BCD325P2/BCD996P2: Firmware Question

[Skypilot007]

I have 2 BCD996P2 scanners. One I've had for several years, it has firmware version 1.07.06. The other one is brand new and has firmware version 1.10.01.

I have 2 P25 phase II systems programmed into each downloaded from RR using freescan. The unit with 1.07.06 works fine as it has for several years. The new unit with 1.10.01 is missing many transmissions doing a side-by-side comparison of the two units. Monitoring one system at a time with the same antenna coming out of a multicoupler. Sometimes the newer unit will stop on the talk group, but it will not unmute and pass audio. Occasionally it will work but this is obviously not satisfactory. I also tried swapping the units on the multicoupler outputs, no change.

When I user the function in the scanners to monitor the threshold and error rate, the unit with 1.07.06 defaults to threshold 7 but usually switches to 8 when a transmission starts. The error rate is very low, nothing more than 4. The unit with 1.10.01 defaults to threshold 6 but switches to 8 when a transmission starts. The error rate is higher, between 20-30. Both units have the threshold set to auto. Tried changing the new unit to threshold 8 since that's where it goes to in auto mode but no change.

I'm in a good location for receiving these two systems, no simulcast distortion here.

Is there any known problems with firmware version 1.10.01? Or is this new scanner hosed. Can I roll the new scanner back to version 1.07.06?

Any suggestions appreciated.

 

[tvengr]

Which 2 systems and sites are you monitoring? Burlington County and NJICS? Were both scanners programmed using the same files? Try switching P25 decode threshold to manual and see which setting works best. My updater shows there is a 1.10.02 firmware version. The new BCD996P2's have a hardware change and it was found that they could not decode VHF P25 frequencies between 171.2 and 174 MHz. A firmware update was issued to correct that problem. I would definitely update the firmware. If you attach the 2 FreeSCAN programming files used for the new scanner, I will check them for problems.

 

[iMONITOR]

Is there any known problems with firmware version 1.10.01? Or is this new scanner hosed. Can I roll the new scanner back to version 1.07.06?

I recall the latest firmware update for the BCD996P2 was to accomadate some minor hardware update (chip change due to shortages). I've not heard of any negative effects from it.

 

[hiegtx]

I have 2 BCD996P2 scanners. One I've had for several years, it has firmware version 1.07.06. The other one is brand new and has firmware version 1.10.01.

I have 2 P25 phase II systems programmed into each downloaded from RR using freescan. The unit with 1.07.06 works fine as it has for several years. The new unit with 1.10.01 is missing many transmissions doing a side-by-side comparison of the two units. Monitoring one system at a time with the same antenna coming out of a multicoupler. Sometimes the newer unit will stop on the talk group, but it will not unmute and pass audio. Occasionally it will work but this is obviously not satisfactory. I also tried swapping the units on the multicoupler outputs, no change.

When I user the function in the scanners to monitor the threshold and error rate, the unit with 1.07.06 defaults to threshold 7 but usually switches to 8 when a transmission starts. The error rate is very low, nothing more than 4. The unit with 1.10.01 defaults to threshold 6 but switches to 8 when a transmission starts. The error rate is higher, between 20-30. Both units have the threshold set to auto. Tried changing the new unit to threshold 8 since that's where it goes to in auto mode but no change.

I'm in a good location for receiving these two systems, no simulcast distortion here.

Is there any known problems with firmware version 1.10.01? Or is this new scanner hosed. Can I roll the new scanner back to version 1.07.06?

Any suggestions appreciated.

Firmware 1.10.01, released in October of last year was a 'housekeeping' update to account for minor hardware differences.

However, firmware 1.10.02, released this past July, addressed the skipping of some frequencies in the 171 to <174MHz range.

BCD996P2FirmwareUpdate < UnidenMan4 < TWiki

info.uniden.com

 

[Skypilot007]

Yes tvengr, you nailed it. Those are two systems I'm testing with. I dragged the systems over from my current scanner to the new scanner. I'm less than a mile from the nearest site for the Burlco system and about 6 miles from the Berlin tower for NJICS. I've never had any problems with other scanners and commercial radios on either of these systems.

I looked into the firmware information from Uniden more. My current scanner was compatible with the new firmware, so I updated it from 1.07.06 to 1.10.02. It still works fine after the update. Then I updated the new scanner to 1.10.02 and it still doesn't work. So, I don't think this is a firmware problem.

My current scanner has always had the threshold set for auto and decodes very good. The new scanner was also defaulted to auto. I tried every setting 5-13 with no improvement. When I was above threshold 10 the error rate got higher, and nothing was decoded at all.

I initially just dumped these two systems right in with freescan and fresh download from the database. Then, when I could not get it to function properly I dupmed those out for the known good working configurations I had for the other scanner. Still the new scanner fails to decode properly and misses most all transmissions.

Is it normal for freescan to spit out an error when entering frequencies into the system band plan? Both NJICS and Burloco gives an error the 762.00625 is out of range. It still lets it in there but spits out the error every time the band plan is altered.

I attached my freescan file if anyone want to have a look. Perhaps I'm missing something or it not transferring over.

 

[tvengr]

I am looking at your file. First of all, I don't understand why you are editing the band plan. The correct band plan is automatically loaded from the control channel. What is your squelch setting? It should be 2. Are you using the same sites as the scanner that it working?

 

[Skypilot007]

I only edited the band plan when the import from RR database left it blank. I thought that was the problem, so I manually entered the band plan to match what the other working scanner had in it. When that didn't work, I dumped all that from the new scanner and copied and pasted the working setup from the working scanner over to the new one. Squelch is at 2 and I'm using the same sites in both scanners.

 

[tvengr]

Does the non-working scanner receive weather OK? Check that the attenuator is the same on both scanners.

 

[Skypilot007]

Yep, it is good on analog and weather. It's also good on P25 conventional, it's just these phase II systems that won't work. I just tried a factory reset on the scanner and a fresh download of NJICS from RR. When I do this, it leaves the APCO band plan blank. It does the same thing for Burlington County. I must manually enter the band plan from the information in the database. Not sure why that's happening. There are no options in freescan RR download option to add the band plan for a system. In the past it always put the band plan in automatically, now it doesn't. Perhaps I'm missing something in there?

Either way if I manually enter the band plan, I expected it to work.

 

[tvengr]

When you swapped the multi-coupler outputs, did you swap the cables also?

 

[Ubbe]

Any suggestions appreciated.

Bit error 4 are a high value for receiving a system from a good location. If the other scanner have a few dB worse sensitivity, but still within specifications, it will probably show values up to 20 if the other scanner indicates 4. If those are simulcast systems it will probably show those bad values and the higher values if the scanner are slightly off frequency, but still within specification.

If you look at the signal bars, where 5 are max, when the good scanner show 4 bars or less do the bad scanner show the same?

/Ubbe

 

[Skypilot007]

tvengr, I did swap the cables. I also tried the telescoping antenna. There was no change.

Ubbe, I get 5 bars of signal strength on both scanners from both systems I'm testing, even using the included telescoping antenna. There is no difference in performance when swapping the antennas out.

On the NJICS system off the Berlin simulcast site there are still a number of FDMA talk groups. Those groups are consistently working normal on the new scanner. It seems the problem is with the TDMA talk groups. The Burlington County system is all TDMA and the new scanner will not decode the transmissions. It will occasionally stop on the talk groups when in scan mode but there is no audio.

 

[tvengr]

It sounds like the new scanners with different hardware don't work as well as the older ones.

 

[Ubbe]

Ubbe, I get 5 bars of signal strength on both scanners from both systems I'm testing,

I was more thinking of checking if they had different sensitivity. Then you have to monitor another system in the same frequency band that have a weaker signal so that it shows 2, 3 or 4 bars to be able to compare signal strengths. Now one scanner could receive a signal that could correspond to 10 bars and the other 15 bars but the display only show the lowest 5 bars so cannot do a fair comparison.

It's probably simulcast systems you are monitoring if you have full bars and still a bit error of 4. Or you have interference problems. The new scanner probably have new hardware, Uniden could not get hold of the old circuits, and could be the reason for the difference. So no point in sending it in for repair for not receiving simulcast properly. Have you tried to compare the two using analog transmissions in the same frequency band?

You can check if the two scanners are exact in their frequency tolerance by listening to a data channel and set to analog only mode and the bandplan set to 3.125Khz step, or if 5KHz are the minimum use FM instead of NFM, and open the squelch and tune the frequency to the edge of the signal both higher and lower until it starts to disappear and check if it sounds about the same at both edges. If it sounds different at either edge it's probably not correctly align in frequency and the datasignal will be more off frequency to either the plus or minus side, and check both scanners if they give the same result.

/Ubbe

 

[Skypilot007]

Ubbe, I've tested with analog and P25 conventional. That is working normal. I don't have any systems with weaker signals but I can try antennation or just use a lousy antenna or no antenna to lower the signal strength. I tried your suggestion with for frequency tolerance. The lowest step I could set for either FM or NFM is 5.0 KHz. Both scanners performed the same.

Another thing, did Uniden alter the way the display mode is changed? When I press .6 nothing happens on either scanner. I should have checked this on my older unit before updating the firmware. None of the keypad functions when pressing the . then a number on the keypad work anymore.

 

[doctordialtone]

Another thing, did Uniden alter the way the display mode is changed?

No.

See here:

Display Mode

You need to be holding on a channel.

Many of your questions can be answered in that manual.

 

[Skypilot007]

No.

See here:

Display Mode

You need to be holding on a channel.

Many of your questions can be answered in that manual.

I have that user guide and I re-read how to change the display mode before I posed this question. When I press the ● then the 6(Disp) button when holding on a channel the scanner goes into direct entry mode the moment I press the ● button.

 

[RoninJoliet]

You change the readout mode with Func-6

 

[doctordialtone]

the scanner goes into direct entry mode the moment I press the ● button.

Keep trying...

 

[RoninJoliet]

That’s correct when i press . It goes to “direct entry “,