BCD536HP Strange Noise

[Eng74]

Ok I have had my 536 for about two weeks now and love it. Last Saturday I noticed it is starting to make a noise when a channel is keyed and you can really hear it when the transmission ends. I have the latest firmware and do not have any alerts programmed. This is happening on all channels to. Is this normal or anyone having the same thing happening? I do need to send it in for the headphone fix.

 

[nr2d]

Ok I have had my 536 for about two weeks now and love it. Last Saturday I noticed it is starting to make a noise when a channel is keyed and you can really hear it when the transmission ends. I have the latest firmware and do not have any alerts programmed. This is happening on all channels to. Is this normal or anyone having the same thing happening? I do need to send it in for the headphone fix.

Have you recorded the sound? What does it sound like?

 

[JamesO]

Are you using an external/amplified speaker?

My 536HP has a digital cross talk/processor noise once the squelch mutes closes and before the audio amp seems to mute.

It is more obvious with external and/or an amplified speaker.

As a test, do this CAREFULLY with the volume turned WAY down, plug a pair of headphones/earbuds into the external speaker connection and then SLOWLY turn the volume up enough to hear via the headphones/earbuds and it is more likely you will hear the digital cross talk/processor noise in this configuration.

 

[kruser]

Are you using an external/amplified speaker?

My 536HP has a digital cross talk/processor noise once the squelch mutes closes and before the audio amp seems to mute.

It is more obvious with external and/or an amplified speaker.

As a test, do this CAREFULLY with the volume turned WAY down, plug a pair of headphones/earbuds into the external speaker connection and then SLOWLY turn the volume up enough to hear via the headphones/earbuds and it is more likely you will hear the digital cross talk/processor noise in this configuration.

Mine does the same using an Motorola amplified speaker plus I can hear it with non-amplified speakers or the radios internal speaker also.
As you said, it is definately more noticeable when using an amplified speaker though.
I choose to keep using the amplified speaker as it gives me a lot less low end or bass. The audio from the 536 is just a tad on the bassy side for me. I'm sure my old ears don't help matters any as my high frequency range is mostly gone.
I'm sure I could tame it some by reducing the sensitivity into the amplified speaker as it is very sensitive right now. A volume setting of just 2 on the 536 is plenty for normal listening levels in a room with a TV on. So a tad bit on the sensitive side.
And like the headphone issue, I hear the digital noise regardless of the volume setting.

 

[nr2d]

I'm running an older Radio Shack Minimus-3.5 on my 536s. Maybe because thy have a little more bass than a communications type speaker but the scanners sound great both on P25 Phase II and conventional NFM transmissions.

 

[JamesO]

Mine does the same using an Motorola amplified speaker plus I can hear it with non-amplified speakers or the radios internal speaker also.
As you said, it is definately more noticeable when using an amplified speaker though.
I choose to keep using the amplified speaker as it gives me a lot less low end or bass. The audio from the 536 is just a tad on the bassy side for me. I'm sure my old ears don't help matters any as my high frequency range is mostly gone.
I'm sure I could tame it some by reducing the sensitivity into the amplified speaker as it is very sensitive right now. A volume setting of just 2 on the 536 is plenty for normal listening levels in a room with a TV on. So a tad bit on the sensitive side.
And like the headphone issue, I hear the digital noise regardless of the volume setting.

I have the Motorola amplified speaker, but just using it in the non amplified mode at this point.

If you are using the amplifier, you may have issues with the final amp design.

Might want to rear though this post - http://forums.radioreference.com/un...er-connection-considerations-precautions.html

I can hear the squeaky squeaky now that I know what to listen for.

My radio probably is a headphone repair candidate, however, I am going to wait until April or May before I send mine in so all the issue with packaging and so forth are resolved, I also just prefer to have my radio repaired as well.

I also have a 996XT that I need to send in, might ship them together??

 

[Eng74]

I do not have it hooked up to amplified speaker. I did some more programming on it and cleared the SD card and now the noise is gone. Go figure, we all know how temperamental these radios can be. Lol

 

[kruser]

I do not have it hooked up to amplified speaker. I did some more programming on it and cleared the SD card and now the noise is gone. Go figure, we all know how temperamental these radios can be. Lol

Thanks for posting this!
This entire thread got me thinking about the fact that my 536HP did not produce any digital noise for the first several weeks I owned it.
So, I thought about what had changed recently. I'd been using the same amplified speaker the entire time. Nothing else had changed.
Then it hit me, I'd swapped out the factory SD card with a high speed or class 10 SD card that I'd used in my HomePatrol 1. That was also around the time I really started noticing the digital background noise.

So today, I put the factory card back in and no more noise!

The noisy card is a Lexar branded SD card and the non-noisy cards are all SanDisk's. The Sandisk's are all Class 4 cards while the Lexar is a Class 10.
I then tried another Class 10 card and the noise came back. This was a Transcend (I think) branded card.
So it seems the higher speed cards emit RFI into the radio. I can't say the faster cards make anything load faster so I just won't use anything above Class 4 in the 536HP.
I did try clearing and formatting my Class 10 cards but the noise was still present.

Anyway, thought I'd post my findings in case someone else happens to replace their cards with one of the high speed cards and also notices noise.

I do wish I had some better name brand Class 10 cards to play with but I don't.
The 536HP does not seem to operate (load up at power on) any faster anyway with a faster SD card so I imagine it's SD memory interface is restricted to reading/writing at Class 4 speeds or less. Using a faster card does not really show any gain for the user.
Tonight I plan on messing with some Class 6 cards I have and see if they work without adding background noise.

 

[AC2OY]

That's a great observation on your part for all 536 users!! I'm so glad I didn't replace the factory card!! Very well done!!!

 

[KF7IJZ]

So I noticed this noise for the first time tonight as well. It's a high pitched oscillating whine. My radio is a refurb return from the headphone fix campaign. I had never experienced the noise on my previous radio (but I"m not blaming the refurb process, and here's why).

First, the sound happened at the end of every digital transmission, and then I would hear it occasionally during scanning. I could also hear the whining even if the volume was turned all the way down. I am using an external MFJ ClearTone passive speaker (the same one I've been using since the beginning).

Based on the comment above about the faster card, I decided to shut the unit down and inspect the card that was returned with the radio. When I shut the radio down, the whining was stronger than it had been previously as the radio wrote to the SD card.

I popped the card out to discover that I only had the factory stock Sandisk class 4 card. So I popped the card back in and started the scanner back up and now, no noise.

The scanner had been on for nearly 10 hours while I noticed the noise. I've now been scanning for an hour and the noise is only happening at the end of digital transmissions.

 

[SCPD]

mine

Never sent mine back and am running a Sandisk 32GB card for more recording.Its perfectly fine.The Phase 2 audio is bassy and too muddy but this scanner doesnt have the HP filter like the 996XT.I hear no weird noises after doing the update.To me only phase 2 could improve.

PS Im very sloppy and dont erase my card,I just keep writing over and over like I dont care.


Someone record this noise !

 

[kruser]

I popped the card out to discover that I only had the factory stock Sandisk class 4 card. So I popped the card back in and started the scanner back up and now, no noise.

The scanner had been on for nearly 10 hours while I noticed the noise. I've now been scanning for an hour and the noise is only happening at the end of digital transmissions.

I did try applying pressure on the noisy card while it was in the radio to try and find if it was a contact problem in the socket but I could not get any change.
Your findings sure do sound like something was dirty on one or more of the pins on the card and socket and your removing and inserting the card cleaned up the connection.

 

[kruser]

Never sent mine back and am running a Sandisk 32GB card for more recording.Its perfectly fine.The Phase 2 audio is bassy and too muddy but this scanner doesnt have the HP filter like the 996XT.I hear no weird noises after doing the update.To me only phase 2 could improve.

PS Im very sloppy and dont erase my card,I just keep writing over and over like I dont care.


Someone record this noise !

What Class is your 32GB card? It should be printed on the card inside a small circle.
I tried some Class 6 16GB cards tonight and they all seemed fine as well but it sure makes the noise when I use the Class 10 cards.
It seems to be related to the cards speed and not really the size from what I've found today and tonight.
Then KF7IJZ comes along and says reinserting the card cleaned up most of his noise so who knows. His noise sure sounds like it was a contact problem in the socket. I tried to find that but could not get that lucky.
If I use Class 4 and now 6 cards, I get very little noise but whenever I pop in any Class 10 cards, the noise is there and can be heard across a large living room.
I do have a couple 32GB cards also that I'll try tomorrow.
I doubt either are more than Class 4 or 6 though as I've had them for a while now.

 

[bama9999]

I'm using a Sandisk 16 gig class 4 card and no strange noises or any other issues.

 

[pepsima1]

Never sent mine back and am running a Sandisk 32GB card for more recording.Its perfectly fine.The Phase 2 audio is bassy and too muddy but this scanner doesnt have the HP filter like the 996XT.I hear no weird noises after doing the update.To me only phase 2 could improve.

PS Im very sloppy and dont erase my card,I just keep writing over and over like I dont care.


Someone record this noise !

Here is the noise. I have a 536 radio that was part of the headphone campaign and one that was a later model and both units had the same issue. Hear after the conversation ends as well as when I shut the radio down. I sold one of the units because I did not want to deal with it any longer. Its a hardware issue that can't be fixed.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/bi9qgk8prrlxdkp/Uniden BCD536 Noise Again.zip

 

[genemalet]

I get that same noise too.... Why does this radio have so many things wrong with it!! Looks like they didn't test this that well before selling it.

 

[pepsima1]

Its so horrible at this point that its not enjoyable to listen my 536HP radio anymore.

Back to my 996XT which does not have that issue and selling my 536 radios. I am sure you have noticed that Paul from Uniden is not addressing this issue because this is a hardware issue that can not be fixed with any firmware updates, plus with no app on the horizon its just not worth it at this point.

 

[genemalet]

Uniden Manager or whomever works for Uniden on this site

I posted a couple things on here and I as hoping to be able to return this radio for a new one. The only option I see is they are offering is to fix this one. I don't want that because it has too many things wrong with it. I want one that has been tested and works.

I just read a post by a guy called upman in another post and it looks like they are still testing this radio?? I think its for testing the P 25. Shouldn't that be working when they sell a radio? I never post to these forums but I want help please.
Whomever works for Uniden, can I return my radio and have you ship me out one that works?

Your company stated that they have an phone app that controls the radio, that never came out as well. I can deal with that but what happened to your company? I loved these products.

I am 49 years old, I'm not a techie like the others that are on here. I just want a radio that works. This is too complicated having to try this firmware and that firmware, return to fix for a headphone issue and ship back. Adjust settings to make P25 work. Uniden not everyone is good at this. I buy stuff to make my life easier. I thought spending 600 bucks would get me the best, well I have really been let down. If you are interested in your customers please respond to me with a solution to take this radio and replace it with one that works.
Again Uniden Management. please take this radio back and replace it with a new one that works.

If I don't receive a response in 3 business days I will assume that you do not care about your customers.

Thank you