[TrunkCom] scanner recommendations?

Sun Feb 2 09:58:49 EST 2014

That's a question that can only be answered subjectively. For me,
there was no curve at all. I couldn't wait for scanners like the
BC245, the first digital trunker Uniden ever made, to drop the bank
concept. The follow-up, the 246, went some way toward solving it, but
it was a bad hybrid, wasting an entire bank on a trunk system even if
that system only had four or five channels in it. The BCD996T and its
portable sibling, the 396, dropped the bank memory model altogether,
going to the much more efficient system model. When you think of a
system as a variable-sized bank, the learning curve, as you put it, is
flattened considerably. A system is nothing more than a collection of
frequencies, some conventional, some trunked, which you can
selectively lock in or out, and within each system, you can
selectively lock specific frequencies or trunks in or out as well. The
new BCD436 and 536 Home Patrol models add the Uniden "Home Patrol"
feature, making it easy to get started listening simply by supplying a
ZIP or Canadian postal code, rather than accepting some subset of
national frequencies when you first turn the unit on. The rest of the
machine works very similarly to the 996/396. The system memory model
is the same.

The initial setup was simple enough, once I got through the horrible
gobble-dee-gook that is the manual. Some things, like the initial and
Wi-Fi setup screens, are mentioned in two sentences with no
accompanying graphics at all. As I said in my first message about this
radio, if it weren't for my trusty faithful Optacon, I don't know if
I'd've been as successful with it as quickly, but once I figured it
out, I've been publishing the information just as fast and as widely
as I can on how to do it without sighted assistance, which is
definitely doable once one knows the deal. Like a friend of mine says,
you have to get into the head of the person who designed the firmware
so you can understand how things might work if and when it comes down
for you to interact with it directly, as you must do with the initial
startup/setup screen.

Something that has truly confounded me is the missing portion of the
PC software for setting up the Wi-Fi stuff on the computer instead of
on the scanner, which indicates to me that such information is not
stored on the MicroSD card, but in the radio's non-volatile memory
only. Hopefully a firmware and software revision will remedy this
clear oversight somewhere down the line, hopefully sooner rather than
later.

Of course, what I'm waiting and actively looking for is the iOS app,
which seems not to have been released yet. Or if it has, I've not been
able to find it in the App Store. If it does what I'm thinking,
hoping, it does, it will give me access to the machine's display in
real time, making it possible for me to tell what I'm hearing. As soon
as it's available, or I find it, whichever comes first, I'll repolrt
back.

On Sun, 2 Feb 2014 04:01:25 -0500, you wrote:

>For some reason, I favor the portable versions of scanners. I haven't had a tabletop scanner in years. What is the learning curve like when going from a traditional scanner with banks and channels to this newer type format?
>
>Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On Feb 2, 2014, at 3:23 AM, Steve Matzura <number6 at noisynotes.com> wrote:
>> 
>> JAWS primary, because it's what I'm used to. Window-Eyes as secondary,
>> which works better with some things than JAWS does. The BCDX36
>> software works well with both.
>> 
>> The 536 is the mobile (tabletop) version. The 436 is the pocket one,
>> also without the Wi-Fi feature.
>> 
>>> On Sat, 1 Feb 2014 14:38:36 -0500, you wrote:
>>> 
>>> I forget, what are you using screenreader wise? Is this the portable or the tabletop version?
>>> 
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>> 
>>>> On Feb 1, 2014, at 11:32 AM, Steve Matzura <number6 at noisynotes.com> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> I got mine earlier this week and, with a little help from my Optacon,
>>>> got past the initial setup screen. Now I have to download the profile
>>>> from the radio and see exactly what agencies it picked and how it
>>>> arranged them. Then it's on to customization.
>>>> 
>>>> Might try the iOS app later today.
>>>> 
>>>>> On Sun, 15 Dec 2013 21:23:25 -0500, you wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>>  Hi everyone, I am just wondering with regard to the newer scanners that are coming out soon.  I am wondering that if at some point I should get the portable or the desktop with the I Phone app?  It will be interesting to note what advantages and/or features will be the most accessible.  With regard to the desktop with the app will the app work with the cellular network with regard to monitoring/control?  I know that the literature I read mentioned other wifi networks that it will work on.
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