BCT15X Programming a Trunked System (Motorola, EDACS & LTR)

Summary: How to create a trunked system on the BCT15X: the system, its sites and control-channel frequencies, and the talk groups you want to hear.

The Order of Work

Trunked systems have two halves. The first half is enough to search the system; the second half lets you scan just the talk groups you care about:

1. Create the system (choose the system type)
2. Create at least one site
3. Create at least one frequency in each site
4. (Scanning only) Create a channel group and channels (talk groups)

Once the system and at least one site are in place, you can use ID Search, which stops on any traffic for talk groups you haven’t locked out. To use ID Scan, you also program the talk groups you want as channels; the scanner then stops only on those.

You can’t change the type of a system after you create it. Delete it and start again if you get the type wrong.

Step 1: Create the System

1. Program System, then New System.
2. Choose the type: MOT for any Motorola system, EDCS for EDACS (then WIDE/NARROW or SCAT), or LT for LTR.
3. Tap YES to confirm and rename it with Edit Name if you like.

Recommended and optional system properties include Edit Name, Set Number Tag, Set Record, Set Delay Time, Emergency Alert, Set ID Format, ID Scan/Search, Priority ID Scan, plus the review and clear options for locked-out talk group IDs. Motorola systems additionally need an Edit Fleet Map if they’re Type I or Type I/II hybrid, and have Set Status Bit and Set End Code.

Step 2: Create a Site

Each Motorola, EDACS or LTR system needs at least one site and can have up to 256. An EDACS SCAT system has exactly one site.

1. On Program System, select the system.
2. Go to Edit Site and choose New Site. It gets a default name like Site 001-001 MOT (system index, site number, then a three-letter type code EDC, LTR, MOT).
3. Set the site properties (below).

Site properties:

• Motorola: the band plan is required – see BCT15X Talk Group ID Formats, Fleet Maps & Band Plans.
• EDACS Wide/Narrow: Set Site Type (Wide or Narrow) is required.
• All types: Edit Name, Set Quick Key, Set Attenuator, Set Hold Time, Set LocationInfo, Set Lockout, Set Modulation, Set State and Set Startup Key.

Step 3: Add the Site’s Frequencies

1. In Edit Site, select the site and go to Set Frequencies, then New Frequency.
2. Enter at least one frequency, normally the control channel(s). The rules: no duplicate frequencies in a site, at least 500 frequencies per site (up to 1,000 depending on how many talk groups the system contains).
3. For LTR and EDACS Wide/Narrow systems the scanner also asks for a Logical Channel Number (LCN) – 1 to 20 for LTR, 1 to 30 for EDACS. LCNs matter, so enter them carefully from your source data.
4. You can lock out a frequency. If you lock out a system’s control channel, the system won’t be scanned.

For EDACS SCAT systems you can also set a Number Tag, Volume Offset and Record flag per frequency.

Step 4: Create Groups and Talk Groups (for ID Scan)

1. On Program System, choose the system, then Edit Group and New Group (up to 20 groups).
2. Under Edit Channel choose New Channel and enter the Talk Group ID in the format the system uses (see the next article).
3. Set the optional properties: Edit Name, Set Number Tag, Set Alert, Set Record, Set Lockout, Set Priority, Volume Offset. Each trunked system holds up to 500 talk-group channels.

Useful System Options

• ID Scan/Search – choose whether to hear only your programmed talk groups or everything not locked out.
• Priority ID Scan – turn on so priority-flagged talk groups in this system are checked during priority scanning. This needs the system option on and the talk group set as priority. Trunked priority only works while scanning that system’s control channel (or, for Motorola, any channel in the system).
• Emergency Alert – sound a tone and flash the light if an active talk group contains an emergency flag.
• Rvw ID:Srch L/O and Clr All L/O IDs – review and clear locked-out talk group IDs.
• Set State – link the system to a US state or Canadian province.

Squawker PC

Important: Squawker PC’s BCT15X Programmer currently works with conventional systems only. The System Type column offers MOT, EDC, EDS and LTR, but there is no way to enter talk group IDs in the Programmer, so it can’t produce working trunked programming. Program trunked systems on the scanner itself using this article, or with other software.

Also remember that a Squawker PC write erases everything already on the scanner, including trunked systems you’ve entered by hand. Read the scanner and take a backup first – see Reading, Backing Up & Restoring – BCT15X/UBC3500XLT/UBC800XLT and Model Differences – BCT15X, UBC3500XLT & UBC800XLT. For the full story see BCT15X Loading Frequencies From Squawker PC & Squawker Online.

Worksheets

Planning worksheets exist for Motorola, EDACS and LTR systems, and they’re a good way to organise system data before you start entering it. Copying your first successful system with Copy System is often quicker than starting from scratch when you add a similar one.