Scan75 Control Program User ManualScan75 Icon

A program to control the Uniden Bearcat UBC75XLT,  BC75XLT and SR30C Scanners

© Nick Bailey 2019-2023

http://www.nick-bailey.co.uk/scan75

You are requested to fully read this and any other documentation prior to installing and using the Program.

In using the Program you are agreeing to accept all of the terms and conditions stated herein.

Manual Version 1.2.0.0 - 31 July 2023

Contents Index

Author and Copyright Information

This program has been written by Nick Bailey and is his sole Copyright.

Scan75 Control Program © Nick Bailey 2019-2023

Debra Logo      Please Donate to my supported charity which I would very much appreciate, as will they, and will keep me developing and supporting the programs.

The Program is currently Freeware (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeware) with a Careware/Charity status and objective (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Careware).  It operates with no limitations.  The author reserves the right to change the program status and limitations on any future release.  Existing releases will retain their status and your right to use them but support may not be available. 

This document may mention Scan75, Scan75 Program or Scan75 Control Program. They are the one and the same and are to be read, understood and respected as being so and thus covered by the Copyright, Warranty, Liability and License Agreements detailed here and in Section/Chapter 7.0 of this document.

The creator of this program asserts that the appearance of the user interface screens is a work art and therefore attracts Copyright protection under UK and EU law.

This product contains Uniden proprietary and/or copyright control codes. Used with permission.

My website can be found at http://www.nick-bailey.co.uk and for this program at http://www.nick-bailey.co.uk/scan75

My contact Email address is:

scan75 @ nick-bailey . co . uk

Preface

Welcome to the Scan75 Control Program specifically designed for controlling the Uniden Bearcat UBC75XLT, BC75AT, SR30C and Albrecht AE75H scanners.

The UBC75XLT is a European market orientated scanner
The BC75XLT is an American market orientated scanner
The SR30C is an American market orientated scanner
The AE75H is a European market orientated scanner based on an Albrecht licensed clone of the UBC75XTL scanner

These scanners are supported by some commercial programs but these are either expensive or lack real time control functions and only support data loading and editing.  Scan75 supports both data management and real time control of these scanners.

All the above reasons are why I have written the Scan75 Control Program.

This program supports both the UBC75XLT, BC75XLT, SR30C and AE75H scanners.  However I must point out that as I do not have the BC75XLT, SR30C and AE75H scanners to test against there may be some issues I may have to resolve.  I will only know of these issues if people are kind enough to let me know what they are.

I would also like to take this opportunity to say a BIG thank you to Chris Taylor and Moonraker (UK) Limited who sent me a UBC75XLT scanner so I can support you folk AND hopefully generate some new charitable donations to the DEBRA charity. As you know my software is free and fully supported (even at weekends) and many kind people have made donations to DEBRA.

PLEASE NOTE!   It may be illegal to listen to or record certain types of, or even *any*, radio transmission/traffic in your particular Country, State or Jurisdiction.   It is your responsibility to check the legality of listening to or recording any transmission.  This program should ONLY be used in compliance with the laws of your particular Country, State or Jurisdiction.

Please read this manual in conjunction with your scanner's Owner's User Manual. 

Donate To DEBRA Charity

The Program is currently Freeware (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeware) with a Careware/Charity status and objective (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Careware).  It operates with no limitations.  The author reserves the right to change the program status and limitations on any future release.  Existing releases will retain their status and your right to use them but support may not be available. 

Debra Logo  Please Donate to DEBRA my supported charity which I would very much appreciate, as will they, and will keep me developing and supporting the programs.

Send Me Your Comments

After you have had the opportunity to use Scan75 for a while it would be appreciated if you could send me your comments, good or bad.  You can do this via the "Comments" item on the menu bar or by visiting the Scan75 website page.

Program Overview

The program is a standalone portable application that only requires Microsoft Windows and the Microsoft .NET  V4.5 platform to be installed.  The program is designed to fully function with a scanner attached.   Without and attached scanner then functionality is limited.
 
The User Interface design has been created to give maximum and easy control from a single Main Control Panel form.  There are also three other important user interface forms that cater for the Viewing and Editing of Scan Channels, Search Frequencies, and Global Lockout Frequencies.  Use of  other forms/panels has been limited to confirmation dialogs, error messages, options, file management and other items not frequently used. 

HELP - All control groups, keys, buttons and displays have "Mouse Over" help prompts.  The Menu Help function will display the Scan75-Manual.html in your default Web Browser.
 
Controls are grouped together into the following main logical function groups (some of which contain sub groups):
  1. Scanner General Controls
  2. Band Plan Settings
  3. Priority Mode Settings
  4. Search/Close Call Settings
  5. Global Frequency Lockouts
  6. Close Call Settings
  7. Scan/Search/Service Banks Settings
  8. COM Port Settings
  9. Scanner Display and Scan Control Buttons
  10. Notepad and Autosave
  11. Audio Recorder and Player
These are supported by information displays:
Finally there is the Menu Bar.  Here besides the typical About and Help menu items you will find the following additional scanner functions:
The Global Frequency Lockouts, Scan Banks and Search Banks are supported in View/Edit mode with their own dedicated data entry forms which contain additional functions like Save To File, Print, Add, Delete, Copy, Move and Find.

NOTE! The UBC75XLT, BC75AT, SR30C and AE75H scanners have some differences which affect the program's main panel content depending on which scanner is connected.  This manual will for the most part will use images for the UBC75XLT scanner when describing program controls and functions.  I will however mention differences in the text where appropriate.

The following two sections clearly show the main panel visual differences and a corresponding table of differences.  With these in mind one should have no difficulty in understanding the differences and relevance of documentation.

Program Main Panel for UBC75XLT and AE75H Scanners

The Scanner is in Scan Mode and Hold status. (Note: Model: UBC75XLT number will change to AE75H as appropriate)
 
Scan75 Main Panel with UBC Scanner

Program Main Panel for BC75XLT and SR30C Scanners

The Scanner is in Scan Mode and Hold status. (Note: Model: BC75XLT number will change to SR30C as appropriate)

Scan75 Main Panel with BC125AT

UBC75XLT - BC75XLT - AE75H - SR30C Differences

Item / Function UBC75XLT and AE75H BC75XLT and SR30C
Battery Capacity / Charge Period 14 Hours - 2300mAh 14 Hours - 2300mAh
Backlight High High - BC75XLT
Low and High - SR30C
Band Plan 0 n/a n/a
Band Plan 1 Plan 1 USA
Band Plan 2 Plan 2 Canada
Band Step Size and Modulation Adjustments 25 fixed frequency bands from 25MHz to 960MHz, steps of 5, 6.25, 8.33, 10, 12.5, 20MHz, and AM, FM modulation n/a
Weather Priority Alert WX n/a Yes
Pager Screening n/a n/a
Close Call Bands 6 Bands 5 Bands
Close Call Band Names VHF Low, Civil Air, VHF Hi, UHF VHF Low, Civil Air, VHF Hi, UHF
Modulation Types AM, FM (narrow) AM, NFM
Frequency Range 1 25MHz - 88MHz 25MHz - 54MHz
Frequency Range 2 108MHz - 174MHz 108MHz - 174MHz
Frequency Range 3 n/a n/a
Frequency Range 4 400MHz - 512MHz 406MHz - 512MHz
Number Scan Channels 300 (10 banks of 30 channels) 300 (10 banks of 30 channels) - BC75XLT
500 (10 banks of 50 channels) - SR30C
Service Banks 7 10
Service Banks Names Emergency, Freenet, PMR, Marine, Civil Air, CB Radio, HAM Radio Weather, Police, Fire/Emergency, Marine, Racing, Civil Air, HAM Ham Radio, Railroad, CB Radio, Other/FRS/GMRS/MURS

Program Locale/Region Setting

This program is designed to run in en-GB locale mode where we use the Full Stop/Dot/Period ( "." - ASCII decimal 46) as the decimal mark/separator character and not the Comma ("," - ASCII decimal 44).
 
You DO NOT need to change your system's Region and Language settings to use this program.  You will however have to use the Full Stop/Dot/Period ( "." - ASCII decimal 46) as the decimal mark/separator character when entering data.

Program and Driver Installation

The program is written as a portable application requiring no installation program.   As long as you have Windows and the .NET  V4.5 framework installed then getting the program up and running is simple

Obtaining and Delivery

The program and drivers can be obtained from my web site http://www.nick-bailey.co.uk/scan75.  Here you will find program information, download link and MD5 checksum information so you can validate the integrity of your download.
 
The download will usually consist of a single ZIP file for the program and separate driver .inf files.

Driver Installation

Windows 10 should already have a driver for your Scanner.  When connecting and powering on the scanner for the first time Windows 10 should detect the scanner and install the appropriate driver.
 
For other versions of Windows, or if your Windows 10 does not install the appropriate driver, then please follow these instructions.

If you do not already have a USB driver installed for your scanner then you will have to download and install the appropriate driver for your scanner.   This can be done by following the following steps:
  1. The download directory contains a file named CP210x_Universal_Windows_Driver.zip. 
  2. Download the zip file to a directory of your choice on your PC and extract both files. (NOTE!  This should be a directory on the SAME drive/partition that Windows is installed on, otherwise the driver install may fail!!!!!)
  3. Connect your scanner to a USB port and then power the scanner on.  Windows will start to look/search for a driver.  You can cancel this search or wait for it to it to fail.
  4. If you wait for it to fail then you will be offered an option to manually locate the driver.
  5. If you cancel you can then open Device Manager, navigate to the Ports section where you will find an unknown device.  Open the properties for this device and on the Driver tab you can select to install/update the driver.
  6. With 4) or 5) above you be be shown a dialogue box where you now need to browse and select the directory where downloaded the .inf and .cat files are located.  Windows will  now search for and install the signed driver.
  7. Device Manager will now show/list Silicon Labs CP210x USB to UART Bridge (COMn) in the Ports section.
NOTE!  The Scan75 Control Program will try to locate a powered on scanner on a USB/COM port does.  If the scanner is not powered on or the program fails to find the scanner then you will have to identify and manually select the correct USB port yourself.  See here.

Program Installation

To install the Scan75 Program is very straight forward.  You will have received Scan75 in either a ZIP file or as separate files.  The program has no specific install program and does not make registry changes.

Just follow these simple steps.
  1. Create a directory of your own choice on your PC.  It is suggested to give this directory a name like 'Scan75 Control Program' for easy recognition
  2. Un-ZIP / copy ALL files and folders to the directory you have just created.  Scan75.exe will not run on it's own!
  3. Read the Scan75-ReadMe.txt and Scan-History.txt files.  They have important information 
  4. It is suggested to create a short cut to the Scan75.exe file on your desktop or elsewhere
  5. Optional/Suggested - backup the original distribution file(s) to a safe location
  6. Read the Scan-Manual.html file to familiarise yourself with the program
NOTE! It is suggested that you do not place the program in a system directory like Program Files (x86) or Program Files etc, as these directories require Administrator privileges and you will encounter file write error  issues unless you force the program to Run As Administrator which is not recommended for security reasons.

Program Patch Installation

There may be times when just a Patch Release EXE file on its own is released.  This EXE file must be installed into the program directory of a current Scan75 program installation.  The EXE file will not work on its own.  If you are a new Scan75 user then you must first install the base full release and then apply the patch.

Removal

The Scan75 Program can be simply and fully uninstalled at any time.

CAUTION!  The following steps will completely remove Scan75 Program and all your associated data.   If you want to keep any data files you have created then you should move/copy these files to another directory first.
  1. Delete the folder you created and all the files therein   
  2. Delete the short cut you created (if any)

Upgrade Process

Upgrading to a later version of Scan75 is simple and straight forward.  Upgrading will retain your important configuration files.  Following all the steps of this procedure will also give you a backup version(s) of the program to revert to should you wish or need to.

Warning!  The program will either create or use any existing configuration files it needs.  These files are:
Other files that contain your personal saved data / settings not be overwritten by the installation process as they are not shipped with the Scan75 Control Program.  You are however strongly advised to back these files up for your own protection, together with any of your own user files you have created.

To upgrade follow these simple steps:
  1. Locate your current installation folder
  2. Create a new sub folder named Vn.n.n.n corresponding to the version number of your currently installed version, e.g. V1.0.0.9
  3. Copy ALL the contents of the current installation folder into the new backup Vn.n.n.n sub folder you just created
  4. Un-ZIP / copy the new program release files to the current installation folder and OVERWRITE/REPLACE the existing files
  5. Read the Scan75-ReadMe.txt and Scan75-History.txt files.  They contain important information
  6. Read the Scan75-Manual.html for help or details on any new functions that may have been added
If there are any release specific files or instructions then you will be notified of these on the web site prior to downloading the program.

Running / Program Start-up

Running the program is a simple matter of invoking the scan75.exe file.  This can be done by mouse double clicking the scan75.exe file or via a Windows shortcut link or by using the Windows 'run' command.

Running when Connected to a Powered On Scanner

When the program is started and a powered on scanner is present and connected to the program's currently configured COM port then the program will read ALL the scanner's current settings and data values.   This data will be used by the program as a "statement of fact" regarding the scanner's data and model version. 

Once running then any changes you make via the program will be sent/committed to the scanner.  Any changes you make directly on the scanner will not automatically be sent to the Scan75 Control Program.  In simple terms the Scan75 Control Program is the dog (master) and the scanner is the tail (slave).
 
It is important to understand this Master/Slave (Dog/Tail) operational relationship so that you do not inadvertently lose data. 
 
Where you do make changes on the scanner then you can use the Scanner General Controls/Read button to force the program to completely re-read the scanner.  If you do this then for the duration of the read process the scanner is the master and the program is the slave.  This means that if you have made any changes with the program that you have not saved then they will be overwritten by the Read process.  

Running with No Scanner Connected

When the program is started with no scanner attached, or powered on, or with incorrect manual COM port selection then the program will enter No Scanner Connected mode of operation.  You will have to power on your scanner and select the correct COM port manually or close and restart the program.  When a connection is made then the program will read the scanners data as defined in the above "Connected" state.  See here for information about No Scanner Connected operation.

Controls and Functions

As already mentioned the Main Control Panel contains all the essential controls and functions in one easy to understand and navigate layout.  Controls and Functions are grouped in containing titled and outlined defined areas.

Some controls and functions are disruptive in that the scanner is put into and taken out of Program Mode and doing this will disrupt/stop and reset any Scan, Custom Search or Services Search that is in progress.  Also the scanner will automatically clear it's Close Call Hit Registers.

The non disruptive controls and functions are:
All other controls and functions are disruptive with the aforementioned effect.

Title Bar

Title and Menu Bar Image

The program title bar displays the following information:
The No Scanner Connected message will replace the scanner Model and Firmware information.

Menu Bar

Title and Menu Bar Image

The menu bar is similar to any Windows menu bar.  Here you will find:

DONATE

This will allow you to make a donation to the DEBRA charity.  Please do this in appreciation of this free program and my user support.

Comments

This will allow you to anonymously give any comments you may have about Scan75.

About

About Form Image

About provides the following:
About will display program Name, Version, Copyright and Author information together with Warranty, Liability and License Terms and Conditions and other information.

Check for Program Update

If you press this button then the program will check your version against the latest official full version on the Scan75 website.  The response will look as follows:

Update Info Image

Depending on the version you have you will see one of the following messages:
  1. "You have the latest version so no update is required."
  2. "Your version is NOT up to date.  V1.n.n.n is now AVAILABLE!"
  3. "Your version is later than the official version.  No update available."
The above image shows that we have a version later then the official version.  If you see/have this condition then it means that you are running a "special" patch or test version of the program.
 
Instead of using this manual check you my wish to enable the Automatic Program Update Check on the Options menu.

Please Note!  For both the manual and automatic program update checks no data (other than the update information) is download or installed to your PC.  If you want the updated version of the program then you must go and fetch it yourself.

Help

User Manual

This will open the Scan75 User Manual file Scan75-Manual.html in your default Web Browser.  Besides this help file you will also find that all control groups, keys, buttons and displays have "Mouse Over" help prompts.

Support

This will open the Contact Us web page where you will find the support Email address for Scan75.

Save Scanner Settings

This will save all the program's current scanner settings, channel data, etc. to a file of your choice.  This is in effect a complete backup/snapshot of all data, all selected states and settings.
 
When this file is subsequently loaded then the program will send all the data, states and settings to the scanner.
 
This save is FULL save and the file is marked with "#full#" in the header.  When the saved file is reloaded it will clear and overwrite all the scanner settings.

It it suggested you choose a sensible and informative file name when saving any data so that you can easily identify what the files contain when you load them in the future.

Load Scanner Settings

This will load the settings and data in the chosen file into the program and into the scanner.  The file to be loaded may contain a full backup/snapshot as made with the Save Scanner Settings menu item or may just contain data you have previously selected and used the Save To File function in any of the View/Edit forms.

If the file to be loaded is a FULL save file as marked with "#full#" in the header, then when the file is reloaded it will clear and overwrite all the scanner settings.

If the file to be loaded is a PART save file as marked with "#part#" in the header, then when the file is reloaded it will only update those scanner settings as defined in the file.
 
When you load a data file, if enabled, the Autobackup PREVnnnn function (control via the Options Panel) will first save a copy of the program's current scanners data settings to a PREVnnnn file for safety just in case you have any unsaved work.

Reset Colour Scheme

This will reset the programs background colours to their default values.

The program allows the user to change the background colours used for the Main Panel/Form, Menu Bar, and all Control Groups.  In all there are over 20 definable background areas that can be configured on the main control panel form.
 
To configure an area colour then use a right mouse button click when over the area and then select your chosen colour from the palette table.

Butel .RSF (Butel RSF File Save & load)

This menu has two drop down items.
The program supports the loading and saving of some specific data as would be found in Butel's ARC75 program's user data files.  These load and save functions are specifically provided to allow program interoperability and user data sharing between Scan75 and the Butel ARC75 program. 

The loading and saving of Butel data files are PART and not FULL datasets so when loaded no scanner data is cleared and the file content will just update the current scanner settings.

The specific data field settings supported are:
All of the other scanner and user settings supported by Scan75 are not compatible with Butel's ARC75 program support.
 
If you Load a Butel data file then the Butel file data will overwrite any existing scanner data, as defined by the [C-BANK], [C-CHAN] and [SRLIMIT] values.  [NUMBANKS] and [NUMCHAN] data is ignored.

If you Save a Butel data file then all the above defined fields/records are written.

Options

Options Panel Image

The Options Panel allows you to control the following settings:

Auto PREV File Backup

This function can be turned On or Off by checking or un-checking the check box.

When enabled then every time you load a Scan75 scanner settings file or a Butel .RTS file the program will automatically save the program's scanner data settings to a PREVnnnn.txt file in the 'prev' directory of your normal  file load and save location.

The combo drop down box allows you to set the number of PREVnnnn files you wish to keep.  The default setting for this is 50 files but you can set from 5 to 1000 files should you so wish.  If you set say 100 then at PREV0100.txt the file numbering will wrap back to PREV0001.txt and overwrite existing files.

Virtual Display/Status Refresh Period

The program dynamically determines the best Display/Status Refresh periods when the AUTO check box is checked. The default settings is AUTO. 

You should always use the AUTO Status/Refresh unless you experience specific communications and stability issues.  If you are running natively on a Windows machine then there should be no reason to manually select the refresh period.  Manual selection *may* be required if you are running the program on a MAC or Linux PC.

Should manual configuration be required then the following information will be of interest.

The display on the Main Control Panel and on the right here, show in milliseconds the actual average time (latency) in any given 1 second period the program takes to do the following:
  1. Get all required status data from scanner
  2. Analyse said data
  3. Build and display the virtual scanner display.
A warning sound may be issued and the background colour changes as follows:
For manual settings the you should set the Status Poll Times for GREEN for reliability and command responsiveness. For more modern PCs / laptops then a pole time setting of 20ms to 50ms should be achievable.

You can change the Status Poll Time refresh period from 5ms to 2000ms.  It should be set to the lowest / fastest time possible but not so fast that it is more often than not in the RED zone.  It defaults to the normal/default and conservative value of 300ms. For most people and systems a faster/lower value should be selected.   

When running on a non native Windows PC, e.g. Apple MAC machine, Virtual Machine software or Windows Emulator software, then the Status Poll Time may have to be significantly increased to avoid warnings or errors.

The Mute Status Timer Warning Sound check box when checked will turn off the audio warning system exclamation sound.  It is inevitable that periodically your PC's system performance will be impacted by other events and programs and these could temporarily put Scan75 status times into the Red/Warning zone due to a slower average time.  The more aggressively faster you set the status poll times the more frequently warnings could occur.

Running with ORANGE is normally OK but not advised.   Depending on how deep into the orange you go you may get USB/program response issues.

Running in the RED will cause user interface command issues as the program is spending all it's time attending to status and display duties.  You will almost certainly experience some USB/program response issues.

Battery Display Refresh Time

The battery voltage default update period is every 10 seconds.  This time period can be adjusted 5 seconds and 60 seconds. 

Battery Display Splash Time

On program start-up if a scanner is attached and powered on the Battery Meter will be displayed and will auto close after a default 3 second 'splash' period.  You can change this default time from 0 second to 5 seconds.  If a value of 0 is set then no 'splash' will occur on program start-up.

CB Default Region Setting

Here you can set your default CB region to be used when using the Frequency Prefix Key of  "cb".   Setting a default region will enable you to use a prefix key of just cb as opposed to cbuk, cbeu or cbus.

Air Band Settings

Here you can set that Civil Air Band ATC frequencies will be automatically corrected to the correct real frequency without have to enter the Frequency Prefix Key of  "ab".  Any frequency entered from 108MHz to 137MHz will automatically be corrected to recognised ATC Channel Frequencies thus overriding the Uniden scanner's default 8.33KHz step values. 

This function is also applicable to the Direct Frequency Tuning feature/control.

Notepad Settings

The Notepad and Autosave functions can log the time in GMT or Local time.  For GMT check the Notepad Time in GMT check box. The chosen setting will also be indicated in the Program/PC Clock display by the chosen time setting having a light green coloured background.

Program Update Check

The program can automatically check for updates.  It *always* defaults to never check.  If you leave at the default setting then please remember to occasionally do a manual program update check via the About menu and the Check For Program Update function.

To enable the program to automatically check for updates then check the Enable Automatic Program Update Check check box.  The default interval period in days between update checks is 5 days.  However you can use the Check Every n Days combobox control to select 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 20 or 30 day intervals.
 
The automatic update check will only make a single check per day regardless of how many times the program is started and stopped.
 
Should a later/updated version of the program be available then you will be informed accordingly.  Please Note!  For both the manual and automatic program update checks no data (other than the update information) is download or installed to your PC.  If you want the updated version of the program then you must go and fetch it yourself.

Form Margin Snap Size

Most of the program's main windows/forms can "Snap To" either of the four screen corners or to the screen's top, bottom or sides.  The margin size to which a window/form has to be dragged to, or within, can be set from 0 to 150 pixels.  If a value of 0 is set then the Snap To feature is disabled.  For any other non zero value then when a major window/form is moved to/within the margin snap size then the window/form will snap to the corresponding corner or edge location.

Recording Input, File Name Header and Quality

Here you can choose the recording input source, how the recorded audio files are named and the quality of the recording.  Time is in GMT/UTC or Local as determined by the option setting Program Time Settings in GMT/UTC checkbox.

All available sound inputs available for recording from are listed in the selection box.  By default when the program starts the current default input as set in Windows is selected and highlighted in blue.  Should you wish to change the input source then select one of the other listed input items.  If you want this to be your default input then you should change your default input source in Windows.
 

If Frequency and Modulation is selected then the file names will be of the form "frequency-modulation-yymmdd-hhmmss-timezone.wav".  For example 01202250-AM-141108-104737-LCL.wav is a recording of frequency 120.2250 MHz in AM modulation, on year 2014, month 11, day 08, started at time 10 hours, 47 minutes and 37 seconds Local Time.

Example:

01180083-AM-200310-185556-LCL.wav

If Channel Number(s), Band or Service is selected then the file names will be of the form "name-yymmdd-hhmmss-timezone.wav".   In this form then name will be either the Scan Banks Channel Number(s), or the Search Bank Name or the Services Bank Name depending on the type of scan being done.

Examples:
The Sample Rate changes the quality of the recorded WAV file.  Sample rates of 11025, 22050 and 44100.  For basic voice transmissions then the default rate of 11025 is more than adequate.  For medium quality music recording then 22050 can be chosen.  For CD/HiFi quality then 44100 should be chosen.  Please note that WAV files even at a sample rate of 11025 are large in size and going from 11025 to 44100 will quadruple the size of the WAV file.

The option selections are disabled if the program is currently recording.

WAV File Auto Delete

Depending on your usage of the audio recording function you may find old WAV files building up and taking valuable storage space.

WAV file management and moving/backup is a User responsibility.
 

To aid WAV file management you can choose to enable the WAV File Auto Delete function, to permanently delete WAV files that are older than the selected number of days.  When enabling this function you will get a warning message when the program closes which you should review and check the selected days, after which deletion will occur, is correct. 

The default settings are:  Off/Disabled and 365 days.

If you have enabled WAV Record to Sub Directories then Scan75 will prompt for each directory with WAV files older than the specified number of days.  You can cancel out of each or all remaining directory checks.

WAV Record To Sub Directories

If this option is checked then the recorded WAV audio files will be placed in different sub directories of the .\wav folder.  The target sub directory is determined by the type of scan the scanner is doing:

HTML Frequency and Current Monitor Files

Scan75 can create an HTML Frequency Monitor File a Current Channel Monitor File.  These files are called ScannerFTP.html and Current Channel.txt respectively and reside in Scan75's program directory.

This HTML file contains information regarding the Current Frequency being monitored and optionally the previously monitored frequency information.

Scan75 HTML Frequency Monitor File
 
The option here are:

When setting the HTML Refresh period to small / quick time periods (e.g. 1 second) then if you are also frequently sending this file to a remote web server/site then there is the possibility that the viewer's browser will attempt to refresh/reload the HTML file whilst it is being updated on the web server/site.  When this happens then the browser view of the file will become permanently blank until the user manually refreshes their browser's view (hence the "If this view goes blank then refresh your browser").

The Current Channel Monitor file contains the necessary information for RRUK's Scanner Linker Program (rruklinker.exe) to lookup in their database relevant information for the frequency your scanner is currently listening.  The are no user configurable setting for this file other than Enabled/Disabled.

Please see RRUK's program information on using the "Current Channel.txt" file.

Note! RRUK is a subscription service and operate completely independently.

Note! The Current Channel file is also for use by any other 3rd Party software should they wish to.

Scanner General Controls Group

 Scanner Controls Image
 These are general scanner controls plus specific Power Off/Reset/Read controls.

Volume

Adjust Volume level here using the slider bar.  Set level is also numerically indicated.  This is a non disruptive control.

In addition to the slider there is a volume On/Off button.  If turning the volume to Off then the current volume level is saved and will be restored when the volume is turned back On again.  If the volume is Off and the slider is adjusted to a non zero value then the volume is set back to On.

Squelch

Adjust Squelch level here using the slider bar.  Set level is also numerically indicated. This is a non disruptive control.

In addition to the slider there is a squelch On/Off button.  If turning the squelch to Off then the current squelch level is saved and will be restored when the squelch is turned back On again.  If the squelch is Off and the slider is adjusted to a non zero value then the squelch is set back to On.

Backlight

This button turns the scanner's Backlight ON and OFF on the UBC75XLT, BC75XLT and AE75H scanners.

On the SR30C scanner then it sets Backlight to LOW, HIGH and OFF.

Note!  The scanner will automatically turn it's Backlight OFF after 15 seconds to preserve battery life.

This is non disruptive.

Battery Voltage

The current measured battery voltage is displayed just below the Battery Charge display.  The battery voltage is updated every 10 seconds.  This time period is user adjustable between 5 seconds and 60 seconds via the Options Panel.

If you mouse hover over this display then the pop-up graphic Battery Voltage Charge Meter (here) will be displayed for the duration of the mouse hover event or the meter auto close timeout.

This is non disruptive.

Key Lock

The check box allows the setting of the Key Lock status.

Note!  Setting the Key Lock will block some program functions.

Power Off/Reset/Read Controls

Power Off Scanner

This will initiate a Power Off of the attached scanner.  You will get a confirmation dialogue to confirm the power off.    

Reset Scanner

This will initiate a Factory Reset of the scanner.  All user data will be deleted and the factory defaults settings will be restored.  Before the reset is carried out you will be presented with a Reset confirmation dialog.  Only select OK if you wish to continue with the reset.
 
Note!  As soon as the scanner reset has completed the program will read all the scanner settings and data back.  Please be sure you have saved to file any settings and data you wish to retain as they will be overwritten once the reset is complete.

Read Scanner

This will initiate and immediate Read of the attached scanner.  There are no confirmation dialogues. 

The main uses of this Read function is to allow the program to pick up any changes made directly on scanner itself and not via the program.  i.e. Re-synchronise the program to the scanner.

Band Plan Group

Band Plan Group Image

Here you can see which current Band Plan the scanner is set to.   It is not possible to change the Band Plan with this control.  To change Band Plans you must use the scanner's Power On and Keyboard method.

Note! Available settings depend on the scanner attached.  For the UBC75XLT and AE75H this will be Plan1 or Plan2.  For the BC75XLT and SR30C this will be USA or Canada.

Priority Mode Group

Priorty Mode Group Image

Here you select the Priority Mode of the scanner.  Off, Scan, Scan Plus and Do Not Disturb being the available settings.

Search and Close Call Group

Search / Close Call Group Image

Here you select the Search and Close Call response settings.

Delay has available settings of ON and OFF.

Direction controls the default search direction either Up or Dwn(Down)

Global Frequency Lockouts Group

Global Frequency Lockouts Gropu Image

This control gives access to Viewing and Editing the scanner's stored Global Frequency Locks.

When View/Edit is pressed then a new form is loaded.

View/Edit Global Frequency Lockouts

Global Frequency View/Edit Image

Here you can Add new frequencies to the Global Lockout list.  Entered frequencies are validated against the scanner's permitted frequency ranges/limits.

You can also Select, via the check boxes, those existing frequencies that you may wish to Delete or Save To File.  The Select All / Deselect All, Delete, and Save To File buttons will be appropriately enabled and change their foreground colour to Green to signify their availability. 

This Save To File is a PART save file as marked with "#part#" in the header and when the file is reloaded it will only update those scanner settings as defined in the file.
 
The Print Form button will raise a printer dialogue where you can select the required printer and printer properties to print the form.

Close Call Settings Group

Close Call Setting Group Image

Here you can control the Close Call Settings of the scanner.

Close Call Mode

Set close call mode.  Available settings are: Off, Priority and Do Not Disturb.

Close Call Bands

Set which bands will accept/respond to close call signals.

Available band settings are:  VHF Low, AIR, VHF Hi, and UHF.

Note! At least one band must be set.  If not then VHF Low will automatically be set.

Close Call Alert

Set if a scanner alerts on close call with Beep and/or display Light.

Scan / Search / Services Bank Settings Group

This large group contains the main Scan, Custom Search and Services bank settings

Scan/Search/Services Group Image

Each check box has a mouse over tool tip.  For Scan Banks then this will be Bank n or the Bank Name you have defined.  For Search Banks this will be the Bank n or the Bank Name you have defined and the currently set frequency range.  For Service Banks this will be the Service name.

Scan Bank Settings Group

This gives access to Setting, Viewing and Editing the scanner's Scan Banks and Channel settings.

Here each of the scanner's 10 channel banks can be enabled or disabled for when the scanner is scanning in Scan Mode.

Note!  Although the banks are named Bank 1 to Bank 10 if you have given a bank a Bank Tag Name in the View/Edit panel then this will be shown (possibly truncated) on the main control panel and when you mouse hover over that bank a pop-up will appear with the Bank Tag Name you have actually allocated to the bank.

When View/Edit is pressed then a new form is loaded where you have full control over channel data and settings.

View/Edit Scan Bank Settings

The following new form/panel will open when the View/Edit button is selected.

Note! The BC75XLT and SR30C scanners do not support modulation change so this column will not be visible with these scanners.

Note! The SR30C scanner has 50 channels per bank so one has to use the vertical scroll bar to see channels 31 to 50.


Scan Channel View/Edit Panel Image

Unlike other programs that use a tabbed interface to each Banks data I have chosen to consolidate all the channel data onto a single navigable form with a scrollable grid view of the channel data.
 
The main advantage of doing this is that one can sort the data by column (by clicking column header) and also select data in different banks.

The vertical height of the form/grid has been chosen so that channels are paged up and down in 30 channel / 1 bank chunks at a time.  One page up and down per bank.

Grid Columns / Data Fields

The column/field details (left to right) are as below: (all columns/fields can be sorted by clicking the field/column header)

The following columns/fields are always accessible:
The following columns/fields are only/conditionally available if the Frequency field contains a value other than 0000.0000.

Frequency Prefix Keys  

The frequency input field supports several Frequency Prefix Keys.  These keys fall into the following categories:
  1. Frequency Modification Keys - civil airband frequency correction
  2. Frequency Quick Input Keys - quick frequency input for known CB and Marine Channels
Table below show examples of inputs and actions taken.

Prefix Category Prefix(any case) Prefix Example Prefix Action Frequency Prefix Action Modulation Prefix Action Tag Name
Civil Airband Frequency Correction ab ab118.030 Set 118.0250MHz AM None
UK CB Channel Quick Input cbuk cbuk10 Set 27.69125MHz FM CB UK Chan 10
EU/CEPT CB Channel Quick Input cbeu cbeu19 Set 27.18500MHz FM CB EU Chan 19
US CB Channel Quick Input cbus cbus40 Set 27.40500MHz AM CB US Chan 40
Default CB Region Options Setting cb cb12 Set 27.71125MHz (UK example) FM or AM CB UK Chan 12
Marine Channel Band A Quick Input ma ma25 Set 157.2500MHz FM Marine Chan 25 A
Marine Channel Band B Quick Input mb mb25 Set 161.8500MHz FM Marine Chan 25 B
Marine Marina 1 Channel m1 m1 Set 157.8500MHz FM Marine Chan M1
Marine Marina 2 Channel m2 m2 Set 161.4250MHz FM Marine Chan M2

The Civil Air Band Correction requires a little explanation with regards to Channel Spacing.  This well explained in this Wikipedia article.  With the arrival of 8.33kHz spacings between channels then the frequency (often called or refered to as channel) Air Traffic Controllers will tell pilots to set on their radios will not be the actual frequency that the radio uses.  Looking at the table below you will see that the Uniden scanner sets the correct actual frequency in some cases but it also sets an incorrect frequency (shown in bold and underlined) in other cases.  In addition please note that the lines maked with an * are not official frequencies/channels that Air Traffic Controllers will call.  When I enter these unoffical frequencies on my certified transceiver then the radio automatically changed them to the alternate values (column two) and the actual frequency used similary changes (column three).
 
Offical 25.0 kHz channels / spacings end in: 00, 25, 50, 75
Offical 8.33 kHz channels / spacings end in: 05, 10, 15, 30, 35, 40, 55, 60, 65, 80, 85, 90
Not  used  8.33  channels / spacings end in: 20, 45, 70, 95

ATC Controller    Radio Sets        Actual frequency   Uniden Scanner    Step/Spacing
Pilot Dials       Displays          used by radio      Sets              kHz
118.000	          118.000           118.0000           118.0000          25.0
118.005           118.005           118.0000           118.0000          8.33
118.010           118.010           118.0083           118.0083          8.33
118.015           118.015           118.0166           118.0166          8.33
118.020*          118.025           118.0250           118.0166          8.33
118.025           118.025           118.0250           118.0250          25.0
118.030           118.030           118.0250           118.0250          8.33
118.035           118.035           118.0333           118.0333          8.33
118.040           118.040           118.0416           118.0416          8.33
118.045*          118.040           118.0416           118.0416          8.33
118.050           118.050           118.0500           118.0500          25.0
118.055           118.055           118.0500           118.0500          8.33
118.060           118.060           118.0583           118.0583          8.33
118.065           118.065           118.0666           118.0666          8.33
118.070*          118.075           118.0750           118.0666          8.33
118.075           118.075           118.0750           118.0750          25.0
118.080           118.080           118.0750           118.0750          8.33
118.085           118.085           118.0833           118.0833          8.33
118.090           118.090           118.0916           118.0916          8.33
118.095*          118.090           118.0916           118.0916          8.33
118.100           118.100           118.0100           118.1000          25.0
The above Uniden scanner frequency setting discrepancy for Civil Air Band actual frequencies continues throughout the 108MHz to 137MHz frequency range. By using the "ab" prefix, or using the Automatic Air Band Frequency Correction setting in the Options menu then the Scan75 Control Program will override the scanner and set the correct actual frequency required.
 
NOTE!  In reality the UBC75XLT and BC75XLT set the correct 8.33kHz frequency for all but the two unofficial .020 and .070 values.  For the other two unoffical .045 and .095 values it sets the correct frequency.  In terms of end user usage then the Airband Correction feature is only required to cover currently unofficial ATC usage.  For those that also have/use the Uniden 125 series of scanners then you will see that the 75 scanners are significantly better at handing the 8.33kHz spacings.  Scan75 was developed from the Scan125 code base and as I have users who have both models of scanners I have chosen to leave the Air Band correction function in Scan75. 

Bank View Group Controls

Across the top of the form, from the left, are the Bank View Controls - Bank 1 to Bank 10.  These give fast access to the start of each bank.  e.g. pressing Bank 3 button will scroll the start of Bank 3, (3 - 01 and Channel 061), to the top of the viewable grid.

Fast Tune and Hold Group Control

Pressing the Tune button will cause the scanner to directly tune/jump to the chosen channel.

One can also perform a Fast Tune by double left mouse button clicking any of the cells in the Header, Bank, Bank Name Tag, Channel No. or Frequency fields.

Find Group Control

Pressing the Find button will open a Find Form dialogue box where you can enter either a simple string search term and/or a frequency.  This is a simple search looking for the frequency you have entered.  There are no advanced "this and than but not the other" options.  The Find command is currently restricted to finding data in the Frequency fields only.  However all table columns are sortable by clicking the header field so like data is also readily grouped together, e.g. all modulations of the same value.
 
When entering a frequency into the Frequency box the entered frequency is formatted to MHz format.  So "125" is changed to "0125.000", "125.6" is changed to "0125.6000".  Only the digits 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 and a decimal point are accepted. 

When the required data is found the table view focus is taken to that table cell and the cell background colour is set to light blue to highlight the found data.  This will happen for all subsequent finds.  All found cells in this find/search session will remain back highlighted until the Find Form is closed.  This means that you can change find/search data within a session and build up a back highlighted composite view.

All highlights are removed on form closure.
 
The Find button will find and highlight data cell by cell on each button click.  The Find All button will traverse the whole table highlighting all found data.

Channel Select Group Controls

These Select All, Select B1 ......... Select B10 buttons allow the selection of all channels in all banks, all channels in one bank, or any combination of banks.  When one of the buttons has been selected the button colour will turn to Green and it's label change to Deselect.

The Select Count Display displays the number of currently selected channels.
 
Selecting one or more channels will enable the Select Function Control Group buttons.

Function Select Group Controls

There are six function command buttons in this group.  These commands will ONLY operate on the selected channels.  When a command button is available for use the button colour will turn to Green.

Store Group Control

The Store button will ONLY operate if the Main Control Panel, Scanner, Store button has been pressed or the Close Call Bank register Store button has been pressed.  If a frequency has been asked to be stored then this button colour will turn Green to signify that a store is pending.  The button will not be enabled until an unused channel store location has been chosen.  To choose a channel store location one has to left mouse button click the channel row header field on the far left of the row.  The whole row colour will now turn Blue to indicate that the channel row has been successfully selected. 

If the desired location already contains data then an error message dialogue will be shown asking you to select another location/channel to store the data to.

Any pending store is cancelled on form closure. 

Duplicate Frequency Group Control

The Warning On check box when checked will cause a message box to be displayed if the frequency you have just entered into a channel also exists in any other channel.  Existing channels containing this frequency will be listed in the message box.  The frequency entry is still permitted but you may wish to review it.  The setting of Warning On is stored in the ini file on program close and is reloaded on program start.

Remember you can bring all the same frequencies together for review by sorting the frequency data column (by clicking column header).

Cell Copy and Paste Group Control

The data grid / table supports SINGLE cell Copy and Paste to and from the Windows Clipboard.  This means that cell data can be copied and pasted both within Scan75's Scan Channels View/Edit form and also outside e.g. to and from a spreadsheet or other document.
 
The supported actions/methods are:

I will hopefully be revisiting better Copy and Paste support in the future but it is fraught with issues issues and Scan75 stability is my major objective.  Meanwhile the existing Select/Copy/Move, Save to CSV and Import from CSV (via Scan75Convert) abilities of Scan75 will ensure that data import and export is still very much possible.  Add Scan75's Butel RSF file support then I believe we have most cases covered.

Bank Sort Control

The Sort A Bank button will open a Bank Sort Form.  This control form will enable a scanner Scan Bank to be loaded, viewed, sorted by column and the sorted data to be saved back to the scanner.

Bank Print Group Controls

The Bank 1 to Bank 10 buttons will raise a printer dialogue where you can select the required printer and printer properties to print the chosen bank of channel data.  The chosen bank's 30 channels are printed 30 to a page.  For the SR30C then it is 50 to a page.
 

The ALL Banks button will cause all 10 banks, 300 channels of data to be printed.  This will produce 10 pages of 30 channels per page.  For the SR30C this will be all 500 channels, 10 pages of 50 channels per page.

Bank Sort Form

This control form can only be opened from the Scan Banks form and allows you to load a selected Scan Bank of 30 or 50 channels for sorting depending on the scanner model.  All fields on the data view are not directly editable.

Bank Sort Form

The Bank 1 to Bank 10 buttons will load the chosen bank of channel data into the form.   
 
The channel columns of data can be sorted except for the Bank and Bank Name Tag columns.

To sort a column then mouse click the appropriate column header field.  Each click will alternately sort the column from "low to high" and "high to low" order.   At this stage the data is sorted on this form but is not yet changed in Scanner or Scan Banks form.

Once a column has been sorted then the Commit Sort Button will be enabled.  To Commit the changes to the scanner then click the Commit Sort Button.

This form will automatically close if you close the Scan Banks form.

Custom Search Bank Settings Group

This gives access to Setting, Viewing and Editing the scanner's Custom Search Banks and Frequency settings.

Here each of the scanner's 10 custom search banks can be enabled or disabled for when the scanner is scanning in Custom Search Mode.

Note!  Although the banks are named Bank 1 to Bank 10 if you have given a bank a Bank Name Tag in the View/Edit panel then when you mouse hover over that bank a pop-up will appear with the Bank Name Tag you have actually allocated to the bank.

When View/Edit is pressed then a new form is loaded where you have full control over the custom search settings.

View/Edit Search Bank Settings

The following new form/panel will open when the View / Edit button is selected.

Custom Search Bands Image

Grid Columns / Data Fields

The column/field details (left to right) are as below:

The following columns/fields are always accessible:
On the right of the form is a quick reference table of the Default Start and End Frequencies for the bands.  These are what will be set if a Reset All Defaults is made.

Save To File Button

A file save dialogue will be show.  All the 10 banks of data will be saved to the file of your choice.  This Save To File is a PART save file as marked with "#part#" in the header and when the file is reloaded it will only update those scanner settings as defined in the file.

Print Button

A printer dialogue will be shown where you can select the required printer and printer properties to print the information.

Reset All Defaults

A confirm dialogue will be shown.  Selecting OK will result in the all the Custom Search values being reset to their default values.  Any attached scanner will also be updated with these default values.   The default values set will depend upon the model of scanner attached.

Services Search Bank Settings Group

This gives access to Setting scanner's Services Search Banks. 

These operate differently to the previous Scan and Search Bank check boxes. 

These do not select each of the scanner's service banks to be enabled or disabled for when the scanner is scanning in Services Search Mode.  Instead all they do is to defined if that bank has Delay ON or Scan Down setting applied to it.

NOTE! The scanner only scans one service bank at a time wrapping continuously until another bank is selected.  To select another serice bank then hit click the Hold button and then click the SVC button.  This will cause the scanner to scan the next Service Bank.

The number of banks and their names depend upon the scanner attached.

UBC75XLT and AE75H have 7 fixed banks available which are named:  Emergency, Freenet, PMR, Marine, Air Band, CB Radio, HAM Radio.

BC75XLT and SR30C have 10 fixed banks available which are named:  Weather, Police, Fire/Emergency, Marine, Racing, Civil Air, HAM Radio, Railroad, CB Radio, FRS/GMRS/MURS

Scanner Virtual Console Group

Scanner Virtual Console is virtual representation of the scanner's display and support for the key scanner buttons that one would normally press when scanning. 

Scanner Virtual Control Image

Scanner Display

IMPORTANT INFORMATION - Please read carefully

This Virtual Scanner Display is Scan75's interpretation and construction from exceptionally limited information available from the scanner over the USB interface regarding it's screen content.  The only information that the scanner sends is:
This means that the Scan75 program has to build and decode all the other display information from the above four pieces of information supported by what program actions you take.  e.g. Start a Scan, Hit Hold, Up, Down and so on.
 
This means that it is very important that when using Scan75 you ONLY interface and operate the scanner directly from the Scan75 program.   Failure to do so will mean that Scan75 will not know what you did and will lose track of the scanner status apart from the above listed four pieces of information that the scanner sends.

The orange scanner display is a dynamically constructed from very limited information from the scanner, actions you take via the program's control functions and program data processing.

This display supports the basic 5 line display as provided on the scanner but does not support the graphic character symbols that the scanner display can display.  Instead these graphic symbols are replaced with meaningful text strings as detailed in the table below.
 
In addition the display has a 6th line on which the Scan75 program will display additional information derived from processing the limited scanner real time data and analysing program status coupled with additional scanner data or known channel frequencies, e.g. mapping a marine frequency to a marine channel number.

Display Line No. Graphic Symbol Description / Text Replacement Text
1 Reverse Video PGM text PGM
1 Key Lock symbol Key
2 Reverse Video F symbol F
2 Scan Up Arrow symbol >
2 Scan Down Arrow symbol <
2 DLY DLY
2 Close Call Priority symbol (C)
2 Close Call DND symbol [C]
2 Battery Meter symbol Bat
2 T T
2 L/O L/O
3 P P
3 Priority PRI symbol PRIi
3 Priority PRI+ symbol PRI+
3 Priority PRI in Reverse Video symbol (DND) DND
4 SCAN EMG FRN PMR MRN AM SCAN EMG FRN PMR MRN AM
5 HOLD AIR CB HAM FM HOLD AIR CB HAM FM
6 Scan75's decoded extra information Channel Information Etc.
 
Due to using the replacement text strings to replace the scanner's more compact graphic symbols it has been necessary to slightly vary the size of the virtual display lines and of the font size used to ensure that no data is lost out of view.

In addition to this normal Scanner Display there are also a Big Scanner Display and a Ribbon Display.

Channel Information

As mentioned above the only information that the scanner provides is Frequency, Modulation, Squelch, Mute and Signal strength.

Scan75 creates Channel Information by using Frequency and Modulation together with the type of scan to lookup the equivalent channel numbers you may have stored or known services information.


The Channel Information will be as follows:

Scan75 will use the frequency and modulation to find the matching programmed scan channels in the Scan Banks enabled for active scanning.  Examples:

Chan 005
Chan 001 123 150 200
Scan75 will use the frequency to identify the Service Band.  It will then use the frequency to identify any known CB, Marine, Freenet, PMR, GMRS/FRS or Weather (WX) Channel for that service band.  Examples: (all 75 model variants and SR30C included)
Srvs Emergency
Srvs Civil Air
Srvs Amateur Radio
Srvs CB CB21             (US/EU)
Srvs CB CB34UK        (UK)
Srvs Marine MAR08    
Srvs Marine MAR05r   (receive)
Srvs Marine MAR07t   (transmit)
Srvs Freenet FRN05
Srvs Other GMRS 06  (GMRS/FRS)
Srvs Weather WX01
Scan75 will use the frequency to identify the enabled Search Bank in which this frequency is found.  It will then use the frequency to identify any known CB, Marine, Freenet, PMR, GMRS/FRS, Weather (WX) Channels:  Examples are as above for Services except Srvs is Replaced by Srch Bank n.

Srch Bank 1 CB 39UK
Srch Bank 9 GMRS 22
Srch Bank 7 MAR12
RSSI Signal Strength Meter and Sensitivity Adjustment - (At Very Top)
The signal strength meter bar is an uncalibrated indication of signal strength in the range from 0 to 10 discrete levels.  The scanner does not provide any information that directly corresponds to it's own display signal strength meter.  Instead Scan75 has to interpret a raw and uncalibrated Received Signal Strength Indicator value obtained from the scanner.
 
Depending on your aerial and levels of signals and noise in your reception area you may find that Scan75's signal strength meter is too sensitive or not sensitive enough. 

The sensitivity of the meter can be adjusted by left mouse button clicking the meter display bar.  On doing so you will see:

Signal Meter Sensitivity Adjust
 
Any anjustment made here will be saved and restored each time the program is run. 

It is not possible to adjust the meter sensitivty from the Big or Ribbon scanner displays.
Direct Frequency Tuning
This function allows you to use your scanner more like a traditional communications receiver.

To directly tune to a frequency then left mouse click any of the Virtual Display display lines.  When this is done the following Direct Frequency Tune form/control will be shown.

Direct Frequency Tune

The frequency should be entered in MHz and in any of the following forms:
Once entered click the ENTER button or press the PC's keyboard ENTER key.

The scanner will immediately tune to the entered frequency.  The modulation mode (AM, FM, or NFM) will be set as defined by the scanner's operating Band Plan and frequency range. 

If the Automatic Air Band Correction Option is set then the scanner will tune to the corrected airband frequency.

Big Scanner Display

To enable this display then left mouse button click the Bearcat Label.

When enabled this will open a separate and larger duplicate scanner display with "On Top" properties.  This big display can be resized or minimised.  This big display will allow the easier monitoring of the scanner display from a distance.  As with the program's other forms this big display can be docked anywhere on the screen.

The display also has the following control functions:
Big Scanner Display

Ribbon Scanner Display

To enable this display then right mouse button click the Bearcat Label.

When enabled this will open a separate and large ribbon scanner display with "On Top" properties.  This ribbon display can be resized or minimised.  This ribbon display will allow the easier monitoring of the scanner display whilst doing other work on your PC.  As with the program's other forms this ribbon display can be docked anywhere on the screen.

The ribbon also has the following control functions:
Ribbon Scanner Display

Bearcat Button Group

Squelch Indicator
The squelch indicator will turn Green when the squelch is Open.
Bearcat Label
The Bearcat label has two functions:
  1. To enable the Big Scanner Display when clicked with the left mouse button
  2. To enable the Ribbon Scanner Display when clicked with the right mouse button
Mute Indicator
The mute indicator will turn Green when mute is in operation.
Store Button
The Store button is only enabled when the scanner is in Custom Search Mode or Services Scan Mode.  When the button is pressed the following things happen:
  1. The current frequency and modulation are stored to a temporary buffer
  2. If the current frequency and modulation are already stored then a Duplicate Store Dialogue is displayed showing the channel number of the first duplicate found.  You can "OK" to continue or "Cancel"
  3. The button turns green to indicator that there is now a Store action pending
  4. The button text turns to Canc (for Cancel)
  5. The Scan Channels View/Edit screen is displayed ready for you to complete the store process
  6. A Store Information Message box is displayed confirming the frequency and modulation to be stored
You can now complete the Store as described here.

To Cancel a pending store then just press the button again.
L/O Lockout Button
The L/O button performs a Lockout and Unlock with a single press as follows:
TL/O Temporary Lockout Button
The TL/O button performs a Temporary Lockout and Unlock with a single press.  There is no program related data to be updated and TL/Os are local to the scanner only.

The TL/O button performs two functions:
  1. The TL/O button performs a Temporary Lockout with a single Left mouse button click/press.  There is no program related data to be updated and TL/Os are local to the scanner only.
  2. The TL/O button enables/disables the program's Automatic Temporary Lockout with a single Right mouse button click/press.  When Automatic Temporary Lockout is enabled the TL/O will turn Yellow to indicate this enabled state.
TL/Os only last for the duration the scanner is powered ON.  TL/Os can not be listed.  Powering the scanner off and on again will clear all TL/Os.
 
The Automatic Temporary Lockout function will be useful when you wish to profile/log new transmissions only.  To avoid unwanted Automatic TL/O operation the state off the function is NOT saved on program closure.  Automatic TL/O will be off/disabled when the program starts.
Mode Button
The Mode button changes the reception mode of the scanner.  When the scanner is receiving an AM signal (i.e. in AM mode) then the button text will display AM.  Pressing the button will switch the scanner reception mode to FM and the button will display FM.  Similarly for FM to AM changes.

Note 1 - reception mode changes may be blocked by certain scanner Band Plan limits
Note 2 - this button is disabled if a BC75XLT or SR30C scanner is being used as these scanners do not support direct reception mode changes

Scan Control Button Group

These buttons directly control the scanners scanning.
Scan, Srch and Svc Buttons
It should be noted that the Services Search scan operates differently to the Scan Channels and Custom Search scans.  Services search scans are sequential and only one service at a time.  Clicking the Svc button for the first time will start/recomence the last service scan that was run.  Click the Svc button again with casue the scanner to jump to the next Service for scanning.  Repeated clicking will cycle throught the services.  To resume a current Service scan process in Hold then click either the < (Scan Down) or > (Scan Up) buttons.
<  (Scan Down) and  > (Scan Up) Buttons
These buttons perform the same function as the scanners scroll wheel when in scan/search mode.
- (Step Down) and + (Step Up) Buttons
These buttons perform the same function as the scanner's scroll wheel when in HOLD mode.
Hold Button
To release the Hold then press any of the Scan, Srch, Svc, < or > buttons.
Bank 1 to 0 Buttons
These buttons perform the same function as the scanners 1 to 0> buttons when in scan/search mode.

When pressed they do the following:
  1. Select and Deselect that numbered bank
  2. Turn Green if that numbered bank is currently enabled for the current scan/search
Autoscan Check Boxes: A-Scan / A-Srch / A-Svc
Each of these automatically initiate/start a Scan or a Search or a Services scan when the program starts.

Normally the scanner will be put into a Scan HOLD state when the program starts.  By selecting one of the Autoscan check boxes then the chosen scan action will be initiated immediately after the program starts.

This Autoscan ability can be used in conjunction with the Auto Log, Auto Save and Automatic Record function to enable one to use Scan75 in a scheduled manner (via Windows Task Scheduler) to capture activity unattended at any time of day or night.   To do this use the Scan75 program to select the Scan Banks/Channels or the Search Banks/Frequencies or the Services Banks, set any other functions and options and then check/select the appropriate A-Scan, A-Srch or A-Svc action and then close the program.  Leave the scanner powered on in HOLD mode and the PC running.  When the Windows Task Scheduler starts the Scan75 Control Program at your chosen date and time then Scan75 will get on and do what you have set it to do.

Program Latency - Average Status and Display Refresh Time

Status & Display Time Image

This upper time display shows in milliseconds the actual average time in any given 1 second period the program takes to do the following:
  1. Get all required status data from scanner
  2. Analyse said data
  3. Build and display the virtual scanner display.
A warning sound may be issued and the background colour changes as follows:

The lower time display shows the Status Poll Time which by default is determined by the program.

The lowest label says whether Auto or User status interval polling is in use and the COM read method.  The default COM read method is RL (READLINE) but can changed via the Scan75-ini.ini file to RE (READEVENT) for the next program run only.  Contact program author for further information.

The Status Poll Time refresh period can be user adjusted on the Options Panel from 5ms to 1000ms.   It defaults to a high 300ms.  Unless you experience problems then you should always use the Auto Status/Refresh setting on the Options Panel.

If manually setting the Status Poll Time then it should be set for GREEN for reliability and command responsiveness. For more modern PCs / laptops then a poll time setting of 20ms to 50ms should be achievable.

Running with ORANGE is normally OK.  Running in the RED will cause user interface command issues as the program is spending all it's time attending to status and display duties.

Clock Display Group

The Clock Display shows the current Local and GMT/UTC date and time.   These are taken from your PC's Time Zone and Date and Time Settings. 

The current selected time for logging (as set in the Options) is shown with a light green background.

It is not possible to adjust these times with the Scan75 Program. 

Clock Group

Notepad and Auto Save Group

Notepad and Autosave Group

The program has a built Notepad and Autosave functions.
 
When the View/Edit button is pressed a new Notepad Log and Auto Saved Frequencies form is opened.

When the Log Current is button pressed then the current frequency and reception mode of the scanner, along with the date and time are added to the Notepad Log.  Depending on the settings on the Notepad Log and Auto Saved Frequencies form a number of actions may take place.

Notepad Log and Auto Saved Frequencies

Notepad Log and Autosave form

This form is split into two main components.  A Notepad Group on the top and an Auto Saved Frequencies Group on the bottom. 
 
The Date and Time entries will be in either GMT (23/09/2014,13:48:55,GMT) or Local time (23/09/2014,13:48:55,LCL).  The logging of time in GMT or Local time is determined by the Notepad Settings.
 
Both groups have Goto Top and Goto Bottom buttons which will scroll the relevant data views to the top and bottom of their respective data views.  No further detailed explanation required.  

If either the Notepad Auto Log function and/or the Auto Saved Frequencies function are enabled then frequency data will be stored/added to the file called "scan75-frequency.log"

Notepad Log Group

This Notepad information is stored in a file called "scan75-notepad.txt" and this will be located in the program directory or where you have chosen to locate your other scanner data files.  It is capable of storing 2048 MB of data.  The data will be loaded and saved when the program starts and ends.  The current Notepad usage in Bytes/KB/MB is displayed at the top of the Notepad area.  You will receive a program warning when the currently stored data in the file exceeds 5 MB.  When you start to receive these warnings then you should ideally backup your data as soon as possible and then use the Clear Notepad function.  Loading and saving data exceeding 5 MB will slow down the program start and shutdown performance.

The entries in the Notepad are in CSV format as follows:
03/05/2021,18:22:12,LCL,0125.0000, AM,10,AE,AS OLD=002,Chan 024 054 
03/05/2021,18:22:15,LCL,0128.6000, AM,03,AE,AS OLD=018,Chan 021 051 
03/05/2021,18:22:27,LCL,0144.0000, FM,05,AE,AS NEW=019,Srch Bank 7 
03/05/2021,18:23:09,LCL,0028.6850, FM,07,AE,AS NEW=020,Srch Bank 2 
03/05/2021,18:24:00,LCL,0113.3500, AM,06,AE,AS NEW=021,Srch Bank 5
03/05/2021,18:25:24,LCL,0129.4250, AM,03,AE,AS NEW=024,Srch Bank 5 
03/05/2021,18:25:34,LCL,0135.3666, AM,01,AE,AS NEW=025,Srch Bank 5 
03/05/2021,18:25:47,LCL,0118.3000, AM,01,AE,AS OLD=001,Chan 001 
03/05/2021,18:26:04,LCL,0144.0000, FM,06,AE,AS OLD=019,Srch Bank 7 
03/05/2021,18:26:20,LCL,0149.9937, FM,09,AE,AS OLD=017,SRCH Bank 7 
03/05/2021,18:27:06,LCL,0149.1000, FM,09,AE,AS NEW=026,Srvs Freenet FRN 05
03/05/2021,18:27:13,LCL,0446.0062, FM,09,AE,AS NEW=027,Srvs PMR PMR01
03/05/2021,18:27:18,LCL,0446.0187, FM,09,AE,AS NEW=028,Srvs PMR PMR02
03/05/2021,18:27:25,LCL,0161.8750, FM,09,AE,AS NEW=029,Srvs Marine 
03/05/2021,18:27:28,LCL,0157.3000, FM,09,AE,AS NEW=030,Srvs Marine MAR26r
03/05/2021,18:27:37,LCL,0113.3500, AM,07,AE,AS OLD=021,Srvs Civil Air 
03/05/2021,18:27:43,LCL,0027.5350, FM,07,AE,AS NEW=032,Srvs CB 
03/05/2021,18:27:48,LCL,0029.9900, FM,07,AE,AS NEW=033,Srvs HAM Radio 
03/05/2021,18:27:54,LCL,0085.6950, FM,07,AE,AS NEW=034,Srvs Emergency 
03/05/2021,18:27:59,LCL,0149.0875, FM,07,AE,AS NEW=035,Srvs Freenet FRN 04
03/05/2021 18:28:51 LCL,0000.0000,---,--,--,-- -------,Shutdown(max=439,min=190)

The fields are date,time, local (LCL) or GMT, frequency, modulation, signal strength (00-10), AE (if enabled), AS field (if enabled) and either an OLD=nnn or a NEW=nnn entry where nnn is the Autosaved Location, and Channel Information.

The Channel Information will as detailed in Channel Information.
The signal strength is Scan75's uncalibrated signal strength value, as displayed at the top of the virtual console display and ranges from 00 to 10.

The AE denotes an Auto Entry added automatically by the program.

The AS denotes an Auto Saved entry added automatically by the program with either a NEW=nnn or OLD=nnn where nnn is the Autosaved Location.

The Startup entry is when the current program run was started.

The Shutdown entry is when the current program session run ended.  The (max=nnn,min=nnn) is the maximum and minimum uncalibrated raw signal strengths received during the session.  A (max=000,min=0-1) indicates that no signals were received during the last session.

To manually make a new Notepad entry then double click in the notepad text area and a new record will be created for the current reception data.   To this entry, or any other entry you can add your own text.
Auto Log Checkbox
This check box, when checked, will enable the Notepad Auto Log function.  When scanning or searching and the scanner hits and active frequency and the Squelch opens then the current date, time, frequency, modulation and signal strength are automatically entered into the Notepad area together with an AE (auto entry) additional tag. 
Clear Notepad Button
This will clear the current Notepad of all data.  Please ensure you have backed up/copied this data as appropriate.  You will be given a confirmation dialog and option to cancel the clear request.

Auto Saved Frequencies Group

Auto Saved consists of 200 separate storage locations where "hits" can be automatically saved.  This information is stored only in the program's scan75-ini.ini file.  Any of your personal scanner saved data files will not contain these autosave frequencies.  
Auto Saved Quick Tune and Store
Any stored entries can be "Quick Tuned" by mouse double clicking any particular entry.  The scanner will be tuned the the relevant frequency and modulation.  Should you wish to Store this frequency to a particular Scan Bank and Channel then use Store Button and complete the store process.
Auto Save Checkbox
This check box, when checked, will enable the Auto Save Frequency function.  When scanning or searching and the scanner hits and active frequency and the Squelch opens then the current date, time, frequency, modulation and Hit Count are automatically entered into the next available Auto Saved location together.   The received signal strength is not recorded in the Auto Saved location. In addition an AS (auto saved) additional tag is added to the reciprocal entry the Notepad area.  This AS entry will be supplemented with either a NEW=nnn or and OLD=mmm entry.  These entries show if the frequency and modulation mode are NEW and have been stored in location new nnn or they are OLD and were previously stored in an old mmm location. 
 
Once the Auto Saved data/locations reach 200 then the entries will wrap back to location 1 thus overwriting previous data.  It is your responsibility to manage these special 200 locations/data.
Clear Auto Saved Button

This will clear the current Auto Saved locations of all data.  Please ensure you have Stored any entries you wish to keep to an appropriate Scan Bank and Channel.  You will be given a confirmation dialogue and option to cancel the clear request.

Frequency Log File and View Form

If either the Notepad Auto Log function and/or the Auto Save Frequencies function are enabled, or you initiate a "Log Current" action then frequency data will be stored/added to the file called "scan75-frequency.log".  This log is cumulative and can be user edited or deleted. 

Frequency Log File View Form

Frequency Log File View Form

This is opened either by the View Freq Log button on the Notepad Log and Autosaved Frequencies form or by pressing the keyboard [CTRL] button and clicking the Notepad and Autosave Group's View/Edit button on the main control panel.  

The Frequency Log File View Form allows the Frequency Log File to be viewed.

The log file is opened as a snap shot ready only view.  Any additional updates to the file will not be loaded unless the form is Refreshed or the form is closed and re-opened again.
Refresh Button
This will reload the whole frequency log file again thus picking up any additional updates made since the form was first opened.
Auto Refresh Combobox
The Auto Refresh allows the form to self refresh at defined intervals. 
 
The available intervals are:  0, 5, 10, 30, 60, 120, 180 and 240 seconds.  (see notes below)

NOTES!
  1. An interval setting of 0 turns Auto Refresh OFF and is the default value when the form is opened.
  2. Auto Refresh can only be enabled if the size of the frequency log file is less then 2 Megabytes.  This restriction is done for performance issues associated with the continual reloading of a large log file.  A 2MB file will still contain over 24,000 entries/hits.
  3. Manual Refresh will always reload the log file of any size.

Frequency Log File Details

File is named  "scan75-frequency.log".  This log is cumulative and can be user edited or deleted.   There is no size restriction on the file however when using the program's Frequency Log File View Form then the Auto Refresh function is limit to a file size of 2 Megabytes or less. 

The log file is a simple CSV file with entries as follows:  

      
      [Scan],08/06/2017,11:34:32,GMT,0124.9250, AM,00000,06,001,dupe test       ,00032
      [Scan],08/06/2017,11:34:35,GMT,0121.0250, AM,00000,05,002,Sothampton Tower,00036
      [Scan],08/06/2017,11:34:38,GMT,0357.0250, AM,00000,05,004,                ,00050
      [Scan],08/06/2017,11:34:59,GMT,0118.0500, AM,00000,03,001,CB UK Channel05 ,00004
      [Scan],08/06/2017,11:35:04,GMT,0357.0250, AM,00000,05,005,                ,00050
      [Scan],08/06/2017,11:35:46,GMT,0357.0250, AM,00000,05,006,                ,00050
      [Srvs],08/06/2017,11:36:04,GMT,0156.5500, FM,00000,02,001,Marine          ,CH11
      [Srvs],08/06/2017,11:36:10,GMT,0156.6000, FM,00000,03,001,Marine          ,CH12
      [Srvs],08/06/2017,11:36:50,GMT,0156.5250, FM,00000,03,001,Marine          ,CH70
      [Srch],08/06/2017,11:37:34,GMT,0026.9000, AM,00000,09,001,SEARCH BANK1    ,
      [Srch],13/02/2020,17:59:35,LCL,0125.1000, AM,00000,02,004,#My Test Airband,00083
      [Srvs],13/02/2020,18:38:15,LCL,0125.1000, AM,00000,02,004,#My Test Airband,00083
      [Hold],14/02/2020,15:20:14,LCL,0110.6750, AM,00000,02,001,SEARCH BANK5    ,00000
      [Hold],14/02/2020,16:48:34,LCL,0027.1050, FM,00000,00,001,CC1--24/01/2016 ,00052
The fields are scan_type, date,time, local (LCL) or GMT, frequency, modulation, signal strength (00-10), hit count (000-999), and Channel Information.

If a SCAN scan is currently active then the scan_type = [Scan]
If a SEARCH scan is currently active then the scan_type = [Srch]
If a SERVICES scan is currently active then the scan_type = [Srvs]
If HOLD is currently active then the scan_type = [Hold]

The Channel Information will as detailed in Channel Information.

The signal stregth is Scan75's uncalibrated signal strength value, as displayed at the top of the virtual console display and ranges from 00 to 10.

The hit count is a count of the times the given frequency has been encountered.

If the count = 0 then this a frequency that has been logged when the Auto Saved Frequencies function is NOT enabled. 

If the count is 1 or greater then the frequency was logged when the Auto Saved Frequencies function was enabled.

As the log is cumulative all logged frequencies encountered may or may not appear in the current Auto Saved Frequencies table depending on when the table was last cleared or the storage locations wrapped. 

Apart from writing data to this file the program does nothing else with the data.  The data is intended for use by anyone interested in analysing the gathered data.

ScannerFTP.html File (HTML Frequency Monitor File)

Scan75 can optionally create an HTML Frequency Monitor File called ScannerFTP.html which resides in Scan75's program directory.

This HTML file contains information regarding the Current Frequency being monitored an optionally the previously monitored frequency information.

Scan75 HTML Frequency Monitor File
 
See Options for the controls available for this file.

The primary purpose of this file is to allow Scan75 to document, in HTML format, information regarding the currently monitored and previously monitored frequencies.  This is so that people who feed/broadcast their scanner's audio output via audio streaming programs, such as Zello, can also provide a web page which tells their listeners what they are currently listening to.
 

I have also written a small AutoFTP utility that can be used to monitor this or any other file and FTP the file when it changes to a location of the user's choice.  

Current Channel.txt File (3rd Party / RRUK Linker File)

Scan75 can optionally create a Current Channel Monitor File called Current Channel.txt which resides in Scan75's program directory.

This file is updated whenever the frequency changes and Squelch opens.

The file name is chosen to be the same as that which Proscan software uses and the frequency is in the same CSV Field 4 which the RRUK Linker program reads. 

File Format / Contents are:

program name & version, ,screen tag name,frequency,modulation, , , ,

e.g.

Scan75 V3.5.0.1       , ,Air-Air        ,0124.7833,AM        , , , ,

If you are a RRUK User please see RRUK's program information on using the "Current Channel.txt" file.

Note! RRUK is a subscription service and operate completely independently.

Audio Record and Player Group

The Audio Record and Player Group contains the controls and options for the program's ability to record and playback recorded sound.  Before detailing the various controls and options a little further information is required about the basic sound implementation used by this program.  There are also options to change the recording file naming convention and the quality of the recoding in "Recording File Name Header and Quality".

Audio Record and Playback Controls

PLEASE NOTE!   It may be illegal to record certain types of, or even *any*, radio transmission/traffic in your particular Country, State or Jurisdiction.   It is your responsibility to check the legality of recording any transmission.  Whilst there may be no restriction on recording, the playing of or sharing that recording with another person(s) or party(s) may be illegal.  The author does not condone, support or otherwise encourage any illegal activity.  This program's recording features must ONLY be used in compliance with the laws of your particular Country, State or Jurisdiction.

Sound System Overview

It was never intended that the sound recording and playback functions of this program would be able to compete with other sound recording and playback software available.  Instead the design focuses on using the existing resources that will/should already be available on your Windows system and tightly coupling these to the program thus allowing for a more closely controlled scanner recording environment and recording control options.

It is important to understand the following points:

Record/Play Controls

These consist of four buttons.  Record, Play, Pause and Stop.  Just to the right of these are two information lines.

The top/first line displays the current status, this being Stopped (in black) or Recording, Recording Paused and the recording input source and sample rate (in red), e.g. Recording LINE Input @ 11025. 

The second/bottom line displays nothing/blank if status is Stopped.  If recording then the root name of the file for the recording is displayed.  Depending on the Options settings then this is either the frequency and modulation, e.g.  01180000-AM.wav or the channel/service information,  e.g. Chan_001_01183000-AM.wav (in red).

All buttons start with neutral colours.   Only the Record and Play buttons are initially enabled.

Please read the functions of these buttons taking into consideration the Automatic Record/Settings/Options which can override/take control of the buttons.

Record Button

The Record button when pressed will turn Red and become disabled, recording of the current audio sound stream will start.  The Pause button will turn Yellow and become enabled.   The Stop button will turn Grey and become enabled.  The Play button will be disabled.  The recording can be paused or stopped.  Please Note!  Unless the Split check box/function is enabled then the current recording will have a file name starting with the initial frequency the scanner was tuned to when the recording first started.

Pause Button

The Pause button will become enabled and turn Yellow when the Record button is pressed.   If pressed the current recording or playback will be paused and the button text will change to Resume.  Subsequent Pause button presses will toggle the Pause/Resume action. 

Play Button

The Play is always enabled.  The Play button when pressed will play back the currently recording or the last recorded sound using your system's default sound/media player.

Stop Button

The Stop button when pressed will stop the current sound recording.   All buttons will  revert to their neutral colours.  The Record and Play buttons will remain enabled.

Automatic Record Settings/Options

These check box settings control how the recording process works.  It is IMPORTANT to understand that these settings can effectively override your control over the above Record, Play, Pause and Stop buttons.  They are also cumulative in their operation when selected/checked.  They basically work by actively pressing the Record, Pause and Stop buttons on your behalf this can result in a little end user confusion until you are more experienced in using all the recording and playback functions.  It is suggested that you initially play with these boxes unchecked.

Any selections made will be saved and re-loaded when the program is next started.

Auto Pause Check Box

When checked and a recording is in progress then whenever the sound is muted/squelch closed then the current recording will be automatically paused until the sound is no longer muted and the squelch is open.  This pause/resume record process will continue for all recordings until this box is unchecked. 

When you check the checkbox you will be presented with an Auto Pause Delay Time selection choice of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 seconds.  If you do not change a selection then the form will automatically close with the last/current selection chosen.

The purpose of the Auto Pause Delay Time is to permit/place quiet periods between the opening and closing of squelch to avoid abrupt back to back recordings of transmissions.  Choose a value you are comfortable with.

Note!  If you manually pause a recording with the Pause button and this Auto Pause is enabled then recording will immediately resume if the current scanner audio is not muted thus overriding your pause command.  This is normal/expected behaviour.

Auto Split Check Box

When checked and recording then every frequency change encountered will be recorded into a different file with a file name starting with the current frequency.  Whilst scanning, and the scanner is not in Hold status, then multiple files will be created for every frequency encountered.  It is suggested that for continuity of recording to the same frequency named file that you set the Search/Close Call delay to 3 or greater.

Auto Record Check Box

This is potentially the most disruptive and confusing recording option.  When checked then whenever the sound is not muted/squelch open then recording will automatically start.  The suggested/preferred setting for this is unchecked.  As this and the other record settings are saved and restored at program start-up then this setting can be an issue.  However if every time you have your scanner powered on and want the Scan75 program to automatically go into record mode then this is the box to check.

Note!  If you manually stop a recording with the Stop button and this Auto Record is enabled then recording will immediately resume if the current scanner audio is not muted thus overriding your pause command.  This is normal/expected behaviour. 

Play Saved Button

This button is specifically for accessing and playing files that have been previously recorded and saved to the wav directory.  When clicked a file open dialog box will open where you can choose a WAV file to playback.  This playback function uses your default play program for WAV files and the playback will open in that program's own separate window and it's controls will then take over.  This Play Saved function is totally independent from the above Record, Play, Pause and Stop functions and thus you can be actively recording scanner audio whilst also listening to previously recorded files.

COM Port Control Group

The COM Port Control Group is for managing the communications port to which the scanner is connected.  It consists of  the following components:
  1. Current Port and Speed Display
  2. Port Selection Box (not normally required)
  3. Refresh Ports Button (not normally required)
COM Port Group

Note! Currently the program only supports and lists port names named COMn or COMnn, e.g. COM7 or COM13.
 
The Scan75 Control Program and the scanners use 57600 baud, 8 data bits, no parity and 1 stop bit.  The Scan75 Program will try to configure any selected port to these settings.  If you experience communication problems then it is suggested to try setting these values in  Windows -  Control Panel - Device Manager - Ports - Port Settings for the relevant port.
 
When the Scan75 program starts it enumerates all available COM ports and adds them to the list of available ports.  It will also scan these ports looking for your powered on scanner.  If there are no COM ports available or the program fails to detect your scanner an error message will be displayed and the program will enter No Scanner Connected mode.  You will then need to manually select the correct COM port or close and restart the program.
 
The program does not support dynamic port detection, i.e. ports or devices added or removed whilst the program is operating are not automatically added or removed from the list of available ports.  The program does however have a port Refresh button that performs this function.

COM Port Display

The COM Port Display shows the currently selected Communications Serial Port and Port Speed.
 
It also shows the status of communication as seen by the Scan75 Program.  The background light colour indicates the following status:

COM Port List Box (use not normally required)

When the program starts it will detect all the COMn and COMnn ports currently available on your PC.  It will also search these ports looking for your scanner.  If your scanner is not powered on or the program fails to find it then you will have to manually select the COM port yourself.

The COM Port List Box contains a drop down list of all communication ports that are named COMn or COMnn and are available on your PC. 

You should select the appropriate port for your interface.  
 
If you are unsure of which port to use then do the following:
  1. Ensure your interface is connected to the PC
  2. Open Windows -  Control Panel - Device Manager - Ports and review the list of ports and most importantly check the names of devices against each listed port
  3. Note device names and use the port named Uniden Serial Port (COMn)

COM Refresh Button (use not normally required)

This R button when clicked will cause the program to go through a port detection routine that will remove missing or invalid ports from the available port list and add any new ports found.

COM Error Retry Counts

The program supports the following COM error retry strategy.
If the program is unable to successfully recover then the program will display permanent COM error messages.

Battery Voltage Charge Meter

Battery Meter Image

This meter provides both a battery charge indication and a voltage reading.  The meter voltage range from 2.0V to 3.0V is designed to cover both the use of Ni-MH rechargeable batteries and normal alkaline cells.

This meter is displayed as follows:
  1. On program start-up if a scanner is attached and powered on and will auto close after a default 3 second 'splash' period.  Period is user adjustable.
  2. For the duration of a mouse hover over the battery voltage display in the Scanner Controls General Group on the main control panel
For voltages less than 2.30V the meter bar is Red
For voltages 2.30V to 2.69V the meter bar is Orange
For voltages 2.70V and over the meter bar is Green

The length of this 'splash' period on program start-up can be adjusted from 0 second to 5 seconds in the Options Panel.  If a value of 0 is set then no 'splash' will occur on program start-up.

If Ni-MH batteries are being used a voltage of 2.80V or greater indicates a Fully Charged state.  The text "Fully Charged" will be shown above the OK button to the right of the 2.80V bold marker graduation line.

Note! - Determining an accurate state of charge of Ni-MH rechargeable batteries under no load conditions is very difficult to achieve.  When the scanner is connected to the USB port then the batteries will be on charge and thus under no load conditions.  If you want to accurately determine the battery state then you should disconnect the USB cable and press the scanner's scroll control knob and read the battery voltage, under load, at the top right corner of the scanner's display.
 
If alkaline batteries are being used and the scanner's battery compartment switch is set correctly to the alkaline position then the Battery Voltage Charge Meter will be displaying the actual battery voltage under load and can therefore be considered to be accurate.

No Scanner Connected Mode

The program is designed to run when connected to a scanner via the scanner's USB connection.  The program will enter and run in No Scanner Connected mode whenever there are no COM ports available on the system or a port has not been selected or a scanner is not detected.

When running in No Scanner Connected mode the Title Bar on the form will also contained the text "No Scanner Connected!"   Only program specific controls will be enabled.

scan75MenuBar

The program will automatically exit No Scanner Connected  mode as soon as a valid COM port has been selected and a scanner is present.

Support, Program Suggestions, Recommendations and Bug Reports

I welcome support requests, any suggestions, recommendations or bug reports.  These should be sent to:

scan75 @ nick-bailey . co . uk

I can not guarantee to fix or implement what you report/suggest but what I can say is that this Scan75 Program would not be what it is today without the feedback, suggestions and bug reports that I have received.

Warranty, Liability and License Agreements

The Scan75 Control Program is hereunto referred to as the 'Program'.

In using the Program you are agreeing to accept all of the terms and conditions stated herein.

The Program is currently Freeware (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeware) with a Careware/Charity status and objective (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Careware).  It operates with no limitations. 

The author reserves the right to change the program status and limitations on any future release.  Existing releases will retain their status and your right to use them but support may not be available. 

The Program is supplied 'ASIS' and the author neither accepts, implies nor offers any warranty, liability or any other responsibility for any damages, loss or other claim of any type in respect of this Program, its usage or consequence of its usage.

**You use it at your own risk**.

The Program has no guarantee of support or implied right to support.

The Program is the sole Copyright of the author and all rights are reserved.   The author's Copyright is restricted to those files containing 'Scan75' in their name and any other file clearly written by the author.  The Copyright includes the intended operation, design and function of the Program.   The Program requires other runtime files to function and the Copyright of these files belongs to their respective owners/authors.

This product contains Uniden proprietary and/or copyright control codes. Used with permission.

The creator of this Program asserts that the appearance of the user interface screens is/are a work of art and therefore attracts Copyright protection under UK and EU law.

You may not disassemble, reverse engineer or otherwise interfere with any of the Program executable files.

You may not use this Program for any illegal or unlawful purpose.

You may not sell, rent or otherwise charge for this Program.
 
The preferred availability and distribution of the Program is from the authors website to which you and others should refer to. 

You may however freely distribute the Program but must do so entirely free of charge, save for any reasonable charge in respect of any physical media used in its distribution.  All electronic or other non physical media distribution must be free of all charges.  You may not alter, modify, remove, or in any way change any of the files that comprise the Scan75 Program Control Package as released by the author.  You may add your own text or other information files but these must be clearly identifiable as yours, added by you and in such a manner that they do not in any way form part of the Scan75 Control Program or could easily be considered to be part of the Scan75 Control Program.  Neither must they infringe the Copyrights of any author, person or organisation and must not contain offensive, illegal or other illicit material.

Should you believe that your version of the Program package has been subject to any infringement of the above conditions then please contact the author immediately providing as much information as possible.

Prior to release, the author has to his satisfaction checked that the Program is free of any Virus or other potentially destructive software/code, but this is not guaranteed. 

Before using the Program you are advised to Virus check the version of the Program you have prior to using it.  The author's Website may also carry MD5 checksums for the critical files.  You are advised to verify these as well.

You are requested to fully read this and any other documentation prior to installing and using the Program.  In using the Program you are agreeing to accept all of the terms and conditions stated herein.

The author hopes that you find Scan75 Control Program both easy to use, reliable and of assistance to you and your Uniden Scanner.  He may be contacted at his Email address and would certainly like to hear of any bugs, criticism, suggestions etc. that you may have.

Please remember.  The Program is supplied 'ASIS' and you use it at your own risk.

Recognised Trademarks, Proprietary Code and Copyrights

Visual Basic, Windows, Windows XP/Vista/7/8/8.1/10, .NET are registered trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation.
Bearcat is a registered trademark of Uniden Corporation.

This product contains: Other Trademarks may be mentioned in this document and the author acknowledges them.

© Nick Bailey 2019-2023