BCD160DN/BCD260DN: Is this a new Uniden model? BCD260DN

[fxdscon]

I find it hilarious that there are people saying (repeatedly...) that this will sink Uniden Really? One release will sink them?

Just because YOU don't want the scanner doesn't mean it won't sell to those who DO want it. It's OK to have multiple options.

.
Exactly.... A lot of folks seem to believe they have done more/better market research than Uniden has.

How many of us remember the pages and pages of negative postings that flooded RR and other forums for many, many months (years?) after the Home Patrol 1 was announced.

It's a joke, a gimmick, a fraud, a huge mistake, a child's toy, garbage, worthless, it will surely be the end of Uniden and no one will ever buy another Uniden scanner.... and on and on and on. The Home Patrol became Uniden's best selling scanner ever, and with the updating to include phase 2 in the HP 2 edition, it's still in production... after 13 years! I wonder how many of those nay-sayers now own one.

 

[03msc]

I wonder how many of those nay-sayers now own one.

Will likely be the case for some for this scanner, too.

 

[dave3825]

There is progress on several fronts including firmware,

OK, I'll spill the beans. Currently being tested is an improvement for digital decoding of all digital modes (P25, DMR, and NXDN). I know we all want more ASAP, but updates are starting to roll out.

Can you state what models these are going to be for?

 

[garys]

I'm just waiting for the Home Patrol 3. One thing I like about those scanners is the touch screen.

.
Exactly.... A lot of folks seem to believe they have done more/better market research than Uniden has.

How many of us remember the pages and pages of negative postings that flooded RR and other forums for many, many months (years?) after the Home Patrol 1 was announced.

It's a joke, a gimmick, a fraud, a huge mistake, a child's toy, garbage, worthless, it will surely be the end of Uniden and no one will ever buy another Uniden scanner.... and on and on and on. The Home Patrol became Uniden's best selling scanner ever, and with the updating to include phase 2 in the HP 2 edition, it's still in production... after 13 years! I wonder how many of those nay-sayers now own one.

 

[garys]

I'm not being critical or sarcastic when I say that I know that this is a decision made above your level. When DMR came out UPMan made several Beta releases available to all customers with the idea of getting real world feedback from every day users. In a previous life I was in charge of a large software project for my agency. I had a group of field providers who were my Beta testers. They found several flaws before we made a general release, but when we made the general release users found some flaws that the more savvy Beta testers didn't.

Maybe pass a suggest up your chain of command to think about making some of this available to those interested.

Yes. It is in beta testing currently. (to clarify, the decoding improvement)

 

[garys]

I should have read all the way through the thread.

Will the Beta release be made public for those us who are familiar with updating the firmware without using Sentinel? I thought that was a pretty good way to get some feedback from those other than the beta testers prior to public release?

 

[Randyk4661]

I can see a use for the handheld for going rail fanning or airshows not wanting to risk losing or damaging your SDS100 or 325P2.
I do have a mall that uses DMR OFT, so programming the frequencies as conventional would still allow me to listen(?), lots of questions still need to be answered about this function. The beta testers will chime in on their thoughts as time goes on.
When you need a simpler scanner for monitoring this might be what you are looking for.
As long as they market it as a hobbyist scanner that can't handle large scale public safety systems, this might work well for them.

Time will tell us more, just keep reading for the updates.

 

[N9JIG]

I have found the BCD160DN and BCD260DN to be every bit as good on AM and FM as any other scanner, probably a bit better than my 15's, x36's and 996's and certainly better than the SDS's. On DMR and NXDN they deliver clean, crisp audio.

They will be a niche radio for sure, but we all thought that for the SDS's, Home Patrols and many others. When we were testing the HP-1 I was not a fan but then Paul reminded us that, while we were the testers, as seasoned scanner users we were not the demographic the radio was intended for.

While no one knows the price (like Jonathan and Joe both mentioned repeatedly) I hope it will be reasonable! I think they would be a great addition to the lineup, perhaps as a replacement for a couple of the mid-tier models.

 

[phoboss1]

Whatever happened to Richard on the scanner guys?

 

[Hit_Factor]

Good question indeed. What if there's activity on both time slots at the same time.

That's the reason to own multiple scanners, so you don't miss simultaneous transmissions. With appropriate programing one scanner get TS1 and the other TS2.

Then start adding a scanner for each talkgroup.....

It never ends.

 

[JoeBearcat]

Joe,
Unless I skipped right over it without noticing, will the DMR capability allow entry of a slot or talkgroup? I know these are not 'trunking' radios, but I've seen quite a number of smaller towns where they use the same frequency, in DMR mode, for both PD & FD. A lot of them just use a generic (default) talkgroup of "1", but assign PD to, say, Slot 1, & FD to Slot 2.

For the TRX series, which we know does not actually trunk track DMR or NXDN, you can program, in a conventional channel, both the slot & talkgroup on DMR (with, of course, also the color code).

I don't believe there will be TG entry. This is an entry level unit. It's not a replacement for the 325.

 

[JoeBearcat]

Whatever happened to Richard on the scanner guys?

He retired. He was commenting last evening on TSG.

 

[JoeBearcat]

That's the reason to own multiple scanners, so you don't miss simultaneous transmissions. With appropriate programing one scanner get TS1 and the other TS2.

Then start adding a scanner for each talkgroup.....

It never ends.

Even if you were using two scanners, both would hear the first group active. Then if that ended both would switch to the other active one. (for this model series). If this is what you want then the BCD325P2 (or higher) is the model for you.

 

[JoeBearcat]

I asked if it at least can avoid an annoying TG but no reply during the Youtube video transmission.

You cannot. There were a lot of questions being asked and both Jonathan and I missed some of them.

 

[JoeBearcat]

How ridiculous ! No P25 trunking ? I think uniden is making a Big mistake here !
Just my opinion

So Uniden should just make the 325 with a different model number? That would be the mistake. Not everyone needs P25. Not even everyone needs digital based on the sales figures.

 

[JoeBearcat]

Will the Beta release be made public for those us who are familiar with updating the firmware without using Sentinel? I thought that was a pretty good way to get some feedback from those other than the beta testers prior to public release?

Based on early results probably not. If some issues arise, that may be possible. So far it's very smooth and very favorable (which is to say no negative feedback yet). But let's stick to the new model discussion on this thread. I will post another with the firmware topic.

 

[Remon]

That's the reason to own multiple scanners, so you don't miss simultaneous transmissions. With appropriate programing one scanner get TS1 and the other TS2.

Then start adding a scanner for each talkgroup.....

It never ends.

That wasn't the question and you missed the point you cannot program talkgroups and time slots in these 2 new scanners.

I would like to know if it can:
- decode double time slot DMR at all.
- display the talkgroup and time slot during receive.
- handle DCDM (SDS and Whistler TRX can't)

I case it can receive double time slot DMR, I would like to know how it behaves:
- when it stops on a DMR signal during scanning with activity on both time slots.
- when activity on one time slot ends, does it resume scanning or does it first check for activity on the other time slot.

This could be an interesting scanner for signal hunting to find new or unknown users. For more serious use a Whistler TRX where you can program and tag users with the talkgroup and time slot specified. For that reason it's a shame they didn't implement Close Call. Even the ultra cheap 355 has Close Call.

Will the new scanners also be released outside of North America?

 

[JoeBearcat]

For that reason it's a shame they didn't implement Close Call. Even the ultra cheap 355 has Close Call.

Will the new scanners also be released outside of North America?

There were some features that were not included so as to not make 'another 325'.

As for outside NA, it may but I don't have any contact with those markets.

 

[N9JIG]

Whatever happened to Richard on the scanner guys?

I retired and actually can find time to play with
my toys!

 

[hiegtx]

Our system is not TRUNKING it is set up as Slot 1 as 1 Channel and Slot 2 as the second Channel. I did all the Programming for all users all Kenwood NX5200 and NX5700

I've seen that pattern quite often in smaller towns. One slot (or TGID) used for Fire, a different one for PD. Not being able to separate the two would reduce the utility of this model. In a few cases, I see a similar setup for use in school districts. Same frequency, but differing slots for the elementary and high school campuses. For somewhat larger districts, there may be individual TGIDs for three or more schools, even though all use the same frequency.

I doubt this lack of a talkgroup selection would impact railfans nearly as much, since those are usually divided out by a specific frequency for a given company, or stretch of track. The only currently listed NXDN channel in use, in the database listings for state of Texas, is at an intermodal yard in Fort Worth. I have no idea when a larger shift to NXDN will occur, but that could be several years away. There could, of course, be other locations using NXDN in Texas, but so far, none of them (if any exist) have made it to the database.