) CTCSS/DCS tone in Scan Mode. Press to store an ID in 'ID Search' mode while scanning a trunked system in Scan Mode. Press to 'quick store' a frequency in Search/Close Call Only/Weather modes. Press to enter the Menu mode for a displayed channel in Scan Mode. Press to enter the Menu mode for the current Tone-Out in Tone-out Mode. Press to enter 'Review Location' menu in GPS Display Mode. |
| 11. Scan/Search | Press to
start/continue/resume scanning in Scan/GPS Modes. Press to start/continue/resume searching in Search Mode. Press Press |
| 12. Hold/Resume | Press to hold on a
channel, frequency, search, Close Call hit, or Tone-Out search. Press again to resume. Press to recall the last Close Call Hit in Close Call Only Mode. Press and hold to hold on a system in Scan mode. Press and hold to resume. |
| 13. Menu | Press to enter menu mode. Press to return to previous menu. Press to return to GPS mode in Review Location Mode. Press Press Press Press Press Press |
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| Navigating the Menu | Contents |
| The scanner's menu
lets you select options that let you set up and use the
scanner using the MENU key. To select a
menu item, rotate the scroll control clockwise or
counterclockwise. The currently-selected menu item is
highlighted with a bar on the display. When the menu item
you want to select is highlighted, press E(Yes)
or
|
![]()
| A Look at the Display | Contents |
![]() Conventional Display Mode 1 |
![]() Conventional Display Mode 2 |
![]() GPS Alert in Scan Mode |
![]() Trunking Display Mode 1 |
![]() Trunking Display Mode 2 |
![]() Trunking Activity Indicators |
![]() |
| The display has indicators that show the scanner's current operating status. The display information helps you understand how your scanner operates. |
| Top Line |
|
DSKP appears when data skip is on in Scan/Search Modes. HOLD appears in Hold Mode. L/O appears if the system/site/group/channel/frequency/search/location is locked out in Hold Mode. PRI appears in priority mode and blinks in priority plus mode in Scan Mode. GPS appears if the scanner is connected to a GPS device and receiving a signal in Any Mode. |
| 2nd Line |
| shows
the name of the currently scanned site or conventional
system in Scan Mode. shows the name of the currently searched custom/service search in Search Mode. will alternate the conventional system name and channel group name for a conventional system in Receiving or Hold Modes. will alternate the site name and channel group name for a trunking system in Receiving or Hold Modes. will alternate the custom search name and system name for a trunking system for a 'C-Ch only Search' in Receiving or Search Hold Modes in display modes 1 and 3. will alternate the custom search name and 'SID' for a trunking system for a 'C-Ch only Search' in Receiving or Search Hold Modes in display mode 2. |
| 3rd Line |
| will scroll 'SCAN'
(for a conventional system),
'ID SCAN', or 'ID SEARCH'
(for a trunked system) and show an up or down arrow to indicate the scan
direction in Scan Mode. will display the search frequency range/channels and an up or down arrow to show the scan direction in Search Mode. shows the frequency or ID (or text tag if programmed) for a channel in Receiving or Scan Hold Modes. shows the search frequency (and the channel number for CB, Rail, and FRS/GMRS/MURS service searches) in Receiving or Search Hold Modes. shows the ID (with C-Ch only on) in Receiving or Search Hold Modes. |
| 4th Line - Display Mode 1 |
|
shows the acquired control channel frequency of a trunking site in Scan Mode. shows the modulation and attenuation (if on) of a non-acquired trunked site in Scan Mode. shows the voice channel of a trunked site in Receiving or Hold Modes. shows the receive modulation of the conventional channel in Receiving or Hold Modes. shows the receive modulation of the custom/service search in Search Mode. ATT appears if the channel/search is attenuated in Receiving or Hold Modes. shows the tone code (if received) for a conventional frequency if programmed and blinks in CTCSS/DCS search mode in Receiving or Hold Modes. P25 appears if the channel is receiving digitalized voice in Receiving or Hold Modes. LNK appears if the channel is receiving data in Receiving or Hold Modes. DAT appears if the control channel is being received in Receiving or Hold Modes. ENC appears if the channel is receiving encrypted voice in Receiving or Hold Modes. |
| 4th Line - Display Mode 2 |
| shows the acquired control channel
frequency of a trunking site in Scan Mode. shows the modulation and attenuation (if on) of a non-acquired trunked site in Scan Mode. shows the ID for a trunking site in Receiving or Hold Modes. shows the frequency for a conventional channel in Receiving or Hold Modes. shows the receive modulation of the custom/service search in Search Mode. ATT appears if the search is attenuated in Receiving or Search Modes. shows the tone code (if received) for a conventional frequency if programmed and blinks in CTCSS/DCS search mode in Receiving or Hold Modes. |
| 5th Line |
| S0-9:
shows the first digit of
(systems/sites/search assigned to) the
currently scanned
quick key on the left with the blinking
second digit (1-0) on the right
in Scan
or Receiving Modes. In Hold Mode, only (systems/sites/searches assigned to) the current quick key appears. |
| a non-blinking
number on the right indicates the quick key is enabled waiting to
be scanned. a - (dash) means nothing is assign to the quick key. an * (asterisk) means the quick key is turned off. |
|
SCR appears if one or more broadcast/custom screen bands is turned on in Receiving or Search Modes. REP appears if repeater reverse is turned on in Receiving or Search Modes. |
| 6th Line |
| GRP
shows the group quick keys (1-0) for each system/site
with
(groups assigned to) the
currently scanned
quick key blinking
in Scan
or Receiving Modes. In Hold Mode, only (groups assigned to) the current quick key appears. |
| a non-blinking
number on the right indicates the quick key is enabled waiting to
be scanned. a - (dash) means nothing is assign to the quick key. an * (asterisk) means the quick key is turned off. |
| WX appears if the weather alert priority feature is on in Any Mode
except GPS and Tone-out. GPS alert information appears if connected to a GPS device and receiving a signal in Scan or Search Modes. |
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| BCD996T Auto Step Sizes/Auto Modulation | Contents |
| Frequency Range | Step (kHz) | Mode | Band | Frequency Range | Step (kHz) | Mode | Band |
| 25-28 | 5 | AM | CB/Business | 174-216 | 50 | WFM | VHF TV |
| 28-29.680 | 20 | NFM | 10 Meter Ham | 216-225 | 20 | NFM | 1.25 Meter Ham |
| 29.7-50 | 10 | NFM | VHF Low | 225-380 | 25 | AM | UHF Air |
| 50-54 | 20 | NFM | 6 Meter Ham | 380-400 | 12.5 | NFM | Military Trunked |
| 54-72 | 50 | WFM | VHF TV | 400-420 | 12.5 | NFM | Federal Trunked |
| 72-76 | 5 | FM | Astronomy | 420-450 | 12.5 | NFM | 70 cm Ham |
| 76-88 | 50 | WFM | VHF TV | 450-470 | 12.5 | NFM | UHF Standard |
| 88-108 | 100 | FMB | FM Broadcast | 470-512 | 12.5 | NFM | UHF TV |
| 108-137 | 25 | AM | Commercial Air | 764-776 | 12.5 | NFM | PS Trunked |
| 137-144 | 12.5 | NFM | Military Land Mobile | 794-806 | 12.5 | NFM | PS Trunked |
| 144-148 | 5 | NFM | 2 Meter Ham | 806-824 | 12.5 | NFM | Public Service |
| 148-150.7875 | 12.5 | NFM | Military Land Mobile | 849-869 | 12.5 | NFM | PS Trunked |
| 150.800-162 | 5 | NFM | VHF High | 894-956 | 12.5 | NFM | UHF Hi, 33 cm Ham |
| 162-174 | 12.5 | NFM | Federal | 1240-1300 | 25 | NFM | UHF Hi, 25 cm Ham |
| UBCD996T Auto Step Sizes/Auto Modulation |
| Frequency Range | Step (kHz) | Mode | Frequency Range | Step (kHz) | Mode |
| 25-28 | 5 | AM | 174-225 | 100 | WFM |
| 28-70 | 10 | FM | 225-400 | 25 | AM |
| 70-88 | 12.5 | FM | 400-512 | 6.25 | NFM |
| 88-108 | 100 | FMB | 764-776 | 12.5 | NFM |
| 108-137 | 12.5 | AM | 794-806 | 12.5 | NFM |
| 137-148 | 5 | FM | 806-956 | 12.5 | NFM |
| 148-174 | 12.5 | FM | 1240-1300 | 12.5 | NFM |
| When you select 'AUTO' for a channel or mode’s modulation or step, the above values are used. Although TV bands are listed, the scanner cannot decode digital TV audio. |
![]()
| Planning Conventional Systems and Groups | Contents |
| Planning your
systems will be very important even if you do have the
software. Organizing your quick keys will be the hardest part of the planning.
You can assign quick keys and copy and paste most of the
freqs, alpha tags, and IDs easily into the software. Most people can get everything they scan into the scanner. I like to scan by general interest so I set my system quick keys accordingly; 1-Public Safety systems, 1-Trunked PS systems, 2-Air, 2-Air Trunked systems, 3-Military, 3 Military Trunked systems, 4-Federal, etc. Then I will nest my groups (ex: Fire, Police, EMS) within the conventional systems, (Fire IDs, Police IDs, EMS ID within trunked systems) and give them all group quick keys. So, you have to figure out which conventional systems/trunked sites and groups to assign to your quick keys so you can scan them without a table of contents and with some sort of logic you can remember. Use the worksheets below to help you plan your systems and groups. Alerts You can program your scanner to alert you when, a channel is received, you receive a Close Call hit, a talkgroup ID is transmitted with an emergency alert, you get close to a POI (Point of Interest)/Dangerous Road/Dangerous Crossing, or you receive a Tone-out hit. For each alert in the scanner, you can select from 9 different tone patterns, and 15 volume settings. Startup Keys you can program each of your conventional systems, trunked sites, service searches, or custom searches with a 'Startup Key' (0-9) so that when you power up the scanner and press the key number, just those systems/sites/searches assigned to the key will be enabled for scan (groups are not affected). |
| Worksheets | Contents |
| I have put together complete worksheets ready to print to help you plan your systems, Close Call, and Fire Tone-Out, etc. settings. Even if you don't fill them out, they are a good check list for programming. If you don't have Excel you can download and install a viewer here. |
| BCD996T Excel worksheets |
| UBCD996T Excel worksheets |
![]()
| Entering Text | Contents |
| To program text you must first program the system, site, group, channel, location, custom search, Tone-Out, or SAME group. There are links to refer you back here while you are programming. |
| To enter a letter, turn the scroll control
until the character you want appears. (character order clock-wise is upper-case, lower-case, numbers, then special characters). To enter a decimal point, press (.)No. To move the cursor to the right, press 6. To move the cursor to the left, press 4. To clear a character or enter a space, press (.)No twice. To clear all characters, press (.)No 3 times. Press E/ Press the 'Back' button in your browser to return to programming. |
![]()
| Programming Systems | Contents |
| You
have to create systems first, create sites in the
trunking systems (where the trunking frequencies now go),
create groups in the systems, create channels in the
groups, then program the frequencies or IDs
into the channels. Or, you can Quick store freqs or Quick
store IDs
(only after you program the trunking system and
site). Trunking IDs only go into trunking system
groups and conventional frequencies only go into conventional
system groups. You can only store one trunking
system per 'system'. You can store up to 500 systems, up
to 20 groups per system, and up to 250 frequencies or IDs
per group. Total channels are limited to about 6000.
Also, remember that conventional frequencies and
IDs are considered channels.
Note: Once a system
has been created, the system type cannot be changed. One suggestion; assign every (conventional) system/(trunked) site/group (and search you want to include with scan) to a quick key. You can assign as many systems/sites you want to a quick key and as many groups you want to a group quick key. That way you can just turn systems/sites/groups on and off and not have to worry about locking them out. If you don't assign systems/sites/groups to a quick key, you have to lock it out if you don't want to scan it. See also Deciphering Trunked Systems at the Wiki. Use the worksheets to help you program your systems and groups. |
| To Edit the System
Name press Menu. At 'Program
System' press E/ At 'Select System' scroll to the system you want to name and press E/ At 'Edit Name' press E/ |
| To Copy a System press Menu.
At 'Program System' press E/ At 'Select System' scroll to the system you want to copy and press E/ Scroll to 'Copy System' and press E/ At 'New Sys Name?' see Entering Text to name the new system. Copying a system will copy all sites, groups, channels, and settings including quick key assignments. |
| To
Delete a System press Menu. At 'Program
System' press E/ At 'Select System' scroll to the system and press E/ Scroll to 'Delete System' and press E/ At 'Confirm Delete' press E/ |
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| Programming Conventional Systems |
| To
Create a new Conventional system press Menu.
At 'Program
System' press E/ At 'Select System' scroll to 'New System' and press E/ At 'Select Sys Type' scroll to 'Conventional' and press E/ At 'Edit Name' press E/ Scroll to 'Edit Sys Option' and press E/ Continue at 'Set Quick Key' below. Then see Creating Groups. Then see Programming Frequencies/IDs. |
| Set Quick Key | Set Hold Time | Set Location Info |
| Set Start-up Key | Set Delay Time | Set Record |
| Set Lockout | Set Data Skip | Adjust P25 Level |
| Contents |
| Set Quick Key assigns a system to a quick key and will be scanned when the key is turned on. The default setting is no quick key. |
| Scroll
to 'Set Quick Key' and press E/ Scroll to the quick key number (0-99 or . for no quick key) you want assigned to the system and press E/ |
| Note: Pressing the first number of a 2-digit quick key will get you closer, 1 for 10, 2 for 20, etc. then scroll to second digit. |
| Set Start-up Key allows you to turn on the scanner with the system enabled for scan using the Startup Configuration. The default setting is no startup key. |
| Scroll
to 'Set Startup Key' and press E/ Scroll to or enter the startup key number (0-9 or . for no startup key) you want assigned to the system and press E/ |
| Set Lockout determines whether a system will be scanned or not (even if the quick key for the system is turned on). 'Temporary L/O' means until you cycle power. The default setting is unlocked. |
| Scroll
to 'Set Lockout' and press E/ Scroll to 'Temporary L/O', 'Unlocked' or 'Locked' and press E/ |
| Set
Hold Time sets (in seconds) the amount of time the
scanner will scan the system before moving on to the next
system. All unlocked channels will be scanned
at least once regardless of this setting. The scanner
moves to the next system after the hold time expires, any
current transmission ends, and the channel delay time
expires. The default setting is 2 seconds for each
system. Tip: set your systems to 0. |
| Scroll
to 'Set Hold Time' and press E/ Enter the hold time (0-255 seconds) you desire and press E/ |
| Set Delay Time for the system sets (in seconds) the amount of time the scanner stays on a channel after the transmission has ended before moving to the next channel. This setting applies to all channels in the system. You cannot set the delay on a 'per channel' basis. The default setting is 2 seconds. |
| Scroll
to 'Set Delay Time' and press E/ Scroll to the desired delay time (1-5 seconds or Off) and press E/ |
| Set Data Skip with the setting set to on, when it receives a data signal, the scanner stops briefly on the channel, then immediately resumes scanning automatically. With the setting set to off, the scanner remains on the channel until the transmission stops. The default setting is off. |
| Scroll
to 'Set Data Skip' and press E/ Scroll to On or Off and press E/ |
| Contents |
| Set Location Info allows you program a location for the system so the scanner will enable/disable it for scanning with a GPS unit attached. See Set GPS Format first to set your units, time zone, etc. |
| Scroll
to 'Set LocationInfo' and press E/ At 'Set Latitude' press E/ At 'Set Longitude' press E/ At 'Set Range' press E/ At 'Set GPS Enable' press E/ Press Menu to return. |
| Set Record enables the REC jack for marked channels, no channels, or all channels in the system. The default setting is off. |
| Scroll
to 'Set Record' and press E/ Scroll to one of 3 settings and press E/ All Channel - The scanner sends the audio for all channels in the system to the REC jack, regardless of the channel’s record option setting. Marked Channel - The scanner only sends the audio for channels that have the record option turned on to the REC jack. Off - The scanner does not send any audio from any channel in the system to the REC jack, even if the record option is turned on for a channel. |
| Adjusting the
P25 Level This setting determines some
system-specific parameters for digital channels. In most cases, setting
this to Auto provides the best performance. However, you can also manually set
the digital decode threshold. This setting affects all digital channels in the
current system. See also Adjusting P25 Wait Time and Optimizing P25 Performance. |
| Scroll to 'Adjust
p25 Level' and press E/ Scroll to one of three settings and press E/ Auto- the scanner automatically adjusts the digital decode threshold to match the transmission you are hearing when it receives a strong signal and has a high decode rate. Manual- lets you manually adjust the digital decode threshold. Default- sets the digital decode threshold to the default value. This is handy if you have manually adjusted the value to a setting that prevents proper decoding. |
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| Programming Trunking Systems | Contents |
| 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. |
| To
Create a new Motorola/P25 System press Menu.
At 'Program System' press E/ At 'Select System' scroll to 'New System' and press E/ At 'Select Sys Type' scroll to 'MOT TYPE 1 or MOT TYPE 2/P25' and press E/ |
| At 'Edit
Name' press E/ Scroll to 'Edit Sys Options' and press E/ Continue at 'ID Scan/Search' below. Then see Creating Sites. Then see Creating Groups. Then see Programming Frequencies/IDs. |
| Note: EDACS Wide is the same as EDACS Standard and use a 9600 baud control channel. EDACS Narrow-band systems use a 4800 baud control channel. See here at RR for a description of SCAT. |
| At 'Edit
Name' press E/ Scroll to 'Edit Sys Options' and press E/ Continue at 'ID Scan/Search' below. Then see Creating Sites. Then see Creating Groups. Then see Programming Frequencies/IDs. |
|
To Create a new LTR
System
press Menu. At 'Program System'
press E/ At 'Select System' scroll to 'New System' and press E/ At 'Select Sys Type' scroll to 'LT' and press E/ At 'Edit Name' press E/ Scroll to 'Edit Sys Options' and press E/ Continue at 'ID Scan/Search' below. Then see Edit Site Options. Then see Creating Groups. Then see Programming Frequencies/IDs. |
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| Contents |
| ID Scan/Search (no EDACS SCAT) sets whether the scanner scans the programmed ID groups (ID Scan) or searches for all IDs (ID Search) in a trunking system. The default setting is ID search. |
| Scroll
to 'ID Scan/Search' and press E/ Scroll to 'ID Scan' or 'ID Search' and press E/ |
| Note:
You can also do this while scanning the selected
system by pressing |
| Set Delay Time for the system sets the amount of time the scanner stays on a channel after the transmission has ended before resuming scanning. This setting applies to all channels in the system. You cannot set the delay on a 'per channel' basis. The default setting is 2 seconds. |
| Scroll
to 'Set Delay Time' and press E/ Scroll to the desired delay time (1-5 seconds or Off) and press E/ |
| Edit Fleetmap (Motorola Type I systems only) allows you to select a preprogrammed fleetmap or program a fleetmap for Motorola Type I systems. You must program a system fleet map in order for the scanner to properly track and display talk group ID's. If you dont know which fleet map to use, you can try a method I found at Radio Reference.com. Since it is rather lengthy, I will just give you the link. Determining Type I Motorola Fleet Maps by Dave Goodson. |
| Scroll
to 'Edit Fleetmap' and press E/ |
| To
select a Preset Fleetmap, scroll to 'Preset' and
press E/ Scroll to the number of the preset fleetmap and press E/ To program a Custom Fleetmap, scroll to 'Custom' and press E/ At 'Block 0' scroll to the size code (0-14) and press E/ The scanner will prompt you to the next available block so you can scroll to and enter the next size code (0-14) then press E/ Repeat for each block as needed (0-7) and you will return to the 'Edit Sys Option' menu. |
| Note: If you select size code 12, 13, or 14, these restrictions apply: |
| 12 can only be assigned to Blocks 0, 2, 4 or 6. |
| 13 can only be assigned to Blocks 0 and 4. |
| 14 can only be assigned to Block 0. |
| Since these size codes require multiple blocks, you will be prompted for the next available block. For example, if you assign Block 0 as 12, the scanner prompts you for block 2, the next block available, instead of block 1. If you assign Block 0 as 14, you would not see another prompt because 14 uses all available blocks. |
| Set Status Bit (Motorola only) sets how your scanner works with status bits (also called S-bits), letting you control how the scanner interprets and displays Motorola talk group IDs. The default setting is ignore. |
| Scroll
to 'Set Status Bit' and press E/ Scroll to one of two settings and press E/ Ignore- the scanner rounds all received ID's down to the next interval of 16. Yes- the scanner treats all received ID's as unique ID's. |
| Set End Code (Motorola only) sets how the scanner handles the transmission end code sent by most Motorola systems. The default setting is Yes. |
| Scroll
to 'Set End Code' and press E/ Scroll to one of two settings and press E/ Yes- the scanner immediately returns to the control channel when it detects the end code. Ignore- the scanner does not return to the control channel until the carrier drops. |
| Contents |
| Digital End Code (P16 Motorola systems only) (Requires firmware 3.00 or newer). Might be a solution to the issue that systems with stuck repeaters hang the scan cycle for P16 Motorola 3600 bps digital systems . |
| Scroll
to 'Digital End Code' and press E/yes. Scroll to 'Yes' or 'Ignore' and press E/yes to save and exit. |
| Set I-Call (Motorola/EDACS only) sets whether the scanner will monitor I-call IDs. I-calls (or private calls) are transmissions made from one radio user to another radio user and not heard by everyone else in the trunking system. The default setting is off. |
| Scroll
to 'Set I-Call' and press E/ Scroll to one of three settings and press E/ Off- the scanner ignores I-call IDs. On- the scanner tracks I-call IDs. Only- the scanner tracks only I-call IDs and ignores other radio traffic on the system. |
| Emergency Alert (Motorola/EDACS only) sets how your scanner handles IDs that have the emergency flag set. The default setting is off. |
| Scroll
to 'Emergency Alert' and press E/ Scroll to the alert (Alert 1-9 or Off) and press E/ |
| At 'Set
Level' scroll to: Auto- the scanner automatically sets the emergency alert beep to the master volume level. Press E/ Level 1-15- scroll to the volume level preferred. Press E/ |
| EDACS ID Format (no EDACS SCAT) sets how your scanner displays EDACS IDs. They can be displayed in two formats: AFS and Decimal. The default setting is AFS. |
| Scroll
to 'EDCS ID Format' and press E/ Scroll to 'AFS Format' or 'Decimal Format' and press E/ |
| Set Record enables the REC jack for marked channels, no channels, or all channels in the system. The default setting is off. |
| Scroll
to 'Set Record' and press E/ Scroll to one of 3 settings and press E/ All Channel - The scanner sends the audio for all channels in the system to the REC jack, regardless of the channel’s record option setting. Marked Channel - The scanner only sends the audio for channels that have the record option turned on to the REC jack. Off - The scanner does not send any audio from any channel in the system to the REC jack, even if the record option is turned on for a channel. |
| Rvw ID:Srch L/O allows you to review locked out IDs in a system and unlock them. |
| Scroll
to 'Rvw ID:Srch L/O' and press E/ At 'Unlock?' scroll to the ID and press E/ Press 'Menu' to return. |
| Clr All L/O IDs allows you to unlock all the locked IDs in a system. |
| Scroll
to 'Clr All L/O IDs' and press E/ At 'Confirm?' press E/ 'Nothing Locked' appears if nothing is locked out. Press 'Menu' to return. |
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| Creating Sites (sites automatically created for EDACS SCAT and LTR) |
| Once you have your trunking Systems Created and Systems Options configured you can create your sites. |
| To
Create a Site press Menu.
At 'Program System' press E/ At 'Select System' scroll to the system where you want to create a site and press E/ Scroll to 'Edit Site' and press E/ At 'Select Site' scroll to 'New Site' and press E/ |
| To create a
Motorola Type 1 site, scroll to '800MHz Standard' or '800MHz
Splinter' and press E/ |
| To create a
Motorola Type 2 site, scroll to 'P25', '800MHz
Standard', '800MHz Splinter', '900MHz Band', 'VHF
band', or 'UHF band' and press E/ |
| To create a
EDACS site, scroll to 'WIDE', or 'NARROW' and
press E/ |
| Continue
at 'Edit Name' below. Then see Creating Groups. Then see Programming Frequencies/IDs. |
| Contents |
| Edit Name (no EDACS SCAT) assigns a name to the site. |
| Scroll
to 'Edit Name' and press E/ |
| Set Quick Key assigns quick key to a site and will be scanned when the key is turned on. The default setting is no quick key. |
| Scroll
to 'Set Quick Key' and press E/ Scroll to the quick key number (0-99 or . for no quick key) you want assigned to the site and press E/ |
| Note: Pressing the first number of a 2-digit quick key will get you closer, 1 for 10, 2 for 20, etc. then scroll to second digit. |
| Set Start-up Key allows you to turn on the scanner with the site enabled for scan using the Startup Configuration. The default setting is no startup key. |
| Scroll
to 'Set Startup Key' and press E/ Scroll to (or enter) the startup key number (0-9 or . for no startup key) you want assigned to the site and press E/ |
| Set Frequencies this is where you program or change the trunking frequencies, delete frequencies, or lock them out. |
| To Program New
Frequencies, scroll to 'Set Frequencies'
and press E/ At 'Sel Frequency' scroll to 'New Frequency' and press E/ At 'Input Frequency' enter the frequency and press E/ |
| For EDACS and LTR sites only: At 'Input LCN' enter the LCN number and press E/ |
| Scroll to 'New Frequency' and press E/ Press 'Menu' twice to return to the 'Edit Site' menu. |
| For EDACS and LTR sites only: At 'Input LCN' enter the LCN number and press E/ |
| Scroll to 'Set Lockout' press E/ Scroll to 'Delete Frequency' press E/ Press 'Menu' twice to return to the site menu. |
| Set Modulation (no EDACS) This setting selects the modulation used for the site. The default setting is auto (NFM for FM frequencies). |
| Scroll
to 'Set Modulation' and press E/ Scroll to Auto, NFM, or FM and press E/ |
| Set Attenuator This setting controls whether the scanner attenuates signals on this site by about 20 dB. The default setting is off. |
| Scroll
to 'Set Attenuator' and press E/ Scroll to On or Off and press E/ |
| Contents |
| Set Lockout determines whether a site will be scanned or not (even if the quick key for the site is turned on). 'Temporary L/O' means until you cycle power. The default setting is unlocked. |
| Scroll
to 'Set Lockout' and press E/ Scroll to 'Unlocked', 'Temporary L/O', or 'Lockout' and press E/ |
| Set
Hold Time sets (in seconds) the amount of time the
scanner will scan the site before moving on to the next
site. If you select 0 for trunking sites,
the scanner stays on the site for at least 1 second.
The scanner moves to the next site after the hold time
expires, any current transmission ends, and the channel
delay time expires. The default setting is 2 seconds for
each site. Tip: set your systems to 0. |
| Scroll
to 'Set Hold Time' and press E/ Enter the hold time (0-255 seconds) you desire and press E/ |
| Edit Band Plan (Motorola Custom/VHF/UHF/P25 only) Custom band plans require that you enter both a lower and an upper base frequency value. The lower base frequency (or base) is always the base frequency as provided in the Radio Reference Database. Use this Excel spreadsheet to calculate the upper base frequency value: CustomBandPlanCalculator.xls. If you don't have Excel you can download and install a viewer here. If you don't have the lower and an upper base frequency values, the Trunked Radio Systems Users Page has an explanation on how to find them. Look for 'Determining Base and Offset Frequencies for the BC245xlt' by John C. |
| For P25 Systems: there are two types of P25 systems: Explicit mode and Implicit mode channel assignment. Explicit mode systems include all information needed to determine voice frequencies on the control channel. For Explicit mode systems, leave all entries blank. The system will automatically detect the band plan and fill in the entries. You must supply the system's band plan for Implicit systems for the scanner to correctly determine voice frequencies. |
| Scroll
to 'Edit Band Plan' and press E/ At 'Select Plan' scroll to 'Band Plan 1-6' and press E/ At 'Set Base Freq' press E/ Enter base frequency and press E/ At 'Set Spacing' enter the step size and press E/ Repeat for each band plan as needed. Press 'Menu' to return. |
| For Custom (rebanded) Motorola Systems: (Requires firmware 3.00 or newer). Allows you to create a Motorola 800 MHz system using a custom band plan for rebanded systems. |
| Scroll
to 'Edit Band Plan' and press E/ At 'Select Plan' scroll to 'Band Plan 1-6' and press E/ At 'Set Base Freq' press E/ At 'Input Lower' enter the lower base frequency and press E/ At 'Input Upper' enter the upper base frequency and press E/ Scroll to 'Set Offset' and press E/ At 'Input Offset' enter the offset and press E/ At 'Select Polarity' scroll to + or - and press E/ Scroll to 'Set Spacing' and press E/ Scroll to the step size and press E/ Press 'Menu' to return and repeat for each band plan as needed. Press 'Menu' to return. For standard rebanded systems, you need to set Band Plan 1 and Band Plan 2 as follows:
|
| Contents |
| For VHF/UHF Motorola Systems allows you to set the base frequency, step size, and offset for the system. A band plan is required so the scanner can correctly determine the voice channel frequency. You can set up to 3 different band plans. |
| Scroll
to 'Edit Band Plan' and press E/ Scroll to 'Band Plan 1' and press E/ At 'Input Base Freq' enter the base frequency and press E/ At 'Select Step' scroll to the step size and press E/ At 'Offset' enter the offset and press E/ Repeat for each band plan. Press 'Menu' to return. |
| Set C-Ch Only (Motorola only) with C-Ch Only on, you only need to program the control channel frequencies for Motorola sites and the scanner will find (but will not program) the voice channels. The default setting is on (and recommended in case new voice channels are added to the site). |
| Scroll
to 'Set C-Ch Only' and press E/ Scroll to one of two settings and press E/ Off- you must enter all voice and control channel frequencies. On- you only need to enter control channel frequencies. |
| Set Location Info allows you program a location for the site so the scanner will enable/disable it for scanning with a GPS unit attached. See Set GPS Format first to set your units, time zone, etc. |
| Scroll
to 'Set LocationInfo' and press E/ At 'Set Latitude' press E/ At 'Set Longitude' press E/ At 'Set Range' press E/ At 'Set GPS Enable' press E/ Press Menu to return. |
| Adjusting the
P25 Level This setting determines some
system-specific parameters for digital channels. In most cases, setting
this to Auto provides the best performance. However, you can also manually set
the digital decode threshold. This setting affects all digital channels in the
current system. See also Adjusting P25 Wait Time and Optimizing P25 Performance. |
| Scroll to 'Adjust
p25 Level' and press E/ Scroll to one of three settings and press E/ Auto- the scanner automatically adjusts the digital decode threshold to match the transmission you are hearing when it receives a strong signal and has a high decode rate. Manual- lets you manually adjust the digital decode threshold. Default- sets the digital decode threshold to the default value. This is handy if you have manually adjusted the value to a setting that prevents proper decoding. |
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| Once you have your Systems built, systems options configured, (trunking system) Sites Created, and Site Options configured, you can create your groups. |
| To
Create a New Group (no EDACS SCAT) press Menu.
At 'Program System' press E/ At 'Select System' scroll to the system where you want to create a group and press E/ Scroll to 'Edit Group' and press E/ At 'Select Group' scroll to 'New Group' and press E/ Continue at 'Edit Name' below. Then see Programming Frequencies/IDs. |
| Edit Name | Edit Channel | Delete Group |
| Set Quick Key | Set Lockout | New Group |
| Contents |
| Edit Name allows you to change the name of a group. |
| Scroll
to 'Edit Name' press E/ |
| Set Quick Key sets the quick key for the group. The default setting is no quick key. |
| Scroll
to 'Set Quick Key' and press E/ Scroll to or enter the quick key number (0-9 or . for no quick key) you want to assign to the group and press E/ |
| Edit
Channel
creates
channels and edits channel options. See Programming Frequencies/IDs. |
| Set Lockout determines whether a group will be scanned or not (even if the quick key for the group is turned on). 'Temporary L/O' means until you cycle power. The default setting is unlocked. |
| Scroll
to 'Set Lockout' and press E/ Scroll to 'Unlocked', 'Temporary L/O', or 'Lockout' and press E/ Press Scan/Srch or L/O to exit. |
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| Programming Frequencies/TGIDs | Contents |
| Once you have your Systems built, systems options configured, Sites Created (for trunking systems), Site Options configured, and Groups Created, you can (finally) program your channels. |
| Quickly Storing a Conventional Frequency |
| To
program a frequency into a 'Quick Save Group' in a 'Quick
Save System',
in scan mode press Hold to hold on any
channel. Enter the frequency and press E/ At 'Quick Freq Save?' press E/ |
| Note: If the frequency is already stored in the group, 'Frequency Exists Accept? (Y/N)' appears. Press (.)No to return. |
| The
scanner will save the frequency in a (created) group
called 'Qck Save Grp' in a (created)
system called 'Qck Save Cnv Sys' (with
no quick keys assigned) and you will be at the 'Edit Channel' menu to complete the settings for the new
channel. If you don't want to edit the channel settings
or are done editing the channel, press L/O
to return to 'Hold' to enter another
frequency or Scan to exit. Then see Edit Channel Options, Edit Group Options, and Edit Conventional Systems Options to customize the channel(s), group, and system. |
| To
program a frequency into an existing group, in scan mode press Hold
to hold on any channel. Enter the frequency and press E/ At 'Quick Freq Save?' press (.)No. At 'Select System' scroll to the system where you want to store the frequency and press E/ At 'Select Group' scroll to the group where you want to store the frequency and press E/ |
| Note: If the frequency is already stored in the group, 'Frequency Exists' Accept? (Y/N)' appears. Press (.)No to return. |
| After storing the frequency, you will be at the 'Edit Channel' menu to complete the settings for the new channel. If you don't want to edit the channel settings or are done editing the channel, press L/O to return to 'Hold' to enter another frequency or Scan to exit. |
| Contents |
| Quickly Storing an ID Note: You have to program the trunking system and site first. See Programming Trunking Systems. |
| To program a ID into a 'Quick Save Group' in scan mode Hold on any channel in the system you want to store the ID in. |
| . | Enter
the ID (see Entering IDs) and press E/ |
| At 'Quick
TGID Save?' press E/ |
| Note: If the ID is already stored in the group, 'TGID Exists Accept? (Y/N)' appears. Press (.)No to return. |
| The
scanner stores the ID into a (created) channel group
called 'Qck Save Grp' (with no quick key
assigned) and you will be at the 'Edit Channel' menu to complete the settings for the new
channel. If you don't want to edit the channel settings
or are done editing the channel, press L/O
to return to 'Hold' to enter another
frequency or Scan to exit. Then see Edit Channel Options and Edit Group Options to customize the channel(s), and group. |
| To program a ID into an existing group in scan mode Hold on any channel. |
| . | Enter
the ID (see Entering IDs) and press E/ |
| At 'Quick
TGID Save?' press (.)No. At 'Select System' scroll to the system where you want to store the ID and press E/ Scroll to the group where you want to store the ID and press E/ |
| Note: If the ID is already stored in the group, 'TGID Exists Accept? (Y/N)' appears. Press (.)No to return. |
| After storing the ID, you will be at the 'Edit Channel' menu to complete the settings for the new channel. If you don't want to edit the channel settings or are done editing the channel, press L/O to return to 'Hold' to enter another frequency or Scan to exit. |
| Manually Programming Channel Frequencies/TGIDs | Contents |
| To program a new
channel press Menu.
At 'Program System' press E/ At 'Select System' scroll to system where you want to program a channel and press E/ Scroll to 'Edit Group' and press E/ At 'Select Group' scroll to the group that you want to program the channel in and press E/ Scroll to 'Edit Channel' and press E/ At 'Select Channel' scroll to 'New Channel' and press E/ At 'Input Frequency (or TGID)' enter the frequency or ID and press E/ |
| To
enter a Conventional Frequency enter the frequency and
press E/ |
| To enter a Motorola Type II
ID enter the ID
and press E/ |
| To
enter a Motorola Type I ID enter the fleet number, press (.)No
once for a hyphen, then enter the subfleet and
press E/ |
| Note:
If you omit the subfleet (still need the hyphen), the
scanner treats this field as a wildcard (will treat the
subfleet as 1 ID and receive all IDs in the subfleet). You can also lock out this subfleet ID so you will not receive it. |
| To
enter a Motorola I-Call ID, press (.)No
once then enter the ID and press E/ |
| To
enter a Motorola Wildcard (receive any) I-Call ID, press (.)No
once then enter 0 and press E/ |
| Note: You can also lock out this wildcard ID so you will not receive I-Calls. |
| To
enter an EDACS ID in AFS (default) format, enter the agency number,
press (.)No once for a hyphen,
then the fleet and subfleet and press E/ |
| Note:
If you omit the fleet and/or subfleet (still need the
hyphen), the scanner treats these fields as wildcards
(will treat the fleet and/or subfleet as 1 ID and receive all IDs in the
fleet and/or subfleet). You can also lock out this fleet and/or subfleet ID so you will not receive it. |
| To
enter an EDACS ID in Decimal format, enter the ID and press E/ |
| To
enter an EDACS I-Call ID, press (.)No
once then enter the ID and press E/ |
| To
enter an EDACS Wildcard (receive any) I-Call ID, press (.)No
once then enter 0 and press E/ |
| Note: You can also lock out this wildcard ID so you will not receive I-Calls. |
| To
enter a LTR ID, enter the area code (0
or 1) and press (.)No once,
then enter the home repeater number (01-20)
and press (.)No once, then the
user ID (1-254) and press E/ |
| Note:
If you omit the user ID (still need the hyphen), the
scanner treats this field as a wildcard (will treat the
home repeater as 1 ID). You can also lock out this home repeater ID so you will not receive it. |
| Note: If the channel is already stored in the group, 'TGID or Frequency Exists Accept? (Y/N)' appears. Press (.)No to return. |
| Continue at
Edit Name below. Press Menu to return to 'Select Channel'. Scroll to 'New Channel' and press E/ Program the rest of the channels the same way. |
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| Edit Channel Options Menu |
| Once you have your Systems built , systems options configured, Groups Created, and your Channels Programmed, you can set your channel options. |
| Contents |
| Edit Name If you do not enter a channel name, the scanner displays the frequency for conventional systems or the talk group ID for trunked systems when it stops on a channel. |
| Scroll
to 'Edit Name' and press E/ Press E/ |
| Edit Frequency or TGID See also 'Entering IDs'. |
| Scroll
to 'Edit Frequency or TGID' and press E/ Enter the frequency or ID and press E/ |
| Set Audio Type choose 'Digital Only' or 'Analog Only' according to the signal type. Select 'All' if this channel might contain both digital and analog signals. |
| Notes: If you are sure the channel is analog, set the channel to 'Analog Only'. This will prevent the 'P25 Waiting Time' for the conventional system from loosing the first part of the transmission up to the wait time you set there. See also Adjusting P25 Wait Time. You will not see CTCSS/DCS tones for conventional channels in the display (mode 2) with the 'Audio Type' set to 'All'. |
| Scroll
to 'Set Audio Type' and press E/ Scroll to one of three options and press E/ All - The scanner automatically determines whether the audio is analog or digital. |
| Digital Only - The scanner will receive the channel only if it is carrying APCO 25 digital audio. |
| Analog Only - The scanner will receive the channel only if it is carrying analog audio. |
| At 'Set CTCSS/DCS'
scroll to 1 of 5 options and press E/ Off - any signal opens squelch. Search - the scanner searches and displays any CTCSS or DCS tone with the transmission. CTCSS - enter or scroll to the desired CTCSS tone you want present with the signal. Press E/ DCS - enter or scroll to the desired DCS tone you want present with the signal. Press E/ Set Lockout - Scroll to 'CTCSS or DCS' and press E/ |
| Note: you can also store a (blinking) CTCSS/DCS code in when receiving a frequency in scan mode by pressing E/yes. |
| Set Priority (conventional only) This setting controls whether the scanner treats the channel as a priority channel while scanning. There doesn't seem to be a limit to how many channels you can set. When you turn on the Priority feature, the channel(s) will be scanned every 2 seconds. The default setting is off. |
| Scroll
to 'Set Priority' and press E/ Scroll to On or Off and press E/ |
| Set Alert This setting controls when and how the scanner alerts you if the channel becomes active. The default setting is off. |
| Scroll
to 'Set Alert' and press E/ Scroll to the alert (Alert 1-9 or Off) and press E/ |
| At 'Set Level' scroll to 'Level 1-15 or
Auto'
(the scanner sets the alert beep to the
master volume level) and press E/ |
| Set Record enables the REC jack for the channel in the system. The default setting is off. You must also set the system's record option to either 'All Channel' (which will record all channels regardless of the channel's record setting) or 'Marked Channel' (which only records the channels you've set to record). |
| Scroll
to 'Set Record' and press E/ Scroll to On or Off and press E/ |
| Copy/Paste Channel The scanner can copy a channel (and all its settings) into a copy buffer to paste into the same system (in a different group) or a group in another system. |
| Scroll
to 'Copy Channel' press E/ |
| To
Paste the Channel, press Menu until
'Select System' appears. Scroll to system where you want to paste the channel and press E/ Scroll to 'Edit Group' and press E/ At 'Select Group' scroll to the group where you want to paste the channel and press E/ Scroll to 'Edit Channel' press E/ At 'Select Channel' scroll to 'Paste Channel' and press E/ Press Scan or L/O to exit. |
| Note: You can only copy and paste from like systems -conventional to conventional or trunking to trunking. |
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| Using the BCD996T/UBCD996T with a GPS | Contents |
| Location-Based Scanning |
| You can connect
the scanner to a compatible GPS device and set the
scanner to automatically lock and unlock conventional systems/trunked
sites based on the location information and range settings you program
for those systems/sites. This frees you from having
to manually enable and disable systems/sites as you change
location. The (U)BCD996T uses the
data, supplied by an (optional) attached GPS unit, that
allows the radio to automatically unlock and lockout
conventional systems/trunking sites based on latitude and
longitude. It uses the (programmed) center of the
system/site, and the (programmed) range-the radius of a
circle around the latitude and longitude up to 50 miles
from that center. A good application of this feature would be to set the longitude and latitude for each multi-site system transmitter as usually you can receive at least a handful in any given location. Set the range to around 30 miles and the scanner will automatically lock out the site when out of range. You can find the physical location of antennas using the databases available at Radio Reference or the FCC's Antenna Structure Registration site. Both sites list the latitude, longitude, and height of the antenna, and both sites can map the exact location for you. Radio Reference is more user-friendly, so it's easier to find what you're looking for. |
| Non Radio Location-Based GPS Features |
| The scanner also
allows you to program audio alerts for a: Point of Interest (POI): Stores location and range. If you approach the set location, the radio sounds an alert up to 2 miles from the center. Dangerous Road: Stores location, direction of travel, and speed. If you are traveling at a speed greater than that specified, in the direction specified, and if you are within range of the set location, the scanner sounds an alert at .5, .25, and .1 miles from the point. These range distances are also automatic and fixed. Dangerous Crossing: Stores location, speed, and direction of travel. If you are in range, traveling greater than the set speed, and moving in the selected direction, the radio sounds an alert at .5, .25, and .1 miles (radius of a circle) from the point. These range distances are also automatic and fixed. You can also temporarily lockout (cancel) any combination of these alerts. |
| Connecting Your Scanner |
| The GPS device
must have serial output, and be capable of outputting
standard NMEA sentences GGA and RMC at 4800 bps. Make sure that the
cable terminates in a female, 9-pin serial connector and
you select the correct baud rate (4800 bps) for the rear
serial port. The scanner will display 'Searching for Satellite' if you have your connections and baud rate set correctly. When the scanner first starts receiving a signal from the GPS, it briefly displays 'GPS Connected' and (temporary) locks and unlocks all systems and sites that are 'enabled for scan', unlocked, and whose quick key is enabled according to your current location. If you have a lot of data programmed, it might take the scanner a couple of minutes to complete the process. Once the scanner completes the initial GPS review, if you move into or out of an area covered by a system/site, the scanner beeps and displays the name of the system/site and whether it is being locked or unlocked. If you cycle power, all systems/sites (enabled for scan) are unlocked until the scanner reacquires the GPS signal and completes the initial GPS review. See also Set GPS Format in the 'Settings' menu to set relevant options for GPS display modes. |
| GPS Display Mode (POI only) |
| If you press GPS,
the scanner switches to GPS display mode. In this mode,
you can see the current location information as well as information
about your position relative to selected POI's. The
third line of the screen shows 'Off' if no POI is
selected. Rotating Press ![]()
|
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| While in GPS Mode: | Contents |
| To program the current location press and hold GPS for 2 seconds. |
| To select a PIO turn the scroll control. |
| To scroll through the POI display modes press |
| Note: If no programmed location is displayed ('OFF' in the display), you will only be able to toggle 'Data Display' and the (current) 'Location Display'. |
| To temporarily lock out the current
location alert press
L/O or turn |
| To toggle 'Hold Mode' on a background scan or search press Hold. | |
| To return to normal scan mode press Scan/Srch. Press GPS again to view GPS Display Mode. | |
| To view 'Review Location' mode press E(Yes). | |
| To cancel an alert turn the scroll control. |
| Notes:
All systems/sites (with quick keys
enabled and gps enabled for the system/site) not within range of
your current location will be
temporarily locked out. If you try to use a quick key to enable a
system/site for scan that is out of range of your current location, you
will see 'Location L/O' and then system/site name (only once),
and it will temporary lock out the system/site. When a location alert with a higher priority occurs, the current location alert is canceled and the scanner alerts for the location with the higher priority. The priority order is: 1- Dangerous Road 2- Dangerous Xing 3- Point of Interest
If you disconnect/turn off your GPS unit, you will see 'No GPS Input'
in GPS display mode and the scanner will return to scanning any
systems/sites
that the scanner did not temporary lock out. To restore the
systems/sites, cycle the scanner off then on. |
| GPS Review Location Mode | Contents |
| If you have
programmed data for a Point of Interest, Dangerous
Crossing, and a Dangerous Road, you can review the type,
range setting, and location information for each
location. Press GPS then E(Yes). The most recent stored location is displayed. Use the Scroll Control to display the next screen for review. Note: the scanner will mute in this mode. Important: While you are in Review Mode and press and hold GPS for 2 seconds, the data of the new point will overwrite the currently displayed data. |
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1. POI
- Indicates a Point of Interest location. 2. DXG - Indicates a Dangerous Crossing location. 3. DRD - Indicates a Dangerous Road location. 4. Range - Indicates the programmed distance to your POI. 5. Head - Indicates the selected heading to the designated Dangerous Crossing from any direction. 6. Head - Indicates the selected heading to the designated Dangerous Road from a set direction. 7. LS - Indicates the maximum Speed Limit you set. |
| While in Review Location Mode: | Contents |
| To return to normal 'GPS Display' mode press Menu. |
| To return to normal scan mode press Scan/Srch. |
| To overwrite and store the current location press and hold GPS for 2 seconds. |
| To edit the location details press E(Yes). |
| To change the lockout status of the currently displayed location press L/O. |
| To unlock all locations of the current type (POI, DXG, or DRD) press and hold L/O. |
| To
unlock all locations of all types press |
| To return to normal scan mode press Scan/Srch. |
|
|
| To Program a
Current Location (when
connected to a GPS)
press
and hold GPS for 2 seconds. The scanner opens a dialog ('Storing Location') to store your current location (or 'Location Exists', Accept?). Scroll to 'POI', 'Dangerous Xing', or 'Dangerous Road' to select the type then press E/ The default name is P (POI), X (dangerous crossing), R (dangerous road), then YYMMDD hhmmss that indicates the year, month, date, and time you stored the location point. 'Road', 'Xing', or 'POI' Stored and the default name with the position will briefly appear. Press E/yes to see the location details. Press E/yes again to edit the location. Continue at 'Edit Name' below. Press Menu twice to exit. |
| To Program a New
Location press Menu.
Scroll to 'Program Location' and press E/ At 'Select Type' scroll to 'POI', 'Dangerous Xing', or 'Dangerous Road' and press E/ Scroll to 'New Location' and press E/ The default name is DRD (dangerous road), DXG (dangerous crossing), or POI (point of interest)-######. Continue at 'Edit Name' below. |
| To Edit an
Existing Location press Menu.
At 'Program System' scroll to 'Program
Location' and press E/ At 'Select Type' scroll to 'POI', 'Dangerous Xing', or 'Dangerous Road' and press E/ At 'Select 'POI', 'Dangerous Xing', or 'Dangerous Road' scroll to the location you want to edit and press E/ Scroll to the options below and press E/ |
|
Dangerous Xing or Dangerous Road |
| Edit Name | Edit Name | ||
| Set Type | Set Type | ||
| Set Alert Beep | Set Alert Volume | ||
| Set Alert Volume | Set LocationInfo | ||
| Set LocationInfo | Set Heading | ||
| Set Range | Set Speed Limit | ||
| Set Lockout | Set Lockout | ||
| Delete Location | Delete Location | ||
| New Location | New Location |
| GPS Display Mode |
| GPS Review Location Mode |
| Contents |
| Edit Name the default name is P (POI), X (dangerous crossing), R (dangerous road), then YYMMDD hhmmss that indicates the year, month, date, and time you stored the location point with a GPS unit or ? if you program a location manually. |
| Scroll
to 'Edit Name' and press E/ |
| Set Type If you want to change the location type, the scanner resets the available options based on the new location type and the scanner goes back to the 'Program Location' menu for that location. |
| Scroll
to 'Set Type' and press E/ At 'Select Type' scroll to 'POI', 'Dangerous Xing', or 'Dangerous Road' and press E/ |
| Set Alert Beep (POI only) lets you configure whether the scanner triggers an alert tone when you approach a location. The default setting is 'Alert 1' with 'Auto' volume. |
| Scroll
to 'Set Alert Beep' and press E/ Scroll to the alert (Alert 1-4 or Off) and press E/yes. |
| At 'Set
Alert Volume' scroll to 'Level 1-15 or
Auto'
(the scanner sets the alert beep to the
master volume level) and press E/ |
| Set Alert Volume (Dangerous Road/Xing only) the default setting is 'Auto'. |
| Scroll
to 'Set Alert Volume' and press E/ At 'Set Level' scroll to 'Level 1-15 or Auto' (the scanner sets the alert beep to the master volume level) and press E/ |
| Set Location Info enter the latitude and longitude for the location. See Set GPS Format first to set your units, time zone, etc. |
| Scroll
to 'Set LocationInfo' and press E/ At 'Set Latitude' press E/ At 'Set Longitude' press E/ |
|
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| Using Startup Keys |
|
To use a Startup Key: 1. Turn the scanner off. 2. Press & hold the number key that corresponds to the startup key when you turn the scanner on. 3. Continue holding the number key until the scanner display shows the number of the startup key configuration. When you use startup configuration, the scanner checks all systems, sites, and search ranges and: All systems, sites, or search
ranges that do not have a startup key assigned will be
scanned the way they were when you last turned off the scanner. |
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| Scanning Systems | Contents |
| With all previous
scanners, you selected banks to scan that had channels
stored in them. With this scanner, you select 'System
Quick Keys' to scan that have 'Systems', 'Sites', or
Custom/Service Searches assigned to them. See also Using Quick Keys.
So, now you turn 'System/Site/Search Quick Keys' on and
off and 'Group Quick Keys' on and off (within each 'System' or
'Site').
First, (unlocked) systems/sites belonging to Quick Key 1
are scanned. Then systems/sites that belong to Quick Key
2,…,9,0,11,…19,10,21,……,99,90 are scanned in order. Systems/sites with
the same quick key are scanned in order of creation. Systems/sites with
no quick key are scanned last and in order of creation (including
created 'Quick Save' systems). Groups within
the systems/sites are scanned with the same rules. Conventional channels
within the groups are scanned in order of creation. IDs are not really
scanned. The scanner checks for any activity in the trunking system and
if any ID becomes active, the scanner will display it in 'ID Search' mode.
In 'ID Scan' mode, the scanner will only display IDs programmed in to
groups. Turning quick keys on and off for systems/sites/searches is not the same as locking and unlocking systems/sites/searches. You can still do that separately (if you really want to confuse yourself). |
| Press Scan/Srch. The scanner scans a system for the duration you set using the 'system hold time' option. For trunked systems, the scanner moves to the next system after the hold time expires, the current transmission ends, and the channel delay expires. Conventional systems operate similarly, but all (unlocked) channels are scanned at least one time regardless of the hold time setting. |
| Notes:
If no systems are programmed, or all systems (or groups
in a system) are locked out or turned off, 'Nothing
to Scan' appears. Program, unlock, or turn on a
system quick key (or group in a system/site) to scan. Any conventional system, Close Call system, trunked site, group, service search, or custom search, or 'Quick Save' system/group not assigned to a quick key (and/or not locked out) will be scanned. |
| To
continue scanning (move on to the next channel) press Scan/Srch
or turn the scroll control ( |
| To change the scan or search direction turn the scroll control backward or forward. |
| To toggle Group
quick keys
on or off while scanning the system, quickly press |
| To toggle
Group
quick keys on or off in
another system press
and hold |
| To
toggle between display modes 1 or 2 Hold on
any channel and press |
| To
toggle between 'ID Scan' or
'ID Search mode' while scanning each trunked system, press |
| To toggle Priority modes press PRI to toggle Priority on, Priority Plus on, or Off. |
| To toggle Close Call modes press SQ. |
| To toggle Weather Priority on or off press WX. |
| To hold on any ID/frequency press Hold. To step through IDs/frequencies, turn the scroll control backward or forward. Press Hold to resume. |
| To hold on a specific ID in the current site Hold on the site. Enter the new ID and press Hold. Press Hold to resume. |
| To
hold on any system/site/search press and hold |
| To hold on a
specific system/site/search press and hold Press |
| To store a displayed ID during 'ID Search mode' press E/yes. Then see Programming a Displayed ID. |
| To
store a (blinking) CTCSS or DCS tone (for a conventional channel set to
analog only), press E(Yes). At 'Set
Found CTCSS/DCS?' press E/ |
| To store a search frequency press E/yes. Then see Programming Displayed Frequency. |
| To
toggle the attenuation for a conventional
channel on or off Hold on the channel
and press |
| To
toggle the attenuation for a trunking site on or off Hold on
the site and press |
| To toggle the
attenuation for a search on or off Hold on
the search and press |
| To
check for a repeater frequency on a conventional
channel Hold on the channel. Press |
| To view active IDs in a trunked site press Hold while scanning the site you want to monitor. Scroll to the (noisy) control channel. Active IDs will scroll in the display. Press Scan/Srch to exit. |
| To
view the Trunking Activity Indicators press Hold
while scanning the site you want to monitor.
Press |
| Note: For Motorola systems you must program all system frequencies (control and voice frequencies) for this feature to work. |
| To lock out a channel or frequency quickly press L/O once while the channel or frequency is in the display to temporary lock out. Quickly press L/O twice lock out. |
| To lock or unlock a group see Locking/Unlocking Groups. |
| To
lock out a system/site/search while receiving the system/site/search quickly
press |
| To unlock a conventional channel see Locking/Unlocking Channels. |
| To unlock and/or review locked out IDs see Reviewing Locked out IDs. |
| To unlock all IDs see Clear All L/O IDs. |
| To
unlock a system/site/search press and hold Press |
| To unlock search frequencies see Reviewing Locked Out Frequencies. |
| To start Close Call Only press and hold SQ. Press Scan/Srch to exit. |
| To start Weather Scan press and hold WX. Press Scan/Srch to exit. |
| To view the GPS Display mode press GPS. Press Scan/Srch to exit. |
| To
start a Tone-Out search press |
| To
view P25 Display mode Hold on
any site. Press |
| Storing a Displayed ID (in ID Search Mode) | Contents |
| To
program a displayed ID into an existing
group during ID Search, press E/yes. You will see 'Quick TGID Save?' in the display then press (.)No. At the 'Select Group' prompt, scroll to the group where you want to store the ID and press E/ After storing the ID, you will be at the 'Edit Channel' menu to complete the settings for the new channel. If you don't want to edit the channel settings or are done editing the channel, press Scan/Srch to return to scanning. |
| Note:
If the ID is already stored in the group, 'TGID
Exists' Accept? (Y/N)' appears. Press (.)No
to return to searching (or search hold) or E/ |
| To
program a displayed ID into a 'Quick Save Group'
during ID Search,
press E/yes. You will see 'Quick TGID Save?' in the display then press E/ The scanner stores the ID into a (created) channel group called 'Qck Save Grp' and you will be at the 'Edit Channel' menu to complete the settings for the new channel. If you don't want to edit the channel settings or are done editing the channel, press Scan/Srch to return to scanning. |
| Optimizing P25 Performance |
| These
steps work only when you can clearly receive the system.
If you are in a weak-signal area or receive interference,
these steps will not work. These steps do not compensate
for weak signals or signals subject to interference. If you set an incorrect decode threshold level in Step 5, the scanner might stop decoding all digital signals in the system. If this happens, change the setting to a value between 8 and 12 then repeat these steps. See also P25 audio level decode adjustment at Radio Reference.com. See also P25 Wait Time. |
| 1. Make sure the system's 'Adjust P25 Level' option is set to 'Auto'. |
| 2. Hold on an active digital channel on the system. |
| 3.
Press E/ The last line on the display shows the decode threshold levels for the system. |
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| 4. Allow the scanner to monitor channel activity for several minutes. The error rate should drop for each transmission and the threshold levels should automatically adjust to a more optimal setting. Then, once the threshold level settles to a stable setting, make a note of the values. This is the system's optimum decode threshold. |
| 5. Scroll to set the AUTO decode threshold start level to a setting that most closely matches the system's optimum decode threshold. Now, when the scanner stops on a system, it will use this threshold as the starting point for automatic optimization. |
| 6.
Press E/ |
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| Priority/Priority Plus Scan | Contents |
|
Priority Scan When the scanner is scanning a conventional system, it interrupts scanning every 2 seconds to check priority channels for activity. The more channels you have set to priority, the longer the interruption will be. The quick keys for the system(s) and group(s) containing the priority channel(s) have to be turned on (and unlocked) or the scanner will display 'Priority Scan No Channel'.Priority Plus Scan The scanner only scans priority channels in (unlocked) conventional systems with system and group quick keys enabled. The highest priority is for channels in system/site and group quick key 1. The lowest priority is for channels in system/site quick key 90 and group quick key 0. Priority for priority channels in the same channel group follows the order in which the channels were created. To use Priority Scan you must first
set your priority channels. |
| To turn the priority feature on while scanning press PRI. Press PRI to toggle one of two priority modes or off. |
| Off - scans normally with no priority. |
| On - the scanner interrupts every 2 seconds and checks the priority channels. PRI appears in the display when you select this mode. |
| Plus On - the scanner only scans the priority channels. PRI flashes in the display when you select this mode. |
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| Locking/Unlocking Systems/Sites/Searches | Contents |
| Remember, unlocking or
locking out a system/site/search is not the same thing as enabling/disabling
it (turning the quick key on or off). |
| To lock out a system/site/search in scan mode Hold on any channel/frequency in the system/site/search, press Func then L/O to toggle 'Unlocked', 'Temporary L/O', or 'Lockout'. (You have to be quick to get 'Lockout'). |
| Note: 'Temporary Lockout' means unlocked the next time you cycle power the site/system/search will be unlocked. |
| Or, use Menu to drill down to the system/site/search options and lock it out there. See 'Edit Conventional System Options', 'Edit Site Options', 'Edit Service Search', or 'Edit Custom Search'. |
| To unlock a
system/site/search in scan mode press and hold Rotate the scroll control until the system/site/search you want to unlock appears. Press L/O (each time) to toggle 'Unlocked', 'Temporary L/O', or 'Lockout'. (You have to be quick to get 'Lockout'). Press Scan/Srch to return. |
| Note: You will see 'Nothing to Scan' if the quick key is not turned on for the system/site/search (if one is assigned). Press Scan/Srch to return to scanning. |
| Or, use Menu to drill down to the system/site/search options and unlock it there. See 'Edit Conventional System Options', 'Edit Site Options', 'Edit Service Search', or 'Edit Custom Search'. |
| To unlock all
systems, sites, groups, channels, and
searches in scan mode press |
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| Locking/Unlocking Groups | Contents |
| Remember, unlocking or
locking out a group is not the same thing as enabling/disabling it (turning
the quick key on or off). |
| To lock out or
unlock a group in scan mode press
and hold Rotate the scroll control until the system/site that has the group you want to lock or unlock appears. Press Menu. Scroll to 'Edit Group' and press E/ At 'Select Group' scroll to the group you want to lock or unlock and press E/ Scroll to 'Set Lockout' and press E/ Scroll to 'Unlocked', 'Temporary L/O', or 'Lockout' and press E/ Press Scan/Srch or L/O to exit. |
| Note: 'Temporary Lockout' means unlocked the next time you cycle power the group will be unlocked. |
| Or, use Menu to drill down to the group options and lock/unlock it there. See 'Edit Group Options'. |
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| Locking/Unlocking Channels | Contents |
| There are several ways to get to a channel. Some ways are quicker than others. Some ways you have to be quick with those keys, other ways you can take your time pressing them. Use what works best for you. |
| To lock out a channel while scanning quickly press L/O when the channel appears in the display to toggle 'Unlocked', 'Temporary L/O', or 'Lockout'. (You have to be quick to get 'Lockout'). |
| Note: 'Temporary Lockout' means unlocked the next time you cycle power the channel will be unlocked. |
| Or, quickly press Hold to hold on the channel. Press L/O to toggle 'Unlocked', 'Temporary L/O', or 'Lockout'. (You still have to be quick to get 'Lockout'). |
| Or, quickly press E/yes
to go to the menu for that channel. (Press .(No) to cancel
storing a tone code if asked). Scroll to 'Set Lockout' and press E/ |
| Or, use Menu to drill down to the channel options and lock it out there. See 'Edit Channel Options'. |
| To unlock a single
channel in
scan mode press Hold
to hold on any channel. Press Scroll to the channel you want to unlock and press L/O to toggle 'Unlocked', 'Temporary L/O', or 'Lockout'. |
| Or, use Menu to drill down to the channel options and unlock it there. See 'Edit Channel Options'. |
| To unlock all
channels in a conventional system in scan mode
press Hold
to hold on any channel in the system. Press and hold L/O until 'All Unlocked' appears. Press Hold or Scan/Srch to resume scanning. Note: This will also enable all your groups (turn the quick keys on). |
| To review and/or unlock locked out several IDs in a system see Reviewing Locked out IDs. |
| To unlock all IDs in a system see Clear All L/O IDs. |
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| Search/Close Call Options Menu |
| These are the
settings you should look at before you perform a quick
search, close
call search, search
and store,
or close call auto store. |
| To Edit Search
and Close Options press Menu.
Scroll to 'Srch/CloCall Opt' and press E/ Scroll to the options below and press E/ |
| Freq Lockouts | Max Auto Store | Set Data Skip |
| Broadcast Screen | Set Delay Time | Set Step |
| CTCSS/DCS Search | Set Modulation | Set Record |
| Repeater Find | Set Attenuator | Adjust P25 Level |
| Contents |
| Freq Lockouts allows you to review locked out frequencies or unlock all frequencies for Searching and Close Call search. |
| Unlocking All Frequencies: |
| Scroll
to 'Freq Lockouts' and press E/ At 'Unlock All' press E/ At 'Confirm?' press E/ Press Menu to return. |
| Reviewing Locked Out Frequencies: A 'T' will appear to the right of a frequency if it is temporarily locked out. |
| Scroll
to 'Rvw Search L/O' and press E/ Scroll to the frequency (or press (.)No to go to the next) and press E/ Press Menu twice to return. |
| Broadcast Screen these settings determine whether the scanner automatically ignores transmissions that are on common broadcasts, paging systems, and other annoyance radio sources during Custom Search, Service Search, or Close Call Search. Note: Broadcast screen is not effective during some service searches. |
| Scroll
to 'Broadcast Screen' and press E/ Scroll to 1 of 4 options and press E/ Set All Bands On - turns on broadcast screen on for all bands. Press Menu to return. Set All Bands Off - turns off broadcast screen off for all bands. Press Menu to return. Set Each Band - then scroll to each band and press E/ |
| Pager - the scanner skips known paging system
frequencies. FM - the scanner skips known FM frequencies. UHF TV - the scanner skips known UHF TV frequencies. |
VHF TV - the scanner skips known VHF TV
frequencies. NOAA WX - (not w/UBCD996T) the scanner skips known NOAA weather frequencies. Band 1-10 - the scanner skips known frequencies for custom broadcast ranges. |
| Program Band -
then scroll to the custom band (1-10) and press E/ |
| At 'Set
Lower Limit' enter the lower limit of the
frequency range and press E/ At 'Set Upper Limit' enter the upper limit of the frequency range and press E/ Scroll to the next band and repeat. Press Menu twice to return. |
| CTCSS/DCS Search
this setting controls whether the scanner will search for
a subaudible tone when it stops on a
transmission during Searching and Close Call search. The default setting is Off. Note: The scanner does not detect or decode a P25 digital signal if 'CTCSS/DCS Search' is turned on. |
| Scroll
to 'CTCSS/DCS Search' and press E/ Scroll to On or Off and press E/ |
| Repeater Find this feature sets whether the scanner tries to tune to a repeater output frequency when it detects a transmission on a repeater input frequency in Search and Close Call modes. Since you can normally only hear one side of a conversation when you listen to an input frequency transmission, turning this feature on can let you hear both sides of the conversation on the output frequency. If the scanner detects the transmission on the output frequency, it beeps and 'Repeater Found' appears, and it remains on the output frequency until transmissions end. The default setting is off. |
| Scroll
to 'Repeater Find' and press E/ Scroll to On or Off and press E/ |
| Max Auto Store this value sets how many hits the scanner will automatically store when it is in either Search and Store or Close Call Auto Store mode. When the scanner reaches the maximum number of hits you set, it stops the auto-store operation. |
| Scroll
to 'Max Auto Store' and press E/ Enter a value from 1-256 then press E/ |
| Contents |
| Set Delay Time this setting determines how long the scanner waits after a transmission ends before resuming Quick Search and Close Call Search operations. The default setting is 2 seconds. |
| Scroll
to 'Set Delay Time' and press E/ Scroll to 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, (seconds) or Off then press E/ |
| Set Modulation this setting controls the modulation type used for Quick Search and Close Call Search operations. |
| Scroll
to 'Set Modulation' and press E/ Scroll to Auto, AM, NFM, FM, WFM, or WFM (Broadcast) then press E/ |
| Set Attenuator this setting controls the attenuator for Quick Search and Close Call Search operations. Turn on this setting if you are near other strong signal sources to attenuate about 20dB. Attenuation sometimes helps to reduce interference and desensitization that strong signals create. The default setting is off. |
| Scroll
to 'Set Attenuator' and press E/ Scroll to On or Off and press E/ |
| Set Data Skip this setting controls how the scanner behaves when it detects a data transmission during Quick Search and Close Call Search operations. The default setting is off. |
| Scroll
to 'Set Data Skip' and press E/ Scroll to On or Off and press E/ |
| Note: If you are trying to test the Close Call feature with a nearby transmitter and you do not talk into the transmitter, the scanner will detect this as data and will skip the frequency when Data Skip is on. |
| Set Step this setting selects the frequency step used for Quick Search. The default setting is Auto. See also Auto Step Sizes. |
| Scroll
to 'Set Step' and press E/ Scroll to Auto, 5, 6.25, 7.5, 8.33, 10, 12.5, 15, 20, 25, 50, or 100 and press E/ |
| Set Record this setting enables the REC jack for Quick Search and Close Call modes. The default setting is off. |
| Scroll
to 'Set Record' and press E/ Scroll to On or Off and press E/ |
| Adjust P25 Level this setting applies to P25 signals received during Quick Search and Close Call modes. The default setting is off. |
| Scroll
to 'Adjust P25 Level' and press E/ Scroll to one of three options and press E/ Auto - The automatic adjust feature is enabled. Manual - you can set the threshold manuals depending on your circumstances Default - sets the factory default value. |
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| Search For... Menu |
| Important! There are many
options and setting in Search/Close Call Options that affect and compliment the settings
for searching. Please review those first. Note: The items below (in Blue) do not follow the radio's menu order because (IMHO) they should be in the following order to properly setup and use the Search features. |
Quick Search |
Custom Search | Set Search Key |
| Edit Service Search | Searching | Reviewing Locked out Frequencies |
| Service Search | Storing a Displayed Frequency | Auto Step Size Chart |
| Edit Custom Search | Search and Store |
| Contents |
| Quick Search
lets
you search from the currently-tuned frequency if you are
scanning, or enter a frequency to
start searching from. Quick Search will search all the way up to 1300 MHz or all the way down to 25 MHz then start over. |
| To
start searching at the current frequency in scan mode
quickly press Hold to hold on
the frequency. Press At 'Quick Search?' press E/ Press Scan/Srch to exit. |
| To
start searching at a specific frequency while
scanning or searching,
press Hold
to hold on any channel or frequency. Enter the new frequency you wish to start at then press Hold to set the new starting frequency. Press Hold again to release hold mode and start searching. Then see Searching. Press Scan/Srch to exit. |
| Editing a Service Search |
| To
Edit a Service Search, press Menu.
Scroll to 'Search for...' and press E/ Scroll to 'Edit Service' and press E/ Scroll to the service search you want to edit and press E/ |
| Scroll
to Set
Delay Time and press E/ Scroll to 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, seconds or Off and press E/ Scroll to Set Attenuator and press E/ Scroll to On or Off and press E/ Scroll to Set Record and press E/ Scroll to On or Off and press E/ Scroll to Search with Scan and press E/ |
| Scroll
to Set
Quick Key and
press E/ Scroll to 0-99 or . for no quick key and press E/ Scroll to Set Startup key and press E/ Scroll to 0-9 or . for no startup key and press E/ Scroll to Set Lockout and press E/ Scroll to 'Unlocked', 'Temporary L/O', or 'Lockout' and press E/ Scroll to Set Hold Time and press E/ Enter the hold time (0-255 seconds) you desire and press E/ (0 will search the whole band before continuing) Press Menu to exit. |
| Press Menu and scroll to another service search and repeat the previous steps or press L/O to exit. |
| Service Search lets you quickly select and search the scanner's preprogrammed frequencies. See Edit Service Search first. |
| To
start a Service Search press Menu (or SRVC
on the UBCD996T) . Scroll to 'Search for...'
and press E/ At 'Service Search' press E/ Scroll to: 'Public Safety', 'News', 'Ham Radio', 'Marine', 'Railroad', 'Air', 'CB Radio', 'FRS/GMRS', 'Racing', 'TV Broadcast', 'FM Broadcast', 'Military Air, or 'Special' (itinerant?) and press E/ Then see Searching. |
| Contents |
| Editing a Custom Search allows you to edit the 10 custom search ranges. The default custom search range names appear as Custom 1, Custom 2, and so on. |
| To
Edit a Custom Search, press Menu. Scroll to 'Search
for...' and press E/ Scroll to 'Edit Custom' and press E/ Scroll to the custom search you want to edit (1-10) and press E/ |
| Scroll
to Edit
Name and press E/ |
| Scroll
to Edit
Srch Limit and press E/ |
| At 'Set Lower Limit', enter the lower
limit of the search range and press E/ At 'Set Upper Limit', enter the upper limit of the search range and press E/ |
| Scroll
to Set
Delay Time and press E/ Scroll to 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, seconds or Off to set delay and press E/ |
| Scroll
to Set
Modulation and press E/ Scroll to Auto, AM, NFM, FM, WFM, or WFM (Broadcast) then press E/ |
| Scroll
to Set
Attenuator and press E/ Scroll to On or Off then press E/ |
| Scroll
to Set
Data Skip and press E/ Scroll to On or Off then press E/ |
| Scroll
to Set
Step and press E/ Scroll to Auto, 5, 6.25, 7.5, 10, 12.5, 15, 20, 25, 50, or 100 kHz then press E/ |
| Scroll
to Set
C-Ch only and
press E/ Scroll to On or Off then press E/ (If you find a Motorola control channel it will search for IDs in the system if you hold on the frequency). |
| Scroll
to Adjust
p25 Level and
press E/ |
| Scroll to one of three settings and press E/ Auto- the scanner automatically adjusts the digital decode threshold to match the transmission you are hearing when it receives a strong signal and has a high decode rate. Manual- lets you manually adjust the digital decode threshold. Default- sets the digital decode threshold to the default value. This is handy if you have manually adjusted the value to a setting that prevents proper decoding. |
| Scroll
to Set
Record and
press E/ Scroll to On or Off and press E/ |
| Scroll
to Search
with Scan and
press E/ |
| Scroll
to Set
Quick Key and
press E/ Scroll to 0-99 or (.)No for no quick key and press E/ Scroll to Set Startup key and press E/ Scroll to 0-9 or (.)No for no startup key and press E/ Scroll to Set Lockout and press E/ Scroll to 'Unlocked', 'Temporary L/O', or 'Lockout' and press E/ Scroll to Set Hold Time and press E/ Enter the hold time (0-255 seconds) you desire and press E/ Press Menu to exit. |
| Press Menu and scroll to another custom search and repeat the previous steps or press L/O to exit. |
| Custom Search lets you search the scanner's 10 programmed frequency ranges. See Editing a Custom Search first. | Contents |
| To
start a Custom Search, press Menu. Scroll to 'Search
for...' and press E/ Scroll to 'Custom Search' and press E/ |
| Searching (only, not search w/scan) |
| To start a search see Quick Search, Service Search, or Custom Search. |
| To toggle search bands on or off for custom searches, press the number key of the custom search. |
| To access (1) search using the programmed search keys, press |
| To change search direction or continue searching, turn the scroll control back or forward. |
| To hold on a frequency, press Hold. Press Hold to resume. |
| To step through the frequencies, turn the scroll control. Press Hold to resume. |
| To save a frequency, press Hold to hold on the frequency. Then see Programming Displayed Frequency. |
| To
lock out a frequency, press L/O then E/ |
| To
turn the attenuator on or off for a search, press Hold.
Press |
| To
check for a repeater frequency, press Hold
to hold on the frequency. Press E/ |
| To turn Close Call on or off, press SQ to toggle between CC Priority, CC DND, and 'CC Off'. |
| To unlock frequencies see Reviewing Locked Out Frequencies. |
| Storing a Displayed Frequency |
| To
program a displayed frequency into an existing group, quickly press E/yes. At 'Quick Freq Save?' press (.)No. At 'Select System' scroll to the system where you want to store the frequency and press E/ At 'Select Group' scroll to the group where you want to store the frequency and press E/ After storing the frequency, you will be at the 'Edit Channel' menu to complete the settings for the new channel. If you don't want to edit the channel settings or are done editing the channel, press L/O to return to searching. |
| Note:
If the frequency is already stored in the group, 'Frequency
Exists' Accept? (Y/N)' appears. Press (.)No
to return to searching (or search hold) or E/ |
| To
program a displayed frequency into a 'Quick Save Group'
in a 'Quick Save System', quickly press E/yes. At 'Quick Freq Save?' press E/ The scanner will save the frequency into a (created) group called 'Qck Save Grp' in a (created) system called 'Qck Save Cnv Sys' (with no quick key assigned) and you will be at the 'Edit Channel' menu to complete the settings for the new channel. Then see Edit Group Options and Edit Conventional Systems Options to customize the group and system. If you don't want to edit the channel settings or are done editing the channel, press L/O to return to searching. |
| Auto Search and Store | Contents |
| Lets you search
and store frequencies in a custom search range or in a
service search range into a conventional system, or new
talk group IDs into a trunked system. To store
frequencies or talk group IDs you find during Auto Store,
you must first select a system where the frequencies or
talk group IDs will be stored. You will not hear any
audio in this mode. See Max Auto Store first to set the maximum number of hits the scanner will store. Tip: Before you start an auto search and store, run the custom search or service search first to lock out the birdies, data, noise, etc. channels. This will prevent the scanner from stopping on them and doing a memory check each time it passes. |
| To
Auto Store Conventional frequencies, press Menu.
Scroll to 'Search for...' and press E/ Scroll to 'Search and Store' and press E/ At 'Select Store Sys' scroll to the conventional system you want to store the frequencies in and press E/ At 'Select Range' scroll to the 'service search' or to 'custom search' to select where to search from and press E/ |
| Notes: The quick key for the system must be turned on (if one is assigned to the system) and not locked out to select the system to store frequencies in otherwise you will see 'Nothing to Scan'. If no systems are programmed 'No System Stored' appears. |
| When you select a service search or custom search range(s), the scanner looks for active frequencies within the range(s) and 'Search and Store' appears on the display's lower line and the system name and search range name(s) appear on the display's upper line. When the scanner finds an active transmission, it checks to see if the frequency has already been stored in the system ('Memory Check' in the display). If the frequency has already been stored, the scanner continues to search. If the frequency has not been stored, it stores the frequency into a (created) group named 'Found Channels', then resumes searching. 'Limit Reached' will appear in the display when the Max Auto Store value is reached. |
| To
Auto Store IDs, press Menu. Scroll to 'Search
for...' and press E/ Scroll to 'Search and Store' and press E/ At 'Select Store Sys' scroll to the trunked system you want to store the IDs in and press E/ At 'Select Site' scroll to the site you want to store the IDs in and press E/ |
| Notes: The quick key for the system must be turned on (if one is assigned to the site) and not locked out to select the system to store IDs in otherwise you will see 'Nothing to Scan'. If no systems are programmed, 'No System Stored' appears. Search and store does not work if an EDACS SCAT system is selected. |
| 'ID Search and Store' appears on the display's lower line and the system name appears on the display's upper line. When the scanner finds an active transmission, it checks to see if the ID has already been stored in the system ('Memory Check' in the display). If the ID has already been stored, the scanner continues to search. If the ID has not been stored, it stores the ID into a (created) group named 'Found Channels', then resumes searching. 'Limit Reached' will appear in the display when the Max Auto Store value is reached. |
| Set Search Key |
| Lets you assign a search range to a 'Search Key'. You can assign any (1) of the service or custom searches to the six search keys for quick access to your favorite searches. |
| To
Assign Search Keys to a search, press Menu.
Scroll to 'Search for...' and press E/ Scroll to 'Set Search Key' and press E/ At 'Select Key No.' scroll to 'Search Key 1-6' and press E/ At 'Select Range' scroll to the service or custom search range you want to assign to the key and press E/ Repeat for any other search keys you want to program. Press L/O to exit. |
| The default settings for the BDC996T are: | The default settings for the UBDC996T are: |
| SRCH 1: Custom 1 | SRCH 1: Custom 1 |
| SRCH 2: Public Safety | SRCH 2: Police |
| SRCH 3: Railroad | SRCH 3: Railroad |
| SRCH 4: FRS/GMRS | SRCH 4: Marine |
| SRCH 5: TV Broadcast | SRCH 5: TV Broadcast |
| SRCH 6: FM Broadcast | SRCH 6: FM Broadcast |
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| Close Call Menu |
| Your
scanner's Close Call feature lets you set the scanner so
it detects, alerts you to, and displays the frequency of
a nearby strong radio transmission. You can set the
scanner so the Close Call feature checks for a Close Call
hit every 2 seconds in the background while you are
scanning, searching, listening to the weather frequency,
etc. or use Close Call only mode. 'Close Call Do-Not-Disturb' will only check for close call signals when you are not
receiving transmissions. You can also set the frequency band(s) where you want the scanner to look for transmissions. When the
scanner detects a Close Call hit, it alerts you according to the
Override and Alert settings. You can also set the scanner to Auto Store
Close Call hits. 'Hits with Scan' is a special system that automatically stores the last 10 Close Call hits until you cycle power. The system 'Close Call' is created when you run a Close Call AutoStore. The Close Call feature works well for locating the source of strong local transmissions such as mobile and handheld two-way radios in areas with no other strong transmission sources. Several factors affect Close Call performance. Performance is increased with higher transmit power, receive antenna tuned to the target band, and a low background RF level. Other than the antenna, you have no control over these factors, but they explain why performance might vary by both location and time. The Close Call feature works better with some types of transmissions than others. It might not correctly display frequency information for transmitters using a highly directional antenna (such as an amateur radio beam antenna) or if there are many transmitters operating at the same time in the same area. |
|
To Edit Close Call Options
press Menu.
Scroll to 'Close Call' and press E/ Scroll to the options below and press E/ Important! There are many options and setting in Search/Close Call Options that affect and compliment the settings for Close Call. Please review those first. Note: The items below (in Blue) do not follow the radio's menu order because (IMHO) they should be in the following order to properly setup and use the Close Call features. |
| Set CC Bands | Set CC Override | Close Call Only | Hits with Scan |
| Set CC Alert | Set CC Mode | Managing Close Call Hits | CC Auto Store |
| Using Close Call Modes |
| Contents |
| Set CC Bands lets you select the Close Call bands to be searched or auto stored. |
| Scroll
to 'Set CC Bands' and press E/ Scroll to each band and press E/ Press Menu to return. |
| VHF Low 1- 25-54MHz | VHF High 2- 225-320 MHz | |
| VHF Low 2- 54-108 MHz | UHF- 320-512 MHz | |
| Air Band- 108-137 MHz | 800MHz+- 764-956, 1240-1300 MHz | |
| VHF High 1- 137-225 MHz |
| Set CC Alert/Beep/Pause lets you select how the scanner alerts you when it receives a Close Call signal. Pause lets you select how long the scanner waits after a hit before it returns to the previous operation. |
| Scroll
to 'Set CC Alert' and press E/ Scroll to 'Select Beep' and press E/ |
| At 'Set Tone'
scroll to: Off- the scanner will not alert. Press E/ Alert 1-9- to choose any of 9 different tones and press E/ |
| At 'Set Level'
scroll to: Auto- the scanner automatically sets the alert to the master volume level. Press E/ Level 1-15- scroll to the volume level preferred. Press E/ |
| Scroll to 'Set
CC Pause' and press E/ Scroll to the number of seconds (3, 5, 10, 15, 30, 45, 60, 10, 45, 60, secs. or Infinite) you want the scanner to pause on the CC hit and press E/ |
| Press Menu to return. |
| Set CC Override lets you select how the Close Call feature works while scanning or searching. This setting has no effect in 'Close Call Only' mode. |
| Scroll
to 'Set CC Override' press E/ Scroll to On or Off and press E/ |
| With
this feature On,
when the scanner detects a Close Call signal while
scanning, the scanner overrides the current audio with the Close Call hit. 'CC Found!' and 'Press Any Key' appear for the length of time set in Close Call Pause (or until the signal is lost if longer). |
| With
this feature Off,
when the scanner detects a Close Call signal while
scanning, the scanner does not override the current audio. 'CC Found!' and 'Press Func Key' appear for the length of time set in Close Call Pause. |
| Set Close Call Mode selects the Close Call mode when scanning or searching. You can also toggle these modes by pressing SQ. |
| Scroll
to 'Set CC Mode' and press E/ Scroll to 1 of 3 modes and press E/ Off- Close Call is turned off. CC DND- Close Call checks for frequencies every two seconds between transmissions. Pri- Close Call checks for frequencies every two seconds. |
| Close Call Only this setting puts the scanner in Close Call Only mode. The scanner will not scan or search. You can also do this by pressing and holding SQ in scan mode. |