Micro SD card question....

[motorman105]

I'm having trouble finding information on the use of the Micro SD card.
I'd like to put down how I think this works and please correct my mistakes....
While the 536 is OFF, I can remove the card, put it into Micro SD card reader, plug it into the USB port of my computer, then go to Sentinel.
Sentinel then reads the card and for all it knows, I have the actual 536 sitting on the table at my computer (its actually hard mounted in my car).
I do whatever I have to do on Sentinel, click "Download To Scanner" and Sentinel downloads the changes to the Micro SD card. Once that is complete, I unplug the card from my reader, plug the card back into my 536. Turn on the 536, it reads the card and applies the changes I've made and I'm good to go!
How does that sound?
I'm not doing this until I hear from a few of you tell me if this is correct or not.

I'm using the Easier to Read Manual for the 536 off my tablet and it says "see also Sentinel BCD436/536HP Software Manual" but when I click on it....it doesn't come up.

 

[brucewarming]

Same questions..... I want to program a back up SD card to use in case of lost data when away from the computer.

 

[brucewarming]

Also should the format be FAT 32? Thanks ahead of the replies.

 

[Hit_Factor]

That process will work just dandy. I'm doing that for my 436. Not because of worries about the card, but the guy uding sentinel and arc536 doesn't always think things through.

As for format, use whatever the card that comes with th scanner uses.

Fat32 is probably the oem format. It's the most compatible.

 

[ofd8001]

What I've done for backup purposes is create a folder on my computer "BCD536HP SD CARD BACKUP". After inserting the SD card in the reader, I use my Windows Explorer to copy and paste the files on the SD card to this backup folder.

If I want to have extra backup SD card, I simply copy what is on my computer to the backup card.

Making changes on the SD card while in the reader then returning it to the scanner works fine. I think that's exactly what the engineers/designers had in mind for those of us having scanners in vehicles and making a direct computer connection is cumbersome.

 

[NWI_Scanner_Guy]

I'm having trouble finding information on the use of the Micro SD card.
I'd like to put down how I think this works and please correct my mistakes....
While the 536 is OFF, I can remove the card, put it into Micro SD card reader, plug it into the USB port of my computer, then go to Sentinel.
Sentinel then reads the card and for all it knows, I have the actual 536 sitting on the table at my computer (its actually hard mounted in my car).
I do whatever I have to do on Sentinel, click "Download To Scanner" and Sentinel downloads the changes to the Micro SD card. Once that is complete, I unplug the card from my reader, plug the card back into my 536. Turn on the 536, it reads the card and applies the changes I've made and I'm good to go!
How does that sound?
I'm not doing this until I hear from a few of you tell me if this is correct or not.

I'm using the Easier to Read Manual for the 536 off my tablet and it says "see also Sentinel BCD436/536HP Software Manual" but when I click on it....it doesn't come up.

Sounds right on track. I've only had my 536 for a few days, and that's how I've done the firmware update plus programming and have had zero problems.

 

[motorman105]

It worked great! Thank you all!

 

[brucewarming]

Same here

Got a 16GB programed and kept it for main SD with the original 4GB as the backup. Thanks

 

[bama9999]

Got a 16GB programed and kept it for main SD with the original 4GB as the backup. Thanks

Guess we must be on the same wavelength, because that's exactly what I did too. lol

 

[motorman105]

That's a great idea....so If I were to go buy a back up card.....how would I get it to work? Just plug it into my SD reader and have Sentinel write to it?
Sentinel recognizes the card from my 536 as the scanner. How would I get a new card to be recognized?
Formatting? Please explain this to me as though I don't have a clue because I don't.
Thanks

PS....love the 536! I wish the lettering in the display was as big as the 996XT for mobile use. I wish there was a key to center the text or line up the text to the left or right side.....like there is in "Word".
I also wish I was 30 years old again and had hair but that's a different thread!

 

[K2KOH]

When you get the backup card format it to FAT32. Open Sentinel and click scanner then clear all data. Next write the file to the card. You should be good to go.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[lost_in_maine]

Also should the format be FAT 32? Thanks ahead of the replies.

I never use Windows to format a SD Card....
I use this freeware app called SD Formatter
https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_4/

 

[Hit_Factor]

That's a great idea....so If I were to go buy a back up card.....how would I get it to work? Just plug it into my SD reader and have Sentinel write to it?
Sentinel recognizes the card from my 536 as the scanner. How would I get a new card to be recognized?
Formatting? Please explain this to me as though I don't have a clue because I don't.
Thanks

PS....love the 536! I wish the lettering in the display was as big as the 996XT for mobile use. I wish there was a key to center the text or line up the text to the left or right side.....like there is in "Word".
I also wish I was 30 years old again and had hair but that's a different thread!

microSD cards come formatted. Unless you are having a problem there is no reason to reformat. There are lot's of reasons why you should not change the format of the card from FAT32 to some other format. Unless, you are will to learn what formats the scanner does not recognize.

When Sentinel writes to a card, with clear user data selected, It writes the additional information required to be recognized as the scanner microSD, even if it's not in the scanner.

 

[Essexscan]

I bought 2 new Sony 16GB Micro SD cards so both the HP-1 and 436HP have enough recording ability as recently I ran out of room on my HP-1 (2GB) when I was involved in a Job. For the short term I just dumped all my audio files into my music folder in Windows media player and could play back on there.

What I did and had no problems

1) connect each radio and do a DB update so its updated as of that day
2) make a new folder for each radio on my desktop and copy and paste the files from each to the folder
30 insert the new card in each radio reconnect the USB cable, then when the file error shows up use Sentinel to reload the original setup files.I DID NOT Format either card I let Sentinel write to it to set it up and it appeared that Sentinel did a quick format of its own
4) I then erase the files sentinel loaded and then copy and paste my files from the folder I saved from the original SD card
5) takes a while because of the audio files but had no problems when the radios were done and restarted they worked with no problems and all settings were the same as with the original cards . The orignals are saved in the adapters inside the carry cases with the manuals and cables incase of a card failure. I have never had a Sony memory card go bad yet as I use many in my DSLR and for data storage, Knock on wood

 

[JRR4607]

Editing the pre installed SD card

How do you edit a frq that is in the per installed SD card that came with the BCD436DP there is a frq that has been updated.

 

[fxdscon]

How do you editing a frq that is in the per installed SD card that came with the BCD436DP there is a frq that has been updated.

If the frequency is in the master database, use the Sentinel Software to update the database.

If the frequency is in a favorites list you have created, use the favorites list editor in Sentinel to change it.

.

 

[JRR4607]

Ok thanks. where do i get the Seninel Software at? Sorry trying to figure out this scanner.

 

[fxdscon]

Ok thanks. where do i get the Seninel Software at? Sorry trying to figure out this scanner.

BCD536HP < UnidenMan4 < TWiki

 

[ernie2249]

536 microSD card

Newly purchased 536, running initially using the zip feature until I can program a new SD card with favorites, etc. When I hit write to scanner, a window opens, but the SD card is not shown, nor is the OK button active? The card is plugged into the computer using a SD card adaptor to fit in my computer's card slot. Can't figure out what I am doing wrong. Any help will be appreciated from the forum.

 

[UPMan]

Use the "Clear User Data" function in Sentinel and click "Show All Drives" in the dialog.