Questions about Sentinel's Write Option(s)

When programming the scanner, I have 3 questions about the Sentinel Write Option(s) since the manual makes no mention of this. I also searched the forum but could not find the answer either...

1. Just to make sure, if "Erase Favorites List on Scanner" is checked, I assume all FLs are erased before programming new one(s). Right?

2. What does "Force Write Full Database" mean and actually do?

3. If neither box is checked, does anything get programmed?

Thanks for your time and assistance! I am still trying to figure out my new scanner with a less than optimal User Guide...

73, Dave

If you are hwritting to scanner from ur PC then all the FL on the scanner will be removed and replaced with the data you are writting from the PC

K4EET said:

When programming the scanner, I have 3 questions about the Sentinel Write Option(s) since the manual makes no mention of this. I also searched the forum but could not find the answer either...

1. Just to make sure, if "Erase Favorites List on Scanner" is checked, I assume all FLs are erased before programming new one(s). Right?

2. What does "Force Write Full Database" mean and actually do?

3. If neither box is checked, does anything get programmed?

Thanks for your time and assistance! I am still trying to figure out my new scanner with a less than optimal User Guide...

73, Dave

Click to expand...

(1) Yes.

(2) No reason to check the "Force Write Full Database" every time you update a new database. You would only need to check that box if you were re-writing a database update of the same date that has already been written to the scanner. The only reason that would ever be necessary would be if the database in the scanner had been corrupted somehow.

Applying an update with a newer date than the one in the scanner (as in routine database updating) will always automatically overwrite (or force write over) the one in the scanner.

(3) Yes, the database if it is new (as mentioned in [2]), and as another example... if you added another new favorites list in Sentinel and wanted to just write that one to the scanner.

.

fxdscon and mjs438, thanks for the replies. Things are making more sense now. One of these days I'll be able to answer these typres of "newb" questions... 73 (best wishes), Dave K4EET

A little more. . .

1. When Erase Favorites List box is checked, all Favorites Lists in the scanner are erased. Then Sentinel write to the scanner all Favorites Lists are marked as Download On in the applicable profile. If Favorites List A is in the scanner and is set to Download Off in the profile, then it will be erased and not re-written to the scanner.

3. If neither box is checked, then the Profile information/data is all that is written to the scanner.

ofd8001 - thanks for the additional info! I think I'm getting the idea of how these check boxes actually function. Thanks again! 73, Dave K4EET

K4EET said:

fxdscon and mjs438, thanks for the replies. Things are making more sense now. One of these days I'll be able to answer these typres of "newb" questions... 73 (best wishes), Dave K4EET

Click to expand...

Hi Dave (and all) ---- As you are finding out Dave, the 436/536 scanners present some very interesting programming "nuances" that can easily be overlooked unless you really get "under the hood" and start experimenting with different settings. While some may feel that these units are a bit complicated, the payoff comes in understanding how the radios work--- you can really put the unit's many flexible settings to work for you in fine-tune the system to your liking. When I'm showing my friends some of the features of the 436/536, they start to understand that it's not just a "scanner" (like the good ole days of maybe ten channels of police or fire, and that was it), but that these units really present a "system" of scanning that can be tailored to one's individual needs and changed on the fly, very quickly, as the circumstances dictate. Glad it starting to all come together for you Dave.

ofd8001 said:

A little more. . .

3. If neither box is checked, then the Profile information/data is all that is written to the scanner.

Click to expand...

PLUS any FLs that have changed plus the main dB if that has changed.

MStep, yes, it is all starting to come together. Two documents that I learned about here from ScannerMaster are proving VERY useful. They are:

• Easier to Read BCD436HP/BCD536HP Digital Scanner Manual
• Sentinel BCD436/536HP Software Manual

These two documents are proving to be invaluable in learning how to get the most out of the Uniden BCD536HD scanner. As far as that goes, I don't know what I would do without Radio Reference.

With this arsenal of information, I am really starting to put my new scanner to good use. Thanks for the information everyone!!!

73, Dave K4EET

Voyager, thanks for your posting too. 73, Dave K4EET

Hello there Dave, I hope you're enjoying getting to know all the capabilities of your scanner. A quick question for you off topic; were you working 911 locally there in the Severn area?

tampatracker said:

Hello there Dave, I hope you're enjoying getting to know all the capabilities of your scanner. A quick question for you off topic; were you working 911 locally there in the Severn area?

Click to expand...

Yes, Anne Arundel County (AACo) Police HQ in Millersville, MD.

BCD536HP - Firmware V 1.10.02

Sometimes when downloading updates to my scanner - the scanner powers off before I have a chance to click Write to Scanner. I have to turnoff the scanner using the volume control. Has anyone experienced this issue?

Sintenel S/W version 1.06 and scanner firmware 1.10.02

Thanks

mjs438 said:

Sometimes when downloading updates to my scanner - the scanner powers off before I have a chance to click Write to Scanner. I have to turnoff the scanner using the volume control. Has anyone experienced this issue?

Sintenel S/W version 1.06 and scanner firmware 1.10.02

Thanks

Click to expand...

I had that problem before. It ended up being user error and I was turning off a power strip that the wall wart was plugged into!

Now I run all my radios off of large banks of batteries as the wall warts are almost all of the switching type these days which can wreak havoc with the HF bands.

Check your power savings mode settings in Windows device manager for your USB ports and all USB related hubs. Uncheck the option to allow windows to turn this device off to save power.
I've had windows turn off the power to a USB port before as Sentinel does not keep a signal going to the port so the computer does not know you are using the port.
If it is turning off in the middle of a write though, Windows should not turn the port or hub off that quick! Plus if it is the hub or port being turned off from Windows power saving settings, the radio should reboot into normal mode on its own. Both the 4 and 536HP's rely upon the presence of +5VDC to tell the radio that a cable is plugged in.
In that case, I'd double check your power connector you used on the 536 is plugged in firmly.
I don't know if the x36HP series draw more power during a write operation as I've never measured it but if so, that could be an indication of a faulty wall wart. I would think the same shutdown would occur if you cranked the volume to max for a few seconds as I'd bet that would draw more current than a memory write would.

Just having Sentinel open does not send a signal to the computer that a port is in use unless you are actually reading or writing to the radio so this does sound like a power savings setting.
You may also want to check in the BIOS settings before the OS loads and make sure there are no aggressive power saving settings enabled there. That is more commonly seen in laptop BIOSs though but many desktop boards can have some pretty aggressive power saving settings.
Usually you can disable the settings in the BIOS and the OS will control them.

Might be a bad SD card.