Where is the Bandscope?

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vlxjim

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I just purchased a BCD436HP last night from HRO. I spent till about two in the morning trying to find the bandscope. I performed all the firmware upgrades and software upgrades. Still no Bandscope, could not find it anywhere, not in manuals not on Marks manuals. What is up with that.

So after searching on the web I find that the bandscope is not included in the radio. Even though it is listed the number 8 feature out of 50 features listed. This is one of the reasons I bought this radio was for the bandscope. This feature is not listed as a future feature it was listed as a main feature. Unlike the HP1 or HP2 where you could purchase the upgrade that included the bandscope.

After reading and researching this problem I've been very disappointed with what I have uncovered. I know there are some of you Uniden fans on here that defend Uniden's position. Stop it! What they have done is take advantage of you. They released the product that was not ready for primetime. Yet their marketing material leads you to believe that this radio is full featured and ready to run. When in fact it was pre-released with not all the features marketed and Uniden has been taking their own sweet time to implement those features. It took two years just to implement the Analyze feature and in doing so they left out the bandscope. (the bandscope was listed as the 1st Analyze feature)

Uniden's lack of responsibility and not being completely transparent with their customers is completely unacceptable. Not coming clean or providing an ETA of when these sold features will be implemented. Not being completely transparent about the problems and why it is taking so long (over two years) is completely unacceptable. When a new firmware is being released and the customers are not provided with details about what will be in this release.

With all the problems and flaw that I've uncovered Uniden has the responsibility of being transparent and letting their customers know what they're doing to remedy the issues with timelines and progress reports. As well as what they're planning to add in the next firmware update so that there not keeping the customer hanging by a thread.

This is not an uneducated opinion this is an opinion from an expert. As an owner of a company that provides OEM design and manufacturing in the electronics industry I am an expert. In fact I get a insight that fully encompasses all of the processes from first design to being pushed out the warehouse door. As owner of vertically integrated one stop manufacturing facility it starts with CAD designs (industrial, optical and thermal). Electronic design including PCB an embedded designs. Purchasing of components and raw materials. Manufacturing that includes pick and place, reflowing, wave soldering, injection molding, extrusions, CNC machining, laser and plasma cutting and sonic welding to name a few. All in house and in the U.S.A. I have on staff software engineers that design and write all the code for our embedded systems. So you kind a get the picture.

That being said the pre-release of a product that doesn't have all the features marketed and firmware as polished as can be would be irresponsible and an unorthodox business practice. Its just a quick roll out to get to market and get your money.

Reading the forms has given me the picture that the beta program for these radios was nothing more than a radio turned on sitting on someone's desk all day, if that. That would be the only way that all the surprise flaws could've not been found. Or they knew about it and rolled out the product and figured they throw money at it later.

You can call me hard you can call me harsh but the fact remains that this is a major electronics company that took advantage of its customers. And they owe you the responsibility of giving you what you paid for.

I don't need to get into the legal position of the Federal Trade Commission, false advertising bate and switch, antitrust laws or class action suits. I just want what I paid for in a timely manner and when to expect these solutions.

And for those of you that are waiting to get your real time clock taking care of. This is a joke as well. If you knew the cost of the components to build one of these radios you would not be happy. There are very few if any high-end components in this radio. And from where I sit there and no long leadtime components 6 to 8 weeks should be the longest. Right now Uniden's biggest cost is the labor to repair these radios. I find it hard to believe that they don't have component sitting at their contract manufacturer site where they're building these radios.

Sorry for being so long-winded. And my first post on here ,wish it was for something else.
 

phask

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WOW - seems like, for being an expert you did not do your homework.

Your post contains nothing that would not have surfaced had you read here first.

That said - curious where you saw these 50 features.
 

XTS3000

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OP, I agree 100% with your assessment. The 436HP/536HP were half-baked when released, and still waiting on features almost 2 years.

I have never heard of a wifi enabled product (major feature) that took over a year to get working, then it's half-baked when released. Uniden blames the wifi delays on the vendor they bought the wifi puck from. With all the other delays for other features, I highly doubt the vendor was/is the problem. Who releases a product without fully testing its features and accessories first? Uniden, that's who.

Due to its crummy SD card implementation, I can not rely on the 436HP. Is the card going to corrupt on me when I power it on? I stopped carrying it around fearing the memory will corrupt at any given time, leaving me in the dark without a working scanner as it already did at least 3 times.

I've purchased tons of electronics over the decades, and these scanners are are the most half-baked, incomplete product ever purchased.

It's been the blame game since day 1. Blame the wifi vendor, blame the RTC fix on a "component" delay. Blame the LED manufacturer for dimming display.

I, for one, will never ever buy a new released scanner from Uniden again. My 436HP is in storage now. It's just not reliable.
 

MStep

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I just purchased a BCD436HP last night from HRO. I spent till about two in the morning trying to find the bandscope. I performed all the firmware upgrades and software upgrades. Still no Bandscope, could not find it anywhere, not in manuals not on Marks manuals. What is up with that.

Welcome to the forums. In terms of the bandscope, if Uniden implements it the way it is deployed on the HP-1 and HP2, it is not really a bandscope in the sense that you many be familiar---- it is more of a "Scanscope", which scans frequencies between an upper and lower limit and simply gives you a visual representation of signal activity and strength between those two limits.

It is nothing like the bandscopes you find on some of the amateur radio gear that you may be familiar with, where you set a center frequency, and while the radio sits on that center frequency, you can see activity on both sides of that frequency. So you might be a bit disappointed if the implementation is the same as the HP-1 and HP-2 units.

I'm a bit surprised that you did not research these forums prior to your purchase--- there are literally thousands of posts here regarding the delay with the feature set. That being said, and having been involved in the monitoring hobby for well over 50 years, I can assure you that even in their current form, without any additional firmware upgrades, the 436 and 536 units are the best, most feature and function rich scanners ever produced.
 

frazpo

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It just so happens I got my 436 the other day also. It wasn't on my high list of needs but I was looking through the menu for Bandscope also. Mainly because I had not seen it in the menus and was curious.
Then along came this post. It is listed on the RR BCD436HP wiki page as having it also.

I am still happy with this scanner though. I do miss the smaller size of my 396XT. This seems a little tall for the base size.
 

MStep

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There is plenty to whine about. The x36 series was simply an ambitious project in which the developers bit off a little more than they could chew. Even with the features that are still pending, Uniden has to be commended for designing the most sophisticated and feature-rich scanners that we've ever had. They tried to make these the ultimate machines by throwing in everything but the kitchen sink, and for the most part, they succeeded.

There were plenty of bumps in the road along the way, and yes, we are still "patiently" waiting for the feature set to be completed. And yes, it has been nearly 2 years. But there is nothing else out there that even comes close the the x36 series. I use the 536 at my base 24/7, and the 436 travels with me wherever I go, be it in my mobile or any other mode of transportation. I keep the 436 close at hand at all times.

I believe that the OP is going to find, even with all its faults and missing features, that the 436 is a real communications tool that he will come to depend on. If you are truly into communications, you simply don't leave home without it.
 
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pinballwiz86

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I love my Uniden scanners. But the latest releases have been real dogs. I'm looking forward to the Whistler WS1088.

Uniden, you better have something good up your sleeve! Think back on the 396XT line. Upgrade that scanner. Make it hold 4 battery cells and give us a new decode. D-Star at least. How much is an AMBE chip? Come on.. Then, you'll have my money again.
 

XTS3000

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OP, at least you can return the scanner and get your money back if not satisfied with the missing features. The rest of us got stuck waiting for features while our return "window" ran out.

Think long and hard if you want to keep the scanner......
 

fxdscon

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This is not an uneducated opinion this is an opinion from an expert. As an owner of a company that provides OEM design and manufacturing in the electronics industry I am an expert.

Just what we need, another self-proclaimed expert... LOL.

And my first post on here ,wish it was for something else.

Agreed..... maybe for something that hasn't been beaten to death already.

.
 

vlxjim

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So.Cal.
WOW - seems like, for being an expert you did not do your homework.

Your post contains nothing that would not have surfaced had you read here first.

That said - curious where you saw these 50 features.

I knew about the Clock but not the missing bandscope. That said searching for bandscope did not turn up that much. Got just a few hits. And they were mostly 536hp's.

Who knew that when you go buy a scanner in this price range from a company like Uniden that this would happen. I've owned Uniden's in the past with zero problems. I'm also a licensed ham and I've never bought a Yaesu, Icom or Kenwood that was like this.


The 50 features:

BCD436HP - The RadioReference Wiki


UNIDEN BCD-436HP | UNIDEN BCD436HP TrunkTracker V/APCO P25 Phase I & Phase II
 

SCPD

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Well said vlsjim, There is rumor of class action suit ready to go soon for the reason you described below
I'm surprised no one has hit up the Federal trade commissions, or have they.

As for cost to make the radio, lucky if it cost 78.00 to make if that. The cost to license intellectual property such as decoding Edacs channel and access to RR database just to name a few is probably double the cost to make the radio






I just purchased a BCD436HP last night from HRO. I spent till about two in the morning trying to find the bandscope. I performed all the firmware upgrades and software upgrades. Still no Bandscope, could not find it anywhere, not in manuals not on Marks manuals. What is up with that.

So after searching on the web I find that the bandscope is not included in the radio. Even though it is listed the number 8 feature out of 50 features listed. This is one of the reasons I bought this radio was for the bandscope. This feature is not listed as a future feature it was listed as a main feature. Unlike the HP1 or HP2 where you could purchase the upgrade that included the bandscope.

After reading and researching this problem I've been very disappointed with what I have uncovered. I know there are some of you Uniden fans on here that defend Uniden's position. Stop it! What they have done is take advantage of you. They released the product that was not ready for primetime. Yet their marketing material leads you to believe that this radio is full featured and ready to run. When in fact it was pre-released with not all the features marketed and Uniden has been taking their own sweet time to implement those features. It took two years just to implement the Analyze feature and in doing so they left out the bandscope. (the bandscope was listed as the 1st Analyze feature)

Uniden's lack of responsibility and not being completely transparent with their customers is completely unacceptable. Not coming clean or providing an ETA of when these sold features will be implemented. Not being completely transparent about the problems and why it is taking so long (over two years) is completely unacceptable. When a new firmware is being released and the customers are not provided with details about what will be in this release.

With all the problems and flaw that I've uncovered Uniden has the responsibility of being transparent and letting their customers know what they're doing to remedy the issues with timelines and progress reports. As well as what they're planning to add in the next firmware update so that there not keeping the customer hanging by a thread.

This is not an uneducated opinion this is an opinion from an expert. As an owner of a company that provides OEM design and manufacturing in the electronics industry I am an expert. In fact I get a insight that fully encompasses all of the processes from first design to being pushed out the warehouse door. As owner of vertically integrated one stop manufacturing facility it starts with CAD designs (industrial, optical and thermal). Electronic design including PCB an embedded designs. Purchasing of components and raw materials. Manufacturing that includes pick and place, reflowing, wave soldering, injection molding, extrusions, CNC machining, laser and plasma cutting and sonic welding to name a few. All in house and in the U.S.A. I have on staff software engineers that design and write all the code for our embedded systems. So you kind a get the picture.

That being said the pre-release of a product that doesn't have all the features marketed and firmware as polished as can be would be irresponsible and an unorthodox business practice. Its just a quick roll out to get to market and get your money.

Reading the forms has given me the picture that the beta program for these radios was nothing more than a radio turned on sitting on someone's desk all day, if that. That would be the only way that all the surprise flaws could've not been found. Or they knew about it and rolled out the product and figured they throw money at it later.

You can call me hard you can call me harsh but the fact remains that this is a major electronics company that took advantage of its customers. And they owe you the responsibility of giving you what you paid for.

I don't need to get into the legal position of the Federal Trade Commission, false advertising bate and switch, antitrust laws or class action suits. I just want what I paid for in a timely manner and when to expect these solutions.

And for those of you that are waiting to get your real time clock taking care of. This is a joke as well. If you knew the cost of the components to build one of these radios you would not be happy. There are very few if any high-end components in this radio. And from where I sit there and no long leadtime components 6 to 8 weeks should be the longest. Right now Uniden's biggest cost is the labor to repair these radios. I find it hard to believe that they don't have component sitting at their contract manufacturer site where they're building these radios.

Sorry for being so long-winded. And my first post on here ,wish it was for something else.
 

muchomorek

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You know the cost of making an iPhone is $200.10 and the device is selling for $649.
 

XTS3000

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You know the cost of making an iPhone is $200.10 and the device is selling for $649.


True, but I can leave my house knowing my iPhone won't corrupt due to horrible implementation of the memory (SD card). I know every time I turn on my iPhone it will just work and no missing features.

Every time I turned on my 436HP, I crossed my fingers it wouldn't corrupt it's memory.
 

muchomorek

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google iPhone antenna gate, now that apple released its 7th generations phone most of the issues has been resolve, but not all of them.
 

XTS3000

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Those with the 436HP all bought the scanner for different reasons. Some features others don't care about are important to you or me. We all use our 436HP in different configurations because it's so configurable to suit personal needs. Kudos to Uniden on making their current scanners so user friendly.

When deciding on a $500 product, and the product description says it has a specific features, only to buy it and discover it's not included yet has the right to be disappointed and complain when they go to use a features only to discover it's missing.
 
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