800 MHz Rebanding & the BC780XLT

[2WAYMAN]

Greetings to all.......
My question is probably best answered by Paul(UPMan)....
I understand the entire 800 rebanding process as I am the Comm Officer for a government entity and am in the process of relicensing our 800 channels at present.
Owning a few 780's personally, I know you had stated in your thread about rebanding
that older Uniden's must be replaced.
My question is why, for a Motorola Type II system after rebanding, would one not be able to place ALL of the freqeuncies for that system in a bank, set it up for trunked M Type II,
and leave the CC feature OFF and not be able to monitor said system. Unlike a M portable which relies on the Control Channel to tell it which "channel number " to go to ( all of which are now changed after rebanding), do the 780's also function in that manner or would they go to the active frequency programmed for the system, ALL of which would be in the scanner?? The same seems to hold true for both EDACS and LTR systems.
Also, owning both a BC796D and 296D, when will the updates be available for both which include the rebanding scheme information?? Just a request-please include extremely clear instructions with each as it is readily apparent both from personal experience as well as from having read the numerous problems experienced by many fellow members of this board in attempting to flash their scanners.
Keep up the good work and keep producing those quality Uniden scanners!
Thanks Much!
2WAYMAN

 

[ka3jjz]

Actually Paul's rebanding wiki page - which has since been added to by other folks - explains why a scanner will fail after rebanding...

http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Rebanding

And as to when Uniden - or GRE, for that matter - will have updates ready - that's anybody's guess at this point. The problem is that no one has a rebanded system to use as a guinea pig to test out the new algorithms- yet. I understand that the state of Utah was the first to get the OK from the rebanding committee, so it's likely that will be the test bed.
Until then, we're all in a holding pattern. Even the method of delivering these new algorithms - once they're developed - is open to change. Nothing is written in stone - yet.

73s Mike

 

[W4KRR]

My question is why, for a Motorola Type II system after rebanding, would one not be able to place ALL of the freqeuncies for that system in a bank, set it up for trunked M Type II, and leave the CC feature OFF and not be able to monitor said system. Unlike a M portable which relies on the Control Channel to tell it which "channel number " to go to ( all of which are now changed after rebanding), do the 780's also function in that manner or would they go to the active frequency programmed for the system, ALL of which would be in the scanner??

You might think that's the way the scanners work, but no. The Motorola channel numbers that go with each frequency are built into the scanner firmware. They actually use the channel numbers and not the frequency, which is why the '780 and other scanners won't work after rebanding.

 

[2WAYMAN]

Uniden Firmware Chip Replacement??

Hello Again...
Thanks Ken and Mike for your replies. Do either of you ( or Paul-AKA UPMan) know where the firmware chip for the 780 is...is it soldered in the board or in a ic chip socket? I have not opened mine up in a while. Point being, do you think since this particular model was such a huge seller and a great piece of equipment that the folks at Uniden might consider either a software update or if that is not feasible, how about a firmware chip replacement, which will either be flashable or already contain the new FCC 800 channel number/scheme ??? ARE YOU LISTENING UPMan??? I know that I, personally, would be willing for pay a few bucks for a new chips and I'm certain that any of us on this board would most likely be capable of replacing the chip, providing it is not something like M uses in some of their portables with 128 pins, etc. Otherwise I'll be sitting here with three of these doorstops after the rebanding fiasco is over and done with.
I also heard, from a reliable source, that M is currently and has been for some time, working on a "super software" package for its trunking controllers that some have said MAY be able to read BOTH the current and revised channel schemes. Perhaps some large agency(-ies) have complained enough and maybe we will not be completely left with useless scanners after all....Has anyone else with their ear to the ground heard anything similar???
Thanks to all and 73's!
2WAYMAN

 

[MacombMonitor]

When Pigs Fly!

 

[MacombMonitor]

Seriously 2WAYMAN, that isn't going to happen. Uniden has moved far beyond the BC780-XLT. They're even moving beyond the BC796D...to bigger, and better scanners! (Well maybe not bigger, but better!) :wink:

The BC780-XLT will not become a useless door-stop after re-banding. They still bring a decent price on the used market. People are buying them because they are one of the best conventional analog scanners available. They have become a favorite of the MilAir crowd. Current prices average between $175.00~$225.00. You might want to consider selling them, and purchasing the state-of-the-art APCO-25 Digital BCD996T, due out in a few more weeks!