996XT Military Air Service Search error

[Hooligan]

While it's very nice that the Uniden 996XTs have a 'Military Air' search algorithm in the 'Service Search' function, someone made an error.

The radio defaults to FM mode when searching the 138-144/148-150.8MHz spectrum & then switches to AM for 225-380MHz.

It should be using AM mode for everything, if it's truly doing a 'Military Air' search. Yes, the military/federal gov't uses FM in the spectrum in question for LMR & tactical nets, but the 'Military Air' stuff predominantly uses AM in that spectrum.

I'm not too pleased that Uniden decided to terminate "Military Air" at 380MHz, as there are still active cases of aircraft using the 380-399.975MHz spectrum for their normal air/air & air/ground comms, but I can at least start to understand why Uniden would have done that.


I've mitigated the problem by setting up the right spectrum & modes using Custom Search, but I hope Uniden will quickly correct the error, which I assume also is present in the 996T & 396T/XT products.

 

[jrl44430]

My air base uses P25 in the 138-144 range.

 

[b52hbuff]

138-144 is mixed use. If it's in the air, it's AM mode. If it's on the ground, it is NFM.

 

[Hooligan]

I'm happy to report that I was able to remedy the situation for myself by going into Menu, Settings, Band Defaults & changing the values to AM mode & 25kHz. The nice thing about that is now that I have the Service Search Military Air option working properly, I can free up the two Custom Search applications I had to make for 138-144 & 148-150.80MHz AM/25kHz. I still have the two others doing that spectrum in FM, 12.5kHz steps for federal gov't & military LMR.

Tried doing the same thing to get rid of the damned 8.33kHz tuning steps it uses for the VHF Air band Service Search (Europe might be using 8.33kHz not, but the USA isn't), but for some reason that's not working for me, so if I need to search the VHF Air Band in a hurry I'll still have to make a Custom Search application for it,

Uniden still needs to correct the Military Air mode & stepping though.

 

[KE4ZNR]

Uniden still needs to correct the Military Air mode & stepping though.

No they don't.

As b52hbuff correctly stated above:

138-144 is mixed use. If it's in the air, it's AM mode. If it's on the ground, it is NFM.

Marshall KE4ZNR

 

[WayneH]

No they don't.

Yes they do and you basically supported the OP's request with your quote. In the context of the search it's for Military Air communications, which are in AM mode as b52hbuff stated.

As the OP says:
"It should be using AM mode for everything, if it's truly doing a 'Military Air' search. Yes, the military/federal gov't uses FM in the spectrum in question for LMR & tactical nets, but the 'Military Air' stuff predominantly uses AM in that spectrum."

The same goes for the BCT15X.

 

[KE4ZNR]

Yes they do and you basically supported the OP's request with your quote. In the context of the search it's for Military Air communications, which are in AM mode as b52hbuff stated.

As the OP says:
"It should be using AM mode for everything, if it's truly doing a 'Military Air' search. Yes, the military/federal gov't uses FM in the spectrum in question for LMR & tactical nets, but the 'Military Air' stuff predominantly uses AM in that spectrum."

So again, my point stands. Both FM & AM are used in that band.
No matter which Uniden decides to use as a default someone is not gonna
be happy. All this is much ado about nothing as you can make the needed
adjustments to the search.
Marshall KE4ZNR

 

[SCPD]

So again, my point stands. Both FM & AM are used in that band.

Mil air primarily uses AM in both the UHF and VHF bands.

 

[WayneH]

Mil air primarily uses AM in both the UHF and VHF bands.

Exactly.

Guess there's no way to get through to Marshall. I guess he isn't a MilAir listener.

 

[KE4ZNR]

Exactly.

Guess there's no way to get through to Marshall. I guess he isn't a MilAir listener.

Nice personal insult from the one who is supposed to be setting an example :roll:
I listen to everything DC to Daylight including mil-air.
Just because AM is "primarily" used does not mean
it is the only type of comms used.
I am always open to new ideas I just don't think
that this is a big enough deal to warrant Uniden spending
time to fix something that the end user can change on their own.
If Uniden decides otherwise, more power to them and I hope the
ROI is there for the time spent on crafting a firmware update.
Marshall KE4ZNR

 

[WayneH]

Personal insult? I made an observation based on your multiple reiterations. Grow some thicker skin, geez.

I do not think Uniden did any investigation as to the type of comms used for Mil Air in the 138-144 band. They just added what was the default. The purpose of this thread is to state that the primary comms is AM. When it is used by Aircraft in FM mode that is a slim majority. As the OP stated there are ways around it but why not default to the proper mode that's used the majority of the time?

Yes, we know you disagree but we're trying to set the record straight.

 

[KE4ZNR]

Yes, we know you disagree but we're trying to set the record straight.

Nope. You are giving your opinion. Which of course is the same thing I did.
Of course you are going to think your opinion is right, and I will do the same with mine.
So "setting the record straight" is up to personal interpretation.
Like I said earlier: up to Uniden if they want to invest money & time in a firmware update over this.
Marshall KE4ZNR

 

[SCPD]

Uniden should have set the default modulation to AM for the entire mil air search.
Yes there is some FM usage in the VHF portion of mil air but it is mainly AM.

 

[KE5TLF]

It's REAL simple, the name of service search in question is "Military Air" period. It's is not named "Military" or "Military Bases" or "Military LMR" or any other such variation.

Military AIR is AM the vast majority if not all the time. Uniden has it WRONG. period

They should also ADD a variation for "Military LMR" or some such named service search as well and preset it accordingly. end of story.

 

[Hooligan]

In the 2+ months since this was posted, it woulda been nice to get some sort of response from Uniden here, be it a simple mea-culpa & they'll correct the mistake in an upcoming firmware revision, or to challenge me on the issue.