Official BCD996T Post Release Thread

[kikito]

I don't hold out much hope that Uniden or GRE will respond in the near future with a firmware or software upgrade or even a new digital scanner model to deal with these vhf P25 trs uniques due to the fact there are so few of them currently in existence. I believe several states have plans to install vhf P25 trs so manufacturers will have to deal with these technical unique trs processing issues sooner or later. I hope it's sooner. Maybe Uniden will add another user trunked scan option called "MotorolaAPCO25MP" for multi-packet trs.

I do have hope and think it's very possible to have some kind of firmware update to deal with this Multi-Packet issue. Even if it's just to tell the scanner to ignore the Multi-Packet messages and concentrate on decoding the active voice channels, which ironically, should be one of the few things (and most important) the scanner should care about unlike the real radios.

About the amount of VHF systems out there, I think there's over a dozen significant VHF P25 systems out there and more in the plans. The Multi-Packet type, there's less of those but it's something that many systems will get upgraded to sooner or later, so yeah, most likely the scanner manufacturers will figure out something....

 

[W4UVV]

Hope So

I do have hope and think it's very possible to have some kind of firmware update to deal with this Multi-Packet issue. Even if it's just to tell the scanner to ignore the Multi-Packet messages and concentrate on decoding the active voice channels, which ironically, should be one of the few things (and most important) the scanner should care about unlike the real radios.

About the amount of VHF systems out there, I think there's over a dozen significant VHF P25 systems out there and more in the plans. The Multi-Packet type, there's less of those but it's something that many systems will get upgraded to sooner or later, so yeah, most likely the scanner manufacturers will figure out something....

As far as I can tell our posts seem to be the only in depth discussion about the multipackets reception problem. I haven't checked other forums but in time it will get more visibility as trsmps become operational or current trs upgraded and scanner users realize they are missing some comms. I believe in Virginia it has not received more attention for a couple of reasons. First, most if not all 396/996T users aren't aware they are missing some STARS comms. Secondly, Division 1, the first STARS installation area, is mostly central Virginia which does not have the larger number of scanner users as do northern Virginia/DC/MD and the Tidewater areas. When their times come for STARS installations in the next few years, if the problem isn't fixed before either with a firmware/ software update, you can bet the problem will be a hot topic of conversation and result in some unhappy scanner owners and subsequent complaints to Uniden.

The big storm passing through Virginia yesterday and as expected there were a high volume of STARS voice comms. I was receiving as many if not more STARS comms on my 796D doing a conventional scan of the STARS repeater sites voice frequencies than on the 996T in the Motorola APCO25 trunked scan mode. That's not good. If and when you have any information of a firmware/software 396T/996T fix please post it and private email me.

 

[FlashP]

multipackets elsewhere

The multipacket issue probably explains why the 396 can't deal with IWN in Washington, while the 796 does okay.

 

[SCPD]

Temp Lockout feature in 996- why not the 396??

Hi Paul.
I was discussing this feature in the 996 with someone in Uniden Australia's head office. The temporary lockout feature isa great idea. Shame its not in the 396. As I have a 996 and a 396 I would like to see this feature in both radios. What does everyone else think?
I was told this probably would not happen anywhere unless it was pushed by demand in the US market. If you guys in the US don't want a feature, no one else seems to get it else where in the world.
Shame really, as temporary lockout in the 396 would be simple to add to any next firmware upgrade.
What do other 396 users think about this? Seems the designers in Japan would rather leave this feature out until the next hand held model is released. In other words, they would rather you put up without it until a new model comes out, and expect you to buy the newer model.

 

[FlashP]

Missed 396/996 features

Temporary lockouts would be nice, but I put it at a tenth the importance of going back to per-channel delay settings and 'negative' delays. In this land of intermod, I have to keep hitting 'resume' on non-CTCSS/DCS channels when going through tough neighborhoods. Bad enough on a handheld, inexcusable on a mobile where you're supposed to be watching the road.

 

[Uplink]

Hi Paul.
I was discussing this feature in the 996 with someone in Uniden Australia's head office. The temporary lockout feature isa great idea. Shame its not in the 396. As I have a 996 and a 396 I would like to see this feature in both radios. What does everyone else think?
I was told this probably would not happen anywhere unless it was pushed by demand in the US market. If you guys in the US don't want a feature, no one else seems to get it else where in the world.
Shame really, as temporary lockout in the 396 would be simple to add to any next firmware upgrade.
What do other 396 users think about this? Seems the designers in Japan would rather leave this feature out until the next hand held model is released. In other words, they would rather you put up without it until a new model comes out, and expect you to buy the newer model.

I have both 996 & 396 too, great scanners. I LOVE THE TEMPORARY LOCKOUT Yes, it would be great in an upgrade. (While on the subject of upgrades, it would be nice if we didn't have to PUSH IN THE KNOB to adjust volume on the 396.)

 

[JASII]

Control Channel Search on the BC996

I just started playing around with the Control Channel Search function on the BC996. I do like that it finds BOTH Motorola control channels AND active LTR frequencies. I am just wondering what experiences others have had with this.

 

[JGP]

I just started playing around with the Control Channel Search function on the BC996. I do like that it finds BOTH Motorola control channels AND active LTR frequencies. I am just wondering what experiences others have had with this.

I find this control channel search a useful tool. There are times when conditions are right to get Motorola systems from out of state to monitor.

Also LTR systems add a new frequency to the system or remove one and replace it with another. This is a good way to find these frequencies.

 

[RoninJoliet]

I do not own "yet" the 996 but that CChannel custom search on the Uniden 396 that i do own here in IL while they build the IL Starcom digital 700-800 system has been fantastic in finding new 700 data channels and tower number locations....Thanks to Uniden PS: The RS PRO96/2096 also shows in both 700 and 800 the same info when you locate a CChannel....

 

[JASII]

JGP,

One thing that I haven't figured out yet is if I push the lock-out button while monitoring an LTR frequency, does the radio lock-out the frequency or just that talk-group?

 

[JGP]

JGP,

One thing that I haven't figured out yet is if I push the lock-out button while monitoring an LTR frequency, does the radio lock-out the frequency or just that talk-group?

JASII,

This is a good question. I don't know for sure, but I will have to say that the frequency gets locked out. The radio checks the frequency first and than shows the tgid.

Can anyone else add to this question?

 

[JASII]

I am trying another variation on the routine today to help identify frequencies. I have just one frequency in an LTR CC search and then I scan that same frequency with PL/DPL search on. I will check the history log of the ARC996 later to see is any LTR or PL/DPL subaudible signalling was present.

 

[DaveIN]

I just started playing around with the Control Channel Search function on the BC996. I do like that it finds BOTH Motorola control channels AND active LTR frequencies. I am just wondering what experiences others have had with this.

It works on the 396 too. It's a great feature when your out of town or there is a DX opening. If you catch a statewide system and just want to know the what the SysID and tower number is, you can press Hold, then Func+5 to display just the numbers, just as you do to check talkgroup numbers or frequencies vs. alpha tags during ID search or Scan.

LTR works too, but I have gotten false readings from EDACS control channels at times.

 

[pointy]

I was of the opinion that the 396 and 996 both only do Motorola CC only? Have I missed something?

 

[W4KRR]

I was of the opinion that the 396 and 996 both only do Motorola CC only? Have I missed something?

No, you haven't missed anything. They both do CC only trunking for Motorola systems.

 

[JASII]

Just to clarify for Pointy, when you do a Control Channel Search it finds BOTH Motorola Control Channels AND frequencies that have LTR data. The term is certainly something of a misnomer because when I first heard CC Search I thought it would be of little value to me because I already had most of the Motorola Control Channels in my area. The added functionality of finding LTR frequencies is a plus for me because I am still working on LTR systems in my area.

 

[SCPD]

250 TG limit... Why????

I love my 996, which has now moved into the family car. I spent a good while working out what talk groups I was going to have to have in it while i was driving around. Of course I put in everything I could think of that was interesting to me, totally forgetting about the 250 TG limit per system. The Uniden software let me add in what I wanted, without limiting the amount of Tgs per system, that is until you go to program it into the 996 itself, then your upload is stopped in its tracks informing you of the over blown system files that have to many TG.
While I will now have to go back and rectify this, my question is why is the scanner limited to 250 TG a system, when you can fill it with as many conventional channels as the memory can fill.
How come TGs are restricted in this way? I'm guessing something to do with the memory blocks in the scanner. Or the time it takes for the 996 to go through and detect Tgs on the system with whats in the memory.
Can anyone ( UPman) answer this one)???

 

[Jay911]

More observations now that I can actually USE it, now that I have a car antenna instead of the telescoping whip set up inside the car -

1. For those who bemoaned the lack of a resume button, while the radio is sitting on a freq/channel (but not in Hold mode), flick the big knob one direction or the other. I.e., if you're scanning "up", flick it clockwise. The radio will resume scanning in that direction.

2. I don't think this has been mentioned before - but Paul, please consider this for a future firmware update: Make the sound for a system being UNLOCKED the opposite of the sound for a system being locked. Example - right now they both go "high-low" in tone. I think that making the unlocking tone "low-high" instead would be a handy feature, so I could know by sound whether I'm expanding or contracting my monitored systems list.

Other than that, as I say, I'm only really getting to know the thing properly now. I do like what I've seen so far, though sometimes it's hard to hit lockout the right number of times before the radio moves on - maybe that's my delay settings, I don't know. The one thing I do miss is the frequency displayed on trunk transmissions and the ability to see it quickly like on the 396 with a Func+5 keypress (while in Hold). I admit I haven't read the manual yet, so I'm clearly just missing how to activate that with the new radio - other than going through the menus to edit system, group, channel, then edit frequency, to see it there.

 

[h8tdigitalradio]

The one thing I do miss is the frequency displayed on trunk transmissions and the ability to see it quickly like on the 396 with a Func+5 keypress (while in Hold). I admit I haven't read the manual yet, so I'm clearly just missing how to activate that with the new radio - other than going through the menus to edit system, group, channel, then edit frequency, to see it there.

Press HOLD/RESUME, then F-KNOB + 0 to change to Display MODE 2. Alpha Tag, Frequency, and TG are displayed. It can be left in Display Mode 2 if you desire.

HTHs

73

Dave AKA The Tripzter

 

[DaveIN]

Mode 2 is a nice display option, I'd like to see it on other Dynamic Memory models.