Uniden BCx36HP S-meter and RX problem

Hello all,

So I have had this problem for a while now and have been using my work around for a bit, however I decided it was time to post this as I could not find any other fix or work around for it.

The problem is that the x36 series will not scan a new Harris phase II system in my area without a lot of manual intervention.

I have posted a youtube video showing the problem on both a 436 and a 536 scanner and the differences between how GRE will pick up the system and Uniden.

It should be noted although I did not mention it in the video.... even once I have the system working if i add another system of scan list then its right back to ground zero as once I leave the favorite list/system to scan another then the tower is lost again and I must use the site hold trick again.. needless to say this limits the ability to scan more than one system at a time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bCljRXtMmQ

Hopefully Paul can watch this and take note.. perhaps others are having the same issues.

Please also note that the system in question was imported from the DB.. I have also tried making the system manually, only putting in one site etc.. nothing changes.

WZ1 said:

http://forums.radioreference.com/uniden-bug-reports/300008-uniden-bcx36hp-s-meter-rx-problem.html


Has anyone else experienced this.. perhaps i put this in the wrong subsection.

Click to expand...

Have you tried to manually add this system with only 1 site and see what happens?

So your saying it cant be set to scan all sites like the gre does? Furthermore if i scan more than one system at once it wont find the tower once its left the system in question. I have even tried settig it up with all but one site locked out.. still no dice.

KevinC said:

Have you tried to manually add this system with only 1 site and see what happens?

Click to expand...

Yes I have done a manual add.. same thing.. and it happens on both the 436 and the 536 i have.. and another friend of mine has a 436.. same thing.. 3 radios.

Watch the video i made you will see that even after 1 hour the 536 wont trunk if i dont do the trick.

Do you by chance have Pro96Com or UniTrunker? I'd like to see what, if any, tables are being broadcast on the CC.

KevinC said:

Do you by chance have Pro96Com or UniTrunker? I'd like to see what, if any, tables are being broadcast on the CC.

Click to expand...

Im not sure.. but the gre seems to pick the system up instantly. I used the library import on both the gre and the unidens.

I've moved your thread into the Advanced Technical Topics forum. Hopefully that will cut down on some of the nonsense replies.

What is squelch set to?

Thanks for the video, it documents a very similar problem I have. And I agree, I also get sick of hearing from the peanut gallery about how I should shut up and be patient.
In my case, I commute daily between two P25 simulcast cells associated with a statewide system. If I try to scan both sites, I will sometimes hear traffic but mostly I won't. But if I lock onto one site the 436 does well. To your point, the 436 doesn't work well at all scanning multiple sites or systems. And yes, I have set up quick keys.
I appreciate your efforts to document this bug, and if anything I'm impressed with how well the GRE/Whistler 1080 works! I had a GRE PSR 500 for a brief moment but returned it because of poor receiver performance. Maybe I should re-think the Whistler 1080. While the 436 does decode P25 simulcast systems better than the 396xt, I've found it's infested with bugs and like you hope a firmware update is released to address them. Not to slam Uniden, I've always liked their products, but I think the x36 line is a lemon. Everybody deserves a mulligan, and I hope there's either a fix soon or at least some acknowledgement that a next generation of scanners will perform as advertised.
BG..

UPMan said:

What is squelch set to?

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2 on both handheld and mobile.. i tried it at 3 and at 4 thinking too much signal may be the problem but it made no difference.

Let me confirm some things:

Watching from 2:10 to about 2:40 of the video.
When you scan this system: http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=8000
At first, the scanner will not receive any traffic at all and all sites show no signal.. But, if you do site hold, then release site hold, scanner starts working and receiving traffic. Is that right?

UPMan said:

Let me confirm some things:

Watching from 2:10 to about 2:40 of the video.
When you scan this system: http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=8000
At first, the scanner will not receive any traffic at all and all sites show no signal.. But, if you do site hold, then release site hold, scanner starts working and receiving traffic. Is that right?

Click to expand...

Yes sir that is a 100% correct take on the video. It should also be noted that even once the site hold trick has been done the scanner will only work for 20 or 30 minutes and i will need to do the trick again. It will also stop working if i scan more than 1 system at a time or more than one favorite list. It wont start scanning on any of the three scanners in question unless the site hold trick is done.. tested on 2 x 436 and 1 x 536.

Thanks. I needed to pare it down to the essence so that the engineers could study. Please see my message to you sent through YouTube.

UPMan said:

Thanks. I needed to pare it down to the essence so that the engineers could study. Please see my message to you sent through YouTube.

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Hi Paul,

I was able to read your message via youtube.. for some reason it wont let me respond.. perhaps you can send me a way to contact you via pm or youtube.

Sent you a msg vua email on your avatar/username.

Here's a thought (I said it to you in PM, but it might get missed along with all the other stuff we're discussing there): What happens if you increase the Scan Hold Time (Edit System>Sys Option>Set Hold Time)?

I have a sneaking feeling that if you bumped that up to 4 or 5 (or more), you'd catch the system while scanning.