BCT15X Talk Group ID Formats, Fleet Maps & Band Plans

Summary: Reference for entering Talk Group IDs correctly on Motorola, EDACS and LTR systems, plus how Motorola fleet maps and custom band plans work.

Entering a Talk Group ID

Every trunked system type has its own ID format, so enter IDs exactly as your source data lists them. Press the decimal key to enter the hyphen.

• Motorola Type I – BFFF-SS: B is the block number (1 digit), F the fleet (2-3 digits), S the sub-fleet (1-2 digits). If you try entering a hex ID on a Type I system, the scanner treats it as decimal.
• Motorola Type II – either decimal (numbers only, up to 5 digits) or hexadecimal (up to 3 characters; select the first hex character 0-F, move the cursor right and select the next, then press YES).
• EDACS Wide/Narrow (AFS) – AA-FFS: agency 00-15, fleet 00-15, sub-fleet 0-7. Leave the fleet or sub-fleet empty to make it a wildcard: 15- matches every ID for agency 15 and 15-04- matches every ID for agency 15 fleet 4.
• LTR – AHHUUU: area code (0 or 1), home repeater (01-20), user ID (000-254). Leave the user ID empty for a wildcard: 1-15- matches everything for area 1, repeater 15.
• I-Call – press the decimal key to enter a lower-case “i” followed by the ID (for example i1234). Enter i0 in decimal (or plain i in hex) to monitor all I-Calls.

Choose the format the system uses with Set ID Format: Dec (all trunked systems), Hex (Motorola only on this scanner) or AFS (EDACS Wide/Narrow only). The BCT15X manual’s P25 talk-group format entries apply to other Uniden models, not the BCT15X.

Motorola Fleet Maps

Motorola Type I and hybrid systems need a fleet map, which tells the scanner how to split each talk group ID into fleet and sub-fleet. In Edit Sys Option, choose Edit Fleet Map, then select one of the 16 presets or Custom.

Talk Group IDs run from 0 to 65,535. The system divides them into eight equal blocks of 8,192 IDs (block 0 is 0-8191, block 1 is 8192-16383, and so on up to block 7 at 57344-65535). Each block is given a size code that describes how the control channel structures the IDs in it:

• Code 0 – treated as a Type II ID
• 1 – 128 fleets / 4 sub-fleets / 16 IDs
• 2 – 16 / 8 / 64
• 3 – 8 / 8 / 128
• 4 – 1 / 16 / 512
• 5 – 64 / 4 / 32
• 6 – 32 / 8 / 32
• 7 – 32 / 4 / 64
• 8 – 16 / 4 / 128
• 9 – 8 / 4 / 256
• 10 – 4 / 8 / 256
• 11 – 2 / 16 / 256
• 12, 13 and 14 use two, four and eight blocks respectively

Not every code is allowed in every block: block 0 accepts 0-14, blocks 1-4 accept 0-13, blocks 5-6 accept 0-12 and block 7 accepts 0-11. Codes 12-14 take up more than one block, so the blocks that follow are consumed by them.

For the presets, Preset 1 uses code 11 in every block and Preset 2 uses code 4 in every block, while the other presets mix codes. If your system’s fleet map isn’t a preset, use Custom and set each block from your reference data.

Motorola Band Plans

Motorola sites need a band plan so the scanner can work out the actual voice frequency from the channel numbers sent on the control channel. In Edit Site, choose Edit Band Plan and pick 800/900 Standard, 800 Splinter, or Custom.

Custom plans are needed for Motorola VHF, UHF and rebanded 800 MHz systems. You can define up to six band plan entries. For each entry set:

• Base Freq – the lower limit, and the upper limit
• Offset
• Spacing – the channel spacing in kHz, chosen from a list from 5.00 up to 100.00 kHz (including 6.25, 12.50, 15.00, 20.00 and 25.00 kHz)

For a standard rebanded 800 MHz system, create an 800 MHz Custom system and set Band Plan 1 to a lower base of 851.025 MHz and an upper base of 854.000 MHz with an offset of 440, positive polarity, and 25 kHz spacing. Set Band Plan 2 to 851.0125 MHz (lower) and 868.9875 MHz (upper) with an offset of 0, positive polarity, and 25 kHz spacing.

Working Out the Upper Base Frequency

When your source (such as RadioReference) gives you only the lower base frequency, you calculate the upper one:

• Single band plan: Upper = Base + ((759 – Offset) x Step)
• Multiple band plans: For each entry, Upper = Base + ((Offset of the next entry – 1 – Offset of this entry) x Step). For the last entry, use 760 as the next offset.

Worked example with three entries A (155.4150 MHz, 15.0 kHz, offset 380), B (157.2000, 12.5, 436) and C (157.4700, 15.0, 454):

• A: 155.415 + (436 – 1 – 380) x 0.015 = 155.415 + 0.825 = 156.240 MHz
• B: 157.200 + (454 – 1 – 436) x 0.0125 = 157.200 + 0.2125 = 157.4125 MHz
• C: 157.470 + (760 – 1 – 454) x 0.015 = 157.470 + 4.575 = 162.045 MHz