I may have solved a problem I've been experiencing while trying to monitor a local P25 system with my BCD436HP.
For several months now, I've been complaining about how poorly my 436 tracks a nearby P25 system that comes through loud and clear on my other digital-capable scanners. The 436 had been missing 40% to 50% of these transmissions, which was a real mystery to me because it does well with other P25 systems and channels. Turning on the attenuator helped quite a bit (I still don't understand why), but the results were still pretty far south of what I was experiencing with the other radios.
This is a Harris system that uses frequencies in the federal government UHF trunked frequency range (406 to 420 MHz), and it's undergoing a conversion from EDACS to P25. When I programmed the 436, it seems that the radio must have decided this was a Motorola site that needed a custom band plan, so it gave itself a generic 406/12.5 kHz base/step plan. Deleting the generic custom band plan seems to have cleared up the problem.
Now, if I cam only get the 436 to perform even half as well on VHF analog as it generally does on digital, I'll really be a really happy camper! It's still practically deaf on VHF analog compared to its BCD396T and BCD396XT sisters and its GRE-designed cousins. Unfortunately, most of the agencies I monitor are analog VHF and will probably remain so for a long time.
I hope this comes as helpful news to others out there who may be having similar problems.
Thanks for listening.
-Johnnie
For several months now, I've been complaining about how poorly my 436 tracks a nearby P25 system that comes through loud and clear on my other digital-capable scanners. The 436 had been missing 40% to 50% of these transmissions, which was a real mystery to me because it does well with other P25 systems and channels. Turning on the attenuator helped quite a bit (I still don't understand why), but the results were still pretty far south of what I was experiencing with the other radios.
This is a Harris system that uses frequencies in the federal government UHF trunked frequency range (406 to 420 MHz), and it's undergoing a conversion from EDACS to P25. When I programmed the 436, it seems that the radio must have decided this was a Motorola site that needed a custom band plan, so it gave itself a generic 406/12.5 kHz base/step plan. Deleting the generic custom band plan seems to have cleared up the problem.
Now, if I cam only get the 436 to perform even half as well on VHF analog as it generally does on digital, I'll really be a really happy camper! It's still practically deaf on VHF analog compared to its BCD396T and BCD396XT sisters and its GRE-designed cousins. Unfortunately, most of the agencies I monitor are analog VHF and will probably remain so for a long time.
I hope this comes as helpful news to others out there who may be having similar problems.
Thanks for listening.
-Johnnie