Scan Control - Software in 2 parts

Part II: Command and Control

by Mike Agner, KA3JJZ

Last time, we discussed the Lite version of Scan Control (SC), which gives you a fairly powerful tool for programming the BC245, 895, 780, 785, 796, 250 and 296, BCT-8 and the RS/GRE PRO-2052 . This time, we move into the full version, which gives you a very important tool - particularly if you have old csv files from other packages laying around.

Import Function
If you have comma delimited files generated from other applications that you wanted to use, you are often faced with a tedious and sometimes difficult task of moving data around, importing to Excel, or using other copy/paste tricks. With the full version of Scan Control, this is no longer necessary. The import tool has been designed to be able to import data through a method called 'mapping'. Essentially, you point to each column and select from a pulldown the type of data this represents. While frequencies and talkgroups are covered with this method, you can also import alpha tags, PL/DCS data, delay options, lockouts and more (dependent on the scanner's ability to accept this data, of course). The real beauty of this method is that the columns need not be in any particular order; you quite literally 'teach' SC where each column is and what data it contains. When you have the mapping done as you wish it, you also have the ability to save it as a configuration file, allowing you to reuse it many times. Previously, each time you finished an import, you had to do the mapping all over again, which can become tedious if you're mapping 1000 frequencies.

Additionally, you can do multiple imports all in one session. Previous versions had you exit the import tool after a single execution, then have to come back in and do it all over again.

It sounds a bit daunting, but once you get the hang of it, the process is really quite easy. The documentation has specific instructions on how to proceed, and it's highly advisable to read it before using this very powerful tool.

Command and Control
This is where the meat and potatoes of the program really begins to become clear. Each scanner has its own screen; as I only have an 895 and 245, we'll concentrate there, but each control screen has the same basic functions, with additions for the newer models as needed.

One thing that needs to be stressed is that the setting of the Comm Rate Slider will make a big difference in operations here. If you find that data transfers lock up, alpha lookups are slow, or other problems, first try to adjust the Comm Rate Slider on the main screen before anything else.

Uniden BC245XLT
This is the first scanner with which SC had control, and it shows. You can see in [Figure 1] that the control screen isn't very hard to navigate. SC will correctly support the multi track function, similar to Winscan and the Senss software we reviewed some time ago.

A convenient feature is the backlight control. Because the screen on the 245 is so small, having control over it from SC is a help. Like the Senss program, there are 3 settings; off, on and auto. Personally, as long as you are running from an AC supply, having the backlight on all the time is the way to go.

When you look to the right, there's a green box labeled 'Radio'. These boxes are intended to give you the status of the radio. Here's a brief explanation of when each seems to light up:

• Conv - scanning or searching a conventional system
• Trunk - scanning or searching a trunked system
• Scan - scanning operations
• Hold - works in 2 different ways. If you happen to stop the scanner in manual mode, leave to fix something and come back in, this is highlighted. It's also used to indicate that you held a frequency while in search mode
• Search - Search mode
• Prog - Used to indicate that the scanner is in Trunk Programming mode
• MO - Motorola trunking
• ED - EDACS trunking
• ATT - this is used when the attenuator button has been pressed (245 and others)
• SVC - in the 245's service scanning mode
• Pri - Priority
• dly - This is a 'delay' while in Trunk Scan/Search mode.
• skp - This is used as a data skip indicator; this is indicating that the scanner will skip over data channels during a conventional scan/search.
• WX - This is for scanners that support weather band scanning like the 895. It's inactive on the 245.

What is the disconnect tone detect? Under normal circumstances, a Motorola trunk will send a disconnect tone to send the user's radio back to the control channel for assignment. If you happen to be receiving some interference - say you're not receiving the system well - the 245 might get fooled into letting the talkgroup to which you're listening go, and return to scanning. You can use the disconnect tone detect feature to cut down on this problem. To activate it, press 'SVC' while in trunking mode. The SVC symbol on the scanner's screen will appear with a line drawn through it and begin flashing 5 or 6 times. It will then stay on.

Uniden BC895XLT
This is the newest addition to the SC list of scanners; ironically, it's the first trunking desktop Uniden made. The layout is a little strange, and it does take a little study to understand all the controls. For example, the 'CTC' button refers to the CTCSS key on the 895.

Scanning conventionally, SC does have a bit of a problem where certain frequencies are not associated with their alpha tag; the screen area in the upper left goes blank, and it appears that the program has 'gone to sleep'. This problem is most evident while scanning frequencies that have PL information. However, when it does do the lookups, they work correctly [Figure 3] Moving the Comm Rate Slider will affect the rate at which the lookups take place, and it's up to each user to figure out which values work for best. It seems that settings between 10 and 14 generally work best.

The 895 also has a radio box, and several of the same functions found on the 245 are also found here, with similar meanings.

I've noticed that if you wish to get the 895 into trunking mode (by pressing the 'Trnk' button, then the letter of the desired bank), sometimes SC will hang, even though the 895 will indeed begin trunking. The fix is easy; simply exit the control screen and reenter by hitting the 'control/monitor radio' box on the main screen [Figure 12] SC will detect the control channel and place itself in trunk mode.

In the trunking mode, SC fares much better; almost no talkgroups were missed in the lookup tests, and it seems most of the usual functions (hold, reviewing the scan list, ect.) are available. Since my 895 is an earlier version, it does not have the disconnect tone detect feature, so I couldn't test to see if SC supported it. Version 1.20 of the firmware implemented this function; it's activated by pressing the CTCSS key while in trunking mode.

The screen acts very much the same way as the 245 screen, where the bottom left has a row that turns green, and a message appears that shows that the control channel was acquired [Figure 4] Lookups are done in trunk scan mode just as in the 245 screen.

If you're looking to use a function that requires a 2 second keypress (such as entering Trunk Programming mode on the 245), you must use the right mouse button and click on the appropriate key.

There's been some significant enhancements to all the control screens since the original Lite review was written. For example, take a look at the control screen and a button called 'Min View' at the bottom. Press it, and the control screen disappears, and is replaced by a single bar with the frequency or talkgroup, alpha tag, bank and number of hits [Figure 5] 'On top' is a little misleading; what it really does is that it allows the bar to overlay other items on the desktop. Fortunately, you can drag and drop the Min view bar to the top of the desktop very easily. You can go right back to the control screen by hitting the 'Max View' button. This is a slick little toy that allows you to keep an eye on what's going on with the scanner, while you're using other desktop functions.

Check out the list of hits shown on the 895 control screen [Figure 4] For those scanners that support it, the list now captures the PL or DCS information, as well as a time stamp that represents the amount of time that item was active.

Scan Control also supports programming multiple search ranges. This ability is not available on the 245 or the 895, so I could not test it, but users of the later scanners (BC780 and up) should be aware that this function does exist.

Logging and Storing
SC has several ways to store data that it finds during searches and scans. Each has its own unique requirements, but they aren't very hard at all to set up.

Keeping logs and storing hits can be controlled in 2 ways. If you're going to use this function a great deal, you should use the 'Program Options' screen [Figure 6] as it will save all your settings for future use. If it's just something you use once in a while, you might be better switching these options on and off in the control screens; we'll mention these as we go along.

To start, you should go to the 'Program Options' screen and insure that the 'search/scan hit logging' option is checked. You then need to decide how many hits will be stored. The number of hits starts at 500 up to a maximum of 10000. Be careful; if you exceed the maximum size you specify, the first new hit will overlay the first oldest one in the log, and so on until the entire log is overwritten. This option is necessary to record all hits, whether in search or scan mode.

Each control screen has a 'log srch/scan hits' box right above a bank pull down box at the bottom of the screen. This box can be activated - say you forgot to set this up - by first placing the scanner in manual. After a few moments - the time it takes for the box to become active seems to vary with the scanner used - you should be able to check the box.

Autostore Search Mode
If you anticipate that you will be repeating this function, go to the 'Program Options' screen and hit the 'Search Hit Autostore' function [Figure 6] Just beneath this, you will find a series of radio boxes labeled 'all', 'none' and 'select' . These are filters that will allow SC to decide how to handle duplicate hits found during the search. 'All' says store everything regardless of duplication; 'None' says store no duplicates. 'Select' is a special case; you must tell SC which hits to keep.

A couple of points need to be made here. Unlike the autostore functions as defined in the owner's manual, SC will not store the hits into the scanner; instead, it stores them in the bank editor, and from there you can store the frequencies. This function works in search mode only; there's a different Autosave function for scanning, and we'll talk about that in a moment.

Once you go to the control screen -we'll use the 895 screen as an example here - look at the bottom. If you checked the 'Search Hit Autostore' function in the Program Options screen, the 'Srch Hit Autostore' box will be checked. If you're going to use this function as a one shot deal, you can check the box and select the duplicate filter action here.

Now you must specify in which bank to store the hits. Select one from the pulldown [Figure 7] Once you have entered your search parameters and insure that the 'Log Srch/Scan hits' box is checked, you're ready to go.

Execute the search. If you clicked on the 'select' radio button in either the Options menu or the selection on the control screen, you must tell SC which hits to keep. You do this by checking the empty box next to the item number in the list box. This is referred to as 'tagging' [Figure 8] Be aware that if you select more hits than the bank can handle, your selections will wrap onto the next available bank.

Once you are ready to capture your tagged hits, simply halt the search and exit the control screen. SC will then ask you to confirm that you wish to store your hits in the assigned bank. If you click 'OK', the tagged hits will be placed in the bank you chose. Bring up that bank in the editor [Figure 9] and you will see that the frequency is stored along with the word 'AUTOSTORE', and a date/time stamp is supplied.

Once you edit the entries, you can store them in your scanner. You can also use the 'save list' button on the bottom of the screen to accomplish the same thing.

That's fine for a range that may not give you a lot of hits; but what if you're scanning (or searching) and need to keep a log of everything you hit? That's where the Autosave to CSV file comes into play.

Autosave To CSV File
This option is more powerful, as it's not limited to the size of the bank in the scanner. This function works in search and scan modes; it also works with the BC245's service search mode. Each file is stored in the 'Search Hits' subdirectory, and is named with a date/time stamp, with the .csv extension.

First, if you want to permanently record hits, you go to the 'Program Options' screen [Figure 6] and check the 'Autosave CSV File' option. When you bring up the control screen, you should see that the 'CSV File Autosave' box is checked. You can also use this box if you've made a spur of the moment decision that you wish to save all your hits during this session [Figure 10] Here, we're using the 245 screen. Execute the functions you desire; search, scan, service search - it's all recorded. When you're through, and you close the control screen, SC will remind you that a file has been saved. An example of this file is shown in [Figure 11] Although it isn't evident (partially because the 245 doesn't support tones), the PL/DCS and time elapsed stamp we referred to earlier can also be stored here.

Saw something interesting in the logs, and you didn't activate autosave? No problem - just hit the 'Save List' button. It works the same way as the Autosave to CSV function. This is a very handy button if you were in a hurry and forgot to set things up. This button is also used if you want to allocate a file immediately without exiting.

There are 3 other boxes at the bottom. These buttons work in any mode, so be careful with their use. 'Clear list' clears the entire log. 'Tag all' turns on the automatic tag function; this will tag everything that's logged. Conversely, 'clr all' removes all the tags in the log.

Other Program Options
We've mentioned the Program Options screen [Figure 6] a number of times in this part of the review; there are several other features that deserve mention.

• Program Logging - this option writes a log of SC's operations in a file that's stored in the 'Logs' subdirectory. This feature should be turned on when you are experiencing problems and need to use this as part of the documentation. More information on problem reporting can be found on the technical support page.
• Mute Mode - this option controls whether you hear anything while programming. It might pay to have this turned on while programming a trunk system with several control channels so you don't hear that awful racket.
• Delay Flag, Lockout Flag and Alpha Tag defaults - These options all control whether a particular feature is turned on (box is checked) or not (box is empty). Perhaps the one that kept getting people into trouble in earlier versions was the lockout flag. Programming a new frequency, for example, invariably caused confusion when SC defaulted that channel to 'locked out'; so when users went back to program and scan this new data, it didn't show up. Now you have the option of controlling that yourself.
• Program 0 Frequencies - does exactly what it says. If you are constantly changing your banks and want to insure that you can clear unused channels, make sure this is checked
• Initial Screen Location - If you are using a screen resolution of 800x600 or less, and find that the right corner of the display is lost, selecting the 'top left' box will address this problem. If you're not experiencing this problem, I'd recommend keeping it 'centered'. It's much more comfortable, at least for me.
• Print Columns - self explanatory

What's New?
What happens if you want to build a file for a friend, but you don't have own the radio he uses? You can now accomplish this feat fairly easily. When Scan Control starts up, it always attempts to connect up to your scanner. Hit the cancel button, then press 'New File' on the main screen [Figure 12] You will then be presented with a pulldown from which you can select the radio template you will use [Figure 13] Now, from here on out, the data you construct will be set up for the correct radio; the end user need not jockey around with odd import or cut/paste tricks to make it work.

There have been numerous other fixes and checks added, and these are detailed in the What's New page, which is found here.. You should also subscribe to the Yahoo group for Scan Control for news items and questions. Ken D. is an active participant there, and takes the time to answer questions - something I wish more developers would do.

My Wish List
Everyone has a list of what they believe their software should or shouldn't do. To this end, Ken D. has been very interested in hearing about what users would like to see developed. There are a few areas where SC needs a little work, and at some point, it's hoped that these items will be fixed or developed:

• The documentation is very good in describing functions in detail, but in some places - such as the import function which was mentioned earlier - more detail is needed to describe how, in a step by step approach, to access and use them. It's a given that software like this, which is constantly adding new features and fixes, would be a real bear to keep the documentation up to date. But the doc is vital to new users; it really shouldn't be left to the last minute.
• Audio recording would be a major plus.

And Finally...
Scan Control has many things going for it. The import functions work very well and handle CSV files fairly easily, once you know how to use it. A big plus for those folks that are upgrading from an older Uniden trunktracker (or the PRO2052) to the newer digital Unidens is that much of the work of upgrading their files is done automatically. This application is constantly growing, adding support for new scanners to their already impressive list (for example, support for the new BC898T and 246T is being developed as this is being written). Ken D. is to be commended for being so diligent in getting fixes out for bugs and new enhancements. The associated Yahoo group is also very useful to collect tips and hints when confusion arises. In addition, SC works with all the major Windows releases, something several of the other, somewhat older applications, can't claim. All in all, with its solid performance, SC is among the best control app we've tested.

Mike Agner, KA3JJZ
ka3jjz@netscape.com