396XT Suddenly Stopped Trunking

[mfn002]

Just a few moments ago, I noticed that my 396XT had suddenly stopped receiving a local trunked system. I have two other scanners monitoring the same system, and they were picking it up just fine. What I noticed was that the 396 was showing a strong RSSI (as if it was receiving the data channel but not decoding it), but no traffic or data channel. It's a multi-site system, and it was doing this on all of the sites it was monitoring. I have it hooked up to the AC adapter. I tried turning off the scanner and then back on again, but no luck. I then tried disconnecting the AC adapter from the scanner and then plugging it back in again, and that seemed to solve the problem. This is the second or third time this has happened. Anybody know what might be going on here?

 

[DaveIN]

Hi Michael, Is it possible that your power supply is faulty? Did you try running for an extended period with just batteries to see if it occurs? You can get a relative idea of the supplied voltage by tapping the scroll control. I would also check to see if the radio is warm to the touch near the supply or battery area.

 

[911scanner]

Well Michael...

While I do not have a solution, I have been having the exact same issue lately. I too have other Uniden scanners scanning essentially the same traffic, and my 396XT seems to be deaf. I run my 396XT 24/7 from AC power with the illumination lit.

I am trying different things for trouble shooting. I need to turn off the scanner for an extended period for it to go back to a normal scanning mode. I'm trying to see of keeping the illumination off will help. Otherwise, I'm pretty much stumped.


MM

 

[mfn002]

I do sort of the same thing. I usually have it on 8-12 hours a day, with the AC adapter and the illumination on. It seems to do it suddenly, too. I'll just glance over at it and suddenly the data channels disappear. Instead, when it scans over one of the sites, the signal strength indicator will pop up briefly, as if it sees the data channel but can't decode it. And it's not like these are distant or anything. One is only five or so miles from my house. As I said in my original post, I tried turning it off for a while and then turning it back on again, but it will still be doing it when I turn it back on. I've discovered I have to unplug the AC adapter and plug it back in again before it'll pick up the system properly. It actually happened a second time after I logged off of this site yesterday. DaveIN, I did notice that the scanner was warm in the area above the battery compartment, but it has always been like that. Note: even though the scanner is set up for rechargeable batteries, I do not charge the batteries with the scanner.

 

[kb8rvp]

I do sort of the same thing. I usually have it on 8-12 hours a day, with the AC adapter and the illumination on. It seems to do it suddenly, too. I'll just glance over at it and suddenly the data channels disappear. Instead, when it scans over one of the sites, the signal strength indicator will pop up briefly, as if it sees the data channel but can't decode it. And it's not like these are distant or anything. One is only five or so miles from my house. As I said in my original post, I tried turning it off for a while and then turning it back on again, but it will still be doing it when I turn it back on. I've discovered I have to unplug the AC adapter and plug it back in again before it'll pick up the system properly. It actually happened a second time after I logged off of this site yesterday. DaveIN, I did notice that the scanner was warm in the area above the battery compartment, but it has always been like that. Note: even though the scanner is set up for rechargeable batteries, I do not charge the batteries with the scanner.

I will have to check my 396XT but I keep it plugged in a lot and it never seems to be warm. I keep the battery switch set to alkaline so it never charges the batteries...
Also I have set the P25 adjust setting to 200 when I listen to my local simulcast system:
BCD396XT P25 Error Rate

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You do have some control over the P25 adjust level... If you press and hold the "hold" button and turn on the scanner the screen will flash colors and allow you to get into the P25 settings. Then press menu and go to settings and then go to P25 adjust level. You will notice it is set to 50 for the default auto adjust setting. If you change it to 200 (press 200 enter) now the default level will always be 8 and if you change it to 100 the default adjust level will be set to 11. You can check this when scanning by pressing Func then press down on the volume knob, Func then volume again to watch the error rate. The setting of 200 works well for me but because most of the digital systems I listen level off around 8 using the auto setting anyway. If you find that the default setting works best just set it back to 50 by pressing 050 enter. You want to try to keep the error rate as close to "0" as possible. You may just need to move the radio around the room to get a better signal also.
Mike

 

[ubrmel]

Well Michael...

While I do not have a solution, I have been having the exact same issue lately. I too have other Uniden scanners scanning essentially the same traffic, and my 396XT seems to be deaf. I run my 396XT 24/7 from AC power with the illumination lit.

I am trying different things for trouble shooting. I need to turn off the scanner for an extended period for it to go back to a normal scanning mode. I'm trying to see of keeping the illumination off will help. Otherwise, I'm pretty much stumped.


MM

I am having the EXACT same issues!

I listen to the system below:
Washington County / Clackamas County / Newberg Trunking System, Various, Oregon - Scanner Frequencies

I have reset it to original settings, programmed it w/freescan, tried all the suggestions I've found on the internet, but it still is happening and is just so random.

The first 6 months I had it.. no issues.. the last 6.. it's been acting up.. randomly..

Anybody care to share other trouble shooting ideas?

Thanks! =)