No love for the 796D?

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AZScanner

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OK so I'm probably the last guy on the planet to NOT have upgraded to the newest whiz-bang BCx96 scanner, but still how come no love from Uniden for the BC796? No new firmware, no longer even a mention of it on the scanner page. :( So sad! My scanner and I feel so slighted. ;)

Seriously, it would be nice if Uniden would throw us poor broke early adapters a bone. How about a firmware upgrade for the 296/796 to address some of the digital decoding issues we still have? Mmm?

-AZ
 

AWiley

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Bc796d

Hey!

I'm not alone! I didn't think anybody else still had the 796D! Man what a great scanner! You're absolutely right on the updates. I don't remember anybody mentioning much of anything about this scanner leaving. What a good idea!

Andrew
 

rhutch

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I too have a 296, but I understand Uniden is in the business to make money not purpetually update older model scanners. Most firmware updates are to fix problems, being as the 796 and 296 are mature, there aren't many problems that I know of.
 

scanbc780

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AZScanner said:
OK so I'm probably the last guy on the planet to NOT have upgraded to the newest whiz-bang BCx96 scanner, but still how come no love from Uniden for the BC796? No new firmware, no longer even a mention of it on the scanner page. :( So sad! My scanner and I feel so slighted. ;)

Seriously, it would be nice if Uniden would throw us poor broke early adapters a bone. How about a firmware upgrade for the 296/796 to address some of the digital decoding issues we still have? Mmm?

-AZ

You have the decoding issues on the PWRN system? I don't think I have ever tried my 796 on it. I will need to make a trip south and play around with it and compare to some of my others. I can just barely pick it up from where I am at with a Yagi on my 996 and 600.
 

mule1075

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i have all 3 bases with the exception of the 785d.i love my 780 i love my 796 and i love my 996.with that being said i wish they could put all 3 together and make a superstar scanner.they all have their little quirks but i think i like my 796 the most.this is just my opinion and more than likely has nothing to do with this thread.but as i said i love them all.Adam
 

scannerdweeb

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I have a bcd796 also and paid 500 bucks for it, returned it twice for card error issues and updated with several firmware updates just to make it useable, still isn't as good as expected or as advertised. constant buzzing on p25 marcs system , locking up on channel 1 when using priority mode, control channel not found message locks up quite a bit, and the volume blairs on a p25 channel when scanning conventional and p25. Not sure I would spend another 500-600 bucks on another unit that may have the same problems over again, I think some loyalty should be shed to those of us who spent the money on units during the development of the new technology, and got poor results for the price paid, and either be updated or perhaps a large incentive to purchase another more current unit. Hope I'm not alone in my thinking. scannerdweeb.
 

DaveIN

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scannerdweeb said:
I have a bcd796 also and paid 500 bucks for it, returned it twice for card error issues and updated with several firmware updates just to make it useable, still isn't as good as expected or as advertised. constant buzzing on p25 marcs system , locking up on channel 1 when using priority mode, control channel not found message locks up quite a bit, and the volume blairs on a p25 channel when scanning conventional and p25. Not sure I would spend another 500-600 bucks on another unit that may have the same problems over again, I think some loyalty should be shed to those of us who spent the money on units during the development of the new technology, and got poor results for the price paid, and either be updated or perhaps a large incentive to purchase another more current unit. Hope I'm not alone in my thinking. scannerdweeb.

Hmmm... How about the folks that purchased the BC250D or BC785D the year previous and are not able to monitor 9600 baud P25 systems or get firmware upgrades for rebanding?

I think Uniden has supported the 796 *fairly* well.
 

scannerdweeb

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Sorry, I did not mean to leave out the 250d and 785d folks, who were also sold short as far as advertising future upgradable firmware and not being able to receive a highly regarded system that was known About prior to release of the newest technology radios that were very expensive for what they received. For all the die hard scanner enthusiasts that report back to uniden about how these radios perform and what makes them usable or useless for the money paid, there should be some sort of trade allowance from uniden for the information given and performance unreceived so those who wasted the time and money experimenting could at least get a fairly reasonably working radio receiver to replace what they currently have. scannerdweeb.
 

ICP963

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AZScanner said:
OK so I'm probably the last guy on the planet to NOT have upgraded to the newest whiz-bang BCx96 scanner, but still how come no love from Uniden for the BC796? No new firmware, no longer even a mention of it on the scanner page. :( So sad! My scanner and I feel so slighted. ;)

Seriously, it would be nice if Uniden would throw us poor broke early adapters a bone. How about a firmware upgrade for the 296/796 to address some of the digital decoding issues we still have? Mmm?

-AZ
Speaking of the 796 and the Phoenix Metro area, how well does it do on the Glendale system. I have a 296 at work that actually works quite well on the Mesa (PRWN Simulcast D). Just wondering how well a 796 would do in Glendale.
 

torontokris

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Pardon me for sounding mean..
but why would you expect firmware upgrades for the 796?
Its a discontinued model long replaced and no longer supported
its not even listed on the Uniden website under products anymore

" I didn't think anybody else still had the 796D!"
Of course people still have the 796 (they didnt just all disapear into thin air).
Its a nice model some even prefer it to the 996 for in car use.

I agree it would be nice to get upgrades but it isnt going to happen unless something super major was wrong.
 

torontokris

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And i agree obviously Uniden is out to support the newest model thats still for sale.. makes most sense for profit

if your unhappy with the 796 sell it they fetch a fair price still $300 or so and buy a 996
well unless its replaced and goes unsupported too lol

but it looks like the 996 will be around for a while they will just add pay per "upgrades" to it instead of releasing a new unit.
 

AZScanner

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ICP963: Never ventured that far west, but my PRO96 has and handled Glendale pretty well. I'm guessing the 796 could handle it as well. I'm going to be putting my 796 in the car (hopefully today) so if I get the chance I'll try it. :)

Davein: The 250 and 785 are a totally different animal than the x96 series. I should know, I have one of those too. So no I wouldn't expect firmware updates that "magically give them the ability to decode 9600 baud systems" or something like that. But the 796 *IS* supposed to decode them. Makes sense therefore that if firmware fixes are needed to improved decoding on the 396/996, then the 296/796's probably need updates too. I'm not asking for the moon here. Chances are the same DSP updates applied to the cards in the 396/996's would work on the probably identical card sitting in my 796. But Uniden will only support me if I spend another $500. Shouldn't have to do that (neither should the AZ Republic, who bought TEN 796's). And since it seems we're moving to a pay-per-upgrade model from the looks of things, :evil: then there's no reason why 796 owners could at least get a paid upgrade or two - certainly that's worth locking a couple of programmers in a room for a few days, right?

TorontoKris: Ironically enough, I had a dream last night that I did *exactly* that! But I was selling it to offset the cost of the new GRE scanner instead. :twisted:

-AZ
 

kenisned

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torontokris said:
Pardon me for sounding mean..
but why would you expect firmware upgrades for the 796?
Its a discontinued model long replaced and no longer supported
its not even listed on the Uniden website under products anymore

" I didn't think anybody else still had the 796D!"
Of course people still have the 796 (they didnt just all disapear into thin air).
Its a nice model some even prefer it to the 996 for in car use.

I agree it would be nice to get upgrades but it isnt going to happen unless something super major was wrong.

In all fairness, the 796 release date and the 996 release date were not that far apart. It would be nice to have an upgrade.
 

torontokris

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796D - late 2003
999T - mid 2006

Thats the way it goes.. Buy a 2008 car in June and in August they come out with the 2009 model (even though the car was made and completed and sold 6 months before 2009 ever came).. thanks a lot.

Ahh yes maybe going to a GRE least to try it would be an idea. I had a PSR-600 for a week but I didnt like it. More features on it then the 996 (like NAC) but I dunno it just didnt suit me.

Tell Uniden if you dont get a 796 update youll go to GRE
Then they will release an upgrade that in order to get it you have to subscribe / register ALL your personal info on thier site (address phone number serial numbers ESN numbers etc) but the upgrade doesnt really do anything other then change the number =)
 

kenisned

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torontokris said:
796D - late 2003
999T - mid 2006

Thats the way it goes.. Buy a 2008 car in June and in August they come out with the 2009 model (even though the car was made and completed and sold 6 months before 2009 ever came).. thanks a lot.

Ahh yes maybe going to a GRE least to try it would be an idea. I had a PSR-600 for a week but I didnt like it. More features on it then the 996 (like NAC) but I dunno it just didnt suit me.

Tell Uniden if you dont get a 796 update youll go to GRE
Then they will release an upgrade that in order to get it you have to subscribe / register ALL your personal info on thier site (address phone number serial numbers ESN numbers etc) but the upgrade doesnt really do anything other then change the number =)


Couple of issues with your analogy.

Cars that are three years old do get updates or recalls from time to time to correct known problems.

And three years for a scanner that has a much longer life than a car is not that unreasonable.

I highly doubt threats would help.
 

jthorpe

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I've got a 796d and a 996. I can tell you audiowise, the 796 is hands down much better than my 996 and with the 796, I can actually hear a whole p25 conversation. This 996 is getting on my nerves.
 

torontokris

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I dont think a 796 update will come sorry.

Kenisned - true but you didnt get my point.
the car company won't give you the features of the newer model just because you bought the older model and you dont have those features.

The scanners are working properly in Unidens mind.
They would only issue a recall if they were catching fire not cause the older version is missing features.
 

kenisned

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torontokris said:
I dont think a 796 update will come sorry.

Kenisned - true but you didnt get my point.
the car company won't give you the features of the newer model just because you bought the older model and you dont have those features.

The scanners are working properly in Unidens mind.
They would only issue a recall if they were catching fire not cause the older version is missing features.

I don't consider a firmware update to be adding new features. I would consider it making sure that the scanner functions properly with the features it was sold with.

Cars have had recalls for things slightly less than "catching fire". I had a recall once about the rear window struts not lifting the window after a few years.
 
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