BCD436HP/BCD536HP: BCD536HP frequency problem

[csteinman]

So I’ve looked and looked but can’t figure out what’s going on.
BCD536HP, Sentinel, Proscan. When programming P25 phase 2 trunking frequencies, the 536 sometimes drops the last digit. For instance 769.16875 becomes 769.16870. It seems to take the frequency at first but then when the receive goes bad I read the scanner and the last 5 has been dropped.
I have the band set to 6.25. Proscan never shows the 5 while scanning. All are up to date software.
Any ideas?

 

[nessnet]

I'm not sure exactly what is doing it, but I just checked a 700Mhz P25II system in Sentinel and yep, all the freqs were not correct - something is 'rounding' the freq. I don't know if it is Sentinel doing it, or the 100/200 itself.

EX: 774.03125 was 774.031200 !! etc. etc...

So... I imported another 700 system to check and Sentinel did import it correctly, (with the ..50 on the end). I did a quick write to and then read from a 200. The ...50 is still there, so I'm not sure what is doing it. Checking the 200 directly, it also has the ...50 on all of the freqs.

Further investigation needed...

 

[doctordialtone]

536 sometimes drops the last digit.

This has been brought up many times before.

It won't affect reception. It's the way the scanner works.

Trying to put frequency in

I have a bc 365 crs and I am trying to put in 453.3375 into it but will not take it .I can only get 453.337 .we at my Dept are going to 453.3375. I have it on and I am getting a little other chatter from another Dept.Is this normal

forums.radioreference.com

 

[slayer816]

Any radio designed before the SDS series doesn't really display or use a 5th digit after the decimal. As stated above, it won't make a reception difference.

 

[csteinman]

So is it just a display problem, or is it really not accepting the last digit? I'm having trouble with a brand new Motorola P25 phase 2 trunking system. Also, what kind of error rate is acceptable?
Thanks

 

[nessnet]

So is it just a display problem, or is it really not accepting the last digit? I'm having trouble with a brand new Motorola P25 phase 2 trunking system. Also, what kind of error rate is acceptable?
Thanks

It is not a display problem..... The radio(s) will display all of the digits, IF they are in there correctly.

 

[slayer816]

I'm having trouble with a brand new Motorola P25 phase 2 trunking system. Also, what kind of error rate is acceptable?
Thanks

That however IS an issue. What is the system? What is the "trouble" you are experiencing?

 

[csteinman]

Albuquerque Fire Rescue in New Mexico. I can program the scanner and read it showing the correct frequencies and I can hear fine. I’m going to have to check some more to drill it down, but it seems that when audio starts getting unintelligible I can read the scanner and find that the last digit in the frequencies (5) had changed to 0. Before I noticed this, I was trying to get the error rate down. Sometimes it would bounce around below 10 and then it would get bad and go to the 30s.

 

[slayer816]

Albuquerque Fire Rescue in New Mexico. I can program the scanner and read it showing the correct frequencies and I can hear fine. I’m going to have to check some more to drill it down, but it seems that when audio starts getting unintelligible I can read the scanner and find that the last digit in the frequencies (5) had changed to 0. Before I noticed this, I was trying to get the error rate down. Sometimes it would bounce around below 10 and then it would get bad and go to the 30s.

Try this: Easier to Read BCD436/536HP Digital Scanner Manual
As stated, this will not help signal reception. That is another issue.

 

[KevinC]

Your radio isn't selective enough to notice a .0005 MHz difference and it's not magically dropping that last 5 either. Read the scanner at any time and it won't display it.

I suspect the site being simulcast is the crux of your issue as the 536 doesn't handle it very well.

 

[JoeBearcat]

In addition to what others have said, there is a difference between MASKING and ROUNDING.
The scanner is MASKING the last digit which means it simply does not display it. The frequency is correctly tuned.

 

[nessnet]

Read the scanner at any time and it won't display it.

The above is incorrect. As I stated in a previous post earlier, I did just that to test this, (write/read)- and the .0005 was still there.....

I'm not trying to be contrary. I just would like to know why (what) is doing this.

 

[csteinman]

Why would it be masked sometimes and not others? If it was masked, I wouldn’t see it included in sentinel sometimes and not other times. Not sure why it would have to mask the 10s digit anyway, since the display shows down to the ones digit. Haven’t seen a radio drop the 5 since narrowbanding was just getting started. Not sure how long the 536 has been out but if it can handle P2 it should be able to show the whole P2 frequency, shouldn’t it?

 

[csteinman]

The above is incorrect. As I stated in a previous post earlier, I did just that to test this, (write/read)- and the .0005 was still there.....

I'm not trying to be contrary. I just would like to know why (what) is doing this.

Yes it shows the whole frequency on read sometimes and then every once in a while drops the 5.

 

[ProScan]

Yes it shows the whole frequency on read sometimes and then every once in a while drops the 5.

If the scanner stays in Mass Storage mode then the '5' is not dropped after reading. When the scanner leaves the Mass Storage mode then the Favorites are processed and the 5 is dropped.

 

[nessnet]

If the scanner stays in Mass Storage mode then the '5' is not dropped after reading. When the scanner leaves the Mass Storage mode then the Favorites are processed and the 5 is dropped.

I just checked this - on 2 100s and a 200. All of them have been power cycled a couple of times, so they all definitely "processed" favorites a couple of times. I even put the 200 into mass storage, rebooted and checked this afterwards. Still all there.

So, all 3 of them still have the entire freq intact - for now anyway.... I really would like to know what is doing this, even though people contend it doesn't matter.

Update: I got it to do it. Checked first and my 200 had all of the whole freqs. Put the 200 into mass storage and read it. Sure enough, the freq was changed (in Sentinel). It looks like Sentinel is doing it, not the radio?? (The freqs in the radio are still all there...)

 

[MStep]

Not here to get preachy or "teachy", just here to care and share.

These characteristics are called "idiosyncrasies". They occur on almost every group of electronic instruments, and on people as well. A better way to describe it would be like "peculiar characteristics" associated with specific pieces of equipment. Why is it masked sometimes and other times not? Either they didn't have room, or a display algorithm got screwed in production, or someone dropped the ball when designing the display-- could be a hundred different things. My 436 and 536 operate exactly the same way.

One thing I can tell you for sure--- you can sleep well tonight. The 436/536 radios have been around long enough that if this was causing a problem, you would have heard about it here. Nothing but nothing gets past the guys on Radio Reference. If it was a problem, your buddies on Radio Reference would have made a thousand posts. Enjoy your 536 and know sometimes it's gonna do quirky things.

Even though I have several SDS units, I am NOT letting go of any of my 436 and 536 radios. Some guys here swear they were the best scanners Uniden ever made, and that includes the current SDS radios.

 

[ProScan]

I just checked this - on 2 100s and a 200. All of them have been power cycled a couple of times, so they all definitely "processed" favorites a couple of times. I even put the 200 into mass storage, rebooted and checked this afterwards. Still all there.

So, all 3 of them still have the entire freq intact - for now anyway.... I really would like to know what is doing this, even though people contend it doesn't matter.

Update: I got it to do it. Checked first and my 200 had all of the whole freqs. Put the 200 into mass storage and read it. Sure enough, the freq was changed (in Sentinel). It looks like Sentinel is doing it, not the radio?? (The freqs in the radio are still all there...)

I did a test just now using File Explorer & a text editor and not Sentinel. It looks like it gets changed when going in to Menu - Manage Favorites - [any favorite] - Review/Edit System then the scanner displays a processing message and that is when the 5 is dropped.

My test consisted of:
1. Put scanner in Mass Storage mode
2. Loaded a text editor then edited the f_000001.hpd file
3. Changed a T-Freq frequency to 769168750
4. Saved the f_000001.hpd file
5. Power cycled the scanner and put in Mass Storage mode then verified 769168750 hasn't changed
6. Power cycled the scanner in put in Serial Port mode
7. Menu - Manage Favorites - Favorite 001 - Review/Edit System. scanner message "Processing..."
8. Put scanner in Mass Storage mode
9. Edited the f_000001.hpd file. Sure enough, the 769168750 got changed to 769168700

{edit} That's one way the 5 gets dropped. Could be other ways too such as loading the Favorites.

 

[Ubbe]

Unidens SD card scanners uses text files for configuration. There can be errors in the files and the scanner behave differently for different kind of errors and can even reboot on severe ones. Whenever you go into edit mode in the scanner it corrects the faults and then saves the corrected text file when you leave edit mode. Sentinel are supposed to be in sync with its error checking but small bugs might exist and that's why there's small updates to the firmware in new scanners that are sold to correct those errors.

My 536 are 1KHz off in frequency in the 400MHz band, and that's a difference between 400.12345 and 400.12445 so I wouldn't worry too much about the displayed frequency error of the last digits as the frequency tolerance in the scanner are much worse. My Whistler scanner are also 1Khz off but in the other direction. When doing a quick check with my SDS100 it also seems to be more or less 1KHz loo low in frequency.

/Ubbe

 

[KevinC]

The above is incorrect. As I stated in a previous post earlier, I did just that to test this, (write/read)- and the .0005 was still there.....

I'm not trying to be contrary. I just would like to know why (what) is doing this.

I'll buy that. But it still will have zero affect on reception and is not the reason the OP is having issues.