BCD436HP/BCD536HP: New to scanning

[EBENTON]

Hey Everyone!

New to scanning here! Located in Syracuse, NY. Recently picked up a BCD436HP on FB marketplace pretty cheap! I've been looking at these for a while now but couldn't swallow the price of a new one to see if I was interested in the hobby. Running into minor difficulty, trying to register this scanner on my.uniden.com however the SN is connected to another account. I'm hoping support can assist me with this so I can make sure the firmware is upgraded and use the Sentinal programing software.

I may be jumping the gun here but I have manually programed my scanner for now. I'm concerned that I'm lacking on what is available in the area. I'm looking to hear Camillus Police Department, Syracuse City Police Department and all NYS transmission I can get. I have yet to hear anything from Syracuse City despite listening to their transmission on Onondaga County New York Live Audio Feeds.

Any tips or should I cool my jets until I get access to the software to assist?

 

[eaf1956]

You can use Sentinel w/o registering the scanner. That registration is only for Up Grades like DMR. Firmware updates are FREE with Sentinel

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

Welcome to the RR forums. Uniden Sentinel is free to download & you need not register the scanner if you have no need for the paid upgrades as previously mentioned. One thing worth noting is you may experience a well-documented phenomenon with your 436HP known as simulcast distortion (skipped transmissions, bits and pieces of conversations, failure to acquire a lock on a control channel, etc) since Syracuse looks to be within the coverage area more than two towers of the Onondaga Simulcast. There are a number of multipath mitigation methods in the simulcast distortion wiki I linked that you can try if you do indeed experience these issues but then again you may be fine. I realize they're even less affordable than the 436 & 536HP are but Uniden's current flagship models, the SDS100 & SDS200 were designed to cope with the effects of simulcast distortion

 

[dave3825]

I would look thru the menu’s on the scanner and see if the previous owner installed the dmr and nxdn upgrades. If so great and if not I would ask him if he could either deregister ( if allowed ) the scanner or at the very least share the log in info with you if he does not have any other scanners registered.

 

[EBENTON]

I would look thru the menu’s on the scanner and see if the previous owner installed the dmr and nxdn upgrades. If so great and if not I would ask him if he could either deregister ( if allowed ) the scanner or at the very least share the log in info with you if he does not have any other scanners registered.

Any chance you have a video that would show me how to access that info? New to the scanner, I truly appreciate the help!

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

I explain the process here

 

[EBENTON]

Looks like it hasn’t been updated. Hoping uniden support can assist in getting the SN cleared so I can get the upgrades. If not, I’ll have to reach out to the old owner.

 

[EBENTON]

Welcome to the RR forums. Uniden Sentinel is free to download & you need not register the scanner if you have no need for the paid upgrades as previously mentioned. One thing worth noting is you may experience a well-documented phenomenon with your 436HP known as simulcast distortion (skipped transmissions, bits and pieces of conversations, failure to acquire a lock on a control channel, etc) since Syracuse looks to be within the coverage area more than two towers of the Onondaga Simulcast. There are a number of multipath mitigation methods in the simulcast distortion wiki I linked that you can try if you do indeed experience these issues but then again you may be fine. I realize they're even less affordable than the 436 & 536HP are but Uniden's current flagship models, the SDS100 & SDS200 were designed to cope with the effects of simulcast distortion
View attachment 158576

Thanks for the info! Would I need DMR and/or NXDM to hear these transmissions?

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

Thanks for the info! Would I need DMR and/or NXDM to hear these transmissions?

If you're referring to the system linked below then no

Central New York Interoperable Communications Consortium (CNYICC) Trunking System, Regional, New York

Central New York Interoperable Communications Consortium (CNYICC) Trunking System Profile

www.radioreference.com

 

[hiegtx]

Hey Everyone!

New to scanning here! Located in Syracuse, NY. Recently picked up a BCD436HP on FB marketplace pretty cheap! I've been looking at these for a while now but couldn't swallow the price of a new one to see if I was interested in the hobby. Running into minor difficulty, trying to register this scanner on my.uniden.com however the SN is connected to another account. I'm hoping support can assist me with this so I can make sure the firmware is upgraded and use the Sentinal programing software.

I may be jumping the gun here but I have manually programed my scanner for now. I'm concerned that I'm lacking on what is available in the area. I'm looking to hear Camillus Police Department, Syracuse City Police Department and all NYS transmission I can get. I have yet to hear anything from Syracuse City despite listening to their transmission on Onondaga County New York Live Audio Feeds.

Any tips or should I cool my jets until I get access to the software to assist?

"Registering" the scanner on the MyUniden site is only needed if you are looking to purchase one of the paid upgrades. As the late UPMan noted in the past, Uniden does not cross-reference registrations, and registration does not give you proof of purchase for any warranty repairs. For that, you need the original proof of purchase. Note that if you were purchasing a scanner from one of the dealers, and opted to "overpay" them to add an upgrade (which you can do yourself at a much lower cost), they have to register it before buying the upgrade.

Edit to add:
Registering your scanners on MyUniden might also be helpful if you had some sort of incident, like a fire, burglary, or catastrophic storm damage, in that you would have a list of your radios, along with serial numbers, if needed for an insurance claim, or police report (for a burglary).

 

[tvengr]

Here is an Onondaga County hpe favorites list file for programming your scanner. Save the attached zipped file to your computer and extract. Go to the File tab in Sentinel and click on Import from hpe file (Favorites List). Click on New Favorites List and name it: Onondaga Co NY Click on OK. In the Downloads folder, open the extracted file (Onondaga Co NY.hpe). It will appear as a favorites list in Sentinel. Department quick keys as follows:

DEPT QUICK KEYS
0. Systemwide
0. System Interop
1. System Medevac
2. OnonCo Misc
3. OnonCo Interop
4. OnonCo Emerg Ops
4. OnonCo Fire/EMS
5. OnonCo Sheriff
5. OnonCo Law
6. Syracuse Misc
7. Syracuse FD/EMS
8. Syracuse Law
9. New York State
*. Blank
(Note: * = None)

 

[EBENTON]

Here is an Onondaga County hpe favorites list file for programming your scanner. Save the attached zipped file to your computer and extract. Go to the File tab in Sentinel and click on Import from hpe file (Favorites List). Click on New Favorites List and name it: Onondaga Co NY Click on OK. In the Downloads folder, open the extracted file (Onondaga Co NY.hpe). It will appear as a favorites list in Sentinel. Department quick keys as follows:

DEPT QUICK KEYS
0. Systemwide
0. System Interop
1. System Medevac
2. OnonCo Misc
3. OnonCo Interop
4. OnonCo Emerg Ops
4. OnonCo Fire/EMS
5. OnonCo Sheriff
5. OnonCo Law
6. Syracuse Misc
7. Syracuse FD/EMS
8. Syracuse Law
9. New York State
*. Blank
(Note: * = None)

Thanks for posting this. I have this entered into my scanner.

I have taken the steps to lower squelch.
Digital ACG is OFF
I have switched the Decode to Manual and set it to 6.
Increased hold times.

Still not getting anything from this channel!

Working on getting Sentinel installed on my Mac to take a deeper dive into the settings.

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

Review post #3

Still not getting anything from this channel!

Go back and re-read post #3, that's likely your issue

 

[jtwalker]

Thanks for posting this. I have this entered into my scanner.

I have taken the steps to lower squelch.
Digital ACG is OFF
I have switched the Decode to Manual and set it to 6.
Increased hold times.

Still not getting anything from this channel!

Working on getting Sentinel installed on my Mac to take a deeper dive into the settings.

How did you put this file into your scanner if you don’t have Sentinel installed yet? 🧐

 

[EBENTON]

How did you put this file into your scanner if you don’t have Sentinel installed yet? 🧐

I used the zip code service and this was populated.

 

[jtwalker]

I used the zip code service and this was populated.

Not exactly the same and since you don’t have Sentinel and can’t update the HP database the information you are using when zip scanning could be years old and thus out of date.

Work on getting Sentinel running and that will not be an easy task on a Mac.

 

[tvengr]

If you install Sentinel and load the file into your scanner, it should work unless you are experiencing simulcast issues. This would eliminate any programming problems you may have. The favorites list will be much more specific to your area rather than using zip code scanning and you will have more control over what you wish to scan.

 

[tvengr]

What firmware version do you have in the scanner? Version 1.26.00 improved digital decoding. On your scanner, do the following: Press MENU > Scroll to Settings > Press E > Scroll to See Scanner Information > Press E > Scroll to Firmware Version > Press E. ---- Press AVOID to exit menus.