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BC250D Scanner

Squelch SQ mode:

The scanner can be set to the following SQ modes.

* Carrier SQ mode (default setting).
The scanner will stop on any transmission or squelch opening, regardless
of whether any subaudible tone has been programmed for the channel or
search range.

* Tone SQ mode.
The scanner will stop on any active frequency for which either no sub
audible tone has been programmed or for which the user-programmed
subaudible tone is also active.

* Tone Search mode
During any transmission, the scanner will begin searching all possible
subaudible tones, one of which may also be in use. The scanner counts up
through the CTCSS tones and instantly determines any possible DCS tone. See page
99 for a listing of the tones that the BC 250d decodes .( Jeffrey I will
supply the list of numbers at the bottom of this section.)

NOTE: When Tone Search is active in Scan mode, once the CTCSS or DCS
display flashes a tone repeatedly (meaning that it has found the tone
match), you can press E to program that frequency with the captured tone. When
you change the mode to Tone SQ from Tone Search that frequency and tone
will be programmed.

* Tone Lock (out) mode.

For either a Memory channel or a Search Range, you can lock a particular
subaudible tone by pressing L/O after scrolling to the desired tone.
The scanner will stop on any transmission except those which may be using the locked
out subaudible tone.

To set your scanner, enter into the Menu Mode.

1. Press MENU/BACK.

2. Select 3: System Option / 8: SQ MODE by rotating the VFO and pressing E.

3. Rotate the VFO to select one type (1: CSQ, 2: Tone SQ, 3: Tone Search) and pressing E.

4 To set Tone Lock mode. Do the following first, then select 2: TONE SQ in step 3.

1) For Scan mode:
Select 2: SCAN OPTION/ 1: CONVENTIONAL- select the channel number.
3: TONE DATA- 1: CTCSS or 2:DCS by rotating the VFO and pressing E .
With CTCSS or DCS, Tone Lock ON is set by pressing L/O.

2) For Search mode:

Select 1: SERVICE OPTION/:CHAIN SEARCH/ 5:
Tone Data/ 1: CTCSS or 2: DCS by rotating the VFO and pressing E. With
CTCSS or DCS Tone Lock ON is set by pressing L/O.

(CHAIN Search falls at the very bottom of the Service Option menu
(12 clicks down on the VFO or conversly 1 click up on the VFO )).

NOTE :* To set Tone Lock OFF for either scan mode or Search mode, press E
instead of L/O on step 1) or 2) above.

*CTCSS: Continuous Tone Coded Squelch System.
* DCS: Digital Coded Squelch

IF the Delay feature has been set while in Tone Search Mode, it resumes
scanning after a 2 second delay.

The Following are my descriptions of 6 pictorals in the manual.....for the
various modes.
(What the display would actually have on it).

Tone SQ ON with CTCSS 250.3 Hz setting:

Display as follows:
Upper line: Channel number
Second line: Frequency and mode( NFM,FM etc), but no signal strength indicated.
Third Line : CTCSS (what ever number it should be let's say 250.3 for this example)
Fourth line: Bank number Tone Squelch ON, with DCS 025 setting.
Upper Line: Channel number
Second Line: Frequency, MODE and signal strength
Third Line: DCS 025
Fourth line: Bank number. Tone SQ ON, CTCSS & DCS non- setting
Upper line: Channel number
Line 2: Frequency, mode, and signal strength.
Line 3: (Nothing showing , it is blank)
Line 4: Bank number.
Tone Search: With CTCSS 250.3 Hz detecting.
Upper line: Channel number
Second Line: Frequency , MODE, and signal strength
Third line: CTCSS 250.3 ( this CTCSS 250.3 is preceeded by a hash
mark (negative symbol) and followed by a hash mark too.) The CTCSS 250.3
is also enclosed in what looks like a quotation mark on each end.
Line 4: UNIDEN Group A Tone Search, DCS 025 detecting
Line 1: Channel number
Line 2: Frequency , mode and signal strength.
Line 3: DCS 025 (enclosed in both quotations and with hash marks on either end)
Line 4: UNIDEN Group A
Tone Search, no signal received (they probably means NO DCS or CTCSS
signal recieved)
Line 1: Channel number
Line 2: Frequency , mode and Signal strength (the example is showing 5 x 5).
Line 3: Nothing displayed.......simply blank
Line 4: Uniden Group A

The promised lists of numbers:

CTCSS Frequency list;

67.0,71.9,74.4,77.0,79.7,82.5,85.4,88.5,

91.5,94.8,97.4,100.0.103.5,107.2,

110.9,114.8,118.8,123.0,127.3,131.8,136.5,141.3,146.2,151.4,

156.7,162.2,167.9,173.8,179.9,186.2,192.8,203.5,210.7,218.1,225.7,233.6,241 .8,250.3.

DCS Tone Codes:

023, 025, 026, 031, 032, 036, 043, 047,

051, 053, 054, 065, 071, 072, 073, 074,

114, 115, 116 ,122, 125, 131, 132, 134,

143, 145, 152, 155, 156, 162, 165, 172,

174, 205, 212, 223, 225, 226, 243, 244,

245, 246, 251, 252, 255, 261, 263, 265,

266, 271, 274, 306, 311, 315, 325, 331,

332, 343, 346, 351, 356, 364, 365, 371,

411, 412, 413, 423, 431, 432, 445, 446,

452, 454, 455, 462, 464, 465, 466, 503,

506, 516, 523, 526, 532, 546, 565,606,

612, 624, 627, 631, 632, 654, 662, 664,

703, 712, 723, 731, 732, 734, 743, 754.

These are the shortcuts listed in the manual.

To reduce the information that is shown on the display set up the "Screen
Mask". Press Menu+3+2+1.

To increase the backlight of the display set the "Dimmer" to High.
Press Menu+3+1+1+1.

To prevent accidental reprogramming of frequencies or talkgroups, lock out
the entry programming. Press Menu+3+4+1.

To re-enter frequencies on a channel that had already been set.
(For example replace the frequency on channel 5 to 155.000).
Press Scan+Hold/Man+5+hold/man+1+5+5+ decimal point+ E.

To receive an alert for activity on a specific channel , turn on the "Beep
Alert" for that channel. Press Menu+2+1+select the channel+E+4+1.

To silence the keypad from sounding acknowledgement tones after each
press. Turn off the Key Beep. Press Menu+3+3+2.

To decrease the backlight of the display to set the Dimmer to Medium.
Press Menu+3+1+1+2.

To assign an alphanumeric text tag to a bank, choose the bank number.
(for example bank 1) Press Menu+3+9+1

Rotate the VFO control to enter the text and using RSM or Hold?Man to move
the cursor. After the text is entered press E.

To receive an alert for activtivy on a specific ID while trunk trcking,
turn on the "Beep Alert" for that ID.
Press Menu+2+2+S elect bank+E+3+select ID memory+E+3+1.

To Automatically store frequencies while searching, turn on the "Auto
Store" after setting up the search range.
Press Menu+1+Chain Search+E+6+1+select bank+SEARCH.

To search a specific range of frequencies, set up the "search range".
Press Menu+1+chain search+E+2+select range +E+1.

Then enter the lower and upper ranges and press E after each Frequency
Entered.
To begin searching between the range press SEARCH.

To attenuate a specific channel that you set, do the following:
Press Menu+2+1+select channel+E+5+1.

To silence the scanners' audio outper set the scanner to "Mute ON"
Press and Hold MUTE.

To set up a system for trunk Tracking. Select a bank, then enter the trunk
type.
Press Menu+2+2+select bank+E+1+1. Then press the trunk type you want to track.
Press E.

To program and control your scanner remotely from a PC using Unidens
crappy E- scanner software, do the following.

Press Menu+3+5+select speed.

Fleet Map Programming:

If you have programmed a trunk tracking bank for Motorola type and press
SCAN to start Multi-Track, you will see user ID's display on the display.
Since the BC 250D defaults to type II systems, all the ID's will appear as
numbers. However, if you notice a mix of odd and even user IDs, for
example 6477, 2560,6481,6144,1167 etc..then you are probably monitoring either a type 1
or Hybrid systems. These systems are applied only when STATUS BIT is OFF

You may also notice that you are missing responses when you hold on an
active ID.
Unlike type II, Type Hybrid systems require a Fleet Map that sets specific
Fleet-Subfleet parameters. It is easy to select a Fleet Map for your
scanner; what is not always easy is selecting or programming a map that matches
YOUR particular area.

There are 16 preset Fleet mapes listed in the appendix that you can
choose, and these are usually a good place to start when setting up a Type
1/Hybrid trunk tracking bank. IF you choose a preset map and still have difficulty
following complete conversations, then you'll have to program your own
fleet map.

Selecting Preset Fleet Map

1 Select 2: Type 1 for the Trunk Type.
(refer to "selecting or Changing Tunking Stystem Type on page 49)

There are pictures of the display here and I will discribe them as
followes.

Picture 1:
Line 1 Channel number
Line 2 Frequency and Mode
Line 3 1: Type 2 800
Line 4 2 Type 1 (highlighted)

2 Select the map you want to program by rotating the VFO and Pressing E.

Picture 2:

Line 1: Channel number
Line 2: frequency
Line 3: SELECT
Line 4: PRESET 1 (highlighted).

NOTE:
You will now begin to see TYPE 1 fleet-subfleet ID's.
For example, 100-12, 100-9,000-12,400-8, etc.
See "user Defined Fleet Maps in the Appendix" for more information about
Type i IDs.

How do you know if the preset map is correct? You will have to listen to
see if you're following complete conversations, if not, you should try
another preset map.

Programing A Fleet Map:

You may want to read "user Defined Fleet Maps" in the appendix before
programming a Fleet Map. It contains a detailed explaination of Scanner
Fleet Map Programming, as well as a table listing the Fleet Map size Codes.

1. Select 2: Type 1 for the trunk type.(Refer to Selecting or Changing
Trunking System type" on page 49).

Here is some commentary, if you turn the radio on, Press Menu
then, 2,2, Desired bank number,1,1,2(now you have Select Fleet Map Preset 1
displayed, at this point one click down on the VFO is now USER
CUSTOM selection, one click up is Fleetmap 16) IF you press E at this point... Block
0 appears and SIZE CODE 0 is Highlighted,) Pressing E repeatedly changes the
block code size by 1 for each push of the E button.

IF you hit the hit the E key multiple times 8 to be exact the
radio goes to menu selection and Highlights number 2: TRUNK CHANNEL, so if
you overshoot your blockcodes size you are at the midpoint in the sequence
hitting number 1,brings you back to the first 1 in the above sequence so
......1,1,2, the radio is already on USER Custom.....pressing E at this point puts
you on the Block 0,Size Code 0 page.

IT appears if you power down the scanner and re power up
and then....do the sequence for Block Sizeing......as above you
automatically land on USER CUSTOM......there is NO need to toggle the VFO.

(Back to the manual)

2. Select USER CUSTOM by rotating the VFO and Pressing E.
3. Select the size code for the first block by rotating the VFO (Jeffrey
if you rotate up you are on size code 1, then 2 etc..... IF you rotate VFO
down you are on size code 14,then 13 etc... End of Commentary.)
4. Press E. The next available block displays.
5. Repeat step 3 and 4 until you have selected a size code for each block.
For details about each size code, see fleet map Size Codes". in the
appendix.

PROGRAMMING A HYBRID System

A Hybrid system is simply a Type I system with some blocks designated as
Type II block. To Program a Hybrid System,follow the steps listed in
"Programming a Fleet Map" in the previous section. However, IF you want a
block to be Type II, select Size Code S-0.

When you begin searching a trunking bank with a Hybrid Fleet Map, you will
see both types of system IDs. That is, type II IDs usually appear as an
even number without a dash; Type I IDs appear as a three or four digit number,
followed by a hyphen, followed by a one or two digit number.

The following is a description of the fleet map preset graphs in
the appendix.

Preset Map 1

Block Size Code

0 11
1 11
2 11
3 11
4 11
5 11
6 11
7 11

Preset Map 2

Block Size Code

0 4
1 4
2 4
3 4
4 4
5 4
6 4
7 4

Preset Map 3

Block Size Code

0 4
1 4
2 4
3 4
4 4
5 4
6 12
7 (Size Code 12)

Preset Map 4

Block Size Code

0 12
1 (Size Code 12)
2 4
3 4
4 4
5 4
6 4
7 4

Preset Map 5

Block Size Code

0 4
1 4
2 12
3 (Size Code 12)
4 4
5 4
6 4
7 4

Preset Map 6

Block Size Code

0 3
1 10
2 4
3 4
4 12
5 (Size Code 12)
6 12
7 (Size Code 12)

Preset Map 7

Block Size Code

0 10
1 10
2 11
3 4
4 4
5 4
6 4
7 4

Preset Map 8

Block Size Code

0 1
1 1
2 2
3 2
4 3
5 3
6 4
7 4

Preset Map 9

Block Size Code

0 4
1 4
2 0
3 0
4 0
5 0
6 0
7 0

Preset Map 10

Block Size Code

0 0
1 0
2 0
3 0
4 0
5 0
6 4
7 4

Preset Map 11

Block Size Code

0 4
1 0
2 0
3 0
4 0
5 0
6 0
7 0

Preset Map 12

Block Size Code

0 0
1 0
2 0
3 0
4 0
5 0
6 0
7 4

Preset Map 13

Block Size Code

0 3
1 3
2 11
3 4
4 4
5 0
6 0
7 0

Preset Map 14

Block Size Code

0 4
1 3
2 10
3 4
4 4
5 4
6 12
7 (size code 12)

Preset Map 15

Block Size Code

0 4
1 4
2 4
3 11
4 11
5 0
6 12
7 (Size Code 12)

Preset Map 16

Block Size Code

0 3
1 10
2 10
3 11
4 0
5 0
6 12
7 (size code 12)

User Defined Fleet Maps

Type I Programming Information

When a Type I system is designed, the address information for all the IDs
are divided into 8 equal sized blocks. When you program your scanner to
track a Type I system, you must select a size code for each of these blocks,
When you have assigned a size code to all 8 blocks, you have define the
Fleet Map for the system you're tracking. Each size code determines the fumbers of
fleets, subfleets, and IDs each block will have. For example: a size code
of " 4 " has one fleet which is divided into 16 Separate Subfleets, and it
has a total of 512 individual IDs.

When a block is assigned a size code, the fleet or fleets created within
the block are assigned a Type I ID. The way these IDs display on your
scanner depends on the blocks size code. When a Type I ID displays, the left most digit
represents the block which contains the ID. The next two or three digits
Identify which fleet is active, and the last digit(s) identifies the Subfleet.

Example: 4 0 5 - 1 (2 )
4 represents Block
05 represents Which fleet within the block (could be 2 or 3 digits)
1 represents the subfleet (Could be 1 or two digits).
The details concerning how the size codes are selected by a Type I
designer are highly dependent on the specific needs of the systems users.
Some organizations may want many subfleets with only a few radios each,
while another organization may want only a few subfleets with many radios each.
YOUR task is to program your fleet map the same size code assignments as the
trunked system. IF you do this accurately, you'll track all the Fleet-Subfleet
combinations used by the system. IN other words, You'll hear complete communications
while monitoring a trunked system.

IF you don't already know the size codes used, You'll have to guess at
them. But since you don't have to figure out all the blocks at once, this isn't
as hard as it seems. Select a size code for a block , and then press SCAN.
Now listen to the communications. IF you decide you are receiving most of
the replies to the conversations with IDs assigned to the block you just
programmed, then you've probably selected the right size code and can work
on the next block of the map.

Finally , for most public safety systems there are some size codes which
are most common. Size CODE 3 and Size Code 4 are probably the most
common.
Followed by size Code 10, Size Code 11 and Size Code 12.

One more graph...

FLEET Map Size Codes

Size: 0 Reserves block for type II ids
Fleets:
Subfleets:
IDs:
Blocks Used:

Size: 1
Fleets: 128
Subfleets: 4
IDs: 16
Blocks Used: 1

Size: 2
Fleets: 16
Subfleets: 8
IDs: 64
Blocks Used: 1

Size: 3
Fleets: 8
Subfleets: 8
IDs: 128
Blocks Used: 1

Size: 4
Fleets: 1
Subfleets: 16
IDs: 512
Blocks Used: 1

Size: 5
Fleets: 64
Subfleets: 4
IDs: 32
Blocks Used: 1

Size: 6
Fleets: 32
Subfleets: 8
IDs: 32
Blocks Used: 1

Size: 7
Fleets: 32
Subfleets: 4
IDs: 64
Blocks Used: 1

Size: 8
Fleets: 16
Subfleets: 4
IDs: 128
Blocks Used: 1

Size: 9
Fleets: 8
Subfleets: 4
IDs: 256
Blocks Used: 1

Size: 10
Fleets: 4
Subfleets: 8
IDs: 256
Blocks Used: 1

Size: 11
Fleets: 2
Subfleets: 16
IDs: 256
Blocks Used: 1

Size: 12
Fleets: 1
Subfleets: 16
IDs: 1024
Blocks Used: 2

Size: 13
Fleets: 1
Subfleets: 16
IDs: 2048
Blocks Used: 4

Size: 14
Fleets: 1
Subfleets: 16
IDs: 4096
Blocks Used: 8

Size Code Restrictions

IF you select Size Code 12, 13, or 14, there are some restrictions as to
which blocks can be used for these codes.

*Size Code 12 can only be assigned to blocks 0,2,4,or 6.

*Size Code 13 can only be assigned to block 0 and 4.

*Size Code 14 can only be assigned to block 0.

Since these Size Codes require multiple blocks, you will be prompted for
the next available block when programming a Fleet Map.
For example, IF you assign Block 0 as an Size Code 12, you will be
prompted for Block 2, the next block available, instead of Block 1. And
IF you assign Block 0 as Size Code 14, you would not see another prompt because all
available blocks have been used.

Disclaimer: The information on this site is provided as a public service to the blind and visually handicapped community. While we have done our best to ensure the information provided is accurate, please realize the use of any information on this site is solely at your discretion and we take no responsibility for use or attempted use of this information.