To determine whether the information on this page applies to your scanner, see the tags at the bottom of the page.
System options vary depending on the system type.
Global system options
The following options are available for all types of systems.
Set Number Tag
Assign a number to this system or channel that you can use to tune directly to a specific channel. Choose a number from
0 to
999. (For more information, see
Number Tags.)
Set Delay Time
Set the number of seconds the scanner should wait after a transmission stops before moving on to the next channel. Select
0,
1,
2 (default),
5,
10, or
30 seconds.
To have scanner leave the channel after a designated number of seconds whether the transmission stops or not, select one of the negative values. Choose
-10 seconds to have the scanner leave the channel after 10 seconds even if the transmission is still going on; choose
-5 seconds or
-2 seconds to have the scanner leave after 5 seconds or 2 seconds, respectively.
Set Audio AGC
Turn on Automatic Gain Control (AGC) for this system. When you activate this feature, the scanner automatically adjusts the volume for each channel based on the signal strength. You can turn on the gain control for
Analog and
Digital signals separately.
To change the settings for the audio AGC, see
Adjust Audio AGC
Set whether the audio from channels on the system come out the RECORD OUT jack on the back of the scanner. You have three options:
- All Channel -- All channels in the system go to the RECORD OUT jack.
- Marked Channel -- Only those channels that have the RECORD option turned on go to the RECORD OUT jack.
- Off -- No channels in the system go to the RECORD OUT jack (even those wit the RECORD option turned on).
Set State (BCT15X Only)
Sets the U.S. State or Canadian Province associated with the system. If selected, the system will be unlocked when you set the scanner to the state and locked out when you select a different state.
Conventional system options
The following options are available when you're editing a conventional system:
Set Quick Key
Assign this system or site to a Quick Key so you can easily enable or disable it during scanning. Enter a number from 0 to 99; tap NO (the decimal point) if you don't want to assign this system or site to a Quick Key. (For more information, see
Quick Keys.)
Set Startup Key
Assign this system or site to a Startup Key so you can lock or unlock it during power up. Enter a number from 0 to 9; tap NO (the decimal point) if you don't want to assign this system or site to a Startup Key. (For more information, see
Startup Keys.)
Set Lockout
Decide whether you want to lock out the system so the scanner will ignore it during Scan and Search modes. If you lock out a system, all channels within that system are locked out. Choose one of the following options:
- Unlocked: The system is not locked out.
- Temporary L/O: The system is locked out until you turn the scanner off and back on.
- Lockout: The system is permanently locked out.
Set Hold Time
Set the minimum number of seconds the scanner should spend checking this system or site even if there is no traffic on any channel. (The scanner always checks each channel in a system or site once even if the hold time is set to 0 seconds.) Select the number of seconds from
0 through
255 (0 is the default).
On channels that contain a mix of analog and digital signals (i.e., where the
Audio Mode is set to
All), it is possible to have
false decode problems caused by digital noise at the beginning of transmissions. To prevent this, a user-configurable P25 wait time (from 0 to 1000 ms) has been added.
During the wait time, the scanner evaluates the received signal; if it detects P25 data, the scanner opens squelch immediately. If it does not detect any P25 data, the scanner opens squelch as soon as the wait time expires.
Note: Any analog transmissions on this channel will lose the first part of the transmission, up to the wait time you set here.
Select the number of milliseconds (after the start of a transmission) the scanner should wait while checking for P25 data. Choose a number from
0 through
1000 ms in 100 ms increments. The scanner only applies the wait time setting to Conventional or Motorola (non P25) systems, and only when the channel's
Audio Mode setting is
All.
Trunked system options
The following options are available when you're editing a trunked system:
ID Scan/Search
Choose whether the scanner only checks the Talk Group IDs that you program (
ID Scan ) or checks all the Talk Group IDs it can find (
ID Search ) when scanning this site.
Priority ID Scan
Choose
On to have the scanner apply priority to channels you've marked as priority in this system. Choose
Off if you do not want the scanner to apply priority to marked channels in this system. See also
PreemptivePriority for more details regarding trunked priority operation.
Emergency Alert
This menu lets you configure whether the scanner triggers an alert tone and light when it detects an emergency flag within an active Talk Group. (Compare this to the channel setting
Set Alert, which can trigger an alert tone and light whenever a channel becomes active.) The settings for
Set Alert Tone and
Set Alert Light are common to both types of alerts.
Set ID Format (DEC/HEX) or (AFS/DEC)
Trunked systems have three different formats for the Talk Group ID, but not all formats are used by each system type. Choose the Talk Group ID format used by this system:
- Dec : The system uses a decimal (base 10) format for the Talk Group IDs (available for all trunked systems)
- Hex : The system uses a hexadecimal (base 16) format for the Talk Group IDs (available for P25 and Motorola systems only)
- AFS : The system uses the Agency-Fleet-Subfleet format for the Talk Group IDs (available for EDACS wide or narrow systems only)
Rvw ID:Srch L/O
This feature displays a list of all locked out Talk Group IDs. If you want to unlock a Talk Group ID, just select it from the list and press
YES .
Clr All L/O IDs
Choose yes to unlock all the Talk Group IDs in this system or site. (Choose no to cancel and go back to the previous screen.)
Motorola system options
The following options are available when only when you're editing a Motorola system:
Edit Fleet Map
(Motorola Type I or Hybrid systems only) This menu lets you choose one of the 16 pre-programmed fleet maps; select
Custom to manually program your own fleet map information. (See
Motorola fleet maps for more information.)
Set Status Bit
Choose
Yes to have the scanner check the status bit in each TalkGroup ID, or choose
Ignore to ignore all status bits in this system.
Set End Code
Choose whether the scanner recognizes any end transmission codes when deciding to leave a channel. You have the following options:
BCD396XT and
BCD996XT:
- Analog: The scanner recognizes only analog end transmission codes.
- Analog-Digital: The scanner recognizes both analog and digital end codes.
- Ignore: The scanner waits for the carrier to drop before leaving a channel.
BC346XT,
BC346XTC, and
BCT15X
- Yes: The scanner recognizes end transmission codes.
- Ignore: The scanner waits for the carrier to drop before leaving a channel.
The following options are available when only when you're editing a P25 system:
P25 NAC Option
(P25 single frequency systems only)Choose whether the scanner limits reception to transmissions that include a specific Network Access Code (NAC) for this system or frequency.
- Search: The scanner opens squelch for any digital signal, but displays the NAC being used.
- Set P25 NAC: The scanner opens squelch only for signals that include the NAC you enter here. Enter a hexadecimal number between 0 and FFF.