BC 996 Missing Calls

[scottjh]

All-

I purchased a Uniden 996 a couple of months ago and it is being used on a P16 system here in Delaware. I primarily monitor New Castle County Fire. Typically the radio is missing the first part of a number of calls, and in many cases transmissions are completely missed. Approx one in four are missed completely. I have a second radio monitoring a UHF simulcast of the TRS. The radio is not configured to use any priority options or close call. Interestingly the signal strength meter flashes every two seconds although no priority is set. Increasing the hold time does not help. Can any one offer me some advice to correct the situation? From some of the other posts I have seen there may be indication of a firmaware issue, does Uniden intend to publish a patch?

 

[DaveNF2G]

I have noticed that the 996 seems to scan pretty slowly. If you are monitoring other systems at the same time, then the missed trasmissions might be happening because the scanner just hasn't made it back to that control channel yet.

 

[Freqed]

http://www.radioreference.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43045 You need to adjust your radios settings for this to stop. It is outlined in the thread above.

 

[scottjh]

996 Missing Calls

DaveNF2G

Thanks for getting back to me. Currently the 996 is configured to only monitor one system(single site). Although what you are stating is correct if it is tied up or coming off a transmission and waiting for the 2 second delay to elapse then yes it would miss call from other talk groups. What actually happens is the radio will be scanning then become active on a given channel and the first part of the call is missing. In some cases it does not stop scanning totally missing the call. I really notice this when a fire is being dispatched. I hear it go out on the simulcast but receive part or none of it on the 996. My signal strength is not an issue either. The repeater is about a mile away line of sight. I have also tried with the attenuator turned on to make sure there is not front end overload. However the radio still exhibits the same behavior.

 

[W4UVV]

Me Too

I have noticed that the 996 seems to scan pretty slowly. If you are monitoring other systems at the same time, then the missed trasmissions might be happening because the scanner just hasn't made it back to that control channel yet.

I have a BC796D I use for certain comparisons. I also have noticed that the 996T seems slower in scanning. I live in Virginia and the state is in the process of converting to a Motorola APCO25 vhf trs....yes, vhf called "STARS". Part of Phase 1 is operational. Installations temporarily have been stopped due to some technical issues such as vehicle displays turning black in extremely hot weather and having to request the FCC authorize a number of 151-152 mhz. additional frequencies as the original 158-159 mhz. authorizations weren't enough. What does works works great. The vhf P25 signals have tremendous ground wave coverage far superior to the present analog vhf system.

Presently the State Police are simucasting analog on the two main vhf frequencies 158.985 and 159.000 mhz. with STARS P25 so I have an instanenous comparison opportunity. STARS is Smartzone and I can receive solid 4 of the 8 remote sites installed so far. Accounting for Smartzone selective transmissions I normally would not hear, I have noticed I still am missing some comms on the 996T I should hear. I have a "bare bones" system file configuration scanning only one system level with 4 site level files programing only the primary control channel and one talkgroup group file using only one quickkey. I use Butel's ARC996T for file managment from a laptop to the 996T. Even then with the 996T is scanning only one system, I still miss some comms.

A few more comparison comments between the 796D and 996T that might be of interest. The 796D is a more sensitive receiver than the 996T and seems to scan faster than the 996T. I have pre-amped Scantennas tower mounted at 100 ft. and have a great ground wave coverage. I hear some distant STARS P25 transmissions on the 796D that are below threshold on the 996T that does not detect them. Unfortunately the 796D cannot properly track STARS P25 in the trunked scan mode. Uniden has added another trunked scan option in the 996T not found on the 796D called "Motorola APCO25". The 996T properly scans the STARS system in the trunked mode and that was the primary reason I bought it. RF intermod that tears up the 796D, especially the 158.7000 mhz. 500 watt/1 kw pagers, don't bother the 996T. Uniden has significantly improved the RF intermod rejection performance on the 996T but at the expense of being a less sensitive receiver. The 996T has selectivity than the 796D.

After much programing frustration last week I discovered a programing problem using the 996T's Search and Store feature for a system site file. See the post in this forum for more details.

 

[scottjh]

996 Missing Calls

Freqed,

Close Call is not on, and altering the hold time for the site did not correct the problem either, the current setting is 15 sec. Yet the same behavior still exists. This is rather unusual, and I did not experience this when I had my 796d.

 

[hai_akeeba]

Scott:
What tower are you near. There is a problem with two frequencies hanging on the Claymont, Talley Yard, State Office Building, I-95, & Lums Pond. The only towers not affected is Bissell Hospital and Smyrna. If you are near one of the affected towers the hanging frequencies may not let your scanner resume scanning. Set you End Code option on your 996 to ON to alleviate this problem.

 

[scottjh]

996 Missing Calls

hai_akeeba,

I am near the Claymont tower, but have enabled both digital end code, and end code options. As a result I have not experienced any known issue with the hanging repeater on this radio.