BCD536HP Mobile Install Issues

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cmdcomm

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We have installed about 15 of these in vehicles so far. ALL OF THEM are doing the following. When you start the vehicle, the scanner will stop on channels, but no audio will come out. This is occuring wired to ignition, wired straight to the battery, cigarette plug, etc. Has anyone else seen this?
 

wise871

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I wired mine to my vehicle day one with no problems. First I ever heard of the above situation with a scanner. Is this with internal speakers or external speakers? How are they when using AC adapter?
 

Tech792

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We have installed about 15 of these in vehicles so far. ALL OF THEM are doing the following. When you start the vehicle, the scanner will stop on channels, but no audio will come out. This is occuring wired to ignition, wired straight to the battery, cigarette plug, etc. Has anyone else seen this?

Sounds like the voltage drop when you crank the starter is messing them up. Does the audio come back eventually like after you turn the scanner off then back on again?
 

UPMan

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We have installed about 15 of these in vehicles so far. ALL OF THEM are doing the following. When you start the vehicle, the scanner will stop on channels, but no audio will come out. This is occuring wired to ignition, wired straight to the battery, cigarette plug, etc. Has anyone else seen this?

I'm asking that this post and its replies be moved to a separate thread. In that thread, please provide details about what specific channel(s), what firmware and database version, etc.
 

AZScanner

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Sounds like the voltage drop when you crank the starter is messing them up. Does the audio come back eventually like after you turn the scanner off then back on again?

A bit further on this (as someone who has installed all sorts of stuff in vehicles and probably not the correct way either) what happens if you leave the scanner off, start the vehicle and THEN turn it on? Still doing it or not?

-AZ
 

cmdcomm

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All DB & firmware updated as in UPMans post. The BCD536's replaced BCD996's, and the 996's have never had an issue. This is happening in 4 different wreckers who all have 2 batteries. The scanners work great, most with external speakers, some with internal speaker, but as soon as you start the vehicles, they ALL look like they are receiving (stop on scanning channels), but no audio comes out of the speakers. Direct wire to battery, ign sense wired, or cig wired. After this happens, you can turn them off, then back on, and they work fine. We just finished a 5th wrecker with 4 BCD536's in it 10 mins ago, and this 5th one is doing the same thing.
 

rgore

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We have installed about 15 of these in vehicles so far. ALL OF THEM are doing the following. When you start the vehicle, the scanner will stop on channels, but no audio will come out. This is occuring wired to ignition, wired straight to the battery, cigarette plug, etc. Has anyone else seen this?

aw-shucks, Uniden only supports the installation of 14 radios into vehicles....

Seriously though, what kind of work are you in that you need 15 of these radios?
 

cmdcomm

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We are a large radio shop in Houston,TX. Command Communications. All the wreckers in this area have a minimum of 7 radios/scanners in them. The City of Houston is running TDMA Phase-II that the wreckers need to hear. They have been trying to listen with BCD996's on a Phase-I simulcast patch, but when the vehicles are moving, the signal is terrible. There is a wrecker here right now with 13 radios/scanners in it...
 

cmdcomm

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Here is an example: 10 Astro Spectra 800Mhz P-25 Phase-I radios, 1 PRO-197 Scanner
 

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KevinC

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Let's please try to keep this ON TOPIC.
 

KevinC

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All DB & firmware updated as in UPMans post. The BCD536's replaced BCD996's, and the 996's have never had an issue. This is happening in 4 different wreckers who all have 2 batteries. The scanners work great, most with external speakers, some with internal speaker, but as soon as you start the vehicles, they ALL look like they are receiving (stop on scanning channels), but no audio comes out of the speakers. Direct wire to battery, ign sense wired, or cig wired. After this happens, you can turn them off, then back on, and they work fine. We just finished a 5th wrecker with 4 BCD536's in it 10 mins ago, and this 5th one is doing the same thing.

Are these using external (amplified?) speakers?
 

ofd8001

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Wouldn't surprise me if the culprit was so many scanners/radios being powered up at the same moment. Yeah, it doesn't sound right that a new model scanner should act silly like this, but with the nuances it has, it is what it is.

Have you considered something like a load sequencer that gradually turns things on as the vehicle starts? That way the electrical system isn't "slammed".
 

K9DAK

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Not Surprising

Given the cautions in the manual, this is not surprising. Probably best to turn the scanners off before shutting down the vehicle, and turning them on after the vehicle is running again and voltage stabilized.

From page 2 of the owner's manual:

Power Disconnection Caution
IMPORTANT: Always turn the scanner off before disconnecting external power. Some settings are saved only as the scanner is powering down.

From page 11:

If the scanner loses power (as when you turn off your car’s ignition with the scanners power switch on), it can corrupt the microSD card. To ensure that does not happen, turn off the scanner before turning the car’s ignition off.

 

SquierStrat

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weird, my BC125AT does the EXACT same thing sometimes (only sometimes) when i power it on. batteries or external power. it will stop on a frequency, absolutely no sound comes out, then it continues scanning after a couple seconds. its a different frequency every time..
 
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