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

[buddrousa]

Did you load the Uniden Drivers?

 

[JvdK]

News from Avera (EU importer of Uniden products):

Uniden introduced short time ago, the BCD160DN. It is a step-in digital scanner for the USA market.
Avera is working hard to get the European model on the market, the UBCD160DN.
The test team has already done some testing and they love this scanner.

The UBCD160DN has several important differences compared to the BCD160DN:
- official CE approval for EU/UK market (Uniden BCD160DN does not have CE approval and is illegal to sell in the EU/UK)
- USB-C
- Full warranty and support by Avera Distributing
- Extra mode: dPMR with 2.5 kHz and 3.125 kHz step support
- Correct 8.33 kHz support for the EU market
- service search bands specially for the EU/UK markets
- EU/UK adjustable bandplan

We expect to have first production available before the end of the year 2024!
Let us hope it is in time for Santa Claus to bring this beauty to Europe.

 

[Remon]

I wonder if dPMR becomes available with a firmware update to the BCD160DN. Technically it's just almost identical to NXDN which is already supported.

 

[JvdK]

I don’t know if Uniden would ever adopt the Whistler US/CAN/AUS/EU interoperability via firmware changes like for their TRX-series. Uniden is probably selling more scanners if they don’t 😉

 

[Ubbe]

The test team has already done some testing and they love this scanner.

This is a scanner designed for railroad monitoring in US and have no TG or ID display for DMR or NXDN systems nor management to avoid any TG.

What we have had so far in bandplan settings from Uniden are fixed blocks of a frequency range where step and mode can be set. Those blocks might be set for UK or Germany but it doesn't fit any other country. What we need are 10-15 dynamic blocks where we can set the start and end frequency to be able to configure them for each country. Service search are totally different for each country, except for VHF air and Marine VHF.

According to the user manual the US version already have a 8.33 step as default in VHF air but now it has the "correct" EU 8.33KHz step?

Is it not the case that 8.33 spacing are a thing only for high altitude frequencies, that are in the 130-137MHz range and the lower band are always 25KHz spacing but using a channel name as a 8.33 frequency? I haven't much hope for the service search having split band in VHF air to consider the difference in step size.

This seems very similar to trying to sell SDS100E/200E to Europeans that doesn't have any simulcast systems.

/Ubbe

 

[JvdK]

@Ubbe I know, I was just posting communication from Avera for people in the EU who might be interested in a 160DN. Like always with Avera communications; don‘t stop using your own brains when you read it. Just like the remark regarding the CE approval (In the Netherlands a competitor of them is selling imported 160DN’s on marktplaats.nl as a private individual 😂😂).

Avera says they are working on a 160DN European model so let’s see what changes they are coming with. Perhaps they also work on the firmware for DMR and NXDN regarding this TG and ID problem. Let’s hope they also work out the problem of the 160DN’s sensibility to nearby strong transmitters.

I’m wondering what the selling price will be. Somehow I have a gut feeling this EU version won’t be on the market for €300,= (all inclusive price when you buy a 160DN from amazon.com or €405,= when you buy from marktplaats.nl).

 

[Remon]

I don’t know if Uniden would ever adopt the Whistler US/CAN/AUS/EU interoperability via firmware changes like for their TRX-series. Uniden is probably selling more scanners if they don’t 😉

I wasn't talking about interoperability. I was just wondering if Uniden US would add it to the BCD160DN in a future firmware upgrade since it's apparently technically possible. It's just a variation of NXDN. They can display it as NXD on the screen. According the manual:

• ND4. NXDN 4800 Direct Frequency
• ND9. NXDN 9600 Direct Frequency
• NX4. NXDN 4800 NEXEDGE
• NX9. NXDN 9600 NEXEDGE
• NXD. Unknown NXDN system

I know dPMR is an European (ETSI) standard with currently no real implementation in the US, but so was DMR and Tetra in the beginning and look now.. There were also tests with dPMR on VHF Marine, so who knows what the future brings us.

 

[JCar24]

No quick save in band scope mode.

Thank you

 

[Bote]

I just got back from a road trip with my 260dn for the first time. This was also the first time with a new Lenovo laptop which I powered with a USB-C mobile charger by HKY (yet another random Chinese brand).

The 260dn scanner would randomly reboot and when I stopped for lunch I watched it closely and the display would say something like "insufficient voltage" and then shut down for a short while, then restart. I originally had the scanner and the HKY power adapter plugged into the same 3-way cigarette lighter outlet.

My car also has a courtesy cigarette lighter outlet for the rear passenger compartment so when I plugged in the HKY adapter there, the scanner behaved normally.

1) The HKY power adapter is electrically noisy, noisy, noisy.
2) The Uniden 260 is pretty sensitive to power glitches.

I might throw my old 996P2 in for an upcoming road trip to see how it behaves compared to the 260dn.

 

[N9JIG]

That might also be indicative of a failing alternator or even the car battery. Try connecting the canner directly to the car with no other devices in the cigar lighter socket or even connected to the car fuse panel directly.

If this continues then you might want to have the battery and alternator tested.

You might also want to invest in a voltmeter to keep an eye on the car's voltage. Auto parts stores, Home Depot/Lowes and Target type places have them, they aren't really expensive. If the car's voltage is dropping below 13V during idle there might be an issue.

 

[buddrousa]

Blaming a scanner when you do not or have not used test tools to rule out other causes.

 

[Ubbe]

the display would say something like "insufficient voltage" and then shut down for a short while, then restart.

That's a new thing for a mobile scanner. The computer logics in the scanner operate on 5v or 3,3v so there's plenty of overhead voltage when regulating from a 12v source. The radio components usually run on something like 9v and it's usually only the speaker amplifier and display backlight that runs on 12v.

What could possible be the reason to warn about low voltage and at what voltage does it trigger that warning and then also reboot? It doesn't have any SD card or store any data to a flash memory while scanning that would need it to protect itself from a low voltage from its power jack.

/Ubbe