Control Freq Jr™
Instructions

Last Updated January 25, 2002
www.freqofnature.com

Control Freq Jr™ is a software program that quickly and easily programs your Uniden BC245XLT or BC780XLT radio scanner using standard file types like Excel spreadsheets, DBase files and comma delimited text files.

Control Freq Jr™ is not a full blown scanner control program even though it does have some functions found in scanner control programs.

The Control Freq Jr™ project began as a side project for a scanner control software program called Control Freq™. The Control Freq™ project took a back seat to all my other projects simply because the need was no longer there with so many other scanner control programs being released. Control Freq Jr™, then known as the BC245eXLT project, was put aside as well since the initial goal was for it to become a part of the larger scanner control software.

Features

o Quickly program channel information including frequency, delay, lockout and priority.
o Program trunk system frequencies.
o Program talk group IDs.
o Debug window to view the raw data being sent to and from the scanner.
o Command line for sending commands to the scanner (Includes a list of commands with documentation).
o Virtual keypad to control the scanner.

Instructions

Even though most of these instructions will pertain to both the BC245XLT and the BC780XLT they have been specifically written for the Uniden BC245XLT.

Setting the scanners baud rate
There are no communication settings because the software adapts to the settings of the scanner but for best performance you will want to set the scanner to operate at it's highest speed (19,200bps). The factory default baud rate is 9600, to change the default baud rate follow these instructions.

1. Turn the scanner off.
2. Hold the E button while turning the scanner back on.
3. '1 SCANr' will be displayed in the LCD window.
4. Press the Up Arrow key once. The LCD window should now display '2 PCCON'
5. Press  E. The default baud rate will now be displayed in the LCD window 'bps  9600'
6. Press the Up Arrow until you come to 19200.
7. Press the E key .. nothing will appear to happen but trust me .. it's now set at 19200.

Connecting the scanner to the computer
The BC245XLT comes with a data cable to connect it to the serial port of your computer (see the BC245XLT manual for instructions). Once you have the scanner attached to the computer turn the scanner on then hold down the E key for three seconds until you hear a beep. The keypad lock icon will flash in the lower right side of the LCD window. Your scanner is now in remote control mode. The scanners keypad will be locked. To exit remote control mode repeat the same procedure by holding down the E key three seconds until the scanner beeps. Your ready to run the software.

Note: Once the scanner has accepted commands from the software the only way to get the scanner out of remote mode is to either exit the software by selecting File then Exit or turn the scanner off and then back on and then hold the E key down for three seconds until you hear a beep.

Starting the software
The software, once installed, should be on your program menu as 'Control Freq Jr'. If you see the following message screen then that means that either your scanner is not in computer control mode or it's not connected to the computer.

Make sure you scanner is in remote mode and that it's connected to the computer. Press the OK button and the software will re-negotiate with the scanner.

Quick tour

1 File/Open/Exit These standard windows commands should be self explanatory. When you exit the software using the File/Exit command it will take the scanner out of remote control mode and leave the LCD light turned on. If you exit the software without going through the File/Exit command then the scanner stays in remote control mode. To get it out of remote control mode, turn the scanner off and then back on, hold the E key down three seconds until it beeps. View/Keypad This toggles the virtual keypad on and off. About This is where you will find the version number of the software.

2 Grid view. This is where your Excel spreadsheet or other data file will be displayed after you open it. Your database or spreadsheet should include header information on the first line. The header in your spreadsheet of database will displayed as the header in the grid view of the software. In this example the header (first row of my spreadsheet) is Channel, Description, Frequency, Delay, Lockout.

3-6 Excel columns/fields. Once you open your Excel spreadsheet or database, using the File/Open command, your fields (The top row of your spreadsheet) will be listed in these pull down combo boxes. Select the appropriate field for each combo box. If your spreadsheet does not have header information then just the column number will be listed in these combo boxes. In our example we selected column 3 as the frequency, column 4 as the delay and column 5 as the lockout.

7 Trunk system type. This is for use when programming trunk frequencies. Select the appropriate trunk system or select 'Conventional' for non-trunk system programming. You can only program one trunk system at a time and you can not program trunk system and conventional frequencies at the same time. What I do when I'm reprogramming my entire scanner is I store each bank in a separate spreadsheet then I program each spreadsheet into whichever bank I feel like putting them in. The programming of the scanner is quite quick so this isn't as big of a chore as it sounds. Once your ready to program the scanner just click the program button and in just a few seconds it's programmed. Quick and easy.

8 Talk group IDs.  When you want to program talk groups you will select the appropriate column from your spreadsheet here. You MUST be in trunk mode on the trunk system that you want to program. If you want to program just a few talk group IDs in each scanlist then you will want to fill up the empty talk group channels on your spreadsheet with zeros (See screen shot below). The software will start in scanlist A, channel 1 and increment the scanlists and channels until it runs out of data or reaches the last scanlist and channel.

9 This button programs frequencies.

10 This button programs talkgroups.

11 Start Channel. This is the channel to start from when programming frequencies. If you wanted to start from bank 3 you would select 61 as the start channel (The first channel in bank 3).

12 Scanner Type. This is automatically set when the software first starts, however you can manually over ride the software by selecting your scanner model here.

13 Command line. This is where you can send commands directly to the scanner.

14 Debug window. This was initially used for debugging the software but I left it in because some people might find it educational, interesting or at least mesmerizing. The commands sent to the scanner are preceded by 'Cmd>'

15 Keypad. The Keypad is just that, a virtual keypad for controlling the scanner. It's not pretty but it's functional. These buttons change depending on the scanner model you have. (See your scanner radio owners manual for instructions on these buttons.)

Tips for setting up your Excel spreadsheet or Database
There's nothing specials about setting up your spreadsheets just as long as your data starts on the second row and not the first row. Easy enough? You can find several example spreadsheet at this URL http://www.freqofnature.com/software/xls

Note: -1 means TRUE and 0 means FALSE in the Delay and Lockout fields.

Here are a couple of examples. This first one is my spreadsheet of Simi Valley Police frequencies (My favorite to monitor). As you can see, the first row of the spreadsheet contains the heading descriptions of the columns and the data starts on the second row.

Simi Valley Police Department.xls spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel

Below is an example programming a trunked radio system. This is the County Of Los Angeles EDACS radio system. Notice I've selected the first column '1 :Frequency' as the FREQUENCY and the third column '3 :Decimal' for the TALKGROUP. I selected the Decimal version of the talkgroup because at this time EDACS fleet codes are not supported by the software.

I've selected to put this in my bank 5 which starts with channel 121. Now I just press the Frequency Program button to program the frequencies .. put the scanner in trunk mode to monitor the trunk radio system and press the Talkgroup Program button to add my selection of talk group IDs.

If you have any questions or comments then please e-mail me at tracy@freqofnature.com and don't forget to check out the web site at www.freqofnature.com

Enjoy!