BCD436HP/BCD536HP Firmware Upgrade Wish List

[SCPD]

To all you people whining about the backlight, try this:

In the menu, go to Display Options, then Set Backlight, then Mode.
Under Squelch, select Open.
Under Keypress, select 5 seconds.
Under Timeout, select Infinite.

When a transmission is received, the display lights.

If you press any button or key other than the power button, the display lights until 5 seconds after the last key/button press.

If you tap the power button, the display stays lit until you tap the power button again or the scanner powers off.

I was at one of my friends places today .. and the 536 does not have infinite at all. Or is it just in a different place than the 436 ?

Both radios perform very well from what I have seen .. but the information display parts of the scanners are not at all well designed. I really really hope that Uniden is going to listen to us .. sooner rather than later by the sounds of it.

I have not been waiting long as I just got my scanner .. but you guys are all saints for waiting so long.

 

[jonwienke]

I was at one of my friends places today .. and the 536 does not have infinite at all. Or is it just in a different place than the 436 ?

Set dimmer to high instead of auto or off.

 

[SCPD]

Set dimmer to high instead of auto or off.

Thanks .. I will let him know.

 

[4436time]

I would like to see the scanners and the Sentinel software modified to allow saving multiple profiles onto the scanner, and provide a mechanism for the profile to be changed by the user from the scanner's menu.

Right now, you can save multiple profiles on your computer, but only one can be loaded onto the scanner at a time, and it must be done from the Sentinel software.

I would use this capability to create different profiles for the for my specific setups (e.g., active FLs, Service Type subsets, locations, etc.) to which I'd like to "rapidly" switch based on current activity or unfolding events. Even if it required a reboot/reload of the scanner, that would generally be quicker than going into the menus and making all the setup changes.

---> +1 <---

 

[kmh603]

And to not drop the Audio when scanner the Priority Channels.

 

[Voyager]

And to not drop the Audio when scanner the Priority Channels.

The only way to do that is to employ a second receiver which would significantly add to the cost.

Joe M.

 

[jonwienke]

And to not drop the Audio when scanner the Priority Channels.

That feature already exists.

It's called Priority Scan Do Not Disturb...

 

[Voyager]

That feature already exists.

It's called Priority Scan Do Not Disturb...

Which defeats priority on active channels. IOW, it's not really a priority.

Voyager

 

[jonwienke]

Only when you're already listening to something else. You either periodically interrupt what you listen to to check priority channels, or prioritize priority channels higher when scanning. Those options already exist in the current firmware.

The only other options are to add a second receiver, which is going to close-to-double the scanner cost, or buy a second scanner to listen to priority channels only.

There isn't anything more you can accomplish with this with firmware updates only. More hardware would be required.

 

[mikewazowski]

Gentlemen, please keep in mind that this thread is for discussing firmware upgrade wishes for the x36UP line of scanners.

It is not for discussing or taking put shots at the newly announced HP-2 scanner.

There's plenty of threads already ongoing in the Tavern that you can post your comments to.

Thanks.

 

[MisterPixel]

I'd like to see an option in the scanner where on a multi site trunking system you have the option to have the scanner choose the strongest site to monitor on only scan that site. Our county has four simulcast sites. So when I'm in the central part of the county I have the central site on and the others off. When I go to another part of the county I have to turn central off and turn on the site for that part of the county. Sure I have the option to spend another $100 for a gps to use the the scanner that cost $500 itself but I'd think it would work as well if not better if the scanner would just choose the strongest site.

Since the scanner already has the close call function to lock on strong signals I'm sure the scanner has the hardware it needs to accomplish this with a firmware upgrade.

 

[phask]

If it's simulcast - how do you turn it off?? Simulcast would all be on the same freq. I think you mean multi site.

Assign quick keys.

I'd like to see an option in the scanner where on a multi site trunking system you have the option to have the scanner choose the strongest site to monitor on only scan that site. Our county has four simulcast sites. So when I'm in the central part of the county I have the central site on and the others off. When I go to another part of the county I have to turn central off and turn on the site for that part of the county. Sure I have the option to spend another $100 for a gps to use the the scanner that cost $500 itself but I'd think it would work as well if not better if the scanner would just choose the strongest site.

Since the scanner already has the close call function to lock on strong signals I'm sure the scanner has the hardware it needs to accomplish this with a firmware upgrade.

 

[MisterPixel]

If it's simulcast - how do you turn it off?? Simulcast would all be on the same freq. I think you mean multi site.

Assign quick keys.

Yes I have quick keys assigned to the sites so for example if I go northeast in the county I use quick keys to turn off central and turn on northeast. So at some point on my travel I have to stop and do that switch. Not that it's a big deal but it would make it nicer if the scanner would do that itself. I understand the GRE/Whistler scanners so that already.

 

[jonwienke]

I'd like to see an option in the scanner where on a multi site trunking system you have the option to have the scanner choose the strongest site to monitor on only scan that site. Our county has four simulcast sites. So when I'm in the central part of the county I have the central site on and the others off. When I go to another part of the county I have to turn central off and turn on the site for that part of the county.

First of all, if it's a true simulcast system, all simulcast sites are broadcasting the same traffic on the same frequencies, so it's physically impossible to monitor only one of them. The scanner settings to monitor each site are exactly the same. This is why systems only have one simulcast site entry, even if there are multiple physical simulcast sites. If the site frequencies are not the same, it's not simulcast.

Second, this has already been discussed already, and it's a dumb idea. In a non-simulcast system, the sites in a system frequently do not carry the same traffic. The choice of which talkgroups are carried by which site(s) is at the discretion of the system administrator.

Imagine talkgroup 123 is only carried on site A, and talkgroup 456 is only carried on site B. In your scenario, if site B has a slightly stronger signal than site A, then the scanner will only monitor site B, and you would only hear TG 456 and not TG 123. If site A has a slightly stronger signal than B, you will hear TG 123, but not TG 456. If you're on the border between the sites' coverage areas, the scanner will randomly switch between playing traffic from TG 123 and TG 456. And you'd never be able to hear traffic from both talkgroups at the same time.

 

[MisterPixel]

First of all, if it's a true simulcast system, all simulcast sites are broadcasting the same traffic on the same frequencies, so it's physically impossible to monitor only one of them. The scanner settings to monitor each site are exactly the same. This is why systems only have one simulcast site entry, even if there are multiple physical simulcast sites. If the site frequencies are not the same, it's not simulcast.

Second, this has already been discussed already, and it's a dumb idea. In a non-simulcast system, the sites in a system frequently do not carry the same traffic. The choice of which talkgroups are carried by which site(s) is at the discretion of the system administrator.

Imagine talkgroup 123 is only carried on site A, and talkgroup 456 is only carried on site B. In your scenario, if site B has a slightly stronger signal than site A, then the scanner will only monitor site B, and you would only hear TG 456 and not TG 123. If site A has a slightly stronger signal than B, you will hear TG 123, but not TG 456. If you're on the border between the sites' coverage areas, the scanner will randomly switch between playing traffic from TG 123 and TG 456. And you'd never be able to hear traffic from both talkgroups at the same time.

Our system which is P25 Phase 1 is still rolling out so not all services are currently using it. However police in the northeast and northwest parts of the county are on the new system and I can hear them fine in the Southern part of the county receiving from the south site. The sites are northwest, northeast, central and south since the county is in the shape of an inverted triangle. Before the site information was on the RR database I would check to see what control channels I was picking up in different parts of the county. I was surprised to find that I'd be picking up a control channel very strong next to a tower site and then driving near another site several miles away and picking up the same control channel at the same strength. When I would go to another part of the county I'd pick up a different control channel with a strong signal and then travel several miles which was closer to another known tower site and pick up the same control channel at the same signal strength. Therefore I wasn't surprised when the sites showed up on the database as simulcast. So it appears the county system is made up of four simulcast systems.

A county to the north of us has an EDAS Standard system. In an older scanner I had just their southern site programmed with all the talk groups and I picked up things going on all over the county.

So maybe systems you're familiar with are different than these since the companies that build the systems are tailoring them for the needs of the counties where they're putting them. So adding this option may be "dumb" for you it may be an option I'd like to use. The keyword here being "option."

 

[jonwienke]

What you're asking for WILL NOT WORK when the sites use the same control channel frequencies. The scanner is listening to the same control channel frequency, regardless of physical site. Therefore, there is NO WAY to only listen to one site to the exclusion of the others.

What you're asking for is physically impossible with a simulcast system.

 

[MisterPixel]

Ok. Follow this link to the database and look at the sites. You'll see that there are four simulcast sites all of which have different control and alternate control channels Lancaster County-Wide Communications (LCWC) Trunking System, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania - Scanner Frequencies

 

[jonwienke]

Then they are NOT simulcast. Simulcast sites all have IDENTICAL control and voice data frequencies.

 

[phask]

Different interpretations of the word - the way it's used there indicates they xmit the same traffic on all 4 sites. Not a simulcast as per definition of trunked sites - etc.


Mu county has a VHF fire that has the description as simulcast - it sure is not trunked, it doesn't even carry the same traffic on all of them.

to add - IF you used GPS scanning you would need to mod the range - all these are 20 or 24 so GPS would probably have all 4 on throught the county.

Ok. Follow this link to the database and look at the sites. You'll see that there are four simulcast sites all of which have different control and alternate control channels Lancaster County-Wide Communications (LCWC) Trunking System, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania - Scanner Frequencies

 

[mrkelso]

BCD436HP/BCD536HP Firmware Upgrade Wish List


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