New 396XT 1.11.01 Firmware Available

[UPMan]

Server seems to have locked up at about the same time a line of storms moved through. I did a hard reset and all seems well, now.

[kirk23]

Originally Posted by DannB

I run it and all i get is a prompt to "repair or cancel" File ...my scanner is working fine without the update so i may just say screw it and forget the update....i cant get it to work....

exactly what WX5UIF is telling you...
after you have downloaded it and unzipped it to your desktop or file.. closed that file and GO to your PROGRAMS in your start menu and OPEN the BC VUP V3 file FROM THERE..

I was making the same mistake

[DannB]

ok got it now...thanks guys...i have done various updates in the past and never had issues, it always updated without issue..anywhooo all is good now...thanks for the help

[PJH]

Originally Posted by kruser

I agree with that statement 100%.

Serial ports have been around forever and are still widely used in industrial control and radio programming. Almost all commercial radios still use a conventional serial port for programming.
In my eyes, a true serial port is much more reliable that any USB port is going to be.
RS-232 is an industry standard that is going to be around for a long time.

What radios are you referring too? I've only seen USB ones lately...

[kruser]

Originally Posted by PJH

What radios are you referring too? I've only seen USB ones lately...

Most all.
Many will come with a USB cable but that cable may just be a usb to serial with some using standard serial port levels and many that use TTL levels.
Some newer radios do have the USB to Serial converter inside the radio. If you look at service info, you will see they still use a serial bus with many at TTL levels.
Take the PR400 and the mobile version for example. They use a serial connection but it is TTL level. The radios in my repeaters are TTL level serial at the mic plugs. I think those are CDM750's which are really just a pair of mobile radios. Sure, some new Motorola's will appear to be USB but if you look at the service info, you will find they convert it right back to serial at standard serial port voltages or TTL levels. That method does cut down on the confusion though as the adapter is internal in the radio so you don't need to purchase an external converter but it also adds cost as every radio must have the adapter parts internal. It's fairly cheap these days though.
Many Icom's are serial.
Many radios have funky looking connectors and come with an adapter that does plug into a USB port for programming but odds are, the adapter is nothing more than a usb to serial adapter with the correct plug on one end that fits the radio or the usb to serial conversion is done internally.

Some scanners (PSR800 and HP1 are two) do offer a USB interface but it is still serial inside the radio.
The GRE's like the 500 and 600 and all the GRE made RadioShack models that have the PC/IF port are TTL level serial and the XT and T series Uniden's are true serial levels at the ports but they use a connector that many think is USB. The mobile versions do still have a standard DB-9 on the rear as there is room for it.
Most everything today still converts usb back to standard or ttl level serial with newer models having that conversion done inside the radio.

I'm sure there are some models that convert USB to the i2c bus that is also a common communications bus found in today's electronics but I'd think that is rare. SATA is an example of a form of a modern serial bus but it is not even close to a standard serial bus like RS-232. If you were sending megabytes of programming info, I could see the use of a USB to other type bus but in reality, the amount of data exchanged for programming even today's complex digital radios is still a small amount of data that can be sent over a standard serial bus in a matter of seconds.
I also suspect some radios use an encrypted programming bus kind of like HDMI is so the data cannot be extracted if someone manages to install a breakout box for data sniffing. I'd bet some of the military stuff does that.

[UPMan]

As far as speed goes, since most of the data sent to the scanner needs to be processed by the scanner, the "packet handling time" actually is more of a determinant of the possible transfer speed. Try an experiment: program the scanner at 9600, 19200, etc and clock the difference in upload times (you'll find a point where despite the increase in bps, the time to transfer hardly changes).

[N1SQB]

Well, I have tried everything under the sun to get this upgrade to take and it will not! I have gone through 4 different USB-DB9 cables, changed my port settings, updated drivers, and the updater still says scanner is not communicating and it will not detect it. This is inspite of the fact that I can upload / download and program as well as virtually control the scanner without any problems. When I try to do an update on my 996XT, it tells me to "remove the batteries and plug the radio in while pressing lock out and 6", as if it were the 396XT. Go figure that! I have NO problems on my laptop whatsoever and I'm running windows 7 which has been extremely stable in the 2 years I have owned it. I have 3 versions of Uniden scanners, 2 BCT15X, 1-996XT and 1-396XT portable which have never given me any issues when I plug them into the laptop for programing, or virtual control. I cannot find a reason for this not working!

Manny

[shanny19]

Originally Posted by UPMan

Serial (RS232) is required in order for the scanner to be compatible with GPS input for location-based scanning.

Sure, but aren't there are many more users who program and update their scanners with software
than there are who use GPS functionality???? Making the only port RS232 to keep the GPS
users happy while the rest of us are tilting at the Prolific Driver windmill seems to me to be a poor
read of the customer base.

[davidmc36]

Originally Posted by shanny19

Sure, but aren't there are many more users who program and update their scanners with software
than there are who use GPS functionality???? Making the only port RS232 to keep the GPS
users happy while the rest of us are tilting at the Prolific Driver windmill seems to me to be a poor
read of the customer base.

But there are perfectly simple solutions to make it talk to a computer with the RS232 connection, and if you made it USB only, the ones who do want to use GPS (one of the main reasons that I bought the scanner) would be out in the cold.

And I have never had any trouble making talk to a computer. Have used at least a dozen different Serial-USB adapters including Prolific Genuine, Prolific Pirated, and FTDI. They all work and are distributed throughout computers at home, work, and car.

So no, not a poor read of customer base, just the best solution to keep more than just one segment happy.

[kruser]

Originally Posted by shanny19

Sure, but aren't there are many more users who program and update their scanners with software
than there are who use GPS functionality???? Making the only port RS232 to keep the GPS
users happy while the rest of us are tilting at the Prolific Driver windmill seems to me to be a poor
read of the customer base.

The heck with Prolific based chpsets. Get FTDI, they work plain and simple.

[kruser]

Originally Posted by N1SQB

Well, I have tried everything under the sun to get this upgrade to take and it will not! I have gone through 4 different USB-DB9 cables, changed my port settings, updated drivers, and the updater still says scanner is not communicating and it will not detect it. This is inspite of the fact that I can upload / download and program as well as virtually control the scanner without any problems. When I try to do an update on my 996XT, it tells me to "remove the batteries and plug the radio in while pressing lock out and 6", as if it were the 396XT. Go figure that! I have NO problems on my laptop whatsoever and I'm running windows 7 which has been extremely stable in the 2 years I have owned it. I have 3 versions of Uniden scanners, 2 BCT15X, 1-996XT and 1-396XT portable which have never given me any issues when I plug them into the laptop for programing, or virtual control. I cannot find a reason for this not working!

Manny

See if you can find the commands that enable Device Manager to show all hidden devices.
You can write a simple batch file or set permanent set statements in your profile with the commands needed.

Then click to show all devices and look under Ports as well as Universal Serial Bus Controllers section and get rid of any USB to Serial adapters that are not being used plus maybe get rid of the current ones that are working as well. Pay attention for a box that you can select that says something like "Remove All drivers" and that will also remove the drivers so they are reinstalled.

This method allows you to get rid of what is called "Ghost Devices".

Here are the commands, copy and paste them into Notepad and save the file to your desktop as "Hidden Devices.bat". Right click on the new batch file and run as administrator otherwise it still may not show all hidden devices. When Device Manager opens, you must still go to the menus at the top and select to show hidden devices. Be careful as there are things that can be removed this way that can make your system unbootable! Stay out of the Network section unless you are removing a ghost NIC and also stay out of the Non Plug&Play section.
The stuff under Ports or USB are safe to remove as they will be reinstalled. Remember to check the box to also remove the drivers if the box is present. If the drivers have already been removed, that checkbox will not appear.

Here are the commands:

set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1
set devmgr_show_details=1
start devmgmt.msc

You can also set those in your profile's environment variables so you don't need to run the batch file each time but I find running the batch file just as simple.

[rmosier]

It's been a couple of weeks since I applied this update. I monitor Morris County NJ and since the update all P25 transmissioins sound worse. I started out at the default settings of 8 and 50 and I've tried many different values. My BCD396T receives very well with settings of Manual and 7. Any idea what that would equate to on the XT?

[scanningisfun]

Originally Posted by rmosier

It's been a couple of weeks since I applied this update. I monitor Morris County NJ and since the update all P25 transmissioins sound worse. I started out at the default settings of 8 and 50 and I've tried many different values. My BCD396T receives very well with settings of Manual and 7. Any idea what that would equate to on the XT?

The actual default settings for the 396XT are:
-P25 Mode set to 3
-P25 Level set to 50

It seems that the 1.10.00 firmware has caused confusion to what the true defaults are. The P25 Mode was recommended to be set to 11 after that update. The actual default is 3. I'm not saying 3 is better than 11, as 11 may work great. Anything below 8 seems to act like 3.

Jacob

[sfdf]

Check under Device Mgr. what Com port your Cable is working.
Run BC_VUP_V3 from the directory it was installed in.
Run it without connecting your Scanner first and you will get an error saying connect you Scanner..
After that you get an Box with the option to select your Com or Auto dect it. connect your Scanner and double check to see if the Com Port is still the same
Make sure you uninstall old Installer first.
"update on my 996XT, it tells me to "remove the batteries and plug the radio in while pressing lock out and 6"," It should not do that with the new updater. make sure you UNINSTALL the old one

Originally Posted by N1SQB

Well, I have tried everything under the sun to get this upgrade to take and it will not! I have gone through 4 different USB-DB9 cables, changed my port settings, updated drivers, and the updater still says scanner is not communicating and it will not detect it. This is inspite of the fact that I can upload / download and program as well as virtually control the scanner without any problems. When I try to do an update on my 996XT, it tells me to "remove the batteries and plug the radio in while pressing lock out and 6", as if it were the 396XT. Go figure that! I have NO problems on my laptop whatsoever and I'm running windows 7 which has been extremely stable in the 2 years I have owned it. I have 3 versions of Uniden scanners, 2 BCT15X, 1-996XT and 1-396XT portable which have never given me any issues when I plug them into the laptop for programing, or virtual control. I cannot find a reason for this not working!

Manny

[davidvel]

Originally Posted by Anderegg

Thank you fx! I rolled back to 1.10.0 and now my scanner is back to normal. No motorboating, no 1-3 second static bursts, works just as it did before the evil 1.11.0. When the scanner did decode with the new firmware on my simulcast systems, it DID NOT improve the broken and choppy digital reception at full signal.

Paul

Thank you Anderegg! I had the same problems on the SD RCS: motorboating, garbled voice. Tried every combination of the p25 settings .

Reverted and all is better!!

[Anderegg]

Thank fx David!

Also, this is the reason I WILL NOT be updating my 996XT's to the new simulcast firmware......I learned my lesson.

Paul

[FDNY10-75]

Since I've applied this update to the 396XT and my HP-1 I have been having an issue with both conventional and trunked transmissions dropping out in the middle as if the unit or dispatcher had stopped transmitting (which is not the case).

Anyone else having this problem?

[kruser]

Originally Posted by FDNY10-75

Since I've applied this update to the 396XT and my HP-1 I have been having an issue with both conventional and trunked transmissions dropping out in the middle as if the unit or dispatcher had stopped transmitting (which is not the case).

Anyone else having this problem?

Sounds almost like you may have enabled a priority of some type or a close call scan that is interrupting your regular signals.
Odd that you are seeing it on both models though.

[FDNY10-75]

Originally Posted by kruser

Sounds almost like you may have enabled a priority of some type or a close call scan that is interrupting your regular signals.
Odd that you are seeing it on both models though.

Thats exactly what it sounds like/how it's acting but CC, weather pri and priority are all disabled.

[Highpockets]

UPMan,

Can you at least let the users know if the last update for the 396/996XT will stand as is, or are you taking a second look at the update that fixed the LSM problems. Seems like some users are going back to the update before this one, and I thinking I may also, but if a second look is in the works, I'd just stay with this update and wait it out if something may replace it. No need for a date and time, just if a second look is in the works.