Hi,
As for the impact of this low sensitivity on P25 systems , don't forget that a lower level VHF control signal (on the BCD436HP) doesn't translate into a noisier reception... The digital comms will stay clear until the signal is on the floor... ;-)
What I meant was that many of us like to monitor distant and weak P25 systems too.
I monitor conventional and trunking UHF P25 networks that don't even register on the 'S' meter on the x96xt scanners. I use good, home base (roof) and vehicle mounted antennas. I know that these older scanners can get pretty good P25 decode, down to about -115dBm (and considerably lower when I use a low noise pre-amp).
I'm fully aware of the characteristics of P25, however, if the control channel and voice channels are weak but 'monitorable' on a 996xt or similar scanner, maybe switching over to a x36HP, would make that system 'un-monitorable' - for want of a better term
Obviously, raw sensitivity is not going to make much difference for the vast majority of users who run their scanners with poor indoor antennas, in RF noisy environments.
Anyway, hopefully someone will do some 'critical' testing and comparisons on these new models to find out what is really going on.
I will say one thing though. Unless the preamplifier gain level in the front end of these new scanners can be tweaked via firmware, I can't see how a firmware change could alter the analogue sensitivity that some are reporting for a few reasons..
#1 Uniden do not employ high Q, frequency tracking bandpass filters in the front end of these scanners.
(So, there is no likelihood of 'tweaking' the performance of these filters with a firmware change).
#2 Uniden still employ old school AM & FM detector & discriminator circuits for analogue demodulation.
(There is no likelihood of a firmware change effecting the performance of these circuits)
#3 Uniden are unlikely to route the demodulated analogue audio through any kind of DSP (unfortunately).
(So, altering the firmware is unlikely to have any significant impact on the analogue audio characteristics).
As I said though, there may be some form of software controlled gain control in the front end pre-amp. If so, Uniden may have the ability to adjust the preamplifier gain somewhat (but I doubt it).