and how well has it worked for you?
I have a BCD436HP and I haven’t had much luck listening to or even the radio stopping on any P25 programming. I am sure I’m not entering the correct or enough programming.
The main local area is in D/FW Tx, and particular the NE Tarrant County.
Includes Grapevine, Southlake, Keller, NRH, Haltom City and Fort Worth.
I am thinking of paying for programming for my area as they feel confident that their programming will work.
Thanks in advance for your time.
RKF
Uniden BCD436HP, w/DMR
Besides having the correct sites loaded, if you are setting up the scanner to use the main database, and your location, you also need to have the correct service types enabled. By default, the x36HP scanners as well as the HP-1 & HP-2 have the 'Dispatch' service types set. So, Law Dispatch, Fire Dispatch, EMS Dispatch, and Multi-Dispatch would be utilized. However, much of the traffic is on the talkgroups listed as 'Tac' or 'Talk'. So be sure that 'Law Tac' 'Law Talk', 'Fire Tac', and 'Fire Talk'. Enable the corresponding types for 'EMS' and 'Multi'.
If you are using a Favorites list, attach it to a post so that someone can look it over to see if anything obvious stands out.
Attaching an *.hpe file to a post
If you have made changes on the scanner not entered in Sentinel, use Sentinel to "read from scanner". Then, export the resulting Favorites list(s) into an *.hpe file. Do that by clicking on File, then selecting "Export to .hpe file" from the drop-down menu. Then, attach that to a post and upload so that we can take a peek & see if anything is out of place.
Note: To upload an *.hpe file, to the Forums, you must change the file extension to one acceptable per forum requirements. To do that, note where your exported *.hpe file is saved on your PC.
Using Windows Explorer, find the file.
There are two ways to do this. You can either change the file extension itself, or compress the file using
7-Zip or other file utility. The *.zip file extension can be attached to a post and uploaded to the Forums.
Or, using Windows Explorer, rename your file one of these two ways:
For illustration, let's call your exported file '
MyFile.hpe' (without the quotes).
<Right><Click> on the file & choose Rename from the pop-up menu.
You can then rename your file to
MyFile.txt, or
MyFile.hpe.txt in order to attach it to a post. Whoever views the file will need to reset the file name back to
MyFile.hpe, then it can be imported into Sentinel for viewing.
I would also suggest that you request your thread be moved to the Texas forum. Someone there might have information of any upgrades or changes planned for this system. To do that, do
not create a new thread. Instead, click on the red outlined triangle in the upper right corner of your original post, and request that a moderator move your thread to the state forum. Besides myself, there are a number of additional members from the DFW area that frequent the Texas forum. Any one of us can look at your file to check for errors or omissions, and can also provide you an *.hpe file to try.
Depending on your exact location in North Richland Hills, you may also be hampered by Simulcast Distortion. See this
article in the Wiki. But first, you should verify that your programming and settings are on target.
I advise against paying one of the dealers to program your scanner for you. First is the cost. Anywhere from $60 and up, depending on whether you want one, or more than one, county covered. Also, what are you going to do when something changes? Send the scanner back to the dealer & pay to get it updated? That can get expensive. Anything the dealer can do for your 436HP you can do yourself, by using the Sentinel software, once you make sure it's database is current. Start Sentinel on your PC. Now, look at the lower left corner of the window. The date there is the date of last update. If it is several months, or more, out of date, that's not helping things. To check the date of the database file on your scanner, first press Menu (the bottom rubber-covered key on the left side of the scanner).
Now, scroll down & select Manage Full Database from the menu, by highlighting it, then pressing the Enter (
E) key to select.
On the next screen, scroll down & select Information, then Enter to select it.
The date shown is that of the current database on your scanner. That needs to be current, if you are not using a Favorites list. The current database is dated 11/05/2017. If it is considerably older than that, update the database in Sentinel, then write that to the scanner. More information on doing that can be found
here.