BCD436HP/BCD536HP: Audio Cutting Out

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OHIOSCAN

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Week old 436 started cutting out audio every 5-6 seconds, almost like priority mode is on. Checked both priority mode and Close Call are off.

Mike
 

ofd8001

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Weather alerting is another potential suspect.

Also possible is a -5 second Delay Time set for the channel(s). According to the manual "A negative delay will force a resume after that number of seconds." Thus the scanner is staying on the channel for 5 seconds and then "moves on" even if the transmission has not finished.
 

OHIOSCAN

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Thanks I will check both, worked great for a week. Started this last night hopefully its a setting not a bad radio. I noticed when it cuts out the signal strength bar cuts out.

Thanks
Mike
 

ofd8001

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Please let us know what you find.

If the above suggestions don't pan out, please let us know if this happens on all channels along with the systems you are scanning.

Also are you using the factory supplied antenna or are you using something else, such as an outside antenna? While it is possible there is a flaky antenna connection, a consistent channel droput (every 5-6 seconds) on all channels is more suggestive that the scanner is jumping off the channel to look for something else.

The following is a little more difficult to explain. If the problem cropped up without you writing your Sentinel programming to the scanner, then I recommend a re-write. Probably "something" happened via keypad programming. That re-write would most likely clear out any "oops" things done via keypad. If you do a re-write, DO NOT read the scanner first as any "errors" made via keypad then end up in the Sentinel.

On the other hand, if you did a Sentinel re-programming and right after doing so, you noticed the problem. Then, most likely something in the profile was changed or channel delays were changed from the default 2 seconds to a minus number.
 

OHIOSCAN

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Your tip on the wx priority worked but It seems like they need to figure out a better method it makes the feature useless. I am having another issue now where the 436 seems to be losing sensitivity. The GCRCN in Cleveland sounded perfect the first week now it does not pick it up at all. I am using the Watson 889 and the RS800, my PSR800 & 500 hear it ok (sounds terrible vs 486 but hears it). I reloaded the .hpd file checked SQL and ATT, any ideas? When it worked it sounded perfect, I did have an issue after the batteries died having to restart the 486 4-5 times because all I was hearing was static even transmitting on 2m freqs from 5ft away.

Any ideas?

Thanks Mike
 

UPMan

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How close were your antennas when transmitting, and how much power were you transmitting at? It is very possible that you've blown out the scanner's front end if a high RF level got into the scanner.
 

ofd8001

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On the weather priority, "cutting out" is the trade-off for having the weather alerting in the background, unfortunately. The only way around that is to add a second receiver in the scanner, but that drives up the scanner cost. It would be less costly just to get a stand alone weather alerting radio.

If you are concerned about a potential blown front end due to RF "overpowering" the scanner, try a weather scan. If you do not receive any weather broadcasts, that's an ominious sign.
 

OHIOSCAN

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loss of sensitivity

No made sure not to do that only used a 1/2 watt from 15+ ft. I am using the v1.03 F/W was wary of upg after reports of sensitivity loss. Still hears MARCS 700/800 sites fine, worked great when it could hear it.

Thanks
Mike
 

OHIOSCAN

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sensitivity

If you are concerned about a potential blown front end due to RF "overpowering" the scanner, try a weather scan. If you do not receive any weather broadcasts, that's an ominious sign.[/QUOTE]

WX channels reception fine, did not try RX test until after the reception issue. Any P25 THRESHOLD SETTINGS worth tweaking?

Thanks
Mike
 

AZScanner

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Somewhere in this room. Right now, you're very col
What happens if you lock the scanner down to just one site on the system you're reporting an issue with?

For example, here in Phoenix our RWC system has numerous sites for various parts of the valley. Simulcast B and G carry many of the same talkgroups, however if I try to lock onto simulcast G from where I work in far Northeast Phoenix, the reception is horrible, and rightly so since that tower is clear across the valley from me - a valley that is larger than the geographic size of some of our smaller states, I might add. You might be inadvertantly tuning to sites that are far enough away to have degraded reception from your location (along with dozens of other potential factors which can vary with things as seemingly unrelated as gusts of wind, time of day, solar activity, nearby adjacent interference from cell towers, and so on.) So what I normally do is limit my FL's to just one site active at a time. I still have them all in there and can stop avoiding them whenever I need to depending on where I am, but for the most part I use just one site when scanning P25 Simulcast Systems.

They also make adjustments to these systems all the time. I've noticed on some visits down to Tucson I can receive their P25 Phase II system perfectly and other days where the atmospheric condiitions and other factors were identical, decoding was choppy and garbled. I found out later that part of the problem on one visit was that the radio techs were busy working on the system and it was impacting performance for not just my scanner but for the actual radios on the system as well. The next day, things seemed to be fine again. So maybe there's been a change on that system?

The only way to know for sure would be to roll back to a previous version and see if the problem persists or goes away. If it goes away, it's something in the firmware causing it most likely, but if it's still the same after the "downgrade" then they may have adjusted something on that system that your scanner doesn't like. The single-site trick I use for the RWC and PCWIN systems I monitor might be a good workaround in that instance.

-AZ
 

OHIOSCAN

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I am beginning to think my first week of owning the 436 I just had a good week of local prop. What the 436 hears sounds great it just does not hear much. My PSR-500/600/800 smoke the 436 on Vhf/Uhf and receives older 800 much better. I receive more then double the 800 mhz control channels on the 800 then my 436. The 436 handles the newer systems LSM issues really well its a shame Uniden can't match the GRE sensitivity. Uniden build better quality gear and sure sound better. I am running the original F/W hopefully future versions may improve the situation. The GCRCN site in CLE is only 15 miles away in the next county, they really tuned it for "just enough" coverage. I was really excited when I fired up the 436 and heard GCRCN all areas of my house, was all set to get a 536 or two for the shack. To much Vhf/Uhf left to dump the PSR-600's for now and the 600 handles the state MARCS fine. The GCRCN system unfortunately has 90% of all the wild action.

Mike
 

ofd8001

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Are you doing location control scanning?

If so, perhaps your 436 has "locked out" some sites due to range, even though you could hear them if location control was off.

Or is it a case of you are "getting" a site, but the signal strength is lower on the the 436 than you other scanner? If that's the case, it's possible the attenuator for the site is set to On.

Just thinking of some possibilities, which could be remote possiblities.
 

OHIOSCAN

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Are you doing location control scanning?

If so, perhaps your 436 has "locked out" some sites due to range, even though you could hear them if location control was off.

Or is it a case of you are "getting" a site, but the signal strength is lower on the the 436 than you other scanner? If that's the case, it's possible the attenuator for the site is set to On.

Just thinking of some possibilities, which could be remote possiblities.

Thanks I have range set to O because i only scan created FAV lists checked ATT i thought that might be it
but it was off. Will keep tweaking see what happens.

thanks
Mike
 

ofd8001

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Range may still come into play even if you are scanning Favorites Lists only. If you have Location Control to ON in your Favorites Lists, the scanner will lock out distant sites.

If Location Control is On for your Favorites Lists, try different Range values.
 

OHIOSCAN

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Weak sig

Range may still come into play even if you are scanning Favorites Lists only. If you have Location Control to ON in your Favorites Lists, the scanner will lock out distant sites.

If Location Control is On for your Favorites Lists, try different Range values.


Checked Location control in FAV and it is off, just weird how GCRCN was perfect now nothing. Every other system seems the same. Checked the FAV, even used the Full Database scan thinking maybe the FAV list was bad. Checked CC, ATT settings.

Thanks
Mike
 

ofd8001

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What does "GCRCN" mean? I tried looking up your county to see if anything in the DB jumped out at me, but was having trouble figuring that out.
 

OHIOSCAN

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GCRCN

What does "GCRCN" mean? I tried looking up your county to see if anything in the DB jumped out at me, but was having trouble figuring that out.

Greater Cleveland Reg Comm Network, its there new P25 system. I am only about 12 miles if that from
the western tower and about the same from a southern site. The statewide MARCS system I am pretty sure has antennas on or very near the same tower and that sounds ok. My BCD46 just seems to have worsening sensitivity.

Mike
 

ofd8001

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If you are still receiving no transmissions at all, and you are receiving the system/sites as indicated by some bars on the signal strength meter, the following might be issues:

1. Departments avoided
2. Channels avoided
3. Service types not selected as appropriate
4. Department Quick keys not enabled (something done in Sentinel) or the department quick keys may be turned off.

Can you export the applicable Favorites List to an HPE file, zip it and post it here to review?
 

OHIOSCAN

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GCRCN

If you are still receiving no transmissions at all, and you are receiving the system/sites as indicated by some bars on the signal strength meter, the following might be issues:

1. Departments avoided
2. Channels avoided
3. Service types not selected as appropriate
4. Department Quick keys not enabled (something done in Sentinel) or the department quick keys may be turned off.

All the above seem correct.

Can you export the applicable Favorites List to an HPE file, zip it and post it here to review?

Attached a .zip of GCRCN

Thanks Mike
 

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phask

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Attached a .zip of GCRCN

Thanks Mike

Real quick - I see 30 frequencies for the 1 site you have in Sentinel - you have 15 in yours. A quick cross check to RR and it looks like you have no control channels loaded. The ones in red.

No idea HOW you created this - but it looks like you either delete a set of freqs. or loaded them by hand.

Also - it's easier if you export as an HPE - that is the standard Sentinel import/export.

Lat and lon are slightly different - if you use location based, not enough to probably make a diff.

This was a quick look - on a small screen :)
 
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