Digital reception BCD996XT

[rspr8tr]

Need some help here. Purchased a new 996XT at Dayton yesterday, programmed it thru software & Radio reference, getting spotty (at best) reception in Indianapolis. The display shows a great signal bar as it searches for active IDs, it even stops on various talk groups, but the audio is missing or choppy. Very disappointed in the performance of this unit so far, but sure it is someting I'm missing in the settings.

Any suggetions?

Thank you,

Mike

 

[kd8x]

Need some help here. Purchased a new 996XT at Dayton yesterday, programmed it thru software & Radio reference, getting spotty (at best) reception in Indianapolis. The display shows a great signal bar as it searches for active IDs, it even stops on various talk groups, but the audio is missing or choppy. Very disappointed in the performance of this unit so far, but sure it is someting I'm missing in the settings.

Any suggetions?

Thank you,

Mike

What type of system are you trying to monitor?? If it is a P25 simulcast type of system then you may need to adjust your P25 ADJUST LEVEL which can be found under one of the "hidden menus"..It comes factory set at 50 but I find that I have to set mine around 130-150 for best results....The P25 menus can be accessed by holding donw the hold key while turning the unit on....Hope this helps. the 996xt is a great scanner...

 

[rspr8tr]

KD8X,

That sounds like an excellent solution. Watching the unit more closely, it is the signal that is dropping (and hence the audio) It will stop on a transmission show me 5 bars on the meter, then just drop the broadcast like a bad habit.

I tried holding the HOLD key down while powering up the unit but all that happened was it flashed thru the different color screens, and then had one of the systems on hold after it went thru it's boot up. Your thoughts?

Mike

 

[SCPD]

Mike,

Once you load it with the flashing colors, you can access the menu and it will have different options in it. Look for P25 Level and adjust it. I don't know about KD8X saying 130-140, because that is the signal strength at which the scanner decodes. I have mine set at 20 as most P25 systems go "digital" below 20, but I want my scanner to decode almost any signal it can get.

 

[rspr8tr]

I guess I'm still doing something wrong. After holding the HOLD button while turning the unit on, it flashes thru the colored screens, but when I press the menu button I still just get the standard menu settings....nothing with P25 in it. What you both are saying makes great sense, I just seem to have trouble accessing the P25 option to adjust it.

Mike

 

[rspr8tr]

Found it!

OK, I found the P25 adjustments. After holding the HOLD button down while powring up, select MENU> SETTINGS> P25 adjustments. Wasn't looking far enough. This looks to be a slow process of fine tuning this system.

Thanks for all the help!!

Mike

 

[SCPD]

Mike,

Check out Easier to Read BCD996XT Digital Scanner Manual. Tells you about the setting. Also a great site to keep on file for the radio.

 

[kd8x]

Mike,

Once you load it with the flashing colors, you can access the menu and it will have different options in it. Look for P25 Level and adjust it. I don't know about KD8X saying 130-140, because that is the signal strength at which the scanner decodes. I have mine set at 20 as most P25 systems go "digital" below 20, but I want my scanner to decode almost any signal it can get.

50 is the minimum setting on my 996xt. Will not go any lower than that but most of the P25 systems that I listen to around here have fairly strong signals so by "toning" down the voltage swings of the automatic P25 settings of the 996xt It helps to "lock" on these systems faster and not have to hunt and search so much if you know what I mean. I'm sure it all depends on the system, antennas, locations etc....not a cure all for everyone but just helps out where I am....

 

[kb8rvp]

You do have some control over the P25 adjustment... If you press and hold the "hold" button and turn on the scanner the screen will flash colors and allow you to get into the P25 settings. Then press menu and go to settings and then go to P25 adjust level. You will notice it is set to 50 for the default auto setting. If you change it to 200 (press 200 enter) now the default level will always be 8 and if you change it to 100 the default will be set to 11. You can check this when scanning by pressing Func then volume, Func then volume to watch the threshold. Auto works well for me but setting it to 200 isn't bad because most of the digital systems level off around 8 using the auto setting anyway. If you find that the default setting works best just set it back to 50 by pressing 050 enter. I have found some systems with the auto adjust rate don't work very well and don't pick up anything until you make the change to 200. Give it a try. You can watch the scanner adjust and change the error rate by pressing the func button and pressing volume and then func and volume again on the botton left on the screen (I have the 396XT but I think the is the correct button press). You want to try to keep the error rate as close to "0" as possible.

 

[PHOENIX_SCANNER]

If you are in a bad spot in a simulcast system there isn't much you can do about it with any scanner.

Plus the unidens don't decode digital as well as the GRE scanners, I know this firsthand.

 

[snapperq]

I need help here also. I live in Seneca co Ohio. About 50 miles south of Lucas Co/Toledo, Ohio. When I monitor Lucas Co. (800Mhz Trunking) I get about 90% of the transmission which has a strong signal it's choppy and breaks up. Using a new Uniden BCD996XT, Diamond Omni at 62 feet with 411 cable.
What should the settings be 20 or 130-150?
Please help!
snapperq

 

[snapperq]

snapperq@yahoo.com

 

[SCPD]

The P25 setting is the signal strength at which the scanner will attempt to decode the signal. If you have a strong signal all the time, higher is probably better. I have seen 200 a couple of times on here. If you have signals that are a little weaker, lower the signal strength. I had mine set at 20 when we implemented the system because we had 1 tower and some signal strengths were low... I have just left mine at 20.

 

[w2csx]

Does this help with conventional P25 460 systems?

 

[brownlab]

The Uniden digital scanner is about the best one on the market and it is hard for me to believe you are having trouble in Indy. First I would try reprogramming using Free Scan (which is free) just to make sure you have all the frequencies you need. (Just by glancing at the Indy data base, there are a lot of frequencies and you should enter all of them) Second I would upgrade your antenna especially is you are using the stock one that came with the unit. You may want to try moving the unit around your home and try placing the radio on a metal filing cabinet so it is properly grounded. There are some excellent articles on antennas in the RR forum section. Read them if you have not already. I live in DC where there are many different systems but with the exception of the TDMA (which you do not have), I generally get excellent reception and do not have trouble with the radio decoding digital signals. I really do not think you are going to find a better radio. Good Luck.

 

[ka3jjz]

The Unidens do very well in our area due to the lack of simulcast systems; as Phoenix said, the area where the Unidens fall flat is when you try to decode a digital simulcast system The MECA and Lucas County Ohio systems are both digital and simulcast. It's pretty much an accepted fact that the GRE/RS scanners do a better job of tolerating the distortion issues than the Unidens; however your best source of information on receiving these systems would be found in the Ohio and Indiana forums. best regards...Mike

 

[SCPD]

I have a 996XT that works very well on a simulcast system. Much better than any Radio Shack or GRE that I have tried on our system... The decoding is very system/location specific.

 

[w2csx]

I never had a problem with p25 systems until i moved back to ny. I'm trying it at 130 right now.

 

[rspr8tr]

Ok, I feel really dumb about this one! Problem solved. The reason that the signal was dropping was because I had the WX button activated and it was sampling the weather channel for activity. Once I deactivated that feature (with the press of the button) no more signal loss and the receptions is clear, strong & w/o any interuptions. Thanks for everyone's input!

 

[davedaver1]

Hey, that's OK - it's a good education for many when they read this, and I learned something about the P25 settings which I did not know.