Using Andy's Programmer with the Uniden BC250D/BC785D ScannersBackground: Andy Foremiak (andyforemiak@yahoo.com) wrote a wonderful piece of software for the BC780XLT when it first came out that has became known simply as "Andy's Programmer" - while it was NOT specifically written for the newest Bearcat scanners, it appears to work extremely well!
Issues with using "Andy's Programmer" to program the BC250D & BC785D as reported by Scott Halligan, et. al.
- BANK TAGS - Programmed without any issue.
- ALL CONVENTIONAL CHANNELS - Frequency, Alpha Tag, CTCSS/DCS, Delay, and Step Size seems to transfer fine.
- RADIOWIDE - All "radiowide" settings worked fine as well.
- FIPS Codes - Programmed without any problems.
- TALKGROUP IDs - All talkgroup ID's and alpha tags went fine.
- TRUNKED FREQUENCIES - Now here's the bugaboo... Andy's software can't transfer the trunk bank mode, so all frequencies that are supposed to be in trunked mode wind up conventional. A workaround is to manually change the data channel frequencies from conventional to trunk, activate control channel only, and set the trunking type. The Alpha Tag can be programmed on the trunked channels by only selecting the "alpha tag" check box, after the frequencies are entered.
So it appears the only issue with Andy's Programmer is trunked frequencies. However, this alleviates A LOT of button mashing and is a step in the right direction. It was reported that Andy may be looking at updating his program to fully support the BC250D/BC785D radios.
I would anticipate this program will work just as well with the BC296D/BC796D scanners.