BCD996XT v1.07.03 Firmware Update Available

[pdw911]

Funny...when I did ver 6 upgrade when Philly switched to simulcast P25 last week....I had to tweak the P25 adjust mode and level and found 8-100 worked best...reception was mod to poor (before the switch to P25 the digital systemit was fine..I'm on a fringe area)

Verison 7 and I don't get any reception at all....no matter what levels and mode. It also seems like an adjascent county's digital system was weaker (before anyone asks- yes my external antenna is still up and good)..it's almost like there is some built in attenuation

I guess I have an evening of playing - downgrading then upgrading again

 

[GTR8000]

Funny...when I did ver 6 upgrade when Philly switched to simulcast P25 last week....I had to tweak the P25 adjust mode and level and found 8-100 worked best...reception was mod to poor (before the switch to P25 the digital systemit was fine..I'm on a fringe area)

Verison 7 and I don't get any reception at all....no matter what levels and mode. It also seems like an adjascent county's digital system was weaker (before anyone asks- yes my external antenna is still up and good)..it's almost like there is some built in attenuation

I guess I have an evening of playing - downgrading then upgrading again

If you're in a fringe area, no firmware is going to be able to work magic and overcome a weak signal. As far as why Philly's P25 signal seems weaker to you than their Motorola signal, that's because these newer systems are designed with antennas that focus on the intended coverage area. They are usually directional or semi-directional antennas, as opposed to omnidirectional antennas that many older systems used. The result is improved coverage for the intended users and area the system was designed for, while those on the outside looking in will usually wind up with a weaker signal.

 

[pdw911]

yep-suspected as much

doesn't answer why version 7 no reception...version 6 had reception

I am outside the 12 mile ring that the system lists as covering.but not much more than a couple of miles

 

[GTR8000]

I am outside the 12 mile ring that the system lists as covering.but not much more than a couple of miles

The "coverage radius" listed in the database is just a best guesstimate as to what range the system most likely covers. It is by no means an official prediction of the intended coverage area, and in some cases can be somewhat misleading given the fact that it's simply a circle drawn out from the centerpoint of a city or county.

You may want to look into an 800 MHz Yagi if receiving this system is a top priority for you.

Anyway, back on topic. Hope you get the issue resolved one way or the other.

 

[pdw911]

Thanks...I considered this... but my discone provides the overall reception I want...if I can get it to receive, albeit sloppy, with ver 6 I'll keep it rollled back..I was getting 2-3 bars on the 996xt with verison 6..barely breaking 1 with version 7...and no capture

 

[KevinC]

Huge improvement for the simulcast sites on the below system...

Texas Wide Area Radio Network (TxWARN) Project 25 Trunking System, Various, Texas - Scanner Frequencies

 

[Kingmobileaudio]

for some darn reason my PC can't see my scanner I installed the window 7 drivers from scanner master. and i am on windows 8. I touch i had it working before but ARC can't even see the scanner?

 

[UPMan]

Once you solve your driver issue, the update will likely work.

 

[Kingmobileaudio]

thanks up man, I got this this when i look at the Driver "This device cannot start. (Code 10)"

 

[wise871]

I think I'll pass on this update for now. I saw what it did to my 396XT on the Atlanta P25 systems. If someone in the Atlanta area has updated, please let us know how it works out.

 

[Kingmobileaudio]

had to hit the update driver via net :/ fix it

scared for a sec!!

 

[ofd8001]

I'm perplexed. . .

The 396XT firmware update made a significant improvement in receiving our local P25 simulcast system.

After doing the 996XT firmware update, there was NOT the same improvement. In doing a side by side comparison, the 396XT is much better.

I had the 396XT inside a vehicle along with the 996XT (which is mounted to the vehicle with an exterior antenna).

I used the same P25 Adjust Mode and P25 Adjust Levels that I found to tweak the 396XT in the 996XT but that didn't help. These two settings are the same as the 396T and 996T models I have (which are sort of okay to receive with respect to garble/distortion).

Also it seems the 396XT starts receiving the traffic before the 996XT does when they are held on the same talkgroup.

Any thoughts?

 

[davidmc36]

I'm perplexed. . .

The 396XT firmware update made a significant improvement in receiving our local P25 simulcast system.

After doing the 996XT firmware update, there was NOT the same improvement. In doing a side by side comparison, the 396XT is much better.

I had the 396XT inside a vehicle along with the 996XT (which is mounted to the vehicle with an exterior antenna).

I used the same P25 Adjust Mode and P25 Adjust Levels that I found to tweak the 396XT in the 996XT but that didn't help. These two settings are the same as the 396T and 996T models I have (which are sort of okay to receive with respect to garble/distortion).

Also it seems the 396XT starts receiving the traffic before the 996XT does when they are held on the same talkgroup.

Any thoughts?

Are you experiencing what some found to be helpful, the 396XT inside the car is actually attenuated a bit and is not getting as much multi-path thereby getting better decode?

 

[scanningisfun]

Sorry, no reception of St. Clair county here at all. I can only get one site from Starcom and that is 3-001 out of Madison County.

So far, the new firmware has made Madison county worse, much worse. But in all fairness, I need to wait a day or two. Madison county usually gives me really decent decodes but tonight the humidity is high (89%) and that does affect my reception of that site. Just like rain or snow, high humidty attenuates the signals on the weaker sites when you start talking 700 MHz and up.

Now the City of St. Louis, MO 800 MHz system is working better than ever with the new firmware for me.

It's fine if you aren't able to test it out. I will find out when I'm back in O'Fallon. The other system that I want to test is the Johnson County, KS side of MARRS. Maybe this update (396XT) will make me like simulcast more; only time will tell!

Jacob

 

[fredva]

I'm perplexed. . .

The 396XT firmware update made a significant improvement in receiving our local P25 simulcast system.

After doing the 996XT firmware update, there was NOT the same improvement. In doing a side by side comparison, the 396XT is much better.

I had the 396XT inside a vehicle along with the 996XT (which is mounted to the vehicle with an exterior antenna).

I used the same P25 Adjust Mode and P25 Adjust Levels that I found to tweak the 396XT in the 996XT but that didn't help. These two settings are the same as the 396T and 996T models I have (which are sort of okay to receive with respect to garble/distortion).

Also it seems the 396XT starts receiving the traffic before the 996XT does when they are held on the same talkgroup.

Any thoughts?

External antenna vs. antenna inside the car - too much signal can be bad on simulcast systems. That may be overriding whatever improvement the firmware upgrade gave you.

 

[kruser]

It's fine if you aren't able to test it out. I will find out when I'm back in O'Fallon. The other system that I want to test is the Johnson County, KS side of MARRS. Maybe this update (396XT) will make me like simulcast more; only time will tell!

Jacob

Let me know what you find when you are back in the area.
On a good note, I am getting site 3-001 Madison County really well tonight. I was actually surprised with all the storm activity in the area both here and over there. Storms usually wipe out Madison county for me.
I'm so far away that I'm not sure if simulcast is an issue from that site though. I'd bet I'm only getting a signal from one tower as it is so that helps tons.

They changed something in St. Clair county two or three years back as I used to be able to get it. The time period when they shut some of the towers down outside of St. Clair county is when I also lost reception of St. Clair. It was the old 3-005, 023, 025 and 053 sites that they shut down. Some of those were in St. Clair county but I don't recall if they were actually part of the St. Clair simulcast site.

I wish I could get that county as I'm familiar with the county in general. It used to be one of our stomping grounds way back in the day! Back when you could buy beer and wine at only 19 years old. Made a lot of trips across the river back then!
Oh well, Madison County is a pretty active site so I did not lose all of Illinois.

Hmmm, I just tried using my HP1 on Madison County and it is not working nearly as well as the 996XT does.

 

[kruser]

External antenna vs. antenna inside the car - too much signal can be bad on simulcast systems. That may be overriding whatever improvement the firmware upgrade gave you.

I used to use an 800 MHz solid panel corner reflector for the city of St. Louis system. I could aim it off aim from the stronger of the towers which put the weaker tower off to the side of one of the reflector panels. That lowered the signal level to darn near zero from the weaker tower. It worked wonders really but when winter time came, I also found I then had reflection problems after the leaves fell from the nearby trees. Of course being winter, it was a bear getting on the roof as the access hatch would freeze shut so I'd be out of luck until it warmed up. I finally switched out to a 12 element yagi on a rotor which I can re-aim when needed. It works pretty well also.

So I agree that in this case, the extra shielding from the ops car is helping.

 

[Boatanchor]

Can someone post a video of a comparison between the old and new firmware receiving LSM?
I don't have any LSM nearby, so I can't do it.

Either way, I probably won't be rushing out to upgrade my 996xt, after the comments about non LSM P25 reception being degraded by the update.

 

[ofd8001]

Are you experiencing what some found to be helpful, the 396XT inside the car is actually attenuated a bit and is not getting as much multi-path thereby getting better decode?

Well, just for the heck of it, I connected the 396XT to the antenna that the 996XT was connected to (the exterior vehicle antenna). Then I connected the 996XT to an extra mobile antenna I had, with a magnetic base and stuck it inside the vehicle. The 396XT still sounded much better on the local simulcast system. So I'm doubting this to be an antenna issue.

Still stumped on why the 396XT firmware update sounds better than the 996XT firmware does.

 

[nick1427d]

Let me know what you find when you are back in the area.
On a good note, I am getting site 3-001 Madison County really well tonight. I was actually surprised with all the storm activity in the area both here and over there. Storms usually wipe out Madison county for me.
I'm so far away that I'm not sure if simulcast is an issue from that site though. I'd bet I'm only getting a signal from one tower as it is so that helps tons.

They changed something in St. Clair county two or three years back as I used to be able to get it. The time period when they shut some of the towers down outside of St. Clair county is when I also lost reception of St. Clair. It was the old 3-005, 023, 025 and 053 sites that they shut down. Some of those were in St. Clair county but I don't recall if they were actually part of the St. Clair simulcast site.

I wish I could get that county as I'm familiar with the county in general. It used to be one of our stomping grounds way back in the day! Back when you could buy beer and wine at only 19 years old. Made a lot of trips across the river back then!
Oh well, Madison County is a pretty active site so I did not lose all of Illinois.

Hmmm, I just tried using my HP1 on Madison County and it is not working nearly as well as the 996XT does.

The update changed nothing for me as far as receiving St. Clair county any clearer, not that I had many problems to begin with my distortion can definitely be evident.

STARCOM turned off the tower in East St. Louis but St. Clair counties simulcast system still has a tower online in East St. Louis. Madison's system actually is pretty strong, I can pick it up hear in SW St Clair county fine. And a lot of St. Clair county TGs can be recieved on Madison counties simulcast and vice versa.