InterceptRadio.com Forums

Yeah I've got a lot in there. All of the SERS system. Seattle FD and PD system. Valleycom FD with all of King Co. Sheriff. And NORCOM FD and PD. I think I have some good old VHF stuff tossed in there too.

This will give you a good start Stierwalt3. But there is no substitution to just turning on the scanner and listening. Everyone here will contest to that.

O' and K7CAR has a great point about the telescoping antenna. It's not really meant, or a good fit for a small portable. It makes the scanner want to tip over.

Good luck...

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FYI ...

The Uniden scanners use the SMA connector and not a BNC connector like older, traditional scanners/radios. The 396XT model comes with the adapter but I don't know about the 346XT. You might want to check in the box while you're at RS. (The RS 800 mhz antenna is BNC, fyi.)

I highly recommend these two SMA antennas for listening to any of the local trunks:

http://www.wpsantennas.com/exe821sm-ant ... tenna.aspx

(The 8 inch model)

http://www.wpsantennas.com/exc821sm-ant ... tenna.aspx

(The 4 inch model)

Both work very well for 800mhz listening but the 8" antenna provides more gain due to its length. That being said, I use the 4" model about 98% of the time since I usually listen to the local NORCOM trunk only. Also it's quite stealthy. :)

The BC346XT comes with the SMA/BNC adapter in the box.

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Cool man...Thanks! :D

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"Better to have it and not need it then to need it and not have it"

So I finally got my scanner a couple of hours ago....boy am I lost! :? I thought I would just try "close call" first and all I get is an fm radio station here in Everett!? So I thought I would try connecting the scanner to my PC...well the adapter I got from monoprice won't connect, so I went to the Prolific site were I downloaded the latest driver and I get error code 10. The FAQ say the following....

Q Why do I get an Error Code 10 (Yellow Exclamation Mark) after I installed the latest driver?

A If you are getting an Error Code 10 with a yellow exclamation mark in Device Manager after installing the latest Prolific PL-2303 driver, please contact the cable maker of your product for Prolific chip validity and support.
Prolific strongly recommend to only purchase USB-to-Serial cables from company-branded products providing technical support. It is not advisable to buy from unknown cable makers (no-brand cables) made in China. Prolific does not manufacturer any end-product cables and will not provide direct support to end-users.

:roll:

Can anyone point me in the right direction to at least hear some action here Everett,till I can figure this thing out!? :lol:

Thanks for any help!

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"Better to have it and not need it then to need it and not have it"

Menu -> Systems -> New System -> Type is MOT.
System Options -> System Frequencies -> Add New

Pick one or more of the control channels here:
http://interceptradio.com/s.php?sfreq=1 ... l=7F32&z=1

Hit scan. It should go into "ID Search" mode, meaning it will stop on any talkgroup. Talkgroups are listed here:

http://interceptradio.com/s.php?sfreq=3 ... l=7F32&z=1

If you want you can attempt to add those to the system, but be warned that text entry is a pain in the butt.

A good copy of the manual is here:
http://marksscanners.com/346XT/346xt.shtml

Wiz wrote a good article on trunked radio system monitoring:
http://www.interceptradio.com/wiki/inde ... Monitoring

Thanks man...I'll give that a try! I really appreciate it...looks like I have a lot of studing to do! :lol:

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"Better to have it and not need it then to need it and not have it"

Make sure in your system BIOS that the COM port is set to COM1 or COM2. It should NOT be set to AUTO.

It's a USB to Serial adapter--there won't be anything to set in the BIOS

Yeah good point. I was spacing out the fact that he had the Prolific adapter. What kind of system is this? Laptop/Desktop? Does it have front USB ports or just rear only?

BTW, I picked up the BC346XT as well. I had some store credit with Amazon and decided to get one. I must say, I really like the black faceplate. It's much sexier than the 396XT.

I can't stay away from these damn Uniden scanners. :twisted:

Hard to say which is better - the 346XT or PSR-310 ... but they both have some differences. I do like the display on the 310 - it just has the geeky scanner look/feel too it. Lots of info and strange symbols. The one thing that I really missed was the size. The compactness of the 346XT (esp with the 4" 866mhz antenna) is really sweet. The 310 does have a pretty sensitive front-end. I get a lot of paging inteference when trying to listen to WSP - even on the rubber duck.

Freescan is definitely the way to go with the Uniden scanners. It works very well. Looks like BCTool is going commerical but they do have a free Lite version still.

PS. Amazon's supply of 346XT's had the 1.04 firmware - so be sure to check and flash it to 1.05 -- when you get your computer connection working.

Special paid version that will have extra features that you may or may not need.

What operating system do you have? If Win 7 64 bit then there are more problems. Did you load a driver before you downloaded the updated driver? If so, you have to remove and uninstall the first driver. You ordered the MonoPrice adapter right? If you read the review comments on the MP page there's tons of info. and help there.

I was trying to troubleshoot a friends Win 7 connection problem she was having with her GPS last week and found all kinds of info. out there on USB-Serial adapters. Sorry I didn't bookmark any. If you do a Goggle search for "Prolific USB-Serial adapter" you'll get dozens of good hits and info.

Open FreeScan, >Scanner> Control Scanner>Com Port Setup, then run the auto detect. Set your 346xt baud rate to 115200. That's buried some where in a sub menu. I know it's a PITA scanner from the get go, but once you get the basics down it will be a piece of cake. Get FreeScan working and then upload Daron's scanner file or PM me and I can send you mine.

bcToolPlus lite version should be all you need. The only feature that's limited that really means much is the recording. I use ProScan ($50) That's very powerful scanning software that I highly recommend. I tried out a dozen different scanning programs and ProScan was the best of the bunch by a long shot for me.

Hey guys....Yes I'm using a desktop with windows 7 64bit. it has usb ports on the front and back. Yep I ordered the MonoPrice adapter and I didn't install the driver that came with it because it didn't have a win7 file. other than the code 10 error I got, the other one I get in freescan says can't find comport 1. Again thanks for the help I'll have to mess with it some more after work today cause it's back to reality and back to work! :?

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"Better to have it and not need it then to need it and not have it"

According to one comment, this is the driver package:

http://www.moschip.com/mcs7703_downloads.php