How is new BCD996XT firmware working for MINNESOTA ARMER system

WX0BPR · #1 (**permalink**) 01-28-2013, 6:31 PM

Since the forum nazi's shut down the last one, lets try again. This is for thumbs up or down on MINNESOTA ARMER System, any improvements etc. Replying to this implies you monitor the MINNESOTA ARMER system.

I did the upgrade, set hidden settings to 11 and 50 and am monitoring Enfield/Sherburne simulcast which has been often hard to monitor with 996XT.

JASII · #2 (**permalink**) 01-28-2013, 7:17 PM

I just did the update about an hour ago and I am monitoring ARMER as I type this. I think it is better, but I am listening at home and it actually was coming in pretty well in the past.

Brian, is it better for you?

bernietr · #3 (**permalink**) 01-28-2013, 7:39 PM

I just updated also.

Jury still out. Need a little more time for testing.

Thanks,
Please keep the updates coming!

JASII · #4 (**permalink**) 01-28-2013, 7:43 PM

Tom,

Did you have any problems before? Are you monitoring just Dakota County sub-system or others as well? Are you connected to an external antenna?

Jim

bernietr · #5 (**permalink**) 01-28-2013, 8:50 PM

Hi Jim,
I monitor most all of the metro area. I can;t seem to get the Anoka towers though, but can get fire main on city center.
Do you monitor Anoka from home?
My beam is pointed do North.
I was getting some distortion on Dakota system. Nothing I could not live with. Even the dispatchers seen to hear digitzation.

Thanks,
Tom

JASII · #6 (**permalink**) 01-28-2013, 9:11 PM

No, I don't typically monitor Anoka County from home. I did bring my Home Patrol inside this weekend, mainly to monitor the neighboring WISCOM VHF trunked system, but as I was checking range, etc. I was picking up Anoka County Central Communications. With the HP-1 I have to check in a different way to determine what tower is being received.

I have been kicking around the idea of getting the Extreme Upgrade for the HP-1, mainly so I can try UniTrunker. I think you are using that, if I recall correctly.

Hopefully other BCD996XT owners will do the update and report back here on how it performs for them on ARMER.

As a side note, I am pretty much recommending only 3 scanners right now to people that ask here in Minnesota. They are the:

-BCD396XT

-BCD996XT, and

-Home Patrol HP-1

Now that the latest firmware is out for the above three, I think it would be interesting to compare those to the best that GRE has to offer just to see who sounds best on ARMER.

NDRADIONUT · #7 (**permalink**) 01-29-2013, 6:17 AM

My psr 500 - 600's - and 800 work well on armer also......i'd say the 800 works the best of the 3 models.

WX0BPR · #8 (**permalink**) 01-29-2013, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JASII

I just did the update about an hour ago and I am monitoring ARMER as I type this. I think it is better, but I am listening at home and it actually was coming in pretty well in the past.

Brian, is it better for you?

I am undecided, its improved, but how much? 996 is in bedroom, so gets listened to at night which is generally when reception of the simulcast is better anyway. I do not often do a wide range of scanning in there either, other ARMER sites anyway, I can get several. I might pull it into the den and listen some, drives the wife nuts sometimes

bernietr · #9 (**permalink**) 01-31-2013, 8:19 PM

After testing for a few days I am pretty happy with it. I give a thumbs up!
I am in Dalota County and was getting multi path distortion cause i am so close to the Buck Hill transmitter.

No distortion on Dakota anymore (Thank you, Thank you!)
Hennepin seems just slightly degraded.

I have been playing with the P25 settings 9 / 2 seems to be working the best so far.

If you don't like the update the updater will let up load the last version 1.6 so you can always back it out.

WX0BPR · #10 (**permalink**) 02-06-2013, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bernietr

After testing for a few days I am pretty happy with it. I give a thumbs up!
I am in Dalota County and was getting multi path distortion cause i am so close to the Buck Hill transmitter.

No distortion on Dakota anymore (Thank you, Thank you!)
Hennepin seems just slightly degraded.

I have been playing with the P25 settings 9 / 2 seems to be working the best so far.

If you don't like the update the updater will let up load the last version 1.6 so you can always back it out.

After listening for a while I give it a thumbs up too, not a major improvement but enough of one that my decode issues are very infrequent. Thus keeps me from getting a directional antenna for my scanner, which would be the next step

NDRADIONUT · #11 (**permalink**) 02-06-2013, 1:21 PM

The non simulcast p25 on armer and vhf conventional is better on my home patrol which was upgraded also....

JASII · #12 (**permalink**) 02-17-2013, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NDRADIONUT

The non simulcast P25 on ARMER and VHF conventional is better on my Home Patrol, which was upgraded also....

I was trying some different settings this weekend on my BCD996XT and I think that my HP-1 sounds a bit better than my BCD996XT, but I am listening on a simulcast system.

KD0NDO · #13 (**permalink**) 02-25-2013, 1:17 PM

Wright county still sucks, but henn is always perfect and still is. as i say to my other scanner buddy. "it gets 100 percent decode when its off" dam* scanners. someday i hope to get a motorola and passively monitor, and before people get all freaked out, the way i plan to do, the radio doesnt even need to have trunking enabled in the flash, so it will be programmed so its conventional which meas i can disable tx all together