BCD436HP/BCD536HP: No audio after turning on ?

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ham1946

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May 23, 2014
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I recently bought a BCD436HP and I'm old school and certainly struggling with learning all the features reading a "not so user friendly manual".
Problem:
I usually only listen to our county sheriff's department so I just press HOLD when I first hear them when scanning. Later, I'll turn the scanner off and charge the battery's and when I turn it back on .....as expected......the sheriff's information appears on the screen as it should and I should be able to hear audio coming through. The radio is silent......sometimes for hours even though the sheriff's info is displayed on the screen. If I press HOLD again to allow it to scan and re-press HOLD when I hear them again, everything seems normal and I hear audio again.
This also happens, of course, when I turn it off, swap the battery's and turn it back on again.....no audio for a time period long enough that a police department that size should have said something.
What am I doing wrong ?

THANKS (first post but it won't be my last with this scanner)
 

XTS3000

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This is one of the many "gremlin" bugs in the 436HP. This happens to me on conventional analog frequencies from what I've observed so far. It happens sometimes, other times not. There is no rhyme or reason to this gremlin bug.

I also often camp on a single conventional frequency, so what I do after a battery change is to rotate the top knob one click clockwise or counterclockwise to another frequency, then back to the frequency I want to monitor. That seems to fix the muted audio issue after a battery change or power toggle.

The bigger question is does this muted audio happen when in WX alert mode? Change the batteries and will alerts fail to be received? This will take some time to check and verify as WX alerts aren't going off daily (at least in my area).
 

ham1946

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THANKS for the help. I turned the knob as you suggested and the muted audio came back on. I would hope that Uniden will correct this issue with a software update.
 

davfin007

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I too am having an audio issue with my NEW BCD436HP. It tends to just go silent. I've tried the suggestions posted on this sight without any luck. I can however still hear audio by way of the ear phone output jack. Anything new as for as suggestions? It has the latest on-line updates as well.
 

Voyager

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You said you tried all the suggestions - including cleaning the earphone jack?
 

ham1946

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May 23, 2014
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My audio problem is the same as XTS3000's note above. One time it does it and other times not. If I don't hear anything for awhile I'll "scan" for awhile until I hear something and then go back to my most listened to frequency and all is well again. I should probably connect it to my PC for the latest factory updates too.
What really bugs me about this scanner is contantly having to enter the date and time before using it. Just when you hear several sirens going off your entering a date and time instead of listening to whats going on.
 

Voyager

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If you update your firmware, you won't have to do that (update the time).
 

ham1946

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May 23, 2014
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THANKS Voyager for the suggestion and I'll bet the fireware update will fix a lot of other issues with my 436. Now if we just had a "user friendly" owner's manual for it !
 

sparklehorse

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I usually only listen to our county sheriff's department so I just press HOLD when I first hear them when scanning.

Are you scanning the database, or have you set up a Favorites List or two? If you set up Favorites Lists you can assign Number Tags to your favorite channels, then easily navigate to whatever you want to listen to with a few button clicks. No waiting for a transmission while your scanner scans away.

.
 

davfin007

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May 24, 2009
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I own two BCD436HP radios. With the newer one, (just 2 months old-arrived brand new in a sealed box) the audio quit working with the internal speaker. Uniden would not honor the warranty because they said "I bought the radio on-line on an E-Bay account" therefore I'll have to pay close to $100 in order for them to repair it-once sent back to the factory." Really-are you kidding me? This is in spite of the fact it has a full one year factory warranty. After begging the person at Uniden customer service, he finally agreed to send me a new replacement speaker (#BSPG0631001/BC125AT SPEAKER) at no cost, in order for me to replace it on my own. It was a 5-min job, no solder needed, it just pops in the unit and this fixed the problem. It appears that the tiny speakers used in the BCD436HP are very suspect, based on the postings.
 

Voyager

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There is an entire thread detailing the fact that Uniden considers eBay sales to be 'used equipment sales only'.
 
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