BCD396T/BC996T: Are firmware updates still available for the BCD396T?

[kc5igh]

There are 2 hidden P25 settings in the scanner menu. Press and hold the HOLD button while turning on the scanner. Under Settings, you will see the addition of P25 Mode and P25 Level. Leave P25 Level at 50. It seems to work best there. With early firmware, I had to run P25 Level up to its max value of 200 to receive P25 systems. Adjust P25 Mode for best P25 receive. Run through all of the values to see which one works best.

I tried both of those settings, tvengr.

As you suggested, I left the P25 "adjust" setting at 50, but the P25 "level" setting in my BCD396T only goes up to 15, not 200. I'm guessing that may be a byproduct of the latest firmware update if your BCD396T can be moved all the way to 200.

Before I was aware of these hidden settings (thanks to you), I tried the "Optimizing P25 Performance" guidance given in the BCD396T owner's manual. If I remember correctly, I went through this procedure 'way back in 2005 when I bought the radio. I currently have the auto decode threshold level set to "7." One question I had when I went through this procedure is in regard to the owner's manual, which says, "Hold on an active digital channel on the system." The P25 system I monitor most has 15 trunked output channels (and 15 trunked input channels, of course), and I've turned on the scanner's "Optimizing P25 Performance" feature while the radio is receiving the entire trunked system, not just one channel. I'm uncertain about whether or not that's an acceptable way to utilize the feature, if the specific requirement is to set the radio to monitor only one of those 15 output frequencies (or one talkgroup, if that's what Uniden means by "channel").

I need to spend more time now trying to determine whether or not any of these adjustments have improved the BCD396T's P25 sensitivity. It's very possible that the BCD396T is simply less sensitive to digital signals than the BCD396XT, and I just didn't notice the difference until now. The BCD396XT does a very nice job with P25 signals, so I'm leaving it "as is."

Thanks for all your help, tvengr!

-Johnnie (KC5IGH)

 

[kc5igh]

In ARC396, you have other settings for P25. Click on the system. Under the General tab, you can try setting the Apco25 Threshold setting to Manual and run through the values for best P25 decode. Default value is 8. Range is 0 thru 20. Make sure you read my previous post #19.

Hello again, tvengr.

I bought ARC396 in order to reprogram my BCD396T, so I'll take a look at those settings when I get a chance.

As I mentioned before, I tried adjusting the P25 threshold settings directly back when I bought, but I'll definitely take a look at the ARC396 software.

Thanks, tvengr!

-Johnnie (KC5IGH)