[Scan-DC] our scanners page

[ka3jjz at netscape.com]

 Good afternoon.  I'd like to take a moment and talk a iittle bit
about some changes that have recently been installed on the Capitol
Hill Monitors website; specifically, our scanners page.

 I've made some significant changes in the organization and content
that should be helpful for the new folks amongst us along with some
of the old timers. There does seem to be a bit of confusion about
the new digital trunktrackers, and several questions seem to come
up time and again.

 To help answer some of these questions, the digital trunktrackers
section of the scanners page which is found at:

 http://henney.com/chm/links/scanners.htm#DIGTRNK 

 has been greatly expanded.  There is a section devoted to each 
make and model; these sections include links to the popular Strong
Signals message boards as well as to the various Yahoo mailing lists
that cover them. If you have a question that no one here on Scan-DC can answer,
these are the best places to find an answer.

 One question that consistently arises refers to programming packages,
of which there are now several.  The link to the Strong Signals software
page will send you to a page that lists all the available software for
the Uniden trunktrackers, followed by the RS/GRE PRO96 (scroll down the
page).  

 The most popular software for the Uniden trunktrackers seems to be ARC250,
produced by BuTel Software of the Netherlands and distributed through
Scanner Master.  However, if you are upgrading from an older Uniden 
trunktracker, and wish to carry your files forward, Scan Control is a much
better choice.  This package has the ability to upgrade your files automatically,
without the need to use a second program to copy talkgroups, PL information 
and more. ARC250's ability to import from .csv files or web pages is limited to
frequencies only; you would need another program (such as Excel) to copy/paste
into ARC250. The full version of Scan Control has the ability to map .csv files
and import them without having to resort to a second external program.

 In addition, there are a few freeware packages that work with the Uniden 
digitals; one of the most popular is IDTracker, written by David Hitcher. In
addition, Control Freq 2.1 might be a good choice if you have many .csv files
to upgrade, and wish to stay in the freeware market.

 For the RS/GRE PRO96 (and presumably the upcoming PRO-2096, now expected 
to be released sometime next month) Win96 from Don Starr is the clear choice. 
This package has the ability, unlike some others, to do things the other software
packages can't; for example, using Win96 can enable the PRO96 to receive the UHF milair
band (225-400 Mhz).
 However, this isn't as golden as it would appear. The PRO96's RF sections were
never designed to receive this range; therefore, there was no quality control in 
testing reception in these ranges. Therefore, some units might perform acceptably
in this range, while others might not. In short, while it might prove to be an 
interesting ability, don't count on it to work as well as you might expect.

 Where known, the Strong Signals page also lists Yahoo groups that support the 
various software packages. In addition, both Don Starr and Gommert Buysen (the authors
of Win96 and ARC250, respectively) are frequent visitors to the popular Strong Signals
and Radio Reference scanner sites.  

 To assist you in programming the new digitals, we have a page of files available for
both ARC250 and Win96. These can be reached via the table of links underneath the 
introduction for this page.  These files can be used as starting points; you may
-and probably should - edit the files to suit your particular needs.

 Finally, further down the page, we have a few links for the new non-digital Uniden
trunktrackers, the BC246T and BC898T. Keep in mind that these scanners cannot be
upgraded to track digital systems. There are also Yahoo support groups for these
scanners, as well as the newer BCT8.

 Please feel free to use this, and the other pages found on the CHM website.  They
are open to the public; you need not be a Capitol Hill Monitors member to use them.  In
addition, I am always on the lookout for new sites with good solid information.  Please
feel free to forward them along, and they will be added to our site.

 73s for now and enjoy the holidays....Mike

links editor,Capitol Hill Monitors
editor, Strong Signals software


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