YACPT Yet another Clock Problem Thread

[kellykeeton]

I haven't complained about this product for a while, but this is insane and stupid. so I am posting YACPT in hopes that paul can devise some way in the new firmware that setting the clock will just be optional (like it wont even ask to set the clock) if the time is off. this is repulsive behavior IMO

So here is my deal.. my 536 has been powered on for 2 weeks with out being shut off, last night I shut it off to move around some equipment. this morning I turned it on.. it forgot the time.

clearly I had my unit on for excess of 50 hours, the unit was powered off for less then 12 hours..

the unit lost time.

fail.

 

[jonwienke]

The unit is not performing according to spec. Send it to Uniden for repair.

 

[kellykeeton]

this would be the 2nd time .. I really dont care to be down a scanner for 4 weeks again.. I would prefer that this hellish "feature" was just disabled.

 

[Boatanchor]

Wonder what the lifespan is of those tiny SMD nicad clock batteries.
Presumably, the greater the discharge depth, the less charge/discharge cycles can be expected.

Will we see >18 months from them?

 

[kellykeeton]

Actually a damn good point - I really do hate this "feature" so much because of it and the lack of the feature I won't bring up. I gave up on uniden scanners.

However your point just made me think of this - i am going to hunt down and replace that stupid cap with a lithium/blocking diode - will solve this problem once and for all. Wonder if I can jam a battery into the 4xx

 

[kellykeeton]

didnt expect this.. at least its gonna be easy to hack out.

 

[kellykeeton]

image attach issues

 

[kellykeeton]

eh whatever.. if someone can fix that - it was a photo of a battery on the board shows 2v and dropping when powered off - 3v charge when on.

 

[N0JVY]

Uniden BCD536HP

I also have a 536HP which is 10 months old, and the useless clock battery will not hold a charge. Left radio operating 72 hours straight, turned off for 1 minute, then when turned back on, clock setting came up. It has been doing this for some time. Shame we have to pay to send it in when less than one year old.

 

[jonwienke]

Pretty sure warranty service is at least a year...

 

[kellykeeton]

3 years if you have a "problem scanner" (it will say on the back)

I just noticed something -My battery is now totally shot. just rebooted my scanner for the new firmware - was having problems with the wifi and when on the new "beta wifi firmware" I rebooted again

the clock lost time as always but this time it pulled the "last known time" from I assume the SD card - this is awesome (I think) as it keeps the last known time (I assume) any will update as I find more info.

 

[JamesO]

eh whatever.. if someone can fix that - it was a photo of a battery on the board shows 2v and dropping when powered off - 3v charge when on.

I have not hacked into mine yet, but will likely do this soon.

I found some info on the batteries and monster caps and it appears most are 2.5 Volts.

It seems to me if the battery is charging at 3.0 Volts this is likely why they may be failing.

I also have some other specific ideas for the 436 that I want to test and my be helpful for these owners.

 

[kellykeeton]

well the rating on a capacitor can vary there is no issues using a 5v capacity

the trick is finding a super cap that will charge in a reasonable time, and last a reasonable time and fit into the radio - If your looking for these I suggest checking out mouser and the link provided above to find the appropriate component. its really easy I just hare haven't personally taken the time as my radio never shuts off except for power maintenance and with the new firmware might not matter as much

if you want to work on it two major things I see needing finding the charge current for the existing battery which helps pick another battery or super-cap

find the standby current draw when powered off (I doubt I can personally measure this low with my equipment)

screw it and just put a blocking diode and lithium battery into the unit with and dont think about it for 2-3 years.

 

[kellykeeton]

this is not resolved in the newest firmware for wifi update.

UPMAN please please just remove the clock setting on power-on requirement!

 

[AD0HI]

Mine didn't have a problem until the recent FW upgrade

Mine didn't have a problem until after the last FW upgrade, and afterwards, it asked for the time. I reset the time and left it on for 4 days continuously. I then powered it down for an hour and it had me reset the time again. I left it on for another day and the same thing.

Prior to the FW upgrade I NEVER had a problem with it keeping time.

Bob
AD0HI

 

[JamesO]

Mine didn't have a problem until after the last FW upgrade, and afterwards, it asked for the time. I reset the time and left it on for 4 days continuously. I then powered it down for an hour and it had me reset the time again. I left it on for another day and the same thing.

Prior to the FW upgrade I NEVER had a problem with it keeping time.

Bob
AD0HI

Do you think the Firmware update really had anything to do with the change in the clock behavior??

Or did you just shut the scanner down after the Firmware update?

My 536HP is putty much on 7x24 and I have not had it off for more than a few minutes.

 

[AD0HI]

JamesO, I have had the scanner since last April and use it a few times a week and it has been often enough to keep the clock battery charged.

I updated the FW to 1.5.01, and restarted it and it asked for the time. I then left it on for an hour and shut it off. When I powered it back on it asked me to reset the time again, so after doing so, I left it on continuously for 4 days, and then shut it off.

It just seems like an odd coincidence that I experienced no problems until after the FW update, but, unfortunately, I don't have the FW file for the prior version to rollback the changes to see if it makes any difference.

Troubleshooting 101: Have you made any recent changes before the problem started? Yes, I updated the firmware.

Are others having similar problems? That is why I made the post and called Uniden Tech Support to try to find out.

Thanks,
Bob

 

[UPMan]

http://forums.radioreference.com/uniden-forums/308441-bcd436hp-bcd536hp-clock-reset-issue.html

 

[kellykeeton]

thanks Paul that is great. look forward to your update.

 

[cjvail13]

Update has been posted. I happen to be one of the lucky few that have a flawed unit( BCD536HP). While I am disappointed that I have to send my unit back in, the first time was for the headphone jack, I am glad to see that this issue is being addressed and handled. On the bright side my bcd436hp is not affected by this.