UBCD3600XLT Understanding the Memory: Favorites Lists, Systems, Sites, Departments & Channels

Summary: How the UBCD3600XLT organises its memory. It doesn’t use the banks and channels of older scanners, so it’s worth understanding before you start programming.

The Structure

Everything is stored on the microSD card and follows the RadioReference database structure:

Favorites List > System > Site (trunked only) and Department > Channel

• Favorites List – a collection of systems that you choose to monitor together. You can save up to 256 lists in the scanner (and in Sentinel) and associate them with any or all of your profiles. You can monitor one or more lists at a time and/or the full database. You can also export lists to a file to share them.
• System – holds all of the sites, departments and channels of one radio system, conventional or trunked.
• Site – inside a trunked system. A site holds the trunking frequencies (and any band plan information needed). Each trunked system needs at least one site, and some have several.
• Department – inside a system. A department holds the channels: frequencies for conventional systems, or IDs (talkgroups) for trunked systems. If you know Uniden’s DMA (Dynamic Memory Architecture) scanners, think of a department as being like a channel group.
• Channel – a conventional frequency or a trunked ID.

How You Fill It

• Easiest: while scanning from the full database, save channels you like into a Favorites List.
• From the database: add whole systems (not single sites), departments and channels into a Favorites List.
• From scratch: program new systems, departments, sites and channels on the scanner, or with Sentinel.
• From UKAFG tools: load UK and other frequencies with Squawker PC or a Squawker Online export – see UBCD3600XLT Loading Frequencies From Squawker PC & Squawker Online.

Deleting

Deleting a profile doesn’t delete the Favorites Lists associated with it. Deleting a Favorites List removes it from every profile.

Quick Save

If you store a frequency or talkgroup while scanning without choosing a place for it, the scanner puts it in a Quick Save Favorites List, in a Quick Save System, in a Quick Save Department, with no quick keys assigned. See UBCD3600XLT Programming Departments, Channels & Quick-Storing.

Key Concepts

• Quick Keys – 100 (0-99) for each of lists, systems and departments. They enable and disable items while scanning. Enabling or disabling isn’t the same as Avoiding or Monitoring on/off.
• Search Keys – keys 1, 2 and 3 can start a Custom Search, Tone-Out Search or Close Call Search.
• Startup Keys – 0-9 assigned to Favorites Lists, so that a chosen set of lists is enabled when you power up holding the number.
• Number Tags – 0-99 for Favorites Lists and Systems, 0-999 for channels, for quick navigation.
• Alerts – a channel or unit ID, a Close Call hit, an emergency flag or a tone-out hit can trigger a tone (9 patterns, 15 levels), LED colour (7 colours) and a flash pattern.

These are covered in UBCD3600XLT Scanning: Quick Keys, Startup Keys & Scan Order and UBCD3600XLT Holding, Avoids, Number Tags & Scan-Mode Tools.