Firmware Update 2015-10-27: Replay Duration 'OFF'

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Jay911

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I don't believe anybody posted the firmware update that came out yesterday. Couple of useful (minor) things in it:

BCD536HPFirmwareUpdate said:
  • Added an option to turn off replay to save on SD card wear
  • Corrected an issue that made the scanner appear dead of the SD card was corrupted
  • Changed the boot up process so that the scanner will automatically select SERIAL mode if the USB cable is connected and no button is pressed within 10 seconds.

There's a new version of Sentinel (1.05.00) to take advantage of the first item in that list as well.

I updated my 436 and my 536 yesterday and so far things are working well, though I wouldn't be using the "replay off" configuration myself anyway - I always record from power-on to power-off. I wish that (auto record at power on) was added to the radio :)

EDIT: The last item might only be for the 536. I just tried with my 436, and left it for a full minute, and it never left the "USB Cable Detected" screen until I hit the ./no key.
 
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SOFA_KING

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I don't believe anybody posted the firmware update that came out yesterday. Couple of useful (minor) things in it:



There's a new version of Sentinel (1.05.00) to take advantage of the first item in that list as well.

I updated my 436 and my 536 yesterday and so far things are working well, though I wouldn't be using the "replay off" configuration myself anyway - I always record from power-on to power-off. I wish that (auto record at power on) was added to the radio :)

EDIT: The last item might only be for the 536. I just tried with my 436, and left it for a full minute, and it never left the "USB Cable Detected" screen until I hit the ./no key.

And that is where I need the "USB Cable Detected" timeout feature the most...powering my 436 in my car.

Did the 436 actually do the firmware update? Maybe I'll wait and see if they fix that.

Thanks for the information!

Phil
 

Jay911

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Did the 436 actually do the firmware update?

It did, but I may have run it from the older version of Sentinel. Not sure if that would have an impact, or if the only difference in Sentinel was to add the "replay off" menu choice.

Just tried it again, this time powering the radio completely off and back on rather than just connecting the cable while the radio was powered on. Same result - no automatic selection of "serial".

I'll try with my 536 when I get home in about 7 hours...
 

RandyKuff

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I don't believe anybody posted the firmware update that came out yesterday. Couple of useful (minor) things in it:



There's a new version of Sentinel (1.05.00) to take advantage of the first item in that list as well.

I updated my 436 and my 536 yesterday and so far things are working well, though I wouldn't be using the "replay off" configuration myself anyway - I always record from power-on to power-off. I wish that (auto record at power on) was added to the radio :)

EDIT: The last item might only be for the 536. I just tried with my 436, and left it for a full minute, and it never left the "USB Cable Detected" screen until I hit the ./no key.

Thanks for the heads up Jay... Just updated my 436 and sentinel...

Your right... Looks like the startup option is only for the 536 to go into serial mode after 10sec.
 
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KE5MC

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I saw the reference to Sentinel 1.05.00. I was at 1.02 and went looking for update. Found 1.03.01 and updated OK. Not found 1.05 yet. Realized it might be on the SD card. Found 1.02 on the SD card. I did update firmware to 1.09.02 while running Sentinel 1.02.

Any thoughts on where or how I get to 1.05.00. Does not seem to be a big update, but I like to keep current. Not sure how I missed the 1.03 update or when it was released.
 

Jay911

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I saw the reference to Sentinel 1.05.00. I was at 1.02 and went looking for update. Found 1.03.01 and updated OK. Not found 1.05 yet. Realized it might be on the SD card. Found 1.02 on the SD card. I did update firmware to 1.09.02 while running Sentinel 1.02.

Any thoughts on where or how I get to 1.05.00. Does not seem to be a big update, but I like to keep current. Not sure how I missed the 1.03 update or when it was released.

Put these two pages in your bookmarks/favorites:

BCD436HP < UnidenMan4 < TWiki

BCD536HP < UnidenMan4 < TWiki

You'll find Sentinel 1.05 at the bottom of either page.

I have an extension for my Chrome browser called Page Monitor which watches web pages and alerts me when they're changed. I got alerts that both of those updated yesterday - that's how I knew the firmware release was available.
 

KE5MC

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Jay911,

Thanks! I had previously gotten to your first link and stopped at the top of the page when I saw the 1.03 zip file. I was at 1.02 and figured the updated version might have a link in the application to updates.

At first I blew off the attachment button at the bottom, because it was under manual update, thinking operating manual and the attachment was collapsed so I didn't see any files listed. Once I clicked the attachment button I saw what I was looking for!

Again Thanks for the pointer...

Mike

P.S. FXDSCON not to leave you out as your link was just as helpful, but into a different page showing directly the 1.05 zip link. Thank-You!
 
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Jay911

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The 536 didn't default into serial mode when I plugged the cable in while the radio was turned on.

I just powered it off and back on just now, and had the same behavior. It seems to wait forever.

Either this is not working, I'm doing something wrong, or there's a setting that needs to be set that I have missed.
 

KevinC

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The 536 didn't default into serial mode when I plugged the cable in while the radio was turned on.

I just powered it off and back on just now, and had the same behavior. It seems to wait forever.

Either this is not working, I'm doing something wrong, or there's a setting that needs to be set that I have missed.

When you find out what you're doing wrong let me know....it isn't working for me either (436 or 536).
 

SOFA_KING

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Looks like someone redacted that feature, as the twiki no longer shows that as a firmware update feature.

Another Uniden FAIL?

That was the one little change that would have helped those crappy cigarette lighter USB power plugs that eventually go intermittent and interrupt power. One of these days I'm going to have to hardwire these stupid things.

Phil
 

Jay911

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It wasn't on the changelog when the firmware update was first posted yesterday, so I'm not too worked up over "losing" it today. It'll be a nice feature to have when it does arrive.

I'd enjoy also seeing the radios support display of 3-digit P25 RFSS and Site IDs, while we're wishing. ;)
 

KevinC

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The 536 Wiki still shows it...

1.09.02 Release Notes (10/27/2015)

Added an option to turn off replay to save on SD card wear
Corrected an issue that made the scanner appear dead of the SD card was corrupted
Changed the boot up process so that the scanner will automatically select SERIAL mode if the USB cable is connected and no button is pressed within 10 seconds.

IMPORTANT: You must use Sentinel v1.05.00 or later after applying this update. See link, above.
 

SOFA_KING

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Different link? I saw the first two, but not the third. I checked again, and now I see it, but if it is NOT working, I still call that a fail.

Perhaps they are working on it now. Time will tell, but wouldn't some communication from an official source be better?

Phil
 

Boatanchor

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Apparently it was posted (and has that feature listed) -- not working here either :roll:

Disabling recording appears to work though -- curious to see how this affects performance.

http://forums.radioreference.com/uniden-forums/322676-bcdx36hp-new-firmware-sentinel.html

Does it improve the 'laggy' button/function operation?

I always had a suspicion that the constant recording (recall function) was slowing everything down and/or the cpu was just too under powered to run everything smoothly.
 

MStep

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Auto switch to serial not working here either on the 436. "Off" function now shows on in the REPLAY menu, so that's cool, although not as necessary for me on the 436 as on the 536.

The OFF function will be advantageous to those who are using the 536 radio for local recording via WiFi on a program like Proscan while you are out and about and away from the radio and don't need the REPLAY function. If you're local recording on your scanner, it will not matter since the REPLAY option is automatically disabled during recording sessions on your scanner.

When I am home using my 536, I am recording via WiFi on Proscan, but the REPLAY function is always set for 240 seconds to maximize the function to my advantage.

Using the OFF function on the 436 is really not advantageous unless you really feel the function is not necessary or if you are doing continuous recording on the radio, in which case REPLAY is disabled anyway. I tend to miss a lot of traffic with the 436 when I am portable or in the car, so I want to maximize my reply capabilities by using the 240 second setting.

The function which would have been most advantageous is the auto select SERIAL in the mobile cigarette lighter cable function, but that's the one we didn't get :-(
 
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Voyager

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EDIT PROFILE
Select the MISCELLANEOUS tab
In the REPLAY OPTION section select OFF for the duration.
 
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