Backlight on 436 and 536

I own (3) 436's and (1) 536 since the day they were released. The backlight on the 536 is so bad I can hardly read it and the 436"s are just as bad. How much longer do we have to wait to hear an answer from Uniden on the cause and what are they going to do to fix it? I have several thousand $ in Uniden scanners and I have not seen such poor quality! I'm usually very patient but I have just about had it. Fix this problem Now!!

My 536 is similar. Stopped using it because I can't read it. It's a very nice scanner too. What a freaking shame.

Mark
536/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/
396XT/PSR800/PRO668/PRO652

That's very unfortunate Theo and marksmith. I just purchased a 436 about 3 weeks ago. How long after you purchased the radios did the backlight start going bad?

I hope I don't have this problem down the road.

HopperD said:

That's very unfortunate Theo and marksmith. I just purchased a 436 about 3 weeks ago. How long after you purchased the radios did the backlight start going bad?

I hope I don't have this problem down the road.

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HopperD, I noticed the problem about 4 or 5 months in. The 536 is the worst being on the high setting about 12 hours a day. The 436's are on the squelch setting 12 hours a day are still readable barely. I have scanners that are 10 and 15 years old and are just as bright as the day I bought them! The silence from Uniden is making me very upset!

Uniden is too busy working on their newest mobiles and portables to worry about their most expensive "Flagship" scanners. It took over 15 months for Uniden to deliver fixes and promised features, so I have zero faith they will get their act together and address all the new problems with these garbage x36HP's anytime soon. It's been nearly 2 months and no real fix for the RTC failure, just a patch which negatively impacts many features now.

My suggestion of you just recently purchased a x36HP, RETURN IT! I regret everyday my decision to purchase the 436HP. Uniden patches one problem, and two more problems crop up. I don't think Uniden has even acknowledged the dimming backlights yet, so don't hold your breath.

My original 536 was purchased last year and I believe it was one of the first scanners released, Since than I have purchased two additional 536's. I've noticed the original scanner is dimmer than the two newer scanners on the same settings.

Since hearing about the issues with the backlight I've consequently changed intensity from high to medium display light. I've also decreased the contrast to 11 on all scanners.

Do you think that will preserve the integrity of the backlight? Or, do these settings have any bearing on the display failure?

Thank you.

XTS3000 said:

Uniden is too busy working on their newest mobiles and portables to worry about their most expensive "Flagship" scanners.

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Please cite your source. Otherwise, it's just your opinion (and a wrong one at that). Uniden has released two flagship firmware updates in the past 6 weeks or so.

XTS3000 said:

It took over 15 months for Uniden to deliver fixes and promised features,

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In reality, it took them 4 months (December 2014 to April 2015) . The other 11 (January 2013 to December 2014) they were waiting for the dongle manufacturer's firmware. This is documented on this RR forum.

But, I know you gotta rag on Uniden and exaggerate the facts. I hear there are treatments for that.

DSC45 said:

My original 536 was purchased last year and I believe it was one of the first scanners released, Since than I have purchased two additional 536's. I've noticed the original scanner is dimmer than the two newer scanners on the same settings.

Since hearing about the issues with the backlight I've consequently changed intensity from high to medium display light. I've also decreased the contrast to 11 on all scanners.

Do you think that will preserve the integrity of the backlight? Or, do these settings have any bearing on the display failure?

Thank you.

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They have not yet determined the failure (AFAIK), so the solution is not yet known (again AFAIK).

Ironically, I have a battery charger (not made by Uniden) that has the same issue. Maybe Uniden is negotiating a settlement with the LCD display manufacturer.

The million dollar question; Will Uniden honor warranty on radios bought from eBay or other 3rd party sellers in regards to faulty design (backlight, RTC)?

Regardless of where the scanner was purchased, it would/should be in Uniden's best interest to address any of these "product" problems.

I have heard they will not likely honor the manufacturers Warranty on units purchased via ebay or other "non" authorized sellers, however, somewhere/someone needs to explain CLEARLY how and why these units will not be covered under Warranty..

Hard to make an exact analogy to how this all works, but say you buy a "new" car from outside the dealer network. Regardless of where the car is purchased, even through a rental agency or an individual as used, the "New Product" Warranty is still in effect up to the specified date and mileage of the terms of the "New Product" Warranty.

What happens with "used" products that have these "known" product problems within the orignal 1 year or slightly beyond 1 year??

If these units will not be covered, then will the repairs be a flat rate $75 + shipping like for all other products?

This seems it is just the case of avoiding the ultimate responsibility for a product that the company produced. Figure a way out of covering a product for a customer in order to save money.

If there are so many products ending up in the "wrong" hands for sale, the manufacturer really needs to control this better. Why should be be up to the consumer to do all the research on where and whom you can and cannot purchase products from?

I understand some of the gray market issue where products destine for outside the North America market are imported, but again, where is the fox that is supposed to watch the hen house?

If there are problems, take care of the customer, plain and simple. If you say you will not take care of the customer, CLEARLY state why and how the customer can get issues resolved.

I also agree that something should be stated soon about the dimming display back lighting. Own up, even if you do not have a solution in place. It is CLEAR there is a problem and more to come, some people may not see this as much as others depending on back light usage, brightness settings and overall scanner use. I believe this is not a display issue but a problem with the LED's or LED current biasing??

Kind of sad these issues take so long for someone to acknowledge them. Maybe if Uniden chooses to not acknowledge/address the back lighting issue, then maybe someone can investigate a 3rd party or DIY repair or solution?

They say bad news comes in 3's, well we are at like 3.5 at this point, what next?

HopperD said:

That's very unfortunate Theo and marksmith. I just purchased a 436 about 3 weeks ago. How long after you purchased the radios did the backlight start going bad?

I hope I don't have this problem down the road.

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I can speak for my experience with the 536.

The display was never off the charts bright, even on the highest brightness setting. Therefore... That's the setting it was usually on. I would say it started to dim within 5 months and was very noticeable by 8 months. Kept trying by that time to increase brightness only to realize it was already on highest setting.

Now a year or so into it, its so dim I can barely see it at night. Stopped using it for fear it goes totally blind, and because I can barely see it. Its a nice scanner too. Shame it is basically unusable after only a year. Waiting to hear if any solutions arise.

Mark
536/HP1e/HP2e/996P2/996XT/396XT/PSR800/PRO668/PRO652

DSC45 said:

My original 536 was purchased last year and I believe it was one of the first scanners released, Since than I have purchased two additional 536's. I've noticed the original scanner is dimmer than the two newer scanners on the same settings.

Since hearing about the issues with the backlight I've consequently changed intensity from high to medium display light. I've also decreased the contrast to 11 on all scanners.

Do you think that will preserve the integrity of the backlight? Or, do these settings have any bearing on the display failure?

Thank you.

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This is an e-mail I sent to Uniden back on 10/26/14 regarding this issue and the response.
Next post.

The E-mail. I had a problem attaching this to previous message.

Lets be heard! Contact Uniden make them aware of this issue.

That is so bogus BS! Being now 5/2015 I'm sure they are well aware of this problem. UPMan is on here every day checking out RR. This needs to be rectified NOW!

My 436 is fine and the backlight has been left on for most of the time I've used it.

If I get motivated (bored) I might probe it with the scope or logic analyzer and see if it's PWM or not.

If it's PWM it might be a firmware issue introducing delays.

mancow said:

My 436 is fine and the backlight has been left on for most of the time I've used it.

If I get motivated (bored) I might probe it with the scope or logic analyzer and see if it's PWM or not.

If it's PWM it might be a firmware issue introducing delays.

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Please report back if you fine anything. I have (3) 436's bought at different times and it goes from low to medium on the Backlight. It took about 5 months and its quite obvious there's a problem.

The longer Uniden drags their feet on this issue, the less radios they will have to cover under warranty. Post #13 says, after the 1 year warranty, we will be left paying the bill to fix their faulty product.

For me when I'm out in town or traveling the backlight is very dim on my 536HP scanner and yes it's on the brightest setting there is.

New message sent yesterday.

Uniden knows full well that the dying screens on the 536 is a problem. They also know it's happening to a whole lot of them. I would suggest it might be happening to every one, but some have not been used long enough for it to show. They created an sold a product that now it ends up has about a year and a half life if used constantly during that period. They know that a whole bunch of people are getting pretty angry that the top of the line scanner they bought is going blind and Uniden has decided to just ignore the fact publicly to avoid having to bear the expense of covering them under warranty. Uniden customers are not so stupid to not realize what is going on. It will have a pretty significant impact on those customers in terms of considering future or other Uniden products.

Mark
536/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/
396XT/PSR800/PRO668/PRO652