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

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.

Thanks,


Michel