BCD436HP LED

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noaim

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I've owned this scanner for a bit now and have never seen the LED light up.. What is it used for or how do I set it to turn on
 

ofd8001

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This is something you must program for it to activate. It is used to help alert you to different "things" (channels, Radio IDs, etc) that are received.

From the manual:
Multicolor LED Alert – The alert LED with 7 colors, Blue, Red, Magenta, Green, Cyan,and 3 flash patterns. Yellow, or White, can be used with your Custom Alerts.

Alert lights are programmed either of two ways. Via the keypad for channels in your Favorites Lists (manage Favorites List working on down to the channel, then Set Alert>Set Alert Light).

The other is with Sentinel when editing Favorites Lists. Look for the Alert Light column in the channel area (or Radio ID area if applicable).

Which colors you choose and pattern (On, fast blink or slow blink) is user preference. I use red for fire, blue for police, green for EMS, yellow for interoperability and white for other stuff.

Unfortunately the LED illuminates for a brief period of time after the transmission begins. Several of us have asked that the firmware be changed so that the alert light (LED) be given the option to remain on for the duration of the transmission.
 

k8mab

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Several of us have asked that the firmware be changed so that the alert light (LED) be given the option to remain on for the duration of the transmission. *** Boy i second that ***
 

garys

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Keep in mind that the LEDs add considerable battery drain to the scanner. At least the PSR800 did when I had that scanner set to display the LEDs for various services. While it works exceptionally well on my Pro-197, when I activated it on the PSR800 the battery life went way down. Which is why I'm not using it on my 436HP.
 

One13Truck

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While I love the LED idea in theory (I do use it on my PSR-800) I wish they would've either given us the option to customize the colors like the PSR-800 or just stick with the backlight changing color on the 396/996XT models. The different color backlight is much nicer and easier to pick out than the LEDs when making a quick glance.
 

NWI_Scanner_Guy

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While I love the LED idea in theory (I do use it on my PSR-800) I wish they would've either given us the option to customize the colors like the PSR-800 or just stick with the backlight changing color on the 396/996XT models. The different color backlight is much nicer and easier to pick out than the LEDs when making a quick glance.

Especially the tiny LED in the 436. Its placement sure doesn't help matters much either.
 

brucewarming

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Times sure have changed when you have to take LED power consumption in to consideration. I would have preferred the scanner being a 4 AA cell scanner. I do have the LED set and the back light to squelch and the power save off. My battery life with Energizer rechargeable batteries is fairly short, maybe 3 hours, if that.
 

SCPD

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Several of us have asked that the firmware be changed so that the alert light (LED) be given the option to remain on for the duration of the transmission. *** Boy i second that ***

This is a very very good idea ... I can think that they did that maybe to get better battery life .. but really if you can display the backlight on when the squelch is activated .. then why not the alert light ?

Batteries are cheap and I have 4 sets for this scanner that I rotate. And charging times are like a couple hours .. so this is hardly a big issue anymore.

It should be an option you can control much like the Backlight.

Gee .. even my PSR500 does it. :p
 

SCPD

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My battery life with Energizer rechargeable batteries is fairly short, maybe 3 hours, if that.

There is a reason for that .. check the packages like I did recently .. they are 1500 MAh .. compared to like 2500 MAh for the Duracell.

They were about $4 cheaper .. though, guess you get what you pay for. Needless to say .. I bought the Duracell as better batteries like Sanyo Eneloops are almost impossible to find here.
 

J_Squared

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Dec 27, 2014
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BC
This is something you must program for it to activate. It is used to help alert you to different "things" (channels, Radio IDs, etc) that are received.

From the manual:
Multicolor LED Alert – The alert LED with 7 colors, Blue, Red, Magenta, Green, Cyan,and 3 flash patterns. Yellow, or White, can be used with your Custom Alerts.

Alert lights are programmed either of two ways. Via the keypad for channels in your Favorites Lists (manage Favorites List working on down to the channel, then Set Alert>Set Alert Light).

The other is with Sentinel when editing Favorites Lists. Look for the Alert Light column in the channel area (or Radio ID area if applicable).

Which colors you choose and pattern (On, fast blink or slow blink) is user preference. I use red for fire, blue for police, green for EMS, yellow for interoperability and white for other stuff.

Unfortunately the LED illuminates for a brief period of time after the transmission begins. Several of us have asked that the firmware be changed so that the alert light (LED) be given the option to remain on for the duration of the transmission.

I 4th that! It should be like the GRECOM PSR 800! LED flashes throughout transmission! UNIDEN! GET ON IT
 

Voyager

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Nov 12, 2002
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I 4th that! It should be like the GRECOM PSR 800! LED flashes throughout transmission! UNIDEN! GET ON IT

Maybe you can enter into a contract with Uniden that says you will pay the costs for them doing that. I wouldn't, but if you really want it that much...
 
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