HP-1: HomePatrol-1 2.06.xx Open Beta

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UPMan

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I'm opening the beta for the next firmware update for the HomePatrol-1 to any who wish to participate. Several caveats:

1) This will have some settings for testing that won't be in the release version. Similarly, there might be some features missing that will be restored for the release version.

2) I hope you will report your findings, positive or negative, by filling out the performance report at:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...6G49saHNuwy24W_nZvZe3cefvo/edit#gid=227235031

Use the sheet under the 2.06.02 tab.

3) While it hasn't affected anything stored on the scanner thus far in testing, I recommend you back up your SD card (Favorites Lists, at least) before starting.

4) If you don't feel comfortable running test firmware in your scanner, no hard feelings...wait for released firmware.

5) If you do help...thank you.

6) Please treat this as a "flame-free" and "harping-free" thread. Feel free to ask follow-up questions and expand on your reporting, here. Our engineers, who don't speak English as a native language, are also going to try to follow your comments, so simple, clear, concise reports are appreciated. Unlike other threads where I leave moderation policy completely alone, I'm going to ask moderators to strictly moderate this thread to keep it on-topic, helpful, and flame and harp free.

For the AUTO SETTING column, report what level (A8-A13) the scanner settles to in AUTO mode. For MANUAL SETTING, report the MANUAL setting that has the best performance.

Other notes on display, menu and other changes for reports:

P25 reception indicator is displayed instead of favorite list name while scan mode.

P25 status : NON/P25/ENC/LNK/DAT

Axx or Mxx : A means AUTO. M means Manual. xx is threshold level (8-13).

ERR: Error rate.


See "Audio Options" menu.


There are 3 test functions for P25 Phase1 reception test.

1. P25 Filter : A or B

2. P25 Mode : Auto, Manual 8-13

3. 25 Offest : On or Off


1. P25 Filter : A or B

Filter A is for C4FM and CQPSK. Filter B is for LSM.

Check both filter quality in all site. Which is better?


2. P25 Mode : Auto, Manual 8-13

Check if "Auto" mode is acceptable for all sites and report the "A" level..

Find the best setting of "Manual" level for each sites.


3. P25 Offest : On or Off

This is effective for only Manual mode 8-13.

Check whether the reception quality changes or not.


To apply this test firmware, download:
http://info.uniden.com/twiki/pub/PartnerWeb/HomePatrolBeta/HomePatrol-1_V2_06_02.zip

Then, unzip the bin file and move it to the firmware folder on your HP-1. When you restart the scanner, the update will apply.

Looking forward to your reports!
 

JamesO

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Thanks, will give this a try.

Will be interested to see if some of the fringe P25 signals motorboat less.

Will try to provide useful feedback as I find things.
 

UPMan

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Thanks, James. Oh, and I hate to post and run, but I've got a major customer meeting tomorrow. I better try to catch some zzz's.
 

JamesO

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No problem, just updated my HP-1E and interesting data under the system name.

I will watch Montgomery County MD P25 system as its settings/offset was way different than other systems in the area.

A11-A13 where this system tends to settle where Fairfax, Arlington and other systems in VA tend to settle around A8 as I recall.

After watching some of my Favorite systems for a while, I am seeing A5-A7 on a few systems. I see that your first comments mentioned A8-A13, but should I be seeing A5-A7? Maybe this firmware has opened up the window a bit more?

Initial few minutes look/sound pretty good, however, I will need to watch and listen a bit more.

Thanks for the efforts on the HP-1, I have been using it a bit more lately and this will be useful.

Also caveat on my HP-1E, I have installed the narrower 50G IF filter in it, so I will try to remember to make this clear on any of my comments.
 
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UPMan

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It would ensure that when we release 2.06 it will still work for those of you who had no problem with 2.05.
 

ResQguy

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Paul, instead of letting the world edit your spreadsheet- wouldn't it be better to create a googledoc form that we fill out that dumps into a spreadsheet only you can see?
 
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Dafe1er

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Thanks for the chance at the Beta.

I have been monitoring two different sites for a little while now. I have not changed any settings as of yet. I just downloaded and loaded to scanner. An "out the box" if you will experience.

1st one:
Fauquier / Culpeper / Rappahannock Trunking System, Various, Virginia - Scanner Frequencies

While scanning the above system the following appears on the screen with no activity: non A8 1.41 1.65 1.89 err:---. This is constant.

When activity is on the system it shows the following: P25/ LNK A10/11/12/13 err: 34/44/66/22
with all the other numbers fluctuating up and down until they system goes quiet and they go back to the above scanning settings.

2nd system:
Virginia Statewide Agencies Radio System (STARS) Trunking System, Statewide, Virginia - Scanner Frequencies

While scanning the above system the following appears on the screen with no activity:
DAT/ LNK A10/11/12/13 with the err:--- all other numbers are fluctuating on the screen.

When activity is on the system it shows the following: P25/ LNK A10/13 err:2
with all the other numbers fluctuating up and down until they system goes quiet and they go back to the above scanning settings.

I really did not notice an main difference in the way the HP picked up signal from the sites. It seemed to do just the same as when I was running 2.04 on it. I have better luck catching more with the BCD436 which I ran side by side during this first testing of the beta firmware.
 

JamesO

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Probably because its still a SmartZone 3.x and end of life, not P25. I never made any changes to my HP1E and it has always scanned MoCo with ease, but I will also try this beta on systems like Baltimore County- which is a nightmare for scanners.

Do not know enough about the total intricacies of the Motorola systems, but MoCo is some form of P25, maybe not 100%??

I also know the Washington Metro Airport Authority and I think Metro Rail are way off in the A11/A12 range.

What I am starting to think and see is it may be very helpful for the firmware to allow both Auto threshold and an option of a manual threshold setting. At least in my area, mixed suburban an city with lots of elevation changes, trees, tall buildings, that with questionable signals and error rates creeping up along with multipath that the Auto threshold adjustment starts to wander where what I am seeing is if you could store a threshold per system, then the overall performance seems to stabilize.

I will need to play around a bit more as I only have a few hours on the Beta firmware and I need to add a few more systems to my favorites list to get a bigger picture of how the firmware is doing.
 

UPMan

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A) This is for digital performance only.

B) Read post #1. Please use the sheet to report your results.

C) You should be able to get anywhere from good performance to bad performance by adjusting the manual decode threshold. Please try different settings and report which one worked best, and how that setting compared to the AUTO selection.
 

JamesO

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Adjusting the A* threshold values manually does in fact make a big difference, at least in my configuration of listening. I have some systems that like A6 and others that like A12. It I manually set the threshold for one, the others barely decode.

Still playing with things, so no much hard data as of yet.

I am seeing a few odd things, but I need to make sure these are consistent.

In general, overall this Beta firmware seems to be am improvement over the prior release, at least for my systems I am monitoring.
 

UPMan

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Also, I've added a column for AUTO Merit. In this column, rate (0-5) reception quality when the scanner is using AUTO mode.

Thanks!
 

Mike_G_D

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Also, I've added a column for AUTO Merit. In this column, rate (0-5) reception quality when the scanner is using AUTO mode.

Thanks!

Just a suggestion, given JamesO's mention of using a non-stock 50G filter for the final IF stage, maybe you should add a column for that as well; e.g "IF Filter" - "(S)tock" or "(N)arrow".

-Mike
 

K4SVT

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Just updated mine sounds a hell of alot better decoding...thanks paul..
 

ve3zo

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Updated both of mine. Both have noticeable improvements decoding cities of detroit and windsor. Thanks Paul.....great job on this.
 

EricCottrell

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Hello,

All three sites I am using to test are on the same system, so I am using one favorites list. I set avoid on the two sites I was not testing. I noticed during testing that the signal would briefly drop to zero every second. I deleted the two unused sites and I get the same result. No other alerts are on. This dropout does briefly affect the auto reading, but the control channel does not seem to dropout as the display still shows DAT.

Is anyone else noticing this during testing?

73 Eric
 

JamesO

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One thing I have noticed on my HP-1E is I occasionally get what sounds like the squelch opening. Originally I thought maybe I needed to bump my squelch setting up a bit higher but this did not seem to resolve the issue.

I also believe I was seeing a TGID show up when this was happening, but this was not motorboating. I was driving at the time and have not had a chance to try again in a fixed location.

Keep in mind I do have the narrower 50G filter installed in this radio as well.

I was driving at the time and have not had a chance to try again in a fixed location.

This was with the Threshold setting to Auto.

Still need to play around a bit more and see what happens with some other systems.
 

phask

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James - possibly an Enc. TG???? I occasionally get a few TG's that will encrypt and I get either a brief digital "noise" or what sounds like a squelch tail, sometimes they stay on screen but are quiet after that initial noise.

One thing I have noticed on my HP-1E is I occasionally get what sounds like the squelch opening. Originally I thought maybe I needed to bump my squelch setting up a bit higher but this did not seem to resolve the issue.

I also believe I was seeing a TGID show up when this was happening, but this was not motorboating. I was driving at the time and have not had a chance to try again in a fixed location.

Keep in mind I do have the narrower 50G filter installed in this radio as well.

I was driving at the time and have not had a chance to try again in a fixed location.

This was with the Threshold setting to Auto.

Still need to play around a bit more and see what happens with some other systems.
 
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