Almost ready to purchase a BR330 - But have a couple of questions...

[KC8WLZ]

Hello,

I'm about ready to "pull the trigger" and purchase a 330T. I was looking at the Pro97 but have "seen the light" after reading some of the posts in the Uniden forum. First, I have a couple of questions.

1) My main interest is milair scanning. I love my 780, but it isn't portable. I live in Cleveland Ohio under AR220 and about 1 hour drive from the closest milair base. My point is that I don't live under a MOA or right next to a base. I'm looking for any feedback that a user in a similar situation might provide on what type of success that they have had???

2) I love the fact that it has HF capabilities, however it won't do SSB. Has anyone ever heard about a firmware upgrade from Uniden that may allow this?

2a) I also seem to remember that with presise, direct frequency entry that you can enter a freq x.xKhz up and get the USB that is desired. Is that accurate?

3) What is included in the box? I am specifically looking to see if a USB or Serial PC cable is included?

4) Has anyone stumbled upon a Unden pdf datasheet for this? I can't seem to find one...

This will be my first scanner with close call and dynamic frequency allocation. I am terribly excited on what else I will learn to love and won't be able to live without in the future

Thanks in advance!

 

[1268]

330t

I can't answer all your questions but will tell you what I can, there is a serial pc cable included I also purchased the USB cable from scanner master. I have scanned Milair with no problem, make sure you download the firmware update once your scanner arrives. I recommend the usad software for programming, download available from UNIDEN, I can not recommend this scanner enough, on a scale of 1 to 10 mine is a 12+ :lol:

You are making a very wise choice in the BR330T !

 

[KC8WLZ]

I recommend the usad software for programming, download available from UNIDEN,

Thanks for the reply. I use excel spreadsheets to manage my freqs. Does the Uniden sw allow importing or to cut and paste?

Thanks Again!

 

[oregontreehugger]

Cut and paste... yes.

For example, on a conventional system, you would create a "system" and a "group" in the Uniden software. You then just click "add channel" until you've got the same number of blank entries as you will have copy & paste entries from Excel.

Then you highlight all of the frequency fields in your Excel database (making sure it's the same number of entries as you created blanks in the Uniden s/w), copy, and paste into the Uniden program. Same approach with text tags (up to 16 chars.) in the software. Highlight the whole column, copy, and paste into the blank cells in the Uniden s/w.

It would be nice if the Uniden software could just copy & paste without creating blank entries first, or maybe it can and I somehow missed it.

The short answer to your question: yes.

 

[eorange]

2a) I also seem to remember that with presise, direct frequency entry that you can enter a freq x.xKhz up and get the USB that is desired. Is that accurate?

This doesn't seem to work. It's interesting to note that when I switched from USB to AM, I heard the original signal for quite a while as I tuned up and off the center freq. But it still sounded garbled.

 

[hiegtx]

Thanks for the reply. I use excel spreadsheets to manage my freqs. Does the Uniden sw allow importing or to cut and paste?

Thanks Again!

I can't personally vouch for this software, but read the comments from this post. Apparently, Scan Control can handle *.csv file imports. As a subscribing member you can download those. Looking at the publisher's website, the software works on other models as well.

Making the 330 handle SSB is beyond a simple firmware update. It would take a revamped receiver. If it was that easy, we'd all be trying to download an update to change our old tv's into HD.

You'll enjoy the 330. It's a sensitive, versatile, scanner.

 

[scosgt]

Cleveland PD can not be monitored by any scanner at this time, but other areas in NE Ohio, such as Akron, are APCO digital. So you might want to consider a 396 instead. The 330 might be somewhat limited in that area.

 

[eorange]

You can still monitor Geauga County with the BR330.

 

[Napalm]

You can't resolve SSB on an AM only receiver, no matter how much tuning up or down you do.

You will need to inject some kind of BFO at the final IF frequency... and even then it will sound bad compared to a "real" HF radio.

You can however detect FM on an AM only radio, again by tuning off to one side (usually 5kHz or so). This is called slope detection.

 

[KC8WLZ]

Thanks to all who responded to this post. I have placed my order with Uniden. I'm hoping that it arrives prior to my trip to Indiana late next week. I may have considered a 396 because there is some digital around here but the price that I paid ("like new" from Uniden) vs the price of the 396 was to good to pass up. I also knew that I wouldn't be able to get funds allocated by the boss for a 396 ;-)

Thanks Again!

 

[N9JIG]

Hello,

I'm about ready to "pull the trigger" and purchase a 330T. I was looking at the Pro97 but have "seen the light" after reading some of the posts in the Uniden forum. First, I have a couple of questions.

1) My main interest is milair scanning. I love my 780, but it isn't portable. I live in Cleveland Ohio under AR220 and about 1 hour drive from the closest milair base. My point is that I don't live under a MOA or right next to a base. I'm looking for any feedback that a user in a similar situation might provide on what type of success that they have had???

A) I live near Chicago and have had good success with my 330 on MilAir, even a few CloseCall hits on refueling over Lake Michigan.

2) I love the fact that it has HF capabilities, however it won't do SSB. Has anyone ever heard about a firmware upgrade from Uniden that may allow this?

A) No, there is no chance of this. The radio does not contain the hardware for SSB.

2a) I also seem to remember that with presise, direct frequency entry that you can enter a freq x.xKhz up and get the USB that is desired. Is that accurate?

A) I occasionally can understand some SSB traffic when tuned in on the AM mode, but most of the time you won't understand it. You are better off with a true SSB receiver.

3) What is included in the box? I am specifically looking to see if a USB or Serial PC cable is included?

A) A Serial programming cable is included. Uniden sells a USB cable for about $30.00 or you can use a USB-Serial adapter, available at most electronics stores for $20 to $40. The Uniden USB cable basically is a USB-Serial adapter built in to the programming cable.

Also included are 2300 mah NMHi batteries, an AC charger, antenna, SMA-BNC adapter and belt clip.[/QUOTE]

4) Has anyone stumbled upon a Unden pdf datasheet for this? I can't seem to find one...

A) You can download the entire operations manual from Uniden's web site.

This will be my first scanner with close call and dynamic frequency allocation. I am terribly excited on what else I will learn to love and won't be able to live without in the future

Thanks in advance!