What's with the totally useless battery indicator on the 436HP?

Roveer · Mar 28, 2015

So after playing with my 436HP for a while I went looking for the battery meter. The instructions say hit the sq/vol button and you'll see a x.xx v level indicator. Huh??? How am I supposed to use this? Seems useless to me but I'm open for suggestions. What level indicates fully charged? What level indicates almost empty? Why do companies take logical things and make them illogical?

Roveer

dave3825 · Mar 28, 2015

When you put in fully charged batteries, hit the button. Whats listed is more than likely a full charge. When the radio starts beeping and says batt are low, hit the button. Thats most likely almost empty..

eaf1956 · Mar 28, 2015

I wonder if the radio won't turn on if that means the battery is dead!

Voyager · Mar 28, 2015

Roveer said:
So after playing with my 436HP for a while I went looking for the battery meter. The instructions say hit the sq/vol button and you'll see a x.xx v level indicator. Huh??? How am I supposed to use this? Seems useless to me but I'm open for suggestions. What level indicates fully charged? What level indicates almost empty? Why do companies take logical things and make them illogical?

Roveer

It's quite logical - it's the exact voltage of three AA cells (typical 1.2V each, or 3.6V).

Fully charged, the reading will be around 4.0V, or about 1.33V per cell.

The low battery alert should start below 3.5V, or about 1.15V per cell.

The scanner will shut off below 3.3V, or about 1.1V per cell.

Roveer · Mar 29, 2015

Voyager said:
It's quite logical - it's the exact voltage of three AA cells (typical 1.2V each, or 3.6V).

Fully charged, the reading will be around 4.0V, or about 1.33V per cell.

The low battery alert should start below 3.5V, or about 1.15V per cell.

The scanner will shut off below 3.3V, or about 1.1V per cell.

Ok! I'll give you that. It's logical. It also involves a lot of numbers and knowledge of what number represents what level of charge. I can't remember a device I've owned that represented battery level this way. Either a visual indicator showing how much charge is left or a percentage. Either of these methods is better than what uniden has given here.

Roveer

marksmith · Mar 29, 2015

While I am not going to get overly concerned about it, there is a good user-friendly point here. I have thought the same thing since battery level was represented this way in the 396xt. I have gotten used to it now, but why not just a visual level indicator?

Mark
536HP/HP1e/HP2e/996P2/996XT
996T/396XT(2)/PSR800/PRO668

Triangulum · Mar 29, 2015

One of the reasons it is done this way is to promote a sense of unity within the community. The hobby of scanning is very esoteric. Over time the user will devote time into craft. They might tinker with some settings, search for frequencies, and do other things to hone their monitoring abilities.

Through this kind of practice in the craft, you begin to learn the "secrets of the trade". You begin to unearth knowledge that initially may have been under the radar so to speak. This knowledge is simple, but it is the result of your dedication. It comes from the result of your self-initiation and practice. It comes from digging a little deeper.

In this example, the battery meter is just Uniden throwing us a bone. And in some ways its just a symbol that brings us together.

Voyager · Mar 29, 2015

Roveer said:
I can't remember a device I've owned that represented battery level this way.

Ever own a car?

All you really need to know is that NiCAD/NiMH cells are 1.2V, hence the scanner would be 3.6V nominal.

Why that over a small graph? Accuracy. You can show much more detail with about 100 steps over a few segments on a bar graph. 2 bars could be 3/4 full or 1/4 full. If I see 3.75V on the display, I know the cells are about half used and I should have several hours left on them.

marksmith · Mar 29, 2015

Sorry. I've been scanning for over 40 years and I don't see the point. And I can tell I have a couple hours left on the batteries with a small graph just as easy. Do it all the time.

Mark
536HP/HP1e/HP2e/996P2/996XT
996T/396XT(2)/PSR800/PRO668

torontokris · Mar 29, 2015

The voltage meter is much more accurate.. ask anybody who has a HomePatrol how in-accurate the "bars" can be.. or ask people with a GRE that havent custom set/modified the battery levels.

Once your use to the 436 voltage levels 4v+ = charged.. 3.5 = low battery beep 3.3-3.4=dead

Its giving you a precise knowledge of the voltage of the batteries,
Think about car mechanics, HVAC technicians etc all use a voltage meter ... because a battery meter graph is not precise for them.
I agree it may not be the best for beginners, but once you get use to it its a great idea

This is not new to the 436. was on the 396T & 396XT

Voyager · Mar 29, 2015

marksmith said:
Sorry. I've been scanning for over 40 years and I don't see the point. And I can tell I have a couple hours left on the batteries with a small graph just as easy. Do it all the time.

Mark
536HP/HP1e/HP2e/996P2/996XT
996T/396XT(2)/PSR800/PRO668

Sorry, but your comment are lacking in credibility. The best resolution you can get out of a 3 segment bar graph is 33%. Over a 1V operating range, that is a resolution of 0.33v, so your bar graph showing 2 segments might be 1.53 to 1.86V, or between about half an hour to about 5 hours life left. Unless you add information that you know it just lowered to 2 bars an hour ago, you can't get the accuracy you claim.

jonwienke · Mar 30, 2015

Another point to consider is that different batteries have different voltage ranges. If you use non-rechargeable alkalines, the peak voltage will be more like 4.5V instead of the 3.6-3.8 you normally get with NiMH rechargeables. If your bar graph is calibrated for NiMH, it's not going to give you anything remotely resembling an accurate display.

UPMan · Mar 30, 2015

And, NiMH voltage curve is nearly flat during the entire discharge cycle, so it is really impossible to know what % they are at at any point. You can just know that you are very close to the beginning 5% of the curve (mostly charged) or within 5% of the end of the curve (almost dead). For the remaining 90% or so of battery usage, the battery voltage change is insignificant (and mostly the result of different immediate power usage rather than overall battery capacity remaining).

marksmith · Mar 30, 2015

Well... like I said way back in post #6, not going to get real concerned about it.

If I was, I never would have bought 2 HP scanners, my cell phone or any number of other devices that don't have this fabulously precise battery guage. And whether you think thats credible or not I could care less, because it is to me.

Mark
536HP/HP1e/HP2e/996P2/996XT
996T/396XT(2)/PSR800/PRO668

Roveer · Mar 30, 2015

Ahh. It's something I'll get used to. Just seems like it could be better. At this point in the game (let's say 25 years of consumer electronics), we have grown accustomed to seeing things that are standard (battery meters), not voltage numbes and a trip to RR to learn what numbers are acceptable and then convert them for NiMH vs others etc. That's just not the way it should be.

Since it's a buried feature (requires a button press to get to it), I'll probably never look at it again. That in itself is a little strange.

Still very happy with the scanner, but will always be vocal about things that could be better.

Roveer

What's with the totally useless battery indicator on the 436HP?

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