Announcing the BCD396XT and BC346XT Scanners

[K5RYA]

He didn't ask what the difference between the old and the new were, he asked what the difference between the 396XT and 346XT were.

The only difference I could see were the lack of the multi-colored backlight and no IMBE support on the BC346XT

Slow down for a second and read my response, which said the first post answers the question. It lists all the features added by the XT, then says:

The BCD396XT will provide the same enhancements to Uniden’s Trunk Tracker IV flagship handheld platform. In addition, this new model adds:

* Trunk Tracker IV – follows trunked traffic on APCO 25, Motorola, LTR, and EDACS systems (including EDACS systems using ESK)
* 25,000 total channels
* NAC Decoding – allows specific agencies to be monitored on P25 conventional channels
* P25 One-Channel Trunking – supports P25 conventional systems that include both NAC and TGID access control on a single frequency
* Automatic P25 Threshold – fully automates the optimization of P25 reception
* Multicolor Display Backlight – allows the selection of backlight color to meet the user’s own aesthetic taste
* Visual Alert Notification – lets alerts be assigned to specific display colors, flash patterns, audible tones, and volume levels.

That would indicate all of the 396XT features on top of the 346XT. Sorry if my response was confusing to you.

I was looking for the differences (besides support for digital scanning) that the 396XT has over the 346XT.


It is looking like mainly the difference is the multicolor display and the Visual Alert Notification. Then the 25k channels versus the BC346XT's 9k channels. Why such a huge difference in memory?


Did anyone else notice this?-- "# Control Channel Data Output – allows the analysis of control channel data without the need to perform invasive modifications to the scanner"
Not much talk of it on the net, but I think that is freaking awesome. No need for a discriminator tap! Will this feature be on both the new models?

 

[exkalibur]

Also, will the interface be just discriminator audio, thus requiring an external data slicer, or will it be serial data out?

Or even better, selectable either 4-level "data sliced", or just plain discriminator audio output. That's asking way too much though

 

[rdale]

I'm sure it'll be somewhat similar to how the GRE's do it.

 

[Have_Teeth]

I'm sure it'll be somewhat similar to how the GRE's do it.

Yeah, I guess Uniden could learn a thing or two from the way GRE does things. Good point.

 

[bsl60]

NASCAR Programming-Upman/Proscan

Thanks Upman and Proscan on the info. May get back to you when the BDC396XT becomes available!

 

[scannersnstuff]

thank's For The Link Paul.not Trying To Be A Smart Guy,but What Are The Actual Sensitivity Spec's For The Bcd396t ?. I Cannot Find A Reference To Those Spec's Any Place,including The Manual.i Would Like To Compare The Spec's. Of The Two Radio's.

- Bump -

 

[UPMan]

We've never published the specs for the BCD396T, so I don't have them in any usable form (it would take me time I just don't have to put them in a usable form). The design target was for the specification on the BCD396XT to be the same as for the BCD396T, but there are always some differences.

 

[W4ELL]

Yeah, I guess Uniden could learn a thing or two from the way GRE does things. Good point.

I think they both learn from each other... that is what keeps the innovation flowing from both companies.

GRE needs to take one more lesson from Uniden on case design... their scanners are too bulky and ugly.

 

[JANFINE]

Re: Bc346

One difference the BC346 will not do UHF Aircraft where the BC396 will.

 

[hotdjdave]

Comparison

DISREGARD: I found my answer in the Wiki.


Is there a side-by-side comparison of the BCD396T and the BCD396XT, showing the differences between the two?

I have a BCD396T and would like to see what more I would get with the XT model?

 

[hotdjdave]

Bc-rh96

Is the BC-RH96 remote head compatible with this new model?

Will it operate all the new features?

Is there a new remote head that may be coming out to work with these new models (if the BC-RH96 is not compatible)?

 

[FlashSWT]

Dave, here is a recent thread on the future of the BC-RH96:
http://www.radioreference.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126504

.

 

[Kumba]

Well, I read through 14 or so pages of this thread, but didn't see my question addressed yet. On this new BCD396XT coming out, it looks like the Weather stuff got a couple of small updates. In priority mode, while it background scans, will it still cause that quick "blip" where the scanner switches to the weather frequency to check for SAME alerts, or did the guys at Uniden devise some clever trick to avoid that?

I'll miss tuning the TV channels. It's pretty fun to listen to the local news' audio-only streams. Here's to hoping one day tuning digital audio streams will be possible (not in the XT though, I know, but some futuristic model). It would be nice if local TV stations simulcast their audio-only streams via analog on say, some unused frequency of the radio spectrum, while giving up the video entirely.

 

[slicerwizard]

We've never published the specs for the BCD396T, so I don't have them in any usable form (it would take me time I just don't have to put them in a usable form).

Have you published any of them - 246, 996, 15, etc.? I don't think so, as I've never seen any.

The design target was for the specification on the BCD396XT to be the same as for the BCD396T, but there are always some differences.

So deaf enough for noisy urban environments. But actual specs will not be released for it either?

 

[GTO_04]

Have you published any of them - 246, 996, 15, etc.? I don't think so, as I've never seen any.



So deaf enough for noisy urban environments. But actual specs will not be released for it either?

Specs for the XT can be found here:

http://info.uniden.com/twiki/bin/view/UnidenMan4/ScannerManuals

GTO_04

 

[rdale]

In priority mode, while it background scans, will it still cause that quick "blip" where the scanner switches to the weather frequency to check for SAME alerts, or did the guys at Uniden devise some clever trick to avoid that?

1) It won't check for SAME codes, no scanner will, while in wx priority. You must dedicate to weather monitoring to listen for SAME.

2) Unless the laws of physics have changed, it has to leave the channel it's listening to in order to monitor the NWS channel. So you'll have a dropout.

 

[scannersnstuff]

upman

Have you published any of them - 246, 996, 15, etc.? I don't think so, as I've never seen any.



So deaf enough for noisy urban environments. But actual specs will not be released for it either?

o.k. here's my contention.while not being a radio tech.in any way,i do know what my 2 ear's are telling me.
although the sensitivity spec's of the bcd396xt look good on paper,if they are similar to the 396t,the radio is going to be just as deaf.i would like to own either the 396xt or 346 just for some of the feature's.i like the idea of their ability to decode the actual tone format in fire tone out mode,alert's,backlight choice's etc.
since i don't really listen to digital anyway,i'd be tempted to go with the cheaper 346.i guess uniden did their marketing homework.they purposely left mil-air out of the 346.one question come's to mind.why do some scanner maker's use 12 db sinad as the test spec.and some use 20db sinad ?.although i don't believe everything i read,i once recall reading that the spec's are so obscured,that they actually are misleading. paul ?. p.s. i am not trying to be obnoxious,or flaming.i'm just trying to get a better understanding.love my gre's for the sensitivity.loved my bcd396t for the feature's.anxiously awaiting either my 396xt or 346xt.note:although i never had any previous problem's with overload on my psr-500,i recently was sitting in the car in view of several tall radio tower's.the front end of my psr-500 was overloaded.i was getting transmission's meant to be on 154.430 on 154.265.

 

[K8TEK]

1) It won't check for SAME codes, no scanner will, while in wx priority. You must dedicate to weather monitoring to listen for SAME.

2) Unless the laws of physics have changed, it has to leave the channel it's listening to in order to monitor the NWS channel. So you'll have a dropout.

Laws of physics? Physics has nothing to do with it, the way people at Uniden think is the problem. Weather radios cost what, $20? How about they integrate a separate tuner for just weather. NO!!! Instead, they give you useless features like a fruity mult-colored backlight.

love my gre's for the sensitivity.loved my bcd396t for the feature's

Features are nice, but what is the point if they don't work.

 

[rdale]

Laws of physics? Physics has nothing to do with it, the way people at Uniden think is the problem. Weather radios cost what, $20? How about they integrate a separate tuner for just weather. NO!!!

NO is right. That's a waste of money, resources, and likely would hurt the reception of my scanner.

Buy a weather radio if you want full-time weather radio.

 

[Have_Teeth]

NO is right. That's a waste of money, resources, and likely would hurt the reception of my scanner.

How would a "dual tuner" hurt the reception of your scanner? K8TEK might've just given Uniden a great idea. Can't afford $20 more for your scanner? Maybe scanning is too expensive for you. There are other hobbies like playing an accordian, wood carving or making crafts if you want to consider them.

Buy a weather radio if you want full-time weather radio.

We want a functional scanner. Uniden hasn't made a properly working APCO-16 scanner in going on 12 years. The sad thing is, it's all firmware-related.

When consumers chime in with feature suggestions, don't dump on them. As impractical as these suggested features may sound, they could lead the way to more diverse and functional products. A secondary receiver could also monitor a QCII fire/ems pager frequency and be set to "priority alert" if matching tones are broadcast. This way a user could be scanning a trunk and not miss a callout.