OK so about three weeks ago I got a BCD436HP. Yes, I know there are issues with it. But overall I'm very impressed. The thing I really like is that it DOES handle the Phase II LSM system that's being rolled out in our county very well, much better than my Pro-668 does. The 668 is very finicky about where it's located; as others have described, move it a few inches in either direction and you get garbled audio. On the other hand, I can carry the 436 around the house, go for a walk with it, even take it for a ride in the car and it stays locked on. It also seems to output audio at the same level for Phase I and Phase II, unlike the 668 which likes to absolutely SCREAM out Phase II transmissions!
But that brings me to something I am finding VERY annoying about the 436. Does anyone know if there is a known bug in how "delay" is handled, particularly as it relates to talk groups within a P25 Phase II system?
Here's what I'm seeing. I have both scanners running, a couple feet apart on my desk. I am monitoring the P25 system ONLY on both scanners. No conventional, no other trunked systems, no weather alert, no priority channels enabled, no close call / signal stalker / whatever.
I would say that, at least 90 or 95% of the time, if the dispatcher keys up with a call, both scanners will lock on within a second of each other. But here comes the annoying part ... probably 50% of the time (or even more), once the dispatcher stops transmitting, the 436 will go back to scanning, and it will take several seconds for it to lock back onto that talk group. In the meantime, most or all of the reply is lost.
But that's not ALWAYS what happens. Sometimes the 436 will sit there on that talk group happily waiting for a response that may or may not come, and after 2 (or 5, or however many seconds I have set) it will go back to scanning.
The other odd thing I noticed (which is perhaps unrelated) is that when I turned the 436 on it would take a LONG time (like a minute) for it to lock onto the control channel for the system. I went in and created a new site with just the CC and that problem went away, but this other one continues.
Anyone else seen this?
But that brings me to something I am finding VERY annoying about the 436. Does anyone know if there is a known bug in how "delay" is handled, particularly as it relates to talk groups within a P25 Phase II system?
Here's what I'm seeing. I have both scanners running, a couple feet apart on my desk. I am monitoring the P25 system ONLY on both scanners. No conventional, no other trunked systems, no weather alert, no priority channels enabled, no close call / signal stalker / whatever.
I would say that, at least 90 or 95% of the time, if the dispatcher keys up with a call, both scanners will lock on within a second of each other. But here comes the annoying part ... probably 50% of the time (or even more), once the dispatcher stops transmitting, the 436 will go back to scanning, and it will take several seconds for it to lock back onto that talk group. In the meantime, most or all of the reply is lost.
But that's not ALWAYS what happens. Sometimes the 436 will sit there on that talk group happily waiting for a response that may or may not come, and after 2 (or 5, or however many seconds I have set) it will go back to scanning.
The other odd thing I noticed (which is perhaps unrelated) is that when I turned the 436 on it would take a LONG time (like a minute) for it to lock onto the control channel for the system. I went in and created a new site with just the CC and that problem went away, but this other one continues.
Anyone else seen this?
