BCD396XT Performance Poll

[DaveIN]

I thought I would see what people think of the new BCD396XT so far.

 

[KE4ZNR]

Voted yes on every one except the following:

P25 automatic decoding works well on my P25 only system and has little or no "Dropout".

BUT, I will be in the area of a p25 only system this weekend so I get to do some further testing then
Marshall KE4ZNR

 

[KC1UA]

I checked them all off....there are improvements across the board here. I'm very pleased with this radio thus far.

 

[KE4ZNR]

I see where Opie added his opinion to the mix considering how long he has had to deal with the XTs I think he is allowed to cast his vote
Marshall KE4ZNR

 

[DaveIN]

Interesting information. I guess I should point out, if you have something not listed as an answer I sure you'll post it here. :wink:

 

[frankcastle]

The first thing I noticed is that the audio quality and loudness has improved greatly.

 

[DaveIN]

Only 17 votes so far, but it is interesting.

 

[freqhopping]

The audio quality of mine is just like my 396T. Max volume is pretty close on both, though max on the XT is losing some quality but that's to be expected.

FM broadcast reception seems to be better.

On some 380mhz P25 systems the signal strength is two bars stronger on the XT. However, sometimes a transmission will begin first on the T before I hear it on the XT and vice versa. And that's with them both held on a channel. The XT is more likely to miss the beginning of a transmission and for a longer duration.

 

[N9WP]

sometimes a transmission will begin first on the T before I hear it on the XT and vice versa. And that's with them both held on a channel. The XT is more likely to miss the beginning of a transmission and for a longer duration.

Could it be what you have the P25 Wait Time set at a higher value then zero? Might be something to check...

 

[UPMan]

Do you have Close Call DND turned on on either of them? That will cause the scanner to scoot over to do a Close Call check every 2 seconds when the scanner is not on a voice channel. The difference in timing between the two scanners could explain the difference in channel acquisition timing (the chances of the Close Call checks being perfectly sync'd are pretty slim).

 

[freqhopping]

Close Call isn't on, nor any other functions. The wait time on the T was set to 200ms, the XT 400ms. I've now set both to 0. The XT still has a delay at the beginning of a new series of transmissions. Subsequent transmissions within a second or so of the original are usually fine.

 

[UPMan]

If you want to play with this some more (is it really a problem or just a curiosity?), set system hold time to 10 seconds (or longer) for both. (When the system hold time expires, the scanner also goes and does some housekeeping briefly, taking it off the control channel...which could cause them to also nonconcurrently miss the original channel grant sometimes).

 

[freqhopping]

If you want to play with this some more (is it really a problem or just a curiosity?), set system hold time to 10 seconds (or longer) for both. (When the system hold time expires, the scanner also goes and does some housekeeping briefly, taking it off the control channel...which could cause them to also nonconcurrently miss the original channel grant sometimes).

It's really not an issue, just something I noticed. With the hold time set to 10 and two systems in the rotation they are both now perfectly in sync. Well until a locked out channel in one threw it off. But they eventually went back to sync even changing systems at the exact same time.

 

[DaveIN]

The "motorboating" was little to none on the Indiana SAFE-T system this weekend. I was impressed with the audio.

I think the battery life is not what it was on the 396 classic. I also had only one battery warning beep before it shut off the radio using NiMIH batteries.

 

[W6KRU]

XT Sensitivity better than T

I have had a chance to compare the sensitivity of the XT to the T now. The XT is definitely better. I get a couple of more bars with the XT. If I monitor a fringe P25 system that is choppy with dropouts on the T, the XT has solid P25 decode with no dropouts. I was using the same antenna/cable and switching it back and forth between the scanners.

 

[Gadgetguy2009]

It would have been nice to be able to cast "negative" votes. I would have voted "The manual (or lack of it) is very disappointing."

I cant understand how a complex electronic unit can be sold without a decent (printable) manual. I have printed the wiki - it really looks bad on paper. I also printed the reference guide - but that is not a manual. I wish Uniden would have taken the time to rework the BCD396T manual to change / update it for the XT...

Another negative: Memory management could have been better. I use the Vscanner function a lot on my Pro106 - I wish the BCD396XT would have something similar - allowing to store a number of different frequency layouts

On a positive note: the scanner is overall great. I prefer it in many areas over my Pro106 (especially the size!!!). I really start to enjoy the possibilities the various quick keys offer. And the display is also more informative on the XT. Overall a fun scanner - with a steep learning curve

 

[UPMan]

Startup Keys allow for something akin to V-Folders (without many of the limitations). They let you quickly reconfigure the scanner at power up by automatically locking/unlocking systems.

 

[Gadgetguy2009]

Startup Keys allow for something akin to V-Folders (without many of the limitations). They let you quickly reconfigure the scanner at power up by automatically locking/unlocking systems.

I was not aware of that. Could you please tell me how I can do what I do with V-folders: store several complete configurations, so that when I travel I can switch quickly? ( Today I have the memory full with my home area in the GTA (Ontario), some times I travel to Houston, in that case I quickly load the Houston freqs (while the GTA ones disappear) , other times I travel to Montreal, so I load the Montreal freqs.)

All three pretty much fill up the memory, so I would have no way to have them in the main memory at the same time.

How would I do this on the BCD396XT? Thanks for explaining....

 

[rvictor]

I'm quite happy with mine with one exception. There is an annoying "pop" at the beginning and end of each transmission which is very noticeable when I run the audio through the computer for amplification or recording. I've heard that it's a result of power saving turning the amp on and off. If that's the case, it would be nice to be able to disable it. The battery save setting has no effect.

If there's some way around it, I'd be pleased to know what it is.

Dick

 

[UPMan]

For example, create 10 systems with SQK 0-9 for the Houston area and assign them to SK1.
Create 10 more systems, also with SQK 0-9 for the DFW area and assign them to SK2.
Create 5 nationwide systems (HAM, Federal, etc) with SQK 11-15 and no SK.

When you are in Houston, press 1 while powering on. All of DFW will be locked out and the Houston systems will all turn on/off with SQK 0-9.

When you are in DFW, press 2 while powering on. All of Houston will lock out and all of DFW will unlock with SQK 0-9 controlling the DFW systems.

SQK 11-15 systems will all remain on all the time (unaffected by SK startup).