Well, maybe if one of the moderators will make a BR330T sticky in the Uniden forum I'll have time to fill in some details after the plane lands. Boarding in a few minutes, so no time to make a long post right now.
Official BCD396T Discussion Thread (Pre-release)
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bg_nashville
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Looks like that is a Nascar logo directly below the display on the 330T.
TXFirefighter112 said:
Well, among the many features, the main reason most people are going to get it is for:
-- TrunkTracker IV: Motorola analog and APCO 25 digital (including 700MHz), EDACS, and LTR trunktracking.
-- Flexible 5000+ channels Memory Management system
-- Simultaneous Scanning and Searching: Lets you include search ranges to check during scanning operation.
-- Close Call(tm) RF Capture
-- 100 System Quick Keys
-- Individual Alert Settings: Select from 9 different alert patterns and set an alert volume independent from the master volume setting.
-- Fire Tone-Out
-- Frequency Auto-Store
-- ID AutoStore
-- APCO Automatic Decode Threshold Adjust: Automatically sets the correct decode threshold for each system.
-- On-Air Cloning
-- Audio AGC: provides better balanced audio between channels and sources.
-- Full computer control
And a plethora of other features that either have not been available before or at least not all in one package.
Of course, if you don't care or need any of the features above then it's pointless to try and justify them for you.
P.S. Everybody checked out UPMan's new avatar?
safetyobc
Member
It should be free though for the price that we are paying for some of these radios. I'll be honest though, Butels software it much better.Voyager said:
safetyobc
Member
Dubbin said:
I agree the ARC software is far superior but for $99 I'll live with the Uniden supplied software!
Also, I hope the keys are more durable than on the 246T. I have had my 246T for about 3 months or so and the words on the "Hold" button and the "E" button are starting to fade. I am disappointed in this too, I programmed my scanner with software. I do use those buttons regularly but on my 250D which I programmed all by hand, and had over a year, it never ever had any fading of the keys. I hope that after I drop more than $500 (which is a lot to a working class man like myself) that the keys hold up better.
I would not count on it being that much yet. Those may just be numbers that he threw on that page that is just a draft and not meant to be published yet.safetyobc said:
Dubbin said:
I will grant you that it does more. But I would debate 'better' on two fronts.
First, the UASD programs by 246 fine. That's all I need from software. The UASD serves that purpose fine. If I were to buy ARC246T, I would be paying $10 more than the cost of the UASD for very little benefit TO ME. (emphasis on those last two words - remember, all I need from the SW is scanner programming).
Second, I never use my portable scanner with PC logging. Maybe I should try it, but most of the time I use my portable scanner in the field. Maybe for a base scanner I could justify the extra features ARC offers, but not for a portable. It's kinda like putting wings on a tractor. It still won't make it fly.
The only real problem I have with Butel is his obsession to put down the UASD. I'm all for promoting your strengths, but not by going the extra mile to put the competition down. And HE HAS in the past posted information comparing the ARC246T SW to UASD 246 that was downright wrong. He was comparing his future features to UASD's pre-release features (specifically the single system UL/DL), not apples to apples as it should be.
To better illustrate what I mean, let me use the PRO-96 as an example. Win96 has a much greater market share of users for the PRO-96 than ARC246T does for the BC246T. Almost everyone using PRO-96 SW is using Win96. Yet, Don doesn't make it a point to brag about his wonderful SW. There is a word (actually, several) for that, but I won't criticize Gommert. I'll just say Don sets an excellent example for someone who is clearly on top in his game.
I will add that $99 (I KNOW it's jsut a preliminary price) is too steep for an ARC246T class SW over a UASD 246 class SW if the UASD is free. I would hope others will consider that it's just preliminary data and not hold that against Gommert. Again, it comes back to that 'difference' I was talking about - not going around touting how ARC396 will cost $100 more than UASD 396. We know the UASD will be free, but it's not fair to Gommert to use that figure as his final price. Agreed?
Joe M.
No I dont agree. I expect more out of my software then you do so there is no way we can agree. I just feel that the Uniden sofware is clunky crap but that is my opinion. Just look how many people had problems with it and the 246.Voyager said:
safetyobc
Member
I also respectfully disagree. I think Gommert has done an excellent idea marketing and answering any questions I (and many others) have had. He participates daily in the yahoo group for ARC246 and is quick to answer questions or even release fixes to bugs found! If he put down Uniden's software it was probably because someone asked the difference or something like that!
Dubbin said:
Are you SURE you want to compare specs on people who have issues with both SW packages? I've seen a ton of people with problems with ARC246T compared to relatively few with UASD. There still seem to be some really severe bugs in ARC246T. A review of the ARC246T Yahoo list will show what I mean. I know you're a diehard fan of ARC246T, but if you look at the commets objectively, I don't think your opinion can be substantiated. As for problems with the 246, I know of one since its release. It's been fixed via a firmware upgrade. I've never seen any bugs since. Yes, there have been people with problems understanding DYNAMIC MEMORY, but that has nothing to do with either SW package or the scaner itself.
As I said, the UASD does what I need it to do - program the scanner. Why should I expect it to do more if it does everything I need? Should I expect it to make coffee, too? (rhetorical question - no need to answer)
But, maybe if you qualify your opinion in terms that are more than calling it names ("clunky crap"), we can discuss the matter. Maybe in another thread would be better. I really don't see how you can argue that it doesn't program the scanner well. There is a copy-n-paste issue, but that's the only issue I've seen with it. I will give ARC246T that.
Joe M.
safetyobc said:
And if he is so responsive to fix bugs, doesn't that tell you that there are bugs to fix? How many versions of ARC246T have there been? I will also concede that he is more responsive than Uniden. That is usually a problem dealing with any large corporation. If Butel ever approaches the size of Uniden, I'm sure you won't see that level of personal service - it would be quite literally impossible for anyone.
As for his putting down UASD, no. I asked him why he was saying that UASD would not support single systems when Uniden said it would by the time it was released, and his reply was that 'well, their current (prerelease) SW doesn't support them, and we plan to, so I'm putting on the web page the current UASD features against our final release version' (paraphrased - not a direct quote). That was BEFORE ARC246T was even available, so if you want to compare current versions, ARC246T had NO features yet.
All I am expecting is a fair comparison of features. If you are going to use your final feature set, you should use the same of your competition.
Joe M.
Joe I'm not going to get in a big debate about it. All I was saying is that I want more out of the software then you do such as controlling the radio and logging to where you just want it to program the radio. There have been MANY people asking for help with something as simple as programming with the Uniden software (I dont even see a simple read from radio button). Butels is so easy to use that you must be a complete moron if you cant figure it out on your own. As far as bugs go in the sofware, I have yet to find anything major. If there is a major bug it is fixed ASAP. Anyway since we do not use the software in the same way then theres no need for us to keep discussing this. You like Unidens and I like Butels and thats fine.
So I'm guessing that the demo will not read what I have in the radio???Voyager said:
Dubbin said:
Hmmm... I know it will only write the 'magic 4' systems (Conventional, Motorola, EDACS, LTR). I think it does read them all. I think the only restriction is on the writing vs system names. You also can't not erase the scanner. That's so you don't load 4 systems / rename / load 4 more / rename / Etc. to get around the limitation.
Joe M.
Butel puts out some very well respected and high quality software by most accounts.
Yes, the only restriction to the UASD demo is that it limits you to writing only 4 systems to the scanner. All other functions (reading from the scanner, editing all system types, scanner control, etc) work in the demo without restriction.
Yes, the only restriction to the UASD demo is that it limits you to writing only 4 systems to the scanner. All other functions (reading from the scanner, editing all system types, scanner control, etc) work in the demo without restriction.
Thanks Paul!!! I'm taking a second look at it now.UPMan said:
ARC396 will be 39.95 just like ARC246, the webpage that is referred to is a draft version and is not correct. Apprently google indexed the page.
We are also developing PRO versions of ARC246 and ARC396 that will do wav recording.
I am in Dayton demonstrating the ARC246 and other software packages in Scannermaster booth 402.
Gommert
We are also developing PRO versions of ARC246 and ARC396 that will do wav recording.
I am in Dayton demonstrating the ARC246 and other software packages in Scannermaster booth 402.
Gommert
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