UPMan & Engineers
First and foremost, thank you for yet another opportunity to "blaze the trail" in Beta testing. I thought it was over, but not to disappoint, you surprised us again!
Now on to the "test". I decided to update my 536 with the 1.11.16 firmware, and leave my 436 with the 1.11.15 firmware to give it a try. My testing was done on the CAP+ system
ULS License - Industrial/Business Pool, Trunked License - WQPK636 - Southwest Airlines Company - Frequencies Summary
which I've been monitoring since day one. My location is 1/2 mile west of Midway Airport, and the system is somewhat weak per the FCC database. I'm running an outdoor antenna on the 536 and using the stock 436 antenna. Per the other thread, I did not use any copper tape on my battery cover, and my serial number started with a 6xxxx. I think I have one of the newer ones per the other thread so reception hasn't been an issue.
My programming and settings for the CAP+ system are identical and any changes I make, I duplicate via software. Squelch is set to 2, I was running it in ID Scan mode, with 17 active channels, UID's etc. Modulation was set at FM initially. I set both scanners to Hold on the Southwest Airlines system and ironically, storms are passing through Chicago during the test, and if you've ever listened to large airlines during the storm, you'll hear a lot of activity. "Lightning alerts" , "ground stops" etc. so it was an easy to give it a good test. I sat on it around 2 hours and took notes.
The results were surprising as I didn't realize how much traffic I was missing using the 1.11.15 firmware. The 536 running the 1.11.16 firmware was picking up a lot more of the transmissions. However to be fair, there were a few times the 436 was picking up transmissions, and the 536 was silent. I noticed this more when a transmission was "in progress" and the 436 already was sitting on the talk group, and it took the 536 a minute or two to pick it up or completely missed it . I did notice on the 436 when the talk group was sitting on slot 2, this was more troublesome for the 536 with the 1.11.16 firmware. I have a priority talkgroup set up and it was more likely to jump to it with the newer firmware then the older.
Prior to concluding my test, I changed the modulation to Auto on both scanners. While it didn't make a difference on the 436 running the 1.11.15 firmware, the 536 running the 1.11.16 firmware started picking up more of the slot 2 talkgroups the 436 was sitting on. It sort of "came to life" after the minor tweak.
So Paul and the engineers, there you have my unscientific, non-engineer type testing from my listening post in Chicago. I hope I gave some positive feedback, and maybe you'll be able to duplicate my findings. Thank you again, and good luck.
