Uniden BC296D - Manual

Introduction The BC296D APCO 25 Digital Trunking Scanner connectsyou to the exciting world of scanning. Capable of scanningconventional frequencies, analog trunking systems, and themost popular digital trunking systems, it is a great all-in-onesolution to your scanning needs. Here is a brief list of...

• SAME Weather Alert with FIPS – lets you set your scanner to listen for a SAME event code from the localweather service; sounds an alert and displays the textdescription for any alert received. FIPS programming letsyou restrict the alerts to one county. • Turbo Search – searches for activity on fre...

Understanding Scanning This section provides you with the background on howscanning works. You don’t really need to know all of this touse your scanner, but some background knowledge will helpyou to get the most from your BC296D. Conventional Scanning Conventional scanning is a relatively simple con...

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 ...

The four systems in use are: • Motorola Type I – the radios send the radio ID, the fleet and subfleet talkgroup ID to the control channel each timethey transmit. To program a Type I system, you need toknow the system’s fleet map. The most common fleet mapsare included at the back of this manual. You...

• Logical Channel Numbers – each frequency used by the system is assigned an LCN. This information isprogrammed into each user radio. When a user presses PTT , their radio sends their AFS information to the control channel. The computer then assigns that talkgroup to achannel and sends the LCN so th...

LTR Trunking LTR® (Logic Trunked Radio) systems are trunking systemsused primarily by business or private communications serviceproviders, such as taxicabs, delivery trucks, and repairservices. These systems encode all control information asdigital subaudible data that accompanies each transmission,...

Getting More Information By itself, this manual really only provides part of what youneed to know to have fun scanning – how to program and usethe scanner. The two supplied Conventional and Trunkingfrequency guides will give you a good head start on the otherpart of what you need to know – what freq...

A Quick Look at Your Scanner Buttons and Controls 1. Antenna Connector2. Speaker3. Display4. DC Power Jack5. Hold/Manual/Channel/Frequency Key ( HOLD/MAN ) 6. Scan Key ( SCAN ) 7. Menu/Back Key ( MENU/BACK ) 8. Lockout Key ( L/O ) 9. Light/Keypad Lock Key ( / ) 10. Decimal/Reverse Key ( ) 11. Earpho...

Display Icons 13 DESCRIPTION Priority Channel Indicator Lock Out Mode Indicator Scan/Search Direction Indicator Chain Search Mode Indicator Service Search Mode Indicator Scan Mode Indicator ID Scan Mode Indicator ID Search Mode Indicator Channel Type Conventional Type Trunk Type Motorola Tracking Ty...

Setting Up Your Scanner Installing the Battery Pack 1. Open the cover. 2. Connect the battery pack connector observing the correct polarity. 3. Replace the cover and press down until it clicks into place. Charging the Battery Pack Use the AC Adapter/Chargerto power the BC296D from anAC outlet and ch...

Listening Safely To protect your hearing, follow these guidelines when you usean earphone or headphones. • Do not use an earphone to listen to the WX alert sirentest or when in SAME Alert mode. The alert tone’s vol-ume is not adjustable and damage to your hearingcould occur. • Do not listen at extre...

Basic Operation This section is your main reference for using the scanneronce you have programmed conventional and trunkedsystems. Note that there are some slight differences to somefunctions depending on whether you are trying to affectconventional operation or trunked operation. Be sure to referto...

5. Turn SQUELCH back counter-clockwise just until the hiss stops. Now the “Squelch Gate” allows only clear signalsthrough. Note: For Trunk Scanning , a good squelch setting is critical. The recommended setting is midpoint. If you set thesquelch too high, the scanner might not reliably stopon the con...

• If you are trunk scanning, you need to first press TRUNK to exit the trunking mode. Scanning Programmed Channels Before you can scan, you must first program channels. Seethe appropriate programming section for completeinstructions. To begin scanning, simply turn on your scanner or, if thescanner i...

Priority Scanning When Priority Scan is turned on, the scanner checks theconventional priority channels in the unlocked banks every 2seconds or the priority ID’s in trunked systems every 4seconds between transmissions. If a signal is present on apriority channel, the scanner switches to monitor that...

Using the Backlight To turn on the backlight, press . The next two sections describe how to change the backlight options. Dimmer Light Setting The Dimmer Light setting sets the brightness of the displaybacklight. 3:SYSTEM OPTION → 1:DIMMER → 1:DIMMER LIGHT 1:HIGH Set the backlight to the brightest s...

Turning the Key Beep On/Off When Key Tone is turned on, the scanner beeps each timeyou press a key. 3:SYSTEM OPTION → 3:KEY BEEP 1:ON Turn on the key beep 2:OFF Turn off the key beep Locking the ENTER key To prevent accidentally changing channel settings, you canlock the ENTER key. 3:SYSTEM OPTION →...

Turning Battery Save On/Off The battery save features extends battery life by setting thescanner in a low-power mode when it is held on a singlechannel or frequency (in the search mode) and there is notransmission. 3:SYSTEM OPTION → :BATTERY SAVE 1:ON The battery save feature is on. You might miss a...

Trunk Scanning Options When you are scanning a trunked system, there are severaltrunking-only options available to you. This section outlinesthese options. Searching for Active Talkgroups (ID Search) If you want to hear all activity on a system, use the ID Searchmode. While scanning a trunking syste...

Unlocking All Talkgroups To unlock all talkgroups for a system: 2:SCAN OPTION → 2:TRUNK → Select the Bank → 6:L/O ID REVIEW Then, use the scroll bar to select the ID you want to unlockand press L/O . Or, press HOLD/MAN then press L/O for 2 seconds to clear all the lockouts from the system. EDACS Pat...

28 Searching Your BC296D includes powerful search features that let youdiscover new active frequencies in your area. You can saveup to 10 custom search ranges in your scanner. This sectiondetails how to use custom search ranges and also details thevarious settings that affect search operation. To st...

3:SYSTEM OPTION → 7:DATA SKIP 1:ON The scanner skips data frequencies. 2:OFF Data skip is turned off. Note: Even with this option turned on, the scanner mightpause for a couple of seconds on data transmissionsbefore resuming. Skipping Frequencies If a particular frequency continues to interrupt sear...

Automatically Storing Frequencies During searching, you can have the scanner automaticallystore active frequencies into a bank you choose. 1:SERVICE OPTION → :CHAIN SEARCH → 6:AUTO STORE → 1:ON 1. Press the numbers corresponding to the banks you want the scanner to store found frequencies into. 2. P...

3:MODE Select, then set the modulation mode to use whilesearching the custom range. If you select 5:AUTO , the scanner will use the modulation mode most oftenused for each band. 4:ALPHA TAG Select, then assign an alpha tag to the search range. 5:TRUNK See “Searching for Trunk Systems.” 4. Press MENU...

33 Service Search The Service Search feature lets you scroll through thefollowing twelve preprogrammed services. The frequenciesselected for these services are the most commonly usedaround the U.S. • 1:WEATHER • 7:RAILROAD • 2:PUBLIC SAFETY • 8:AIR • 3:NEWS • 9:CB RADIO • 4:TV BROADCAST • 0:FRS &...

Notes: • You can not skip frequencies in the Weather Service mode. • If you start Service Searching for a service that has all frequencies locked out, you hear a beep and thescanner moves to the Hold mode. Using Weather Search and Weather Alert(SAME) Your scanner allows you to either search for a lo...

Warning: Never listen to the scanner using a headphone orearphone when you have put the scanner in theweather alert mode. The volume control is dis-abled in this mode, and the loud alert sound coulddamage your hearing. If an event is issued, the scanner displays the text for theevent and sounds an a...

37 Programming Bank Information In addition to channel and trunking system information youprogram into each bank (covered in the following sections),this section covers general bank information. Bank Configuration Each of your scanner’s banks holds 100 channels that can bea mix of conventional (non-...

38 General Programming This section includes procedures that apply regardless ofwhether you are programming conventional or trunkedchannels. Deleting Frequencies from Channels To delete a stored frequency, manually select the channel,then press 0 and E . The contents of the channel are erased. Trans...

40 Programming Conventional Channels Each bank can hold a mix of conventional channels plus onetrunking system. This section describes how to store knownfrequencies into conventional channels. The first few sectionsare intended to be performed in the order indicated if you areentering information th...

3. Assigning a Text Tag a. Use the scroll bar to select the channel you want to tag, then press E . b. Use the scroll bar to select the letter, then press RSM to move the entry position one space to the right or press HOLD/MAN to move the entry position one space to the left. c. When you have entere...

1:CTCSS Continuous Tone Coded Squelch System (CTCSS) isused with Amateur Radio, FRS, GMRS, BusinessBand, and other systems. When you select thisoption, the scanner only opens squelch when amatching CTCSS tone is present on the frequency. 2:DCS Digital Coded Squelch is similar to CTCSS, butinstead of...

4:NFM Narrowband FM Setting Priority Channels You can set one conventional channel in each bank as apriority channel. When you turn on the Priority Scan option(see “Priority Scanning”), the scanner automatically checksthese channels every 2 seconds to see if there is activity. Ifthere is, the scanne...

45 Programming Trunked Systems Your BC296D is designed to scan most major types oftrunking systems, including APCO Project 25 Phase 1 digitalcommunication systems. These systems are briefly describedhere. For a more technical description of each system, see“Understanding Scanning.” General trunking ...

• The frequencies for many of the trunked public safety sys- tems are listed in the TrunkTracker National Public SafetyTrunked System Frequency Guide included with yourBC296D scanner. Frequencies sometimes change, checkwith scanner.uniden.com for the latest information. Setting Trunking Delay Settin...

3:ONLY The scanner only stops on I-Calls. Turning I-Call On for ID Scan To receive I-Calls for ID Scan, simply store the radio unitnumber as ( ) plus the unit number in place of the talkgroup. To receive any I-Call while scanning, enter the I-Call wildcard ( ) 0. For EDACS and Motorola Type 1 system...

Note : To switch ID Scan or ID Search, press and hold TRUNK or, press SCAN or SEARCH while scanning. Multi-Track Operational Details When more than one trunk system is active (for example twoor more trunked systems or a trunked system and one ormore conventional frequencies), the radio jumps between...

49 Programming Motorola Systems Follow the instructions in this section to program informationfor Motorola Type I, II, IIi Hybrid, and APCO 25 Digitaltrunking systems. Using Control Channel Programming Your scanner has a powerful feature that lets you program inonly the control channels for Motorola...

3. Select one of the following trunk types for Motorola Type 2 or digital Systems: 4:TYPE2/P25 UHF Motorola Type 2 or Digital systems in the UHF (450 –512 MHz) band 5:TYPE2/P25 VHF Motorola Type 2 or Digital systems in the VHF (148 –406 MHz) band 4. Set the Base, Space and Offset settings. Note: You...

3. Select the following trunk type for Motorola Type I Systems: 2:TYPE1 Motorola Type I and IIi Hybrid Systems 4. Enter the fleet map information. Your scanner has the most common fleet mapspreprogrammed. Refer to Appendix B for a complete list ofthese fleet maps. Use the scroll bar to select the pr...

Toggling End Code Detect At the end of each transmission, a digital burst is sent so thatradios on the system will quickly switch back to the controlchannel. Your scanner also listens for this code. 2:SCAN OPTION → 2:TRUNK → Select the bank → 0:END CODE 1:DETECT The scanner detects the end code and ...

54 Programming EDACS Systems Follow the instructions in this section to program informationfor EDACS Wide, EDACS Narrow, and EDACS SCATtrunking systems. Note that to program these systems, inaddition to knowing the system type and frequencies used,you must know the logical channel numbers (LCN) for ...

Setting EDACS Emergency Alert When the emergency status is sent on an EDACS radio, youcan have your scanner alert you to the transmission. 2:SCAN OPTION → 2:TRUNK → Select the bank → 9:EMERGENCY ALT 1:ON The scanner beeps three times to alert you andflashes EMERGENCY during emergencytransmissions. 2...

56 Programming APCO 25 Systems To program an APCO 25 system, follow the steps in theappropriate section for conventional or Motorola Trunking.APCO 25 systems require only 1 additional setting: SoundQuality. Setting APCO 25 Sound Quality Each APCO 25 system has slightly different system settingsthat ...

58 Programming LTR Systems Follow the instructions in this section to program informationfor LTR trunking systems. For more information about LTRsystems, refer to “Understanding Scanning.” 2:SCAN OPTION → 2:TRUNK → Enter the bank → 1:TRUNK TYPE → 1:ON → 9:LT → 2:TRUNK CHANNEL 1. Enter the channel nu...

59 Programming Talkgroups For many of the trunk scanning features to operate, you needto program the scanner with the talkgroup ID’s. Each bankcan store up to 100 talkgroups in 10 ID groups of 10talkgroups each. Group similar talkgroups together in thesame ID group. When scanning, you can turn ID gr...

1. While the scanner is receiving the talkgroup, press HOLD/MAN to hold on that talkgroup. 2. Press TRNSFR . The scanner displays the lowest numbered empty ID group memory. 3. Use the scroll bar to select the memory you want to store the ID into, then press E . Deleting Stored Talkgroup ID’s To dele...

61 Using the Remote Interface You can connect your scanner to either a PC or anotherBC296D using the remote interface cable port. This allowsyou to either control and program your scanner using a PCand the supplied software and cable or clone the memoryfrom one BC296D into another BC296D (genderchan...

3:SYSTEM OPTION → 6:CLONE on both scanners. Then, on the scanner that has the data youwant to transfer, select MASTER and press E . On the scanner that you want to transfer the data into, select SLAVE andpress E . Then, press SCAN on both scanner to start the transfer. Caution: This deletes all data...

63 Care and Maintenance General Use • Turn the scanner OFF before disconnecting the power. • Always write down the programmed frequencies in the event of memory loss. • If memory is lost, simply reprogram each channel. The display shows 000.0000 in all channels when there hasbeen a memory loss. • Al...

Troubleshooting If your BC296D is not performing properly, try the followingsteps. If you experience difficulty while in TrunkTracker mode, try thefollowing steps. 64 Problem Suggestion Scanner won't work. 1. Check the connections at both ends of the AC Adapter.2. Turn ON the wall switch of your roo...

Specifications Certified in accordance with FCC Rules and Regulations Part 15,Subpart C, as of date of manufacture.Channel: 1000 Banks: 10 (100 channels each) Service Bands: 12 preprogrammed search bands(including the NOAA Weather Service band) Frequency Range: 25.0 - 27.995 MHz AM 28.0 - 53.99 MHz ...

Glossary of Terms Alpha tag - This term refers to an alphanumeric text tag that you can enter to describe the individual frequencies thatyou have programmed. Rather than having to associate aspecific frequency to the individuals that are using it, youcan enter the actual name of the group. This will...

Key Beep - This is another term for the tone you hear as a keypad acknowledgement beep. The default setting is on. If you have turned the Key Beep off, you now have a silentkeypad. You will not hear a tone each time you press a key. NWR S.A.M.E. Weather Alert - In 1994, the National Oceanic and Atmo...

worry what the rest of the groups numbers are. The topic ofinterest will be picked up. Talkgroup - A group of users within a trunked system that communicates with one another. 70 BC296D(NEW) 10/16/03 6:35 PM Page 70

Appendix Preset Fleet Maps 71 Preset Map 1 Size Code SIZE CODE 11SIZE CODE 11SIZE CODE 11SIZE CODE 11SIZE CODE 11SIZE CODE 11SIZE CODE 11SIZE CODE 11 Block 1 0 234567 Preset Map 2 Size Code SIZE CODE 4SIZE CODE 4SIZE CODE 4SIZE CODE 4SIZE CODE 4SIZE CODE 4SIZE CODE 4SIZE CODE 4 Block 1 0 234567 Pres...

User Defined Fleet Maps Type I Programming Information When a Type I system is designed, the address informationfor all the IDs are divided into 8 equal sized blocks. When youprogram your scanner to track a Type I system, you mustselect a size code for each of these blocks. When you haveassigned a s...

Finally, for most public safety systems there are some sizecodes which are more common. SIZE CODE 3 and SIZECODE 4 are probably the most common, followed by SIZECODE 10, SIZE CODE 11, and SIZE CODE 12. Fleet Map Size Codes Size Code Restrictions If you select SIZE CODE 12, 13, or 14, there are somer...

81 One Year Limited Warranty Important : Evidence of original purchase is required for warranty service. WARRANTOR : UNIDEN AMERICA CORPORATION (Uniden) ELEMENTS OF WARRANTY : Uniden warrants, for one year, to the original retail owner, this Uniden product to be free from defects inmaterials and cra...