Home Patrol1/Battery Back-Up/Volume Issues

Status
Not open for further replies.

Slopapa

Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2018
Messages
5
My better half purchased a Uniden Home Patrol 1 scanner in 2014.

I know very little about scanners and even less about programming them or managing them. This scanner was a gift and taken to a gentleman who programmed it. It worked wonderfully.

I had no problems with the scanner until last year around Spring/Early Summer, I believe that was the timeframe.

I started receiving an alert about the back-up battery needing recharged. I answered YES when it asked if I wanted to recharge the batteries. This was beginning of what has come to be a nightmare with this scanner. The alert question to recharge back-up batteries became more frequent. I tried replacing the batteries. This frequent alert kept appearing. I would like to get rid of that whole back-up battery option. Do not need it. Too much hassle when the scanner is working fine.

The other issue seems to be related. Every time that alert came up it seems the scanner would switch to a default setting for the scanner which was louder than we like. I am constantly getting up to say yes to recharge batteries and constantly turning volume down. Tried adjusting Audio AGC and other options but it seems that the scanner goes back to a default volume. This has been doing this for over 6 months.

Help, anybody....help!!! LOL. Please keep in layman’s terms. Nobody around here works on these scanners.

Thank you.
 

jonwienke

More Info Coming Soon!
Joined
Jul 18, 2014
Messages
13,416
Location
VA
Are you using NiMH rechargeable batteries, or alkalines?

The only batteries you should use are good quality NiMH rechargeables. Preferably not some cheap Chinese batteries with a brand that sounds like an anime superhero name.
 

Voyager

Member
Joined
Nov 12, 2002
Messages
12,060
Two suggestions:

1. Set the volume, then power down the scanner so it writes the SD card. When you power it back up it should come back at the desired volume.

2. As long as you don't use RECORD or REPLAY, you can just remove the batteries.
 

Slopapa

Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2018
Messages
5
Using NiMH batteries. Tried new Eveready NiMH rechargables. The alert continued. I the. Tried the more expensive ones from Battery Warehouse. Still no change. They are still in there today.

I do not use Record or Replay. Only use reserves when power goes out but it is not necessary compared to this ongoing issue occurring several times a day.

If I remove battery, will the operating system still want to recharge batteries since it is on a timer?
 

Slopapa

Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2018
Messages
5
Thank you for your replies. It has just been exhausting after having the scanner work for almost 4 years then just having repetitive issue over and over daily.
 

hiegtx

Mentor
Premium Subscriber
Joined
May 8, 2004
Messages
11,169
Location
Dallas, TX
Using NiMH batteries. Tried new Eveready NiMH rechargables. The alert continued. I the. Tried the more expensive ones from Battery Warehouse. Still no change. They are still in there today.

I do not use Record or Replay. Only use reserves when power goes out but it is not necessary compared to this ongoing issue occurring several times a day.

If I remove battery, will the operating system still want to recharge batteries since it is on a timer?
No, as you may have discovered by now.

I suspect that your original issue is one of these things.

Your batteries are not getting (or are not holding) a charge. How are you powering the scanner? With a PC? Or a USB charger of some sort. If your power source provides less than 5.0v 1000mah (one amp), the scanner will not be able to both charge and operate at the same time, so your 'needs to be charged' message is never resolved. The same would apply if your power supply is not a 'smart' one, that identifies itself as able to provide a higher current than the 500mah USB standard for a PC port. Any of these conditions would lead to continuing error messages with known good replacement batteries.

Or, one or more of your original batteries is defective. No longer taking a charge, or has excessive internal resistance. At 4 years old, this is definitely a possibility.

There is some possibility that removing the batteries (and forgoing recording or replay) could lead to a corruption in the memory card if power is lost suddenly. However, that is less likely as no recording would be occurring.
 

jonwienke

More Info Coming Soon!
Joined
Jul 18, 2014
Messages
13,416
Location
VA
It's also possible that this is a random glitch caused by a failing memory card, especially since it is about 4 years old. I would try a new card and see what happens.
 

UPMan

In Memoriam
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Apr 19, 2004
Messages
13,296
Location
Arlington, TX
Or, the RTC battery, which is internal to the scanner, needs to be replaced. It has an estimated life of 4-6 years.
 

Slopapa

Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2018
Messages
5
I have changed the batteries twice in last six months but it still occurs despite the batteries in the system.

I use the electrical outlet (AC) to power the scanner. My brother-in-law took it to his his house to try and work on it and he claims he never got the recharge batteries alert so he thought it maybe an electrical problem in the house. Never heard of that?

Okay, who in the blue Hades works on these scanners anymore to have a memory card or RTC battery changed? I have been looking all over. Maybe I am not looking them up the correct way. I am in a rural area and the Racio Shacks in and around Pittsburgh have all closed.
 

Ubbe

Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2006
Messages
8,944
Location
Stockholm, Sweden
Mine is 7 years old now and I have the same problem. The batteries work ok and charge fully in an external charger but not in the HP1. I get Battery Charge Error and the HP1 dies when I unplug power. Recordings still works. I fixed it by doing reset a while ago but now it's back, probably when the batteries have self discharged.

The reason it goes to default are probably caused by it loading the last saved values from the memory card. You'll need to set everything correctly then power off with the on/off button to let it save the config to the memory card. If that doesn work you'll have to remove the memory card and reformat it in a SD card reader before loading new data from Sentinel.

/Ubbe
 

Slopapa

Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2018
Messages
5
I am learning a lot here.

How is a full reset completed? Will it affect my channel settings? I have no idea how to program the scanner.
 

Ubbe

Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2006
Messages
8,944
Location
Stockholm, Sweden
I don't remember if reset will erease the memory card or just the scanners working memory.

If you have Favorite lists you'll have to load them from the scanner and then save in Sentinel to be able to retreive them later on. The reset button sits under the batteries.
From Sentinel you do "Clear user data" and it will put all default files on the memory card.
But I recommend to first format the memory card in a card reader, either using a laptop computer that usually have SD card readers or a usb-reader you can buy for $5 or less.

/Ubbe
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top