BCD436HP/BCD536HP: BCD436HP - The Sensitivity "test" (it had to come out eventually..)

[ratboy]

Last night, I played with another friend's 436, who bought it after I warned him about the VHF issues. I had it here at work last night and in my car afterwards, connected to my mag mount 2 meter antenna. My Pro-106 was sitting about 2 feet away on the seat, with the stock rubber duck. I set up a favorites list with nothing but train freqs and another with trains and other busy VHF freqs. I have all my RR freqs set to one scan list on my 106 and the LED lights up yellow when it stops on something. At work, I never heard a single, not one, transmission on the 436. The 106 was chattering away, the detector was talking, as usual. I have ot be honest, at work there is a lot of hash due to many PCs running inside the building, and the hash could be affecting the 436 more than the 106. After work, I stopped next to the NS tracks and a train was heading West, so I knew the detector 3 miles away would transmit soon, so I waited. The 106 heard it fine, a little hissy, but I could hear it and the loco radio fine. The 436 heard nothing. Not a peep out of it. I didn't hear anything out of it until when a loco keyed up as it passed me, it was like 100 feet away. The 162.500 WX transmitter is like a half mile away, I could barely hear it on the 436, with the mag mount antenna on it! On the 106, it was blasting in, and I could hear it slightly with no antenna at all on it. Something is very wrong with at least some of these radios on VHF.

 

[joeuser]

Last night, I played with another friend's 436, who bought it after I warned him about the VHF issues. I had it here at work last night and in my car afterwards, connected to my mag mount 2 meter antenna. My Pro-106 was sitting about 2 feet away on the seat, with the stock rubber duck. I set up a favorites list with nothing but train freqs and another with trains and other busy VHF freqs. I have all my RR freqs set to one scan list on my 106 and the LED lights up yellow when it stops on something. At work, I never heard a single, not one, transmission on the 436. The 106 was chattering away, the detector was talking, as usual. I have ot be honest, at work there is a lot of hash due to many PCs running inside the building, and the hash could be affecting the 436 more than the 106. After work, I stopped next to the NS tracks and a train was heading West, so I knew the detector 3 miles away would transmit soon, so I waited. The 106 heard it fine, a little hissy, but I could hear it and the loco radio fine. The 436 heard nothing. Not a peep out of it. I didn't hear anything out of it until when a loco keyed up as it passed me, it was like 100 feet away. The 162.500 WX transmitter is like a half mile away, I could barely hear it on the 436, with the mag mount antenna on it! On the 106, it was blasting in, and I could hear it slightly with no antenna at all on it. Something is very wrong with at least some of these radios on VHF.

That's fairly revealing isn't it!

 

[XTS3000]

I notice on my 436, UHF 440-480 really seem deaf when compared to my 396XT. VHF is slightly deaf, but not like everyone is talking about.

 

[stingray327]

This reminds me that new & improved ain't always improved. Seems like every generation of a device hits a plateau & then the older stuff becomes the best of that generation. Until a new generation comes out.

See, I debated over the 436 v. 396 before I went ahead & got the 436. Now, I wish I had just got the 396 to begin with. This may be the real gem in this line. You guys know what I mean. I do own a 396 & a 996 XT, boy they do really well... I have the 396T also & wish the XT had carried over the look & feel. Off track...

So, I read all posts & will anyone speculate if the 396 finding would most likely apply to the 996? I assume they will but... Just looking for confirmation.

So then does this mean the 536 base unit will be inferior to the 996XT unit? Same scenario

 

[jonwienke]

I stopped next to the NS tracks and a train was heading West, so I knew the detector 3 miles away would transmit soon, so I waited. The 106 heard it fine, a little hissy, but I could hear it and the loco radio fine. The 436 heard nothing. Not a peep out of it. I didn't hear anything out of it until when a loco keyed up as it passed me, it was like 100 feet away. The 162.500 WX transmitter is like a half mile away, I could barely hear it on the 436, with the mag mount antenna on it! On the 106, it was blasting in, and I could hear it slightly with no antenna at all on it. Something is very wrong with at least some of these radios on VHF.

Some, but not all. Mine has no problem picking up CSX traffic on 160.230 even when I'm inside the train in a metal car with a ducky antenna, and another train trips a detector a few miles away. Also with the ducky, I can pick up 3-4 WX stations, and 6-7 WX stations with a base antenna.

 

[stingray327]

Some, but not all. Mine has no problem picking up CSX traffic on 160.230 even when I'm inside the train in a metal car with a ducky antenna, and another train trips a detector a few miles away. Also with the ducky, I can pick up 3-4 WX stations, and 6-7 WX stations with a base antenna.

For some reason we are not getting BART. Have railroads, transportation, and transit selected but no BART signals.

 

[stingray327]

This reminds me that new & improved ain't always improved. Seems like every generation of a device hits a plateau & then the older stuff becomes the best of that generation. Until a new generation comes out.

See, I debated over the 436 v. 396 before I went ahead & got the 436. Now, I wish I had just got the 396 to begin with. This may be the real gem in this line. You guys know what I mean. I do own a 396 & a 996 XT, boy they do really well... I have the 396T also & wish the XT had carried over the look & feel. Off track...

So, I read all posts & will anyone speculate if the 396 finding would most likely apply to the 996? I assume they will but... Just looking for confirmation.

So then what makes the 396 better than the 436?

 

[zz0468]

So then what makes the 396 better than the 436?

The concept of what makes it better is simple... Reception quality is all about signal to noise ratio. Nothing else really matters as much.

The 396 simply, for whatever reason, appears to be a quieter receiver. The measured sensitivity between the two models is not really significant, so it must be something else, right?

Going back on the previous posts I've made on the subject, I'm still betting my money on it being a noisy synthesizer as the biggest single factor.

 

[Anderegg]

I trust my 396XT to receive analog 800, I do not trust it to receive P25 800.

I trust my 436HP to receive P25 800, I do not trust it to receive analog 800.

The P25 decode is so superior on my HP, that it can decode 2x better at 1/2 the signal strength! Imagine how awesome it would be if the HO could do sensitivity AND decode!

Also, I trust my Motorola to lock into anything 800, I do not trust it to scan 1000 talkgroups at a time! Why must monitoring be so complicated?

Paul

 

[gieselman]

Anecdotally I've noticed the same sensitivity issues.

It would be nice if Upman/Uniden would acknowledge the issue and provide a timeline for a fix if possible.

It's better to get ahead of the ball and own the problem than to stick your head in the sand.

 

[johnls7424]

Have they ever fixed the issue of VHF sensitivity on the Uniden BCD436HP? Was considering on purchasing it. Still on the fence. Anyone care to chime in a give me a valid update?

 

[Voyager]

For most people, it was never broken. It's not as hot as the GRE/Whistler units, but won't overload as easily either, so will work better in dense RF areas.

 

[jonwienke]

For most people, it was never broken. It's not as hot as the GRE/Whistler units, but won't overload as easily either, so will work better in dense RF areas.

That is my experience as well. YMMV

 

[mule1075]

That is my experience as well. YMMV

Mine also.

Sent from my Z750C using Tapatalk

 

[johnls7424]

Do you all like the bcd436HP over other phase 2 scanners ( overall)

 

[Voyager]

Yes.

 

[buddrousa]

Yes so much I am looking to get a BCD536HP

 

[joeuser]

Do you all like the bcd436HP over other phase 2 scanners ( overall)

Yup, like the GRE PSR 800 just as much though!

 

[johnls7424]

Thanks everyone for your input on that subject matter!!

 

[tumegpc]

Have they ever fixed the issue of VHF sensitivity on the Uniden BCD436HP? Was considering on purchasing it. Still on the fence. Anyone care to chime in a give me a valid update?

I had 2 436HP's and I noticed a lack of VHF sensitivity in both scanners.
If you're still on the fence and want Phase 2 with good VHF reception I would go with the Whistler WS1080. The Pro-668 is another great Phase 2 scanner and you can find them for about $260.00.