This page resurrected from Ninth Circle's Archives and placed here as a service for BC245XLT users. I have since moved to a rural area that does not use EDACS.
Programming the BC245XLT - EDACS - The BASICS
This guide covers only the programming of an EDACS trunking system. EDACS is a registered trademark of the Ericsson Corporation. It is listed as "G.E. Ericsson" in some Trunktracking guides. This guide does not attempt to explain EDACS trunk systems but a link is included for those interested in learning more about it.
Index
Source Of Confusion - The Operating Guide
How To Program A Blank or Empty Location
The Control Frequency - Make Sure It's Not Locked Out!
Missing Parts Of Transmissions
Source of Confusion - The Operating Guide
Before I begin - I have to comment on the Operating Guide of the BC245XLT - despite having excellent radios and scanners - this excellence unfortunately doesn't carry over to the manuals. I have several Uniden scanners - and none of the guides are clear - in fact they create more confusion. Most often the "steps" they list, or the buttons you're instructed to push simply do not work as the guide claims they should.
With the BC245XLT the guide should have been divided into chapters for EACH system. For the system I monitor - the EDACS - I had to skip about the manual and things that should have been noted in bold were often reduced to mere footnotes. This was critical as I attempted to program the scanner. It took me nearly 5 hours of experimenting, searching the net, and trial and error before I finally got it right. This guide will hopefully allow you to get it done a lot faster - with less errors!
Examples of misleading and/or confusing critical info:
On Page 38 - an entire page dedicated to EDACS which - in fact - doesn't give you - the user - ANY relevant info. On this page what SHOULD have been noted is that EDACS REQUIRE you - the user - to program frequencies in the EXACT order and location, including any blank locations AND that failing to do so will result in either no reception at all, or limited reception of all transmissions. Instead it gives you a some tech info and a pretty graph - which to a typical user is totally unnecessary. It contributes NOTHING to actually programming the 245xlt.
Page 39 - Bottom of page with "IMPORTANT" in caps and underlined appears the note that "you must enter the freqs in a specific order." This should have been placed on the previous page in BOLD print - in my opinion. And frankly - the use of the word "specific" is not strong enough and location and blanks are not addressed at all.
Page 40 - The list of trunking options appear - again with minimum info and as a footnote FINALLY the caveat that all EDACS "requires programing in exact order and location." Again - no note regarding how to handle a blank location.
Page 42 - Skips suddenly to a Type I system - and the search display for an EDACS isn't even addressed until page 49. Up until that point the manual never shows how an EDACS ID actually should appear on your display.
Page 50 - FINALLY explains the little "E" icon that appears on the display when you have programmed an EDACS system. Duh! This SHOULD have appeared way back on page40!!! Please note that the illustrations on page 41 ALL show the little "M" icon - NOT the "E" icon. Confusing hunh?
Page 50 - Also explains the AFS talk group displays for EDACS. This is a good explanation, but should have been addressed - explained - back on page 40 - because once you begin to search - the display shows AFS talk groups - it would help if you knew what you were looking at. The appendix on page 84 is referred to for further details...
I'll end my examples at this point. I just want to assure you who are having difficulties - it's NOT your fault - you are NOT a dummy - it's the fault of the manual - not your intelligence. Case in point - at NO place in the guide does it EVER address the problem of a blank location! The fact is many EDACS have blank locations - you are literally left hanging on your own to figure how to program a blank since entering a "0" automatically LOCKS OUT the location defeating the effort!
Step One - Determine if the system is EDACS
Confirm the trunk system you want to monitor is in fact EDACS. You do this by visiting frequency sites, referring to the Trunked System Freq guide included with your scanner or from someone who has already programmed his scanner to listen to the system. This should tell you if the system is EDACS.
The BC 245 XLT defaults to monitor Motorola Type II systems. You will have to tell the scanner you're monitoring an EDACS - how to do so will be explained below.
Step Two - Acquire the Correct and Current Freqs
EDACS systems freqs are listed in a certain order (referred to as LCN order.) - this is extremely important - you must have the correct order and location in order to monitor the system. Empty or blank locations (typically listed as 000.000) are vital to note. Failure to program a blank location will either limit your ability to monitor complete transmissions or will not monitor at all!
EDACS systems are listed by tower locations - choose the tower you wish to monitor - typically the one closest to you for local scanning. You'll see the freqs listed in ordered "slots" or locations. ALL freqs must be entered in exact order as they appear. Missing a freq (including blank ones) or entering an incorrect freq will limit your scans.
If you fail to enter the "control" freq (it's the one with all the noise when you monitor it in non trunk mode)) OR if you lock it out you will not receive at all. The control freq tells your scanner how and where to track transmissions in trunk mode. The control freq will NOT be noted in the list - you will discover which one it is as you enter the freqs in the actual programming.
Make sure your listings are current!
WARNING: In the case of my system - both the Freq guide and website were outdated! Fortunately I found a local website with the correct frequencies.
Programming an EDACS from scratch is not covered here. Locate a website or guide for the area you wish to monitor before you try to track the freqs down by scanning the possibilities yourself!!
Here are some links that may help:
This is a valuable site with up to date freqs and loads of info! - RECOMMENDED
Another freq website for Hudson Valley New York area:
community-2.webtv.net/rks-57/UlsterAndOrange
PROGRAMMING THE BC245XLT for EDACS
Steps: (You may also refer to manual pages 40 and 41.)
1 Press TRNK and hold until you hear two beeps. "BANK" and "TRUNK" will flash on display.
2 Choose the Bank you'll store the freqs (1 through 0 Note: 0 = the 10th bank)
3 A trunking option will now be displayed (it won't be EDACS or "Ed" which is what you want) - use the LIMIT or HOLD buttons to scroll up or down to "Ed" - then Press "E"
4 Now you enter the freqs you found:
You will use the keypad to enter the freq numbers in the exact order and location you have on your list.
If you make an error entering a freq - press "." twice to start over.
a) Enter first freq - confirm it's correct - press"E"
b) For next freq press HOLD to jump to next entry.
c) Enter second freq - press "E" - Continue these steps until ALL freqs (including blanks - see below) have been entered.
5 Once ALL the freqs (including blanks!) have been entered press SRCH. THEN the bank number you chose in step 2.
Hopefully - you'll now hear all the traffic AND see the Talk groups displayed confirming you did it correctly.
Note: You are in SEARCH mode - Scan mode requires you to enter your favorite Talkgroup numbers you want to SCAN. This is not addressed on this page since the primary object is to program the EDACS correctly in the first place before you begin to move on to the other scanner functions. I find SEARCH mode adequate for my monitoring needs - your needs may be different.
A few notes you may be interested in (and what makes the BC 245 so cool!):
While in SEARCH mode you can easily block unwanted Talkgroups. For example if you want to monitor police activity simply press L/O each time a nonpolice group comes on. You can lock out up to 200 talk groups.
IF something interesting begins happening on a certain talkgroup and you wish to monitor all of the talk and not miss anything - press HOLD and it will stay on that group. When the action is over press SRCH to begin hearing all (nonblocked) talkgroups again.
Pages 43 thru 47 of The Operating Guide does explain the SEARCH mode functions and has tips.
The BC 245 XLT has loads of options to narrow your search - using XPAND - SCAN - DIIRECT ENTRY and setting Priority - all are covered in the operating guide.
Special notes:
IN CASE OF BLANK or EMPTY locations: Enter the frequency of a nonlocal NOAA station. This does work since the signal is too weak to be picked up and gives you something to "plug" into that empty slot since 000.000 will be locked out. It will not slow down or interfere with your monitoring of the system at all.
For each blank location simply enter the NOAA freq that you can't pick up in your area - for my area it is 162.400.
The scanner will warn you when you enter the same freq again - what the scanner is doing is gently reminding you that you've already programmed that freq - ignore the warning and press E to enter it. Press HOLD to go to the next entry - if another blank is needed simply enter the NOAA freq again (and again ignore the "warning" of duplicate entries.)
It is extremely important to have the blank locations filled! And NOT locked out!
The CONTROL Freq is THE most important freq you will enter - when you enter it as you press "E" you will hear a loud hissing roar, beeps, chirps - DO NOT Lock it out - once you enter the next freq and press "E" it will no longer annoy you. Control (it transmits DATA as opposed to voice) freqs carry all the vital info your scanner (and EDACS) needs to determine channels, talk groups, etc. - it literally "tells' the scanner you're monitoring an EDACS trunking system. A Control freq that's accidentally been locked out or incorrectly entered will make it impossible to monitor the system in trunk mode.
Also - as you program the freqs you may hear transmissions - this is normal - you are basically hearing what you would if you simply "scanned" the freq. Remember - in these steps all you're doing is inputting the freqs EDACS uses so that the scanner knows and remembers the freq and the order it needs to monitor once you enter trunk mode.
Missing Parts of the Transmissions?
If you don't have ALL the freqs programmed, or if one is out of order - you'll miss some replies. If you find you're missing parts of a conversation - and you determine it's NOT typical noise or fade out - recheck your list and that you've entered all the freqs in the correct order. Please note I don't mean "clipped" or incomplete transmissions due to scan delays or normal interference (often you're not the only one having problems - you'll hear the talkgroups ask for a repeat or inform the talker they are "unreadable.") It will become obvious after monitoring a few hours whether you may be missing an entire freq somewhere. If you're missing a LOT of calls then you may have an outdated list with only a few correct working freqs. Also verify you have the scanner set to "Ed" for trunktracking on that band!
If you're having seemingly insurmountable problems, then reset the scanner. Doing this starts you off with a clean slate. Understand this resets the scanner back to the default settings. All your freqs and settings will be erased. You will lose ALL the freqs you entered - so depending how many freqs you have stored determines how drastic a step this may be.
If you wish to reset the scanner do the following:
1 Turn off scanner.
2 Press and hold 2, 9 and "''MAN"
3 Turn on Scanner while still holding those three keys.
4 "Clear" will appear in display confirming ALL freqs and settings have been erased and you are back at the default settings.
5. Turn off then back on.
Final Review - Troubleshooting Common errors:
If after programming you still fail to receive check the following common errors:
1) System is not an EDACS
2) You are not using a current or correct freq list
Program or scanner errors:
3) You have not selected the correct Trunking option: should be "Ed" (An "E" will appear on the left side of the display when in trunk mode.)
4) Incorrect control freq (the one that makes all the noise in regular scan mode) OR you have locked it out in error.
5) The scanner is not in trunk mode - press (TRNK) (If you are in regular scan mode the scanner will stop at the Control freq and remain there. So it's easy to realize you're not in Trunk mode.)
6) You have entered incorrect freqs - confirm by reviewing all your entries.
7) You have the freqs out of order.
8) You have incorrectly input a blank location (entering a "0" or "000.000" will NOT work since the scanner will automatically lock out the a zero freq. Input the non-local NOAA freq for each blank location.
9) Missing parts of a conversation likely means you've skipped a freq or accidentally locked one out.
Links for More Info on EDACS and the BC 245XLT Trunk Tracker II
For a list and links of available software (freeware):
home.earthlink.net/~dougfisher/scanner.html
For info and discussions of the BC 245 XLT:
http://inscoe.org/load.cgi?bc245
For extensive info on EDACS
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©:2006 Spectre13.com
