Uniden BCD536HP Audio

merlin3rd · Nov 4, 2014

I just bought a Uniden bcd536hp and the audio sounds broken up and
intermittent. Monitoring Montgomery County Police and Fire. Using the same antenna my GRE PSR600 and Pro 106 sound perfect. Is there a setting in the Uniden bcd536hp I might need to
adjust? Thanks. Merlin K3MEJ

fxdscon · Nov 4, 2014

merlin3rd said:
I just bought a Uniden bcd536hp and the audio sounds broken up and
intermittent. Monitoring Montgomery County Police and Fire. Using the same antenna my GRE PSR600 and Pro 106 sound perfect. Is there a setting in the Uniden bcd536hp I might need to
adjust? Thanks. Merlin K3MEJ

Do you have any of the priority functions turned on? Such as weather priority etc.

.

merlin3rd · Nov 4, 2014

No priority functions on

troymail · Nov 8, 2014

Unfortunately, from my experience, Uniden radios (including now the x36models) don't handle the Motorola digital audio processing all that well...no where near as well as the GRE radios.

Jay911 · Nov 8, 2014

troymail said:
Unfortunately, from my experience, Uniden radios (including now the x36models) don't handle the Motorola digital audio processing all that well...no where near as well as the GRE radios.

It must vary from system to system, because I have a Mot 3600 analog/P25 CAI system (actually a P25 system masquerading as 3600, but I digress) where my 436 performs better than any radio I've ever used on that system short of a pro radio (XTS/XTL).

To merlin3rd: There is a P25 Adjustment Mode in the x36 line. Look here in the Easier to Read Manual.

iMONITOR · Nov 8, 2014

That's odd. I found the new Uniden scanners to decode P25 P1, on Macomb County's simulcast system, much better than any of the other scanners with that capability.

troymail · Nov 8, 2014

As UPMan has stated over and over - YMMV ... and it is for this reason, as these systems and radios become more complicated, I am always very hesitant to try and advise anyone what will and will not work for their situation. What works for some clearly doesn't work (well) for others... and it can be an expensive mistake.

Voyager · Nov 8, 2014

Yep. It's all System dependent, and even location dependent within the same system. The only absolute you can make is that it's not true either manufacturer will work better.

maus92 · Nov 9, 2014

Yea, Montgomery County is notorious for monitoring on Uniden scanners. It's just OK on my 396T, and awful on my 436.

troymail · Nov 9, 2014

maus92 said:
Yea, Montgomery County is notorious for monitoring on Uniden scanners. It's just OK on my 396T, and awful on my 436.

I'm glad to get some backing on my observations and experiences. I'm not sure why people assume that just because a radio works for their system and usage that the rest of us are just doing it wrong (like - "must be user error" or something).

After fighting with the tweaking of settings on the 396T for a while all those years ago, I was never happier than when GRE released the PSR500. It was so nice to have something that just worked.

Still have hopes that someday we'll get to a point where a vendor (Whistler following on with GREs success?) releases a radio that handles P25 simulcast and Phase 2 more reliably than anything we have available today.

maus92 · Nov 9, 2014

troymail said:
I'm glad to get some backing on my observations and experiences. I'm not sure why people assume that just because a radio works for their system and usage that the rest of us are just doing it wrong (like - "must be user error" or something).

After fighting with the tweaking of settings on the 396T for a while all those years ago, I was never happier than when GRE released the PSR500. It was so nice to have something that just worked.

Still have hopes that someday we'll get to a point where a vendor (Whistler following on with GREs success?) releases a radio that handles P25 simulcast and Phase 2 more reliably than anything we have available today.

Yup, nothing like a little competition to light a fire under big "U" butt...

The_B_Chief · Dec 7, 2014

troymail said:
I'm glad to get some backing on my observations and experiences. I'm not sure why people assume that just because a radio works for their system and usage that the rest of us are just doing it wrong (like - "must be user error" or something).

After fighting with the tweaking of settings on the 396T for a while all those years ago, I was never happier than when GRE released the PSR500. It was so nice to have something that just worked.

Still have hopes that someday we'll get to a point where a vendor (Whistler following on with GREs success?) releases a radio that handles P25 simulcast and Phase 2 more reliably than anything we have available today.

While that would be nice and I share in your hopes, understand that even the radios that are designed and programmed for these systems do not work as they should or how it was explained that they would work.

I can tune my BCD536HP and an APX7500 mobile to the same TG and most of the time there is little difference in audio and signal quality. The only real significant difference that I have noticed between the APX gear and the scanner is that the Moto stuff has louder audio. I would imagine that would be a given considering the design of the radios.

troymail · Dec 7, 2014

The_B_Chief said:
even the radios that are designed and programmed for these systems do not work as they should or how it was explained that they would work

Interesting.... can you provide any more details?

_Wilson_ · Dec 7, 2014

iMONITOR said:
That's odd. I found the new Uniden scanners to decode P25 P1, on Macomb County's simulcast system, much better than any of the other scanners with that capability.

I'd have to agree with the above statement, as my 536 runs circles around my psr-600 on receive on analog and p25, using the same antenna setup.

maus92 · Dec 7, 2014

monitor51 said:
I'd have to agree with the above statement, as my 536 runs circles around my psr-600 on receive on analog and p25, using the same antenna setup.

It's highly dependent on the system being monitored, as has been stated previously. It's probably best to poll area users on their experience with a particular scanner on a specific system before you buy - or make sure you can return it. Those of us who need to monitor 700Mz TDMA systems have little choice however.

_Wilson_ · Dec 7, 2014

Agreed, far as i know there are no p25 1 or 2. In the 700mhz range anywhere close to my location, far as i know, that being said, any P25 system that my radios pickup, the 536 decodes the traffic much better, there both great radios in my opinion.

The_B_Chief · Dec 9, 2014

troymail said:
Interesting.... can you provide any more details?

Well our APX radios routinely fail to work on the PG system. We have to keep multiple radios on the same TG just to receive complete messages. Each of those radios receiving different segments of the same transmission at the same location. There are many areas where we were told that we would have no problem with portable coverage yet we can't get service on the mobiles. What is funny is that on a few occasions the 536 did a better job than the APX.

The audio quality is less than desired in many instances. As I and many others have stated before, it's an extremely dangerous situation.

Over the summer we had an ambulance crew that was sent into a dangerous situation that PSC had failed to advise them of. When the crew realized they were in a bad situation they then tried to radio for help. Their portables (both of them) indicated that they were OUT OF RANGE. The scary thing about this situation was that they could see the tower. Actually they could have walked right up to it but could not reach it with their radio. This is really not that uncommon, just a well hidden fact.

Many folks do not even know or realize that many transmissions are not sent through or just lost. I have witnessed on many occasions someone access the system, complete with the ok to talk chirp and all yet their radio traffic never makes it over the system. This is something that is not usually realized in scannerland but happens extremely often.

maus92 · Dec 9, 2014

The_B_Chief said:
Well our APX radios routinely fail to work on the PG system. We have to keep multiple radios on the same TG just to receive complete messages. Each of those radios receiving different segments of the same transmission at the same location. There are many areas where we were told that we would have no problem with portable coverage yet we can't get service on the mobiles. What is funny is that on a few occasions the 536 did a better job than the APX.

The audio quality is less than desired in many instances. As I and many others have stated before, it's an extremely dangerous situation.

Over the summer we had an ambulance crew that was sent into a dangerous situation that PSC had failed to advise them of. When the crew realized they were in a bad situation they then tried to radio for help. Their portables (both of them) indicated that they were OUT OF RANGE. The scary thing about this situation was that they could see the tower. Actually they could have walked right up to it but could not reach it with their radio. This is really not that uncommon, just a well hidden fact.

Many folks do not even know or realize that many transmissions are not sent through or just lost. I have witnessed on many occasions someone access the system, complete with the ok to talk chirp and all yet their radio traffic never makes it over the system. This is something that is not usually realized in scannerland but happens extremely often.

It seems to me that problems to this extent should be released to the media if the departments are not adequately addressing the situation. The Washington TV stations are currently covering tablet issues with unified communications that seem to be less critical than the situation that you describe something that your chief's or off associations should think about.

That said there is a long history (tradition?) of FFs griping about radios... back in the day when I ran calls, our "portables" sucked, but then again, this was before cellular telephones became popular - so the was no expectation that they would work indoors or even outdoors in some areas.

troymail · Dec 9, 2014

The_B_Chief said:
Well our APX radios routinely fail to work on the PG system. We have to keep multiple radios on the same TG just to receive complete messages. Each of those radios receiving different segments of the same transmission at the same location. There are many areas where we were told that we would have no problem with portable coverage yet we can't get service on the mobiles. What is funny is that on a few occasions the 536 did a better job than the APX.

The audio quality is less than desired in many instances. As I and many others have stated before, it's an extremely dangerous situation.

Over the summer we had an ambulance crew that was sent into a dangerous situation that PSC had failed to advise them of. When the crew realized they were in a bad situation they then tried to radio for help. Their portables (both of them) indicated that they were OUT OF RANGE. The scary thing about this situation was that they could see the tower. Actually they could have walked right up to it but could not reach it with their radio. This is really not that uncommon, just a well hidden fact.

Many folks do not even know or realize that many transmissions are not sent through or just lost. I have witnessed on many occasions someone access the system, complete with the ok to talk chirp and all yet their radio traffic never makes it over the system. This is something that is not usually realized in scannerland but happens extremely often.

VERY interesting -- this is the first time I've heard reports like this from PG. With all the radios I have going at any given time, I regularly hear the voice "move" from one radio to another as the signal comes and goes/fades in and out. I would not expect that on real subscriber radios.

I know the St Mary's folks complained about this on their old analog system and I think they are still having a few problems om the new Harris P25 system. I attribute those issues to the fact that they were told in advance they really needed twice as many towers as they went live with.

Any idea if the concerns are being heard and/or addressed? Plans for more towers? It's not good to be in possible bad situations needing help only to get a OOR tone when you try to make a call!

The_B_Chief · Dec 11, 2014

troymail said:
Any idea if the concerns are being heard and/or addressed? Plans for more towers? It's not good to be in possible bad situations needing help only to get a OOR tone when you try to make a call!

You're funny!!

Pee Gee politics my good man.

If you ask anyone that should know, there is no problem.

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