What Gives with These Darn CLOCKS????????

Can someone please explain to me why, on a 536 HP, set up as a BASE, with continual power from a wall wart AC supply running through it ALL THE TIME, I HAD TO RE-SET the STUPID CLOCK again tonight on power up?

I mean really folks....this is ridiculous on a 600 dollar scanner?

I sold my 436 because of this issue, and now I have to deal with this on the 536?

Can I PLEASE just turn on my 600 dollar scanner and have it SCAN without having to stop everything to re-set a STUPID clock feature I DO NOT NEED or USE?

Since the release of these radios, it has been one issue after another, not to mention NO SIREN app, NO upgrades, NO NOTHING.

What the heck is going on over at Uniden?

dconti said:

Can someone please explain to me why, on a 536 HP, set up as a BASE, with continual power from a wall wart AC supply running through it ALL THE TIME, I HAD TO RE-SET the STUPID CLOCK again tonight on power up?

I mean really folks....this is ridiculous on a 600 dollar scanner?

I sold my 436 because of this issue, and now I have to deal with this on the 536?

Can I PLEASE just turn on my 600 dollar scanner and have it SCAN without having to stop everything to re-set a STUPID clock feature I DO NOT NEED or USE?

Since the release of these radios, it has been one issue after another, not to mention NO SIREN app, NO upgrades, NO NOTHING.

What the heck is going on over at Uniden?

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It's not enough just to have continued power supplied to the scanner... As has been mentioned many times, leave it plugged in and turned on for 50 hours continuously to fully charge the clock battery.

Also, it's been mentioned many times, the clock is necessary for the time stamp on the audio recording files.

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Once the internal battery is fully charged, I think normal on/off activity will be enough to maintain the battery. It's just that initial change that's important.

I leave my scanners on 24/7, and just turn the volume down at bed time.

iMONITOR said:

Once the internal battery is fully charged, I think normal on/off activity will be enough to maintain the battery. It's just that initial change that's important.

I leave my scanners on 24/7, and just turn the volume down at bed time.

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The batt. for the clock lasts for 7-10 days and only charges while the scanner is on.

DDan said:

The batt. for the clock lasts for 7-10 days and only charges while the scanner is on.

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Agreed. But it doesn't have to be on for 50 hours to maintain a charge, that is only for the initial charge. Again, I would think normal use of typical on/off time would be sufficient to maintain it. Well maybe normal for us scanner nerds!

I did all of that and it still happens. There should be an ability to turn all of that nonsense off for folks like me who do NOT use the recording feature and / or need the time stamping from a silly clock.

50 HOURS TO CHARGE A CLOCK BATTERY? REALLY?

Does it not charge the 8 to 10 hours a day I've been using the scanner for the last three months since I bought it?

You guys are really good with this design? I know Uniden can do no wrong for most of the believers here on RR, and don't get me wrong, the 536 is a fine scanner. But - IT IS 600 dollars!!!!!! And we can't get a SILLY clock battery charged with normal use?

I just paid 46 bucks for a Chinese dual band HT that does all kind of neat things AND TRANSMITS!!! ANd this 536 radio is made in where? Viet Nam?

Is it just me, I am insane or is there anyone else on these boards seeking sanity here? For Pete's sake!

I apologize for the rant but for me 600 bucks is a lot of money for something that NEVER should have been released with all these issues.

dconti said:

I did all of that and it still happens. There should be an ability to turn all of that nonsense off for folks like me who do NOT use the recording feature and / or need the time stamping from a silly clock.

Horrible design and an absolute pain in the neck.

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You are using the audio recording features. The replay function is always on. Newer scanners are complex devices compared to older scanners. And...... As you seem to be experiencing, they are not for everyone.

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I couldn't agree more about this dumb clock design in both the BCD436HP and BCD536HP; it's a terrible implementation.

What Uniden should have done is allowed the clock to charge at a slower rate when powered off if this clock is so darn important. Additionally, if you have a GPS connected, which is a great idea for a mobile user, why can't the scanner sync to that clock should it loose its time setting? Seems dumb in this day and age, but hey, who am I, just a lonely user out a bunch of money on a scanner than Uniden is likely to dump when they come out with their next model in January.

I agree, I have three of these failed units... We're almost a year into them, still all of the advertised features aren't supported, there has been zero move on the Siren app, WiFi issue, or ANY firmware or Sentinel updates. And to top it off, Uniden remains silent on the issue.

My BCD396XT and the BCD996XT will remain with me forever, but I will never, NEVER buy another Uniden scanner following this debacle!

As for my three BCDx96HP units, they will likely hit the chopping block at the end of this year, so tired of constantly resetting the clock, poor reception compared to the previous models, etc. Nothing but garbage from Uniden on this product.

Okay, off my soapbox now... :roll:

fxdscon said:

You are using the audio recording features. The replay function is always on. Newer scanners are complex devices compared to older scanners. And...... As you seem to be experiencing, they are not for everyone.

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So, in your snarky response you infer that because I am complaining about a horribly designed flaw in a clock charging system this scanner is not for me...you know, an uninformed lowly scanner listener not as enlightened as the rest and unworthy of such a lofty product?

And you submit that because UNIDEN SCREWED THIS UP, these scanners are not for everyone? Good thing you are not on Uniden's marketing team. With a very niche market to begin with, you've just reduced the potential market even further with your elitist attitude.

One would think Uniden would like a BROAD market of buyers for their product. You know - folks not requiring a degree from MIT to run the darn thing.

The beginning of your response is obtuse as well. Are you saying that even though I've never recorded one transmission I am always recording? With replay always available?

What were they smoking over at Uniden when they designed this thing?

They took what is basically a fine scanner and overloaded it with junk that either doesn't work or was poorly designed.

The true insanity is that most here refuse to admit or recognize what is obvious, and continue to support a company that engaged in false advertising and is now silent as to the errors of their ways.

We can stop buying their scanners, but since they may be the only game in town eventually, I guess we will all be stuck drinking the Kool Aid...

I fail to see how his reply to you was snarky. The only snarky posts in this thread are yours, dconti.

Charge your battery for 50 hours. Thats it. End of story. There's nothing else relevent to add to this thread.

Sent using Android ForumReader app

dconti, you've been griping and making fun of these models for the better part of a year now even bragging in a couple of threads, here and here yet you've purchased both and still don't know how they work? What prompted you to purchase these models that you despise so much? I've had the 536 since it came out, charged the battery as recommended and have NEVER had a clock issue. ?? Why do you even still have these radios?

Typical responses when someone complains about these scanners.

I find it amazing that someone would take the time to conduct a background investigation on all of my postings as a response to a very simple complaint about radios that have been acknowledged over and over again to be plagued with problems.

Is that how it is here in the RR community? Don't like the message - execute the messenger? You should all be ashamed of yourselves.

So, I'll say it again...I charged it initially for the 50 hours. I run it every day for 8 to 19 hours or more, and the clock reset request still happened again yesterday. Is that me complaining, OR ARE THERE ISSUES WITH THE DESIGN OF THESE SCANNERS?

I guess it is defective and needs to be replaced?

Instead of making stupid comments about skating uphill and labeling everyone a complainer, maybe as a community we should look critically at a company charging big bucks for the equipment we buy.

Based on the comments toward me, I guess that's not going to happen.

What do my past comments regarding these scanners, the reason for my purchase, or whether I still own one have to do with the issue at hand? (I am only referring to the clock issue here, there are many more).

Someone has too much time on hir or her hands.

I've stated on these boards in the past that I had a 436, thought it was a great scanner, but unusable as a portable due to the lousy battery / charging and power supply scenario Uniden devised for this scanner. I sold my 436. The clock issue on the 436 was even worse.

I also stated on these boards many kudos about the 536, and I obviously still own it if I attempted a power - up last night. I've stated publicly here that I thought it was the best mobile scanner made to date. Do those comments then negate my right to ***** about a serious issue with the scanner?

I will finish with this thought...my wife, who is NOT a radio hobbyist and knows nothing about scanners came to my office where the 536 is located this afternoon, saw that it was on and turned it off. When I asked her why she did that, She responded that it was on, no one was home and no sound was coming out. I explained to her that in order for it to work, I had to leave it on for 50 hours so a battery that runs the clock could charge. I told her that if I did not do that, time and again when I turn it on I will have to re-enter all the clock settings. She laughed and asked me what moron designed that system, and HOW MUCH DID YOU PAY FOR THAT?

Priceless.

I've cleaned up the language and being this does not require tech support - it's a complaint - it belongs in the Tavern which is where it's been moved to.

People are entitled to their opinion. If this bothers others then you have many other threads you can move on to. If you feel a thread or post does not deserve attention then don't reply to it. That concept isn't rocket science people. Replying only serves to bump it up to the top.

Maybe the hold up battery in that particular radio is weak. Being that the majority of us don't seem to have the issue it certainty seems possible.

Might be best to just avoid these scanners in the future. They are hard to program as well, I read.

dconti said:

Is that me complaining

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Yep.

dconti said:

OR ARE THERE ISSUES WITH THE DESIGN OF THESE SCANNERS?

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Not to the extent you're making it out to be. As stated dozens of times in dozens of threads, the problems that people are claiming to have with these radios aren't experienced by the majority of users. That doesn't mean that the problems don't exist - that means the problems are not product-wide flaws as many detractors claim.

mancow said:

Maybe the hold up battery in that particular radio is weak. Being that the majority of us don't seem to have the issue it certainty seems possible.

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This is the truth. It seems like anyone who has even the tiniest problem with a radio has already decided that it not only happens for everyone else that uses the same model of radio, but that the Earth literally stops turning because of it.

I too have a 436 which was charged once for the prescribed amount of time in the prescribed conditions and has never needed the clock to be reset ever since.

Saying that these radios are all garbage and "we deserve better when charged HUNDREDS of DOLLARS!!!!111!!1!one!!11!!" for them is akin to me saying that all IBM Thinkpad laptops are trash and I deserve better than to have a T30 which I have to reset the clock on whenever I use it, because the CMOS battery won't take a charge. Never has. And it doesn't matter if I paid $3.99 or $3990 for it, so the "omfg we paid HUNDREDS of DOLLARS!!11!eleven!" complaint is pointless.

If your radio's clock won't stay set, return it to your place of purchase for an exchange (or send it in to Uniden for repair) - like a normal consumer would.

Historically, if you look back though the RR threads as new Uniden, GRE, and Radio Shack scanners were released, they all went though their growing pains.

We're not paying $5,000 for a Motorola two-way, we're talking $500-$600 scanners. You can't even expect a flawless SUV today, even though you may have paid $50k+ for it!

dconti all I did was turn the volume down when I wasn't listening and when I went to and left the scanner on 24 hours a day for a couple of days to charge the internal battery. Then I set the clock and after that just use it as normal, turning it on while I was listening and off when not and have never received the set clock issue again and I have had my 536HP for 9 months. The same goes for the 436HP as well it needs to be plugged into a power source for a few days and left on with the volume turned down then use normally. You can't use a laptop that goes to sleep because it will quit charging when the laptop goes to sleep. I used a wall wart power adapter for my 436HP like the type that comes with a smart phone USB type. I know little things can really get on your nerves but it really works and once you get past it the memories will fade.

Good Luck
Mike

kb8rvp, Your kind response is why I originally posted in the Tech Support section.

As previously stated, I did all you suggested and it still happened. It is possible that my battery or scanner is defective. I don't know.

The point to my rant, though is obvious in your posting.

Look at what you wrote. Look at what is required in a supposed stated of the art $600.00 high end scanner just to get a battery to run a clock for a recording feature that many will not use.

Then think about those such as myself who did the 50 HOUR "Charging" ritual and still get the message on power up.

Then think about all the other issues raised about these scanners. The lack of updates, lack of Analyze features, LACK OF SIREN APP that was advertised as on board. Heck it is on the box!

Think about all of those things, ALMOST ONE YEAR SINCE RELEASE!

Then call folks like me a complainer, and all is right with the RR ` Uniden fantasy world.

So if all this is wrong with the scanner, why on gods green earth do you not sell it, get some of your money back and stop complaining about it?