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I am in desperate need of someone helping me with the programming of this bcd 396xt scanner.
I can't quite grasp the quick keys and how you use them.
I have uploaded a file that I would like anyone to change so that I can see what the quick keys do and how to do it.
I am going across Pennsylvania next weekend and would like to also see how to enable the gps function so when I go from one county to another the gps will follow that system.
If you would like to e-mail me my e-mail address is daveturner80@gmail.com
Thanks for all your help.
Dave Turner

We've got a lot of very smart people over on the RR forums, Dave. I would jump over to the Uniden forum for more general questions, and read the Pa. forum for Montgomery and PSP questions. I'm pretty sure you're not going to hear very much on the PSP side, as I understand they've largely gone over to the unmonitorable Open Sky system - at least in the Philly/Montgomery county troops. They revert back to VHF only when they can't get into the system.

There is a pretty detailed article about how FreeScan addresses quick keys in the User Guide (help/online help). It will also send you to the DMA FAQ to describe systems, sites and groups as well as the concept of multi site trunking.

Also check out the Easier to Read manual for the 396XT at the bottom of the FAQ.

For a very detailed explanation of LBS, see

http://info.uniden.com/twiki/bin/view/UnidenMan4/LocationBasedScanning

Just looking at your file briefly (I gotta get ready for work), I can see you're half way home here. You should assign group quick keys (GQK) for each group you wish to hear - even if it's the same one (as you did for Bucks County) - in every system. GQKs are like switches for 'banks' in the old way of thinking - you can turn them on/off at will.

Each site also should have a Site quick key - for example for the 2 sites you have for the Montgomery trunk. You can find out more about how to refine your file by asking in the Pa. forum or on the Phillyscanner yahoo group. It's possible, depending on how you're traveling and where you're going, that you won't need both sites. The same with Bucks county

73 Mike

I'm starting to get the idea of the quick keys. I had a GRE500 and was able to program a favorite list so when I wanted to hear just the fire companies being dispatched I just hit the favorite key on the scanner. I would like to do the same with this scanner, but haven't a clue as to what I need to do to accomplish this. Any ideas?
Got the gps working and seems to be working ok.
I thought that I read something about setting the range at zero and it would still find the towers as you moved from one county to another.
Is this correct?
Thanks for your help.
Dave

You should be able to set up a group that you can select/deselect at will using a group quick key - I would start off here...(seeing that you have several questions that would seem to be addressed, at least as a start, by this link)

http://marksscanners.com/396XT/396xt.shtml

and I would also read up on how FreeSCAN manages quick keys on the article I mentioned earlier. You might be able to use a number tag to access that group fast. The Easier to Read manual should be able to walk you through it.

I'm not sure about that 'range at zero' trick, but then I have a 396, and it won't do LBS anyway...as mentioned before, the RadioReference forums are a great place to find out about this stuff, and Paul Opitz (UPman) who is the product manager for Uniden is there very frequently. Check in on the Uniden forum for specific feature questions about the 396XT - someone, not just Paul, can certainly help you

73 Mike

I have about 11 counties installed in this scanner and need to know one thing. While the scanner is scanning these systems and I attach the gps will it just start finding the system that is closest to what the gps is enabled or will it keep scanning all the systems?
Tahanks for your help.
Dave

Read what you have been given and you will learn the answer to your question   73 Mike

I found out the answer. I don't have to lock out any systems as the gps will only pick up the area I am in.
I still have to do more reading on the quick key setup and setting up my favorites system.
Thanks for your answers.
Dave