Good News For OKC Listeners!
- Thread starter peterjmag
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woodyrr
Member
Interesting. Perhaps it's time for a new scanner. I have been planning to get one that does P25 Phase II one of these days anyway.
Just heard about this moments ago by another source. Since I have a BCD436HP, I plan to buy this as soon as it's available ... if not sooner. I'll post my results.
I am not completely satisfied with the 436 as some of you know. This is not my first rodeo and I find this a difficult radio to use. Better now than it was when it was shipped, but phew. Mine's even made a trip through Uniden service (which is fortunately just down the road).
The upside for you guys that held off because you saw all the messages from those of us that were early adopters is that you can get a 436 for about $100 less than what I paid for mine.
They're about $400 now vs $500.
I am not completely satisfied with the 436 as some of you know. This is not my first rodeo and I find this a difficult radio to use. Better now than it was when it was shipped, but phew. Mine's even made a trip through Uniden service (which is fortunately just down the road).
The upside for you guys that held off because you saw all the messages from those of us that were early adopters is that you can get a 436 for about $100 less than what I paid for mine.
They're about $400 now vs $500.
woodyrr
Member
I'll be interested in your experiences. The BCD436HP was the model I was looking at this morning when I read the news. With each passing day, I become less and less able to keep my tenuous grasp on the technology around me.
BCDx36HP backlight repair program.
OMG, the whining over on the PV thread. You'd think Uniden had decided to ... I don't know, but holy crap are there a lot of stupid people on RR. Really stupid.
ANYWAY, while poking around over in the Uniden forums, it turns out that Uniden is cranking up a Repair Campaign for the BCDx36HP real time clock issue. Since my 436 has this, I will be participating.
http://forums.radioreference.com/uniden-tech-support/321603-bcd436hp-bcd536hp-repair-campaign.html
536s first, 436s later.
OMG, the whining over on the PV thread. You'd think Uniden had decided to ... I don't know, but holy crap are there a lot of stupid people on RR. Really stupid.
ANYWAY, while poking around over in the Uniden forums, it turns out that Uniden is cranking up a Repair Campaign for the BCDx36HP real time clock issue. Since my 436 has this, I will be participating.
http://forums.radioreference.com/uniden-tech-support/321603-bcd436hp-bcd536hp-repair-campaign.html
536s first, 436s later.
Updated Sentinel, updated firmware, bought and entered key to unlock ProVoice reception and ....
Nothing.
Turns out I can't actually get either Core or Wide Area sites from my desk at work.
I'll go outside later where I can get reception.
Updated Sentinel, updated firmware, bought and entered key to unlock ProVoice reception and ....
Nothing.
Turns out I can't actually get either Core or Wide Area sites from my desk at work.
I'll go outside later where I can get reception.
PRV works. Sounds just like P25. IOW, ugly but readable. I had a marginal signal (1 bar) so a better signal would make it sound better, though IMO, you can only make digital voice sound good once you get to a significant fraction of a CD's bandwidth, but I digress.
If you've got a 436, go to the usual place to get the new FW and new version of Sentinel, then follow the directions to buy a key. Enter the key and you're good to go.
BCD436HPFirmwareUpdate < UnidenMan4 < TWiki
N5TWB
Member
Peter: Assuming you don't work in a virtual Faraday cage, the dollars OKC sunk into the infrastructure for brand new tower sites, etc. sure don't seem to have gotten much bang for the buck. Just sayin'...
I do and I'm in Norman, so I'm sure they're fine.
And I am fully aware that my ability to listen to PRV radios means that OKC will convert to P25 next week.
nermel
Member
You won't believe the questions I get sometimes. Hams complain about the audio quality of my feed, yet they compare "those dongles" to toys, also don't understand why their 2m/70cm transceivers can't decode provoice.
Another feed provider has told me I'm "violating my terms of service" because there is overlap between our feeds.
Very frustrating at times.
If anyone hears about mods to RadioShack radios, let me know.
Got my BCD436HP today, programmed it with help from plaws, got the ProVoice key and started scanning OKCFD/PD. I'm in the NW 131st and MacArthur area, using a Jetstream JT776SMA antenna instead of the one that came with the scanner. I'm getting between 2 and 5 bars signal and it sounds great. This is fun.
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yancmo
Member
Reading this post really bums me out. I had a 436 but sold as the Provoice announcement came out.
:-( wish I'd known ahead of time, maybe I could have sold something else.
I did however put me a Linux computer together so I can try DSD.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
:-( wish I'd known ahead of time, maybe I could have sold something else.
I did however put me a Linux computer together so I can try DSD.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
ZGX
Member
- Joined
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While my 15X is technically old school it works as far as the primary division radios on the OKWIN links. Is there an audio difference between the ProVoice upgrade vs. the link for say Hefner or does it sound the same thus eliminating the "need" to upgrade?
I assume you are talking about OKC PD? No idea - I never listen to either the feed or the live (well, a little to the live to make sure it was working). OKC FD sounds as good as a P25 signal, which shouldn't surprise me given that they use the same vocoder. Since the FD link is hardly every up, the update for my 436 has been great.
First, I want to thank whoever provides the OKCFD feed on Broadcastify. I've depended on that since OKC went to ProVoice to listen to the OKCFD. I really appreciated it. But now, with the addition of the 436 to my scanners, I don't have to rely on a stream anymore. And I have complete control over what I want to scan. As for the quality of the ProVoice upgrade, I was listening to OKCPD on a BCD396XT. To me, the ProVoice sounds just as good. And it gives me the options to scan more PD frequencies. So the upgrade has been great for me too.
Ok so technically you are not breaking the rules.
but overlapping feeds is a no no
you put Bethany, Warr Acres that is fine.
But if I have a dedicated OKC PD only feed you should not stream that.
https://broadcastify.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/204740055-Becoming-a-Feed-Provider
Avoid duplicate feeds
Please check the existing county listings in your state before you decide to become a feed provider. Look at what is already there because we want to avoid complete duplication of existing feeds.
If there is an existing stream in your county for “Home County Sheriff and Fire”, please do not request another matching feed. However you could request a feed for “Home City Police and Fire (also includes Home County Sheriff and Fire). This is at least a different feed.
but overlapping feeds is a no no
you put Bethany, Warr Acres that is fine.
But if I have a dedicated OKC PD only feed you should not stream that.
https://broadcastify.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/204740055-Becoming-a-Feed-Provider
Avoid duplicate feeds
Please check the existing county listings in your state before you decide to become a feed provider. Look at what is already there because we want to avoid complete duplication of existing feeds.
If there is an existing stream in your county for “Home County Sheriff and Fire”, please do not request another matching feed. However you could request a feed for “Home City Police and Fire (also includes Home County Sheriff and Fire). This is at least a different feed.
nermel
Member
Per one of the live audio administrators, richtidd in a discussion about overlapping feeds "All these feeds have different combination of agencies but none are the same combinations. We do not allow exact same duplicate feeds but we do allow feeds with diff combinations of agencies." http://forums.radioreference.com/broadcastify-live-audio-administration/230150-duplicates.html
My feed is on OKC's system, yours is listening to OCPD on OKWIN. Many times OKWIN links to OCPD have gone down. On May 20th 2013, OKWIN's OKC site went down at times, while OKC's system managed to function rather well. Considering the number of local feeds that have gone down at times (one was after the natural gas explosion). and what can happen during tornado season, some redundancy is good.
I'm sorry that carrying OCPD on my feed bothers you. If I come across a scanner feed, radio station, whose content I don't like, I tune elsewhere. If you have any further concerns, you should contact administrators
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