996T Boat Anchor

[johngdoty]

My wife bought me this disaster for Christmas. It would not receive weather or conventional frequencies. Sent it to Scannermaster and it worked for them. Got it back and it worked for half a day, then quit. Sent it to Uniden, when it got back, it worked. You turned the squelch down on a conventional frequency and you got noise, just like a normal scanner. It picked up the weather and conventional frequencies just like its supposed to. That unfortunately only lasted one day....now its back to the same old story....locks on a conventional freq, five bars reception, no audio, squelch turned all the way off. The only thing listed on Uniden's repair sheet was a cold solder joint. Of course, that explains nothing. So far, I've sent this garden gnome to Massachusetts to have Scannermaster look at it and it worked for them. Then I sent it to Uniden for repair, got it back, and it worked for a whole day. Since Christmas, the scanner has actually been in my house a grand total of a week. I'm out the money for shipping to Scannermaster and to Uniden and have nothing to show for it but a pretty doorstop. If anyone on this forum has any contstructive ideas, I'm all ears. I've tried everything including resetting the scanner completely and no luck. I honestly think I got a bad unit from Scannermaster. That is not their fault at all, but geez louise this is frustrating!

 

[CharlesDom]

Did you ask them to replace the radio? It's obviously a dud, I would aggressively pursue the issue. If they don't then you should threaten to take your situation to the media, maybe tech radio or something like that. Be prepared to follow through with it though.

 

[johngdoty]

I haven't asked Scannermaster to replace the radio because it is outside their replacement/return period. I guess the next thing is to contact Uniden and ask them to replace the unit. I turned it off for about 2 hours, then turned it back on and the problem went away. I'm guessing it gets warm and something happens or its just an intermittent problem. Either way, its a dud. Boy, is this ever annoying.

 

[rhutch]

I know its frustrating, have you asked Uniden/Scannermaster to replace the unit? I suggest you articulate your problems to them including what it has cost you and ask that the scanner be replaced. Unforunately doing it here on RR is only going to get you sympathy, which isn't going to fix your problem.

As for Scannermaster this problem started from the day you opened it and they were aware of it and in good faith you've worked with both them and Uniden so I don't see what their warranty/replacement window policy has much to do with it. I suggest you try to talk to a manager at either Uniden or Scannermaster, someone who actually has the power to make a decision.

 

[johngdoty]

ahaha...appreciate all the sympathy I can get!
I haven't spoken to Scannermaster yet, but I guess that's the first thing I should do.
I'm going to run it all weekend and see if the problem re-occurs. With my luck, it won't mess up again until its out of warranty.

 

[Tuckrat]

Maybe it is some type of intermod. I had a similar problem with one of my programmed frequencies, it would lock on the channel with nothing but static. I have a base antenna as well as ducks, and I noticed it only happened when I was on the ducks, and in my home office. One day, while listening to the noise, I happened to turn off my LCD monitor. The noise stopped. Turned the monitor back on, the noise came back. So, it was my monitor causing problems with this channel.

What I'm trying to say is perhaps the problem is related to your operating environment. Have you been using the scanner at the same location (same room, same house, etc)? Try moving into another room to see if the problem continues. Maybe you live close to a tower that is interfering. Bring the scanner to work, or to a friends house out of town, and try it there to see if the symptoms persist in the different environment. If the scanner works at an alternate location, then the problem is interference at your regular listening post.

Hope this helps, good luck!

Mike

 

[Attackron]

I know its frustrating, have you asked Uniden/Scannermaster to replace the unit? I suggest you articulate your problems to them including what it has cost you and ask that the scanner be replaced. Unforunately doing it here on RR is only going to get you sympathy, which isn't going to fix your problem.

As for Scannermaster this problem started from the day you opened it and they were aware of it and in good faith you've worked with both them and Uniden so I don't see what their warranty/replacement window policy has much to do with it. I suggest you try to talk to a manager at either Uniden or Scannermaster, someone who actually has the power to make a decision.

I totally agree I would not spend not one more penny on this problem. As i suggested to you before; request a new replacement from scannermaster. If you paid by VISA you have many more rights and means to force the issue if need be...

 

[johngdoty]

Good ideas all! I was using ARC996 for programming and I switched to Proscan. So far, the unit is working normally, at least for now. I have no idea what, if anything, that has to do with the unit operating normally. Maybe its just a coincidence. Also, when I reprogrammed the systems, I left out the preprogrammed systems that came with the unit. I know its not good troubleshooting technique to change two things at once, but so far its working. Gonna run it for a week and see what develops....stay tuned.

 

[johngdoty]

Of course, the conventional freqs quit working after a few days, so back it went to Uniden. After three weeks, it was back. The repair listed was a C47. Of course, that means nothing to me, I thought a C47 was a cargo plane. And so the waiting and testing period begins again. If anyone here has an idea what a C47 part would be, I'd love to know.

 

[mcorbettsr]

Re c47

c47 sounds like a location tag, capacitor #47. You would need the schematic to determine which one they replaced. good luck
M

 

[robo21]

Also there is something else to keep in mind. If you have "premium" services attached to your Visa/Mastercard/Amex you get double the warranty up to 1 year extra. You may (depending on your card) also get damage, loss, etc. replacement coverage which may include lemons. Check your with your card's cardmember agreement or ask the customer service department.

I have used this feature on my credit card to get a complete refund on a defective, out of warranty, Samsung Plasma TV. Good luck! And you have my sympathy as well! :lol: :wink:

 

[Sjinndoawi]

look for these

I have (2 )bcd996t's and have never had any problems with them.. There are really good receivers. I have both of them inside my house and they are by no windows actually 4 walls are around them. I can get the other county which is about 25 miles away from me inside my house. I use no outside antennas either. I use phase load telescopic and a omni directional discone (desktop) Now somethings I would do is look at the antennas you are using. Also I would ground them(I have my grounded),why would you do that? Will think of it like this. You ever touch a radio antenna and all of the sudden it gets louder .. well it got louder or clearer because you grounded it by touching it. Also weather has somethings to do with signal strength. When its cloudy or raining out WOW signal strength for me improves. While I have pre=amps I dont use them cause I dont need to but it would be something to look into for your problems.

 

[Airdorn]

It just sounds like a lemon. I bet it was built on a monday morning or a friday afternoon.

I'd definitely try to get Uniden to just replace it altogether. Maybe the problem was a bad C14 or a shorted R29 or the thingamagig wasn't fully plugged into the doohickey. WHO CARES? Why should it matter to you? Seems like they'd just replace it and be done with it.

Airdorn

 

[johngdoty]

My 996 is running through two surge protectors and a battery backup which provides backup power and smoothes out current fluctuations as well. I just hope Uniden has finally fixed the problem. I guess time will tell. Thanks all for the comments and suggestions. Stay tuned....

 

[iMONITOR]

That unfortunately only lasted one day....now its back to the same old story....locks on a conventional freq, five bars reception, no audio, squelch turned all the way off.

Did you happen to make note of the frequency it's locking up on?

 

[johngdoty]

It would lock on to a conventional frequency, show 5 bars reception, but no audio. AGC and squelch made no difference. Even the weather freq would do this. No sound at all. Meanwhile all the P25 channels and systems worked perfectly. Didn't matter what conventional freq it locked on. You could turn the squelch off and it would lock on all of them, just no audio.

 

[cpuerror]

It would lock on to a conventional frequency, show 5 bars reception, but no audio. AGC and squelch made no difference. Even the weather freq would do this. No sound at all. Meanwhile all the P25 channels and systems worked perfectly. Didn't matter what conventional freq it locked on. You could turn the squelch off and it would lock on all of them, just no audio.

As I recall, a couple months ago someone was having an identical problem with their 996. Ended up being a defective unit and had to be replaced.

 

[johngdoty]

Actually, that was probably me. This has been going on since Christmas.

 

[palo1]

So you got it replaced?

p

 

[johngdoty]

no, uniden repaired it. (we'll see how long that lasts)