Clock issue and Siren app

As I've not had a problem with the clock until just reciently, I haven't been following Uniden's progress on a fix. Now that I am experiencing the problem on ALL of my units (one 436 and two 536's), I looked here and in WiKi for the latest-found nothing relating to a fix as yet... Wondering if I missed something. Where do we stand on this? Same question on the Siren App/dongle issue... Any movement on that?

Thanks,

Bill

n1chu said:

Same question on the Siren App/dongle issue... Any movement on that?

Thanks,

Bill

Click to expand...

Looks like the Siren app is still a heated subject:
http://forums.radioreference.com/un...on/312559-siren-app-development-timeline.html

Fixes

Personally I find it ridiculous that these radios are still being produced and sold with these known and documented issues. I just bought a new 436 and while I don't have the clock issue yet, when I called Uniden regarding the display not being bright enough I was told by a not so nice lady that I would soon have the clock issue. I asked her what the fix would be and what it would require and she stated she could not give that information out. What it's top secret? These issues may go the way of the face plate issue the GRE PSR 800 did...was never addressed until they were gone. I have been scanning for over 45 years and have 181 scanners right now many being Beacat branded before Uniden bought that patent and mnay more that are Uniden branded. Disappointed is the most kind word I can say regarding these 2 radios. I dought we will see a fix. I've called 5 times just to see if I get different answers. Yep varies from one to six months to I have no idea.....so there ya go.

So I take it there has been no fixes for users as yet. The GRE 800 faceplate issue was resolved, at least for me. They sent out a new free front cover. I doubt it was just another of the ones that had the lousy labeling job as it appeared to be much more durable to me. It has been my practice to have a second front cover (and display window if not part of the front cover) on hand. I would swap out the original parts if necessary, or if I sold the handheld. Looks count and are worth the cost of a shiny new no scratches /worn case when resold. Which is what I did with the 800. I left the old front cover on the radio and included the new with it, took a bath on the resale price but the guy already had one, GRE was going out of business-didn't know what the resale market would bear, and his son wanted to have one like his dad's for ease of programming. A good radio but I didn't need both the 436 & 800.

As for the lady telling us she could not give out any info on the two major Uniden issues, she probably gave the wrong impression. She was probably told not to volunteer any info as Uniden has not found their definitive fix as yet. Remember Paul Opitz telling everyone to stay tuned for a fix on the clock issue that would incorporate us sending the radios in for repair? Then finding out there was more to it than what they thought, canceling the return/repair policy they were putting together. My guess is with the pending lawsuit relating to these outstanding issues, they are determining if it will be cheaper to settle without fixing the issues or continue looking for fixes-which is going to be cheaper.

There is no pending lawsuit regarding the x36HP that I'm aware of - Yet.
There was certainly some chest beating and shouting for it late last year by a group of people, but that's about as far as it went.

Now it seems many are just resigned to the fact that 'It is, what it is..'

If nothing else, Uniden's problems could not have come at a better time for Whistler who are releasing competing high end scanner models.

So, instead of having one company monopolizing the radio scanner market (which was on the cards two years ago), we now have some serious competition going on for our $'s.

And, that is a great thing for our hobby.

Still, I have to wonder how Uniden intends to get itself out of this pickle.

What...No LSM grumbling here?

Just kidding!

Soon enough, I'm sure.


But the lack of communication from Uniden is disappointing. Week after week with some important fixes on the line, and yet nothing. Not a good sign.

Phil

Fixes

Can you fathom how long you would be without your radio(s) if we have to send them in for a fix? The back log they will have would be staggering no doubt. My point is they should not still be selling the 536 and 436 knowing they are selling a defective product. As for keeping a spare face plate on hand that's just strange. I have never had to replace a face plate in 47 years of scanning. The PSR 800 did require a face plate change but most folks just removed the covering on the scanner face...sold mine 3 days after getting it along with a replacement face plate I ordered. Whistler fixed the face plate and along with some firmware upgrades before they put their rebranded radio out. And they have listened to us the consumers and are putting out two new scanners that according to the descriptions anyway are redesigned models of the WS 1080 and the 1095, giving those that want a keypad and other features a choice.

Lots of talk, but I see few answers...

Uniden started a trial fix program, but apparently few of the people who reported issues wanted to be a part of it, so they reportedly (and this is third hand) decided to just go ahead full scale with the fix and hope it works as designed.

There is a thread detailing this issue starting here:
http://forums.radioreference.com/ka...2919-uniden-new-bcd-436-hp-3.html#post2439395

and continuing here:
http://forums.radioreference.com/uniden-tech-support/320823-bcd-436-hp.html

But Still

All talk and still no fix. Radios with defects out of the box being sold. I don't care if you go stand in Asia where ever the factory is and they hand you one right out the door right off the line you just got a defective product. Deceitful at least fraudulent at most. Wait for the new Whistlers and don't waste your money on the 436 or the 536...probably explains the dropping prices.

Well it's not like they made products with defects intentionally. That seems to be what you are implying. If you wait for the perfect scanner you will never own one.

Didn't say that

Never said they made defective radios on purpose. But they are continuing to produce radios that are defective out of the box and they are doing so knowingly. I am not bashing Uniden overall I own countless Uniden radios and have NEVER...not once bought one that was defective and sold so knowing that. With my purchase of a late model 436 I was assuming since these have been out all this time my new one would not have issues...wrong...you know what happens when you assume. Continuing to sell these radios is just plain wrong. Many customers are not scanner savvy and don't realize they are getting a defective product. The 436 and 536 should have een and still should be recalled.At Dayton the 536 was being touted as the scanner of the "future' WiFi, siren app blah blah they still don't work..I call that fraud. And so does the Attorney generals office in my state.....

As I said in the past, the logical way to fix this is an exchange program.

If it were me, first stop the hemorrhaging and produce new units with the fixes implemented. Then with sufficient supply available, do an exchange program. Refurbish the units turned in and sell them off at discounted prices.

Simple!

Phil

SOFA_KING said:

As I said in the past, the logical way to fix this is an exchange program.

If it were me, first stop the hemorrhaging and produce new units with the fixes implemented. Then with sufficient supply available, do an exchange program. Refurbish the units turned in and sell them off at discounted prices.

Simple!

Phil

Click to expand...

If we were several months into the introduction of the x36 units, that might have been a feasible option, as was done with the headphone jack problem on the 536. But we are now 20 or so months into x36 production, and I don't see your solution as being practical at this point.

So if your solution involves producing and handing out brand new units to potentially thousands of customers in return for their 18+ month old radios, and then refurbishing those old units for sale at reduced prices, I would have to brush up on my Japanese expletives to give you the answer you would likely get from them.

But we may be putting the proverbial cart in front of the horse here--- as far as I am aware, no workable solution has yet been finalized for either the RTC or the dimming issue. When a solution is reached and tested, only then can some process be put into place that would provide rapid turn-around of the customer's own units. I do have several ideas on how that can be accomplished--- I've seen this done in similar situations, but right now let's wait to see if they've actually come up with a solution to the electronics issues first.

And just to thrown into the mix, the fact that us x36 owners are also waiting for completion of those promised features which have yet to fully materialize.

n1chu said:

As I've not had a problem with the clock until just reciently, I haven't been following Uniden's progress on a fix. Now that I am experiencing the problem on ALL of my units (one 436 and two 536's), I looked here and in WiKi for the latest-found nothing relating to a fix as yet... Wondering if I missed something. Where do we stand on this? Same question on the Siren App/dongle issue... Any movement on that?

Thanks,

Bill

Click to expand...

How long did you have your radios before you started having the clock isse??

Bearcatman911 said:

Never said they made defective radios on purpose. But they are continuing to produce radios that are defective out of the box and they are doing so knowingly.

Click to expand...

So you're saying they should stop all production even though many don't have any issues? I just want to understand your "solution".

MStep said:

If we were several months into the introduction of the x36 units, that might have been a feasible option, as was done with the headphone jack problem on the 536. But we are now 20 or so months into x36 production, and I don't see your solution as being practical at this point.

So if your solution involves producing and handing out brand new units to potentially thousands of customers in return for their 18+ month old radios, and then refurbishing those old units for sale at reduced prices, I would have to brush up on my Japanese expletives to give you the answer you would likely get from them.

But we may be putting the proverbial cart in front of the horse here--- as far as I am aware, no workable solution has yet been finalized for either the RTC or the dimming issue. When a solution is reached and tested, only then can some process be put into place that would provide rapid turn-around of the customer's own units. I do have several ideas on how that can be accomplished--- I've seen this done in similar situations, but right now let's wait to see if they've actually come up with a solution to the electronics issues first.

And just to thrown into the mix, the fact that us x36 owners are also waiting for completion of those promised features which have yet to fully materialize.

Click to expand...

It's called PLANNING. Certainly Uniden has some plan by now of what they are going to do. Sooner or later they have to deal with ALL the fallout. No escaping that. What? You think hiring a huge amount of technicians to do all the warranty work on that first big wave of returns is a better plan? The added labor cost would be enormous. Then there is the additional QC cost needed to verify the work was done correctly from temporary workers who know they will be looking for a job again when it's all done. You think a hand full of currently employed techs can turn them ALL around in a timely manner? Not likely.

Stop the defective scanner production first, flip the defective units quickly and fix the pile with the people you already have when you have time. It's the only feasible way to get them back in time. Recoup some of the loss (due to the company's own neglect in QA) with refurb sales. Unit production cost is not the same as retail cost. They could do it. This is not rocket science.

If all the problem parts are on one board, maybe board swapping is a possibility. But you will still have to hire additional help to take on the onslaught of returns. Tear down, replacing boards, and reassembling units still takes additional labor and QC.

Sorry, but I don't see any other way to turnkey these units sent in for repair. Maybe at some point the number of units sent back for repair will slow down enough to do realtime repairs with the people they already have, but that initial wave will be a big one. But I'm betting that new units will get the newly approved parts first. It only makes sense to stop selling defective units as soon as possible. Again...not that complicated.

Phil

SOFA_KING said:

It's called PLANNING. Certainly Uniden has some plan by now of what they are going to do................ Phil

Click to expand...

With all due respect Phil, I don't think they have a plan right now. I think they're winging it. I think they're buying time, trying to figure out exactly what they're going to do. I think that's why there has been no communication from Uniden . They may be batting around a few ideas, but I don't think they even have a proven, workable fix in yet for the RTC or dimming display issues. I've heard stuff like "we're waiting for parts", "we're running some tests", and the like.

The first indication that there might be some type of plan coming into place is when they set up a website for folks to register their units for repair. That's how I know that they have no plan right now. Because you can't plan until you know what you're dealing with. Is it 100 units? 1000 units? 10,000 units? It would be impossible for them to have any plan without having that information available first.

Right now, I think it's all up in the air.

What's odd to me are the frequent posts of people "pulling the trigger" or "about to pull the trigger" on these obviously defective units and saying how they can't wait til the UPS man delivers them.

I can't believe in this day and age folks don't do their research and avoid these scanners like the plague!

Silence is not necessarily golden....

Voyager said:

So you're saying they should stop all production even though many don't have any issues? I just want to understand your "solution".

Click to expand...

Yes they should stop until they can provide a fix. Putting more defective radios out only means more that will be returned. And putting out defective merchandise opens a company up for class action lawsuits. The people that don't have the issue either don't know or haven't owned them long enough. The clock issue develops over a little time the dim display is out of the box. Starting to sound like Volkswagen to me.

Nasby said:

What's odd to me are the frequent posts of people "pulling the trigger" or "about to pull the trigger" on these obviously defective units and saying how they can't wait til the UPS man delivers them.

I can't believe in this day and age folks don't do their research and avoid these scanners like the plague!

Click to expand...

You would probably be amazed that I went ahead and bought the 536 three months ago. I needed Phase II and I wanted all the bells & whistles. I didn't go in blind--- I know exactly what's likely coming down the road. The 536 is for base use only and I run the display on a lower setting. It's a fantastic scanner.

Two weeks ago I "pulled the trigger" on the 436 for portable and mobile use--- same caveat about running the display at a lower level.

I did my research---- I monitored these forums for over three years--- since I first got my HP1. The bottom line is the 436 and 536 are fantastic scanners---- the best ever produced, and with bells and whistles galore. But with some possible potential problems down the road.

Mine are working fine right now--- if problems develop, I'll deal with them when they do. But just because I love the radios doesn't mean that I can't be critical of Uniden and the way that they have handled the situation for my fellow brother and sister scanner enthusiasts here on the forums.

Call what I provide here "constructive criticism".