In article .com,
says...
On Jun 11, 6:29 pm, "Dave Ferguson" wrote:
The user's manual that came with it is probably the worst manual I've
ever read. Only today I found out about squelch. The manual said to
set the squelch, but it didn't explain what squelch was and what to
set it to. So, I put it in the middle when I tried the scanner and
left it there.

I would love to give it another try, but I am very sceptical now
unless I can see somebody show it to me in my area...

Best thing I can tell you is to check the forum for Californiahttp://www.radioreference.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=37and place a
request for help.
I'm positive you will find someone close to your area who would be willing
to give you a hand..

Dave

thank you guys for all the info.

I think the california forum will be usefull. I went back to Fry's
tonight, and I also went to RadioShack. Nobody there was of any help
and couldn't tell me anything I didn't know yet. What I would really
like to know is:
1) What can one expect to find when one does an automatic search (How
do I know the thing works)

You should hear a lot of traffic. Some freqs should be very busy, like
local police, and the airband 118-138mhz AM mode should have a lot of
San Francisco traffic on it. You won't, or probably won't hear the
towers very well, if at all, but the planes can be heard from a long
ways away, because of the height they are at.

2) How do you listen to a trunking channel (i.e., do you just program
1 frequency. I thought multiple sources share the same frequency)

You have to put the radio into trunking mode to do it right, but you can
listen to a NON digital one just by putting the freqs in and scanning
them. When it gets busy, it's annoying to listen to that way, and
following a conversation, or chase (like I did last night) is nearly
impossible.

3) How can you tell if a Police Department uses digital technology (is
this mentioned on the frequencies website on radioreference.com)

Yes, it is on radioreference.

4) How do I know my antenna is good enough. Is the stock antenna for
the 396T good enough. I live in the hills, so I though I have best
reception. It seems there's a tower almost in my backyard).

You should be ok with the stock one. Too much antenna on a handheld is
sometimes a problem (It overloads the radio). You can always get one
later on.

5) I read somewhere that you need a special antenna (800 Mz). Not sure
what it is for. There's also 400Mhz antenna;s. Do they all fit?

You probably don't need it, and don't worry about it for now.


As you can see. I'm really a novice. I think I expect too much to be
done for me. It's just I don't feel like spending the $600 for
something I might not be able to use.

$600 is too much. About $520 is the going price:

http://www.scannerworld.com/

http://www.usascan.com/files/bcd396T.cfm

I would make the drive to scanners unlimited, in San Carlos, and get
info and a radio from them. They can probably program it for you, or
tell you who to talk to in your area to get the right freqs. The local
scanner group (There has to be one) members will know about everything
there is to know about your local area.

I'm a customer, not connected in any way:

http://www.scannersunlimited.com/


BDK


Thanks,


Michel