In article ,
David M. Hitchner wrote:
Also, Uniden now publishes the control codes for there scanners on their web
site. Another good reference is
http://www.freqofnature.com/software/protocols.html

Radio Shack scanners (except for those made by Uniden) do not allow the
scanner to be actively controlled or monitored through software. Only
programming of the scanner memory is allowed which is why I have avoided
those scanners.

That is good to know. As a Linux/UNIX/FreeBSD user and general
electronics tinkerer who happens to be blind, that kind of capability
is more than just another bell or whistle. It's the difference
between being able to really use the scanner and having the impulse to
drop kick it in to orbit.
I was thrilled to find
out how much I could use my BC780. The freqofnature site was where I
got the protocols.html document and I first started messing with the
780 by using an old DOS P.C. running Kermit in terminal emulation
mode. You can even set up hillbilly scanner control programs just by
writing kermit scripts. I have had a ball since one can read the
display and or various parts of it. That is the opposite of the
normal state of affairs in which, if you can't see the screen, you're
out of luck if you happen to hit the wrong button and wonder now why
it isn't doing anything.:-(

As an amateur radio operator, I would like to find a modern
transceiver with as much control as the Unidens have since setting
such things as CTCSS and memory programming are much easier if one can
use some means to directly read back information. For transmitters,
this is even more important since we hams, like any other licensed
users of the radio spectrum need to be sure we are operating within
the correct frequencies. It is a neighborly thing to do and the law
also says we must.

The ability to remotely control the functions of the scanner
and to read its operating parameters is a big force multiplier.
I have a BC780 set up at home that I can listen to from work or
anywhere I am on the Internet. I can send control commands to it and
even tell what channel or frequency I am on remotely.

If we ever get digital APCO25 trunking in this neck of the
woods, I will have to buy a newer scanner to receive it and hope that
I can get one that has the same digital control methods as the BC780.

In North-central Oklahoma, our local emergency services still
use a lot of discrete channels and CTCSS, but our Highway Patroll has
a couple of SmartZone systems in the Tulsa and Oklahoma City areas
that are audible from Stillwater and work perfectly on the BC780. I
can even capture the ID's in a file and sort them from busiest to
least used by using normal UNIX tools such as sort and uniq.

You need to set search mode and then be sure ID displaying is
on with IDN and the ID's will stream out with each transmission.
--

Martin McCormick WB5AGZ Stillwater, OK
Information Technology Division Network Operations Group