BCD436HP/BCD536HP: Lost it's mind?

Noticed my 436 got really, really quiet... Starting poking around to figure out why...

For those who don't know, I record everything (FUNC-REPLAY) by default. Using this fact, I found that nothing had recorded since sometime on Sunday 6/28.

I tried enabling some more "chatty" departments via QKs - still nothing.

Some QKs didn't work but should have.

I enabled a favorities list I created the other day on the fly. It only contained the wearher broadcast (162.4) and that worked.

I enabled a different favorites list - nothing.

I checked an old mixed analog/digital Motorola system and that was working - just not the P25 systems.

It also appeared that the scan rate was very fast for checking trunked site frequencies and I was seeing no bars for signal.

I verified with other radios that the P25 systems/sites were working - they were.

I finally gave in and reprogrammed the radio with Sentinel - now it works.

Somewhere along the way - either through the "on the fly" programming I did to add the weather frequency and put it into a separate favorites list or something else caused the radio to just go deaf for almost everything.

This is the second time the programming appeared to just go "stupid" recently. Previously, the QKs just stopped working as programmed. I believe somewhere along the way, the profile file/configuration is getting corrupted.

This could also possibly be another indicator of SD card issues....

Kinda getting old...

stock SD card is mass bought garbage

I hope you are Not using the stock Sd card ,its total crap!
I did an experiment,took the stock unused 436HP sd card put it in a Radio Shack Pro-668 it said after 3 months ,get this EEPROM corrupted.
Put in a new SD card and all was well!
So that to me confirms the stock sd card is crap.
The same Exact thing happened with the 536HP I had.Radio was fine after replacing the sd card!
2 times a charm-

Hmmm... still using stock over here since I got the radio over a year ago. No issues! I guess I was the lucky one.

-AZ

That happened to my 436 awhile ago. I had a statewide phase 2 system programmed on quick key 6. I tried to listen and got nothing. I had full reception of the simulcast site, but nothing came through. My Homepatrol 2 was nonstop. I finally had to reprogram it with sentinel. Then it worked again. And I upgraded the SD card shortly after that. Very weird.


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Original card failed long ago. I'm using either a Sandisk or Samsung card at the moment... Bizarre in this case the conventional and non-P25 worked just fine but the P25 systems just stopped working...

One thing I didn't do before reprogramming was try a reboot to see if it was the memory getting confused vs. a card issue...

Next time -- Unfortunately, I'm sure it will happen again...

not that everyone will have the same results but,i'd say theres a good chance the stock sd card is bad.

There are issues with the 436 when you record audio for a long time, even with a high speed, larger capacity card. Frequently you can end up with the scanner resetting and corrupting the card, requiring a format/restore.

Could be the card. Or could have been that a control channel got AVOIDed.

As for the long recording, I have a 536 that records 24/7/365 and have never corrupted a card yet.

daveharpe said:

There are issues with the 436 when you record audio for a long time, even with a high speed, larger capacity card. Frequently you can end up with the scanner resetting and corrupting the card, requiring a format/restore.

Click to expand...

I am starting to find this as well, i have another post about it in the tech support section. With mine it seems that once the card is filled past a certain point, it will start to randomly stop recording, disconnect from USB, and forget the volume settings i had it on last time it was powered off. I am also one who records everything, i hit the record button(s) automatically when i turn the scanner on.

I see from posts in other forums you are still having problems with your radio. Since we know a large number of files can cause rebooting, that does not mean something else might be involved.

You seem to redo your SD cards and start with a complicated list of favorites. For troubleshooting purposes, I like to keep it as simple as possible. Starting with just one System in one Favorite list and not recording would help tell if the radio has a mechanical or electrical problem. The manual does say not to use a Windows utility to reformat the SD card. You may even want to install Sentinel on another computer to make sure nothing currently on the radio is rewritten, or possibly use another profile.

If you are having battery/cable problems, are you using the USB cable that came with the radio? If you plug it in with the radio on do you get the option of Mass Storage or Serial? If you select Mass Storage and later remove the cable does the radio reboot?

If all of your problems revolve around P25 systems, perhaps the radio is too busy to do the required decoding. I do not know why it would just stop hearing a P25 system and mine has never done that.

Detailed info is necessary when trying to troubleshoot a problem. Knowing what P25 system you are having problems with allows us to check the particulars for that system. If there is something you think I might be able to duplicate, very detailed info is needed.

I will assume you have updated the radio's firmware and the database.