1. Please make sure you are using the exact connector that came with
your scanner to hook it up with you computer, don't use a usb port
adapter.I know it's a pain in the behind to hook it up to the back of
the computer..I've met a few guys who had this problem too.
If you are using an adapter, you have to readjust which port it is
using..The older kind they give you from uniden uses port 1.Your usb
adapters use another.I can't tell you which one it is without looking @
your cpu.

2. I have a few bad feqs soundwise but I only adjust them if they are
real bad.

3 I took that lame battery pack outta my 296, cut the wires and hooked
it up instead to a battery holder I took out of a cheap radio.I
recharge those and only put them in when I take the scanner outside.
You can easily take the battery pack out, it clips into the back of the
scanner.