BCD536HP Discussion Thread

[SCPD]

Do you know why there is no scanner with TRBO capability by chance? is licensing of of the technology too expensive or simply not available? I am just curious because TRBO is replacing almost everything up here in Canada including the few remaining old EDACS and LTR systems that are still operating in the old analog more.

Beautiful looking radios, P25 phase 2 support is nice but I would love to know why TRBO isn;t a scannable format yet.

Its kinda like this, NXDN and TRBO are owned by Kenwood and Motorola, they are house brands which cannot be copied by anyone else. Where as P25 can be duplicated by almost anyone. this is whats known as Proprietary and non-proprietary radio systems. Google those and you'll figure it out.

For clarification, Will the BCD536HP be fully controllable by a 3rd party user running the app from a remote location? Better yet, If say I have this radio scanning can somone else pause it or change lists remotely? If so, this will really change smartphone scanning.

Lastly .... Y'all made Mable up didn't you?!!

 

[Jay911]

NXDN is an open standard now. http://www.nxdn-forum.com/instructions/

As for Mabel, all I could think of was:

.........Hey, maybe there's a "three letters back" cipher in the Uniden video....

 

[Michael-SATX]

People just don't understand "Technology Type Patents" ?

Again Phase II way after it was needed, no DMR, no NXDN, no LTR Pass Port, no LTR Multinet, no proper support for multisite P25..... Other than that, awesome tool.. Would play with one, but... Not on the ball. Will wait to see just what Whistler puts out in its 3 or 4 in 2014.

Well it is my understanding that a technology type of patent is indefinite in duration !!!
Unlike say a pharmaceutical patent that can last or expire 20 years from the date of filing.
Many other factors can affect the duration of a patent.

Drug Example: How long is exclusivity granted for?
It depends on what type of exclusivity is granted.
Orphan Drug (ODE) - 7 years
New Chemical (NCE)- 5 years
"Other" Exclusivity - 3 years for a "change" if criteria are met
Pediatric Exclusivity (PED) - 6 months added to existing Patents/Exclusivity
Patent Challenge – (PC) – 180 days (this exclusivity is for ANDAs only)

Bottom Line in the Scanner World:
An example is Harris can roost on say the EDACS Pro-Voice type patent for life !!!
So if you are Uniden, GRE, RS, Whistler you just can't illegally bring to market
a scanner that will decode a proprietary type of system and or modulation method
of they would be infringing on a manufactures tech patent and thus breaking the law.
Sure we all wish that our scanner would support Pro-Voice, LTR Passport and so on ....
But that's what a tapped scanner connected to a PC with DSD software can handle for us
since the scanner manufactures cannot break the patent laws to offer prohibited features

I hope this helps ~ It would be GREat if all understood the legalities before dissing Uniden !!!

 

[campd715]

CTCSS/DCS vs P25 NAC search

Has the BCD 536HP been designed to search for CTCSS/DCS & P25 NAC tones in one continuous sweep unlike the BCD996XT in which you have to select one or the other in the Tone/Code Search category?

Thanks
Dennis

 

[mikewazowski]

Its kinda like this, NXDN and TRBO are owned by Kenwood and Motorola, they are house brands which cannot be copied by anyone else. Where as P25 can be duplicated by almost anyone. this is whats known as Proprietary and non-proprietary radio systems. Google those and you'll figure it out.

TRBO is Motorola's variant of DMR which is an open standard. There are several vendors of DMR compatible equipment besides Motorola.

 

[bigbcbear]

BCD536HP manual

The manual needs English for the Industry Canada , not just French . Most of Canadians don't read French. To bad that the radios are missing DMR and NXDN . Just my two cents Upman .

 

[Sac916]

Has the BCD 536HP been designed to search for CTCSS/DCS & P25 NAC tones in one continuous sweep unlike the BCD996XT in which you have to select one or the other in the Tone/Code Search category?

Thanks
Dennis

Looking at the manual --- It appears so --- hard to tell

"Search. The scanner searches and displays any CTCSS or DCS tone.
Note: You can also store a (blinking) CTCSS/DCS tone when receiving a
frequency in scan mode by pressing E/yes."

and

"Fire Tone-Out Standby/Tone Search – Lets you set the scanner to alert you if a two-tone
sequential page is transmitted. You can set up to 32 Tone-Outs. The scanner will also search and display unknown tones."

 

[Jay911]

The manual needs English for the Industry Canada , not just French . Most of Canadians don't read French.

Many of us do, but in any case, although I did mention the French-only issue earlier, after re-reading the manual, almost that entire section can be removed, as it is a repeat of the 3rd paragraph on page 2 (above which is the English version).

The manual is clearly a draft version, as is the software (the default power-up screen text refers to "Uniden Barecat"!). I'm sure improvements will be made before release.

Speaking of the software, there are some interesting finds when browsing through it..

IFX - which I wondered aloud about in the youtube comments during the video - is an "Intermediate Frequency Exchange", which I believe will help eliminate birdies (or at least move them so you can tune in a channel masked by one).

Band Defaults is nice for us Canadians, being able to specify the "correct" step sizes for VHF-hi.

In Display Options, the ability to have the light on for the entire duration of open squelch seems to be there.. PLUS having the light on for keypresses as well..

And the low battery alert tone appears to be programmable to an extent.

 

[WayneH]

Where as P25 can be duplicated by almost anyone. this is whats known as Proprietary and non-proprietary radio systems. Google those and you'll figure it out.

You forgot to mention the royalties to DVSI all the scanner manufacturers are paying for P25 voice decoding. You can't just freely implement P25 support unless it does not include voice decoding.

Not the best argument since the similar hoops have to be jumped through for the others' support.

 

[Nitsud]

can/will anyone who is test driving these new models give us a review of the use of these models with multisite systems?

 

[bigcam406]

just watched the video,nice job Uniden.will I be buying one? no,because my area is going to be fully encrypted by 2014.still,very nice radio with nice features.

 

[tsalmrsystemtech]

Good, that means all the more chance for me to get one.

I have TRBO and NXDN users in my neighborhood, but I'm not going to pout like a 3 year old over it.

You know Jay I agree with you. I hear so much complaining that I did not get that nor does this radio do that. A smart radio person figures out what he is going to need to get the job done. Its like finding the right tool for the job.

If you are having trouble with your simulcast system then go read and read and study up on what you need to do to figure out your problem. I learned what I needed to do and bought two XTS5000 and an APX 7000 radio and its fixed. Uniden is in the market for the basic "Consumers" need. That what the scanner market is and its what it will be. If they don't have what you want don't cry like a little girl. Move on and embrace the new technology that Uniden has spent a few years on to bring out something so nice and cool. There will be more models that come down the road with more features.

I have a GRE scanner for my digital problem that I use to have but that fixed the problem. I have both consumer products and commercial grade products and I have the both of two worlds. You can't have everything in one enchilada.

If you ain't happy don't complain anymore just be happy and applaud them for the hardwork. Thanks Upman for such a great product coming out and look forward for more information and thanks to the team.

Whistler will be coming out with some products too sometime soon. I bet they were just waiting for Undiens release.

Good Luck everybody. Just stop complaining that you don't have a certain feature. If you want that feature goto Motorola for that

 

[ButchGone]

Great job Uniden!

I'm impressed with what I see so far. Bringing the HP operability to a hand held and base scanner is a big leap, not to mention Phase 2 P25. I prefer handhelds like the 396 & 396xt I have, and really like the new 436. But having WiFi capabilities and an App, it seems to make sense to have a great base scanner in the 536 and use my iPhone or iPad to listen and control scanner where ever I am. Now that is way cool! Current smart phone apps have limitations, but if I understand this correctly, this new feature turns my mobile devices into fully functioning scanners.
I read a few of the whiners, and skipped over most whiney comments. These new Unidens are a giant leap forward! People are *****ing about stuff before the units have been released, funny, but getting old.
Anywho, great job Uniden!
BG..

 

[forums manager]

Good Luck everybody. Just stop complaining that you don't have a certain feature. If you want that feature goto Motorola for that

I'd also prefer to not see so many of your posts recommending going to a Motorola radio for better support of whatever the thread topic complaint is. It's getting a little old. Most scanner users don't have the technical prowess, time or money to invest in an Motorola APX radio.


For those getting irritated with the complaints...you're going to have to deal with it. This is the internet after all. If you want the ability to complain about complainers then you have to live with them since it's hypocritical to not allow them to complain but yet let you do it.

If you are going to complain though, no sense hammering it down people's throats in multiple threads or posts. Get your opinion out once and leave it at that. I sympathize but that's the scanner way (these are not cell phones).

 

[W4ELL]

I am excited... the WiFi on the 536 and upgraded displays were a pleasant surprise.

Put me down for 1 of each (at least). Considering a second 536 for the car now with the WiFi/Remote Head functionality... which will also put my old Nexus 7 to good use.

 

[brennank]

I am interested to know how programing will work. I saw one member touch on how he doesn't want to just submit to the RR database and I agree. I like naming and programing my own stuff.
I played with the new Sentinel software just a little and I am not very impressed. It seems too dumbed down, it looks like it is aimed at the home user, and a home user is not going to buy a $600 radio. I hope this scanner will still be compatible with FreeScan. I currently have all my stuff organized the way I like it in FreeScan.

Don't get me wrong, I love the simplicity of the simple 'enter your zip and scan' but for some of us we want more control. I want my control via software. Time will tell.
I would have liked to see TRBO, but it is what it is. I am sure there are reasons that we are unaware of that are preventing Uniden from including it.

It is nice to see that it is still single DIN. That will make changing out my existing scanners a snap.

 

[Jay911]

If you are going to complain though, no sense hammering it down people's throats in multiple threads or posts. Get your opinion out once and leave it at that.

That's all I was saying.. One or two people in particular came into all the new threads today to whine & moan about their grievance, copying & pasting the same post verbatim in each thread. Thank you - whoever you are - for your post.

 

[vividvisions]

Most of all I am just hoping that P25 reception is improved. I know with some of the current scanners they came out with a firmware update that helps decode it better. I know making significant changes to the hardware in order to decode P25 better would jack the price up, but currently that's all I REALLY need in a scanner. Does anyone know if any improvements to these new scanners may help with some multipath issues? I know someone mentioned something about digiscan extreme? What is that?

 

[svfd17]

I'm unable to get on Unidens website but does anyone know of the price range of this model?

Sent from my C570 using this tapatalk machinery

 

[GTR8000]

$500 for the handheld, $600 for the base/mobile.