My Biggest Pet Peeve about the BCD536HP

[mrkelso]

1. All the knobs are on the wrong side. Historically the knobs were all opposite of where they are on the 536

EoM

 

[ofd8001]

It does take some getting used to. This isn't the first time that Uniden has re-positioned knobs. I can't remember which for sure, but on the 780 and 796D the squelch and volume knobs were reversed.

I'm sure knob relocation probably had some good engineering reasons behind it.

 

[oracavon]

The 780 has a dual knob for squelch & volume. The back section is the squelch, and the front section is the volume. Those knobs are on bottom left of the front panel, the same as volume knob on the 996XT. The knob on the upper left of the 780 (above the volume knob, where the squelch knob lies on the 996XT) is a tuning knob, which the later radios don't have.

 

[LIScanner101]

1. All the knobs are on the wrong side. Historically the knobs were all opposite of where they are on the 536

EoM

For using the 536HP on a desk, I wouldn't think that would be an issue, but I can see where in a mobile environment your hand would block the screen. In fact there was a very early post here on RR where someone posted photos of how his hand blocked the screen.

If not for that, the position of where the knobs are wouldn't bother me.

 

[SCPD]

no way

No way! The biggest pet peeve for me is no Control Channel Search,why did they leave this out?That and Service Search.Ok,the knob is annoying....Liked the feel of the 996XT knob better too,was alot tougher,I feel like I have to baby this new radio or Its going to break .

 

[JANFINE]

Problem with new Uniden scanners

This is what I mentioned immediately when the scanners came out.
I was wondering why no one else mentioned it.
Makes it silly why one would buy a new scanner and have to rely on a older one for these.
What are you supposed to carry 2 scanners with you?

No way! The biggest pet peeve for me is no Control Channel Search,why did they leave this out?That and Service Search.Ok,the knob is annoying....Liked the feel of the 996XT knob better too,was alot tougher,I feel like I have to baby this new radio or Its going to break .

 

[davenlr]

Its a bi*ch to hit Enter when you have the serial cable plugged in too
The SD card should have been under Enter and the serial plug should be where the SD card is.
Guess you could always turn the radio upside down, and then reverse the display, and it would be like the others, except for the upside down writing

 

[AA6IO]

No way! The biggest pet peeve for me is no Control Channel Search,why did they leave this out?That and Service Search.Ok,the knob is annoying....Liked the feel of the 996XT knob better too,was alot tougher,I feel like I have to baby this new radio or Its going to break .

k2rty
We must be long lost souls. That is my biggest pet peeve "no CC search." And like you, I also baby the radio because it is nowhere as rugged, IMHO, as the 996XT. And while were at it, the little brother 436HP is not as sensitive as the 996XT little brother 396XT.

Steve AA6IO

 

[mrkelso]

The function knob is smaller then the function knobs of past units. The function knob has way to much wiggle and play in it. Feels like it is going to fall off.

 

[garys]

k2rty
We must be long lost souls. That is my biggest pet peeve "no CC search." And like you, I also baby the radio because it is nowhere as rugged, IMHO, as the 996XT. And while were at it, the little brother 436HP is not as sensitive as the 996XT little brother 396XT.

Steve AA6IO

My experience is the opposite. My new 436 is receiving much better than did my 396XT. I am receiving stations that I had in the scanner, but rarely heard before.

 

[AZScanner]

I see it as a minor inconvenience really. When I get my 536's, they will be mounted in the center console of the car, hidden from view and the Arizona sun. One will be set to scan all the valley's FD stuff, and the other PD. In most cases, I'll set the radios to scan and leave them alone, so where the knobs are isn't that big of a deal to me. Most of the time the center console will remain closed. It may seem a bit odd to us where the knob is, but probably not to the Japanese engineers that designed the radio. For them, the knob IS on the correct side for being mounted in a dash. They can't help it if we Americans drive on the wrong side of the road.

I am also baffled by the statements from others that say the 436HP isn't sensitive enough. It sure seems to be for me! I too thought that maybe there was something wrong when I wasn't picking up the airport that's literally less than 5 miles away from my house, but that was before I discovered that you have to turn on the relevant Service Types before you can hear any of that stuff. Now that I have the correct service types enabled, this scanner outperforms every other radio in the house! Hard to say what might be the cause of this problem for others, but I don't think it's the scanner. I'd like to see a side by side video showing this problem - perhaps that would give us some clues so we can help those folks.

-AZ

 

[stingray327]

Is the 536 scanner easy to operate? Just plug in and scan?

 

[desert-cheetah]

Is the 536 scanner easy to operate? Just plug in and scan?

Not quite that simple. You still need to tell it what to scan by entering at least a zip code

 

[stingray327]

Not quite that simple. You still need to tell it what to scan by entering at least a zip code

yes that's what I mean it's as easy as just entering a zip code?

 

[AC2OY]

Don't do what I did you will get sick. I'm not going to put this in multiple threads but I'm not to happy right about now.

 

[SCPD]

question

My experience is the opposite. My new 436 is receiving much better than did my 396XT. I am receiving stations that I had in the scanner, but rarely heard before.

Did you update the firmware ?Or is it factory?