Official BCD996T Post Release Thread

[compubandit]

Cutting out

I am still programming and learning how to use the BCD996T but have found a problem I can not find an answer for. On ever channel I lose part of the conversation. The scanner stays on that channel but cuts out after 2-3 seconds. Then comes back on the cuts out again after 2-3 seconds. Once the conversation is over it continues to scan fine.
What am I doing wrong.

Thanks,

Spacenerd

Check to see if you have the weather feature turned on. Mine was and it checks that channel every 5 seconds or so for a weather broadcast. I turned mine off and the cut offs stopped.

 

[STiMULi]

I am still programming and learning how to use the BCD996T but have found a problem I can not find an answer for. On ever channel I lose part of the conversation. The scanner stays on that channel but cuts out after 2-3 seconds. Then comes back on the cuts out again after 2-3 seconds. Once the conversation is over it continues to scan fine.
What am I doing wrong.

Thanks,

Spacenerd

Is there any priorty on? That is what I would check first.

Rick,

I have my Pro-2096 on the KASIS P25 system right beside the 996T. The 2096 would pick up the signal and transmit voice well before the 996T. The scan time on each site seems very slow. I changed the hold time to zero but that only helped a little.

For as much hype that was given on the new unit I figured it would scan at least like the old 780XLT I have... but it doesn't nor does it come close to the 2096.

I have a Pro96 but I do not own a 396. I will then be able to compare it in he same manner as you have.

I did not buy the 996 to be better than the 96 as you may have. I bought the 996 for its flexible programming and the GPS capabilities. Since I know owners of the 396 are very happy with thier radios I was pretty sure that UNIDEN was not going to build a lesser radio.

Yes, many people state that the pro96/2096 is a superior radio to the Uniden in voice quality and P25 reception I did not spend $519 so UNIDEN could one up GRE for a millisecond or 2 of voice or scanning time.

I am interested in your input but you have not given specifics that are measurable as to why you are "disappointed".

 

[spacenerd]

Thanks Richard, that fixed the problem.
Spacenerd

 

[Asmitty0010]

Fire tone out

hey, has anybody tired the Fire Tone out option yet on the BCD996T?

 

[DaveIN]

Sure, its working great. I could use a few more tone lists, but it works as advertised. Used it last night.

 

[kikito]

You are correct about Ohio being a 3600 system, interestingly enough, there are no analog talkgroups on the system at all. I am not sure why it is not a P25 system.

Because the P25 specs mandate and use a 9600bps control channel.

The P25 "standards suite" is a LOT more than just digital voice.

Your 3600bps CCh system is still a P16 type of system that happens to use P25 digital voice.

 

[doctordave]

My 996 radios will arrive Monday.....have used my existing 396 files as the database for the Uniden 996 software. For some reason, the appropriate trunking frequencies are listed within the systems....but there are multiple blank rows under the freqs and I simply cannot get rid of them by either using "cut" or "delete." I'm not certain these extra/empty rows will cause any radio function issues or waste any significant memory, but would like to clean things up a bit. Anyone have suggestions? Thanks much, in advance.

 

[ofd8001]

In the USAD System editor, in the group containing the channels you wish to delete, highlight the row(s) you wish to delete. Go to the "EDIT" button at the top left, and click on that. Go down to the very bottom of that panel, and you will see DELETE CHANNEL. Click the DELETE CHANNEL and they should be gone.

I know that works for me, and I just verified that it would.

 

[doctordave]

Peculiar....I have the "delete channel" option off the "edit" tab for my conventional systems.....but for trunked systems, within the frequencies pages, I only have "delete" and not "delete channel" off the edit tab and I actually have a free-standing "delete frequency" tab (outside of the edit list). Neither will do squat to zap out the unwanted rows.

 

[timkilbride]

Slow scan speed?

I have only saw one other person mention the slow scan. Mine scans 7 systems and three of them are trunked. The other 4 systems are conventional and have a combined 40-50 frequencies. Total time to scan that is 18 seconds. Seems kind of slow, maybe not? Anyone else timed there scan yet?

Tim K.

 

[DaveIN]

Change your Setting Channel Delay Time:

[MENU] ->Program System ->F
Select a system ->F
Edit Sys Option ->F
Set Delay Time ->F
This setting controls how many seconds the scanner waits after a transmission
ends before resuming scanning. Enter a value from [1] to [5] or Off,
then press F.
Notes:
• The default setting is 2 seconds for each system.
• This setting applies to all channels within the system.

 

[timkilbride]

The 18 seconds was a full scan with no transmissions on any channel.

Tim K.

 

[WX5JCH]

Check your system hold times, it can be adjusted down from the 2, the default, to 0 or 1 -it works good for me.

Jim

 

[mharris]

Because the P25 specs mandate and use a 9600bps control channel.

The P25 "standards suite" is a LOT more than just digital voice.

Your 3600bps CCh system is still a P16 type of system that happens to use P25 digital voice.

I understand all that, what I was getting at was why the state didn't go with the P25 standard to begin with.

 

[W1PC]

ICall Display

When receiving an ICall, my 996T displays the TG number, not the Alpha tag "ICall" that I programmed in. I used the ICall wild card TG ID 700000 in the UASD software. My other Unidens (796D, 785D) would display the Alpha tag when receiving an ICall.

Do I need to program the 996T differently or is this just the way the 996T deals with ICalls?

 

[timkilbride]

Below are the lat/long I want to enter in my 996T.

41° 55' 29.9999" Latitude
93° 4' 5.9988" Longitude

Do I put a zero in front the 4 and 5 for the longitude? Or just enter in 9345.9988? Seems to me if I don't put in the zero's it will mess up my longitude and won't turn my system on when I get within range.

Thanks,
Tim K.

 

[W1PC]

Below are the lat/long I want to enter in my 996T.

41° 55' 29.9999" Latitude
93° 4' 5.9988" Longitude

Do I put a zero in front the 4 and 5 for the longitude? Or just enter in 9345.9988? Seems to me if I don't put in the zero's it will mess up my longitude and won't turn my system on when I get within range.

Thanks,
Tim K.

If you are entering the lat/lon in UASD, you do not need to put in the leading zero. If you are entering it directly in the 996T with the menu function, you need to enter the zero for the longitude but not the latitude. Remember that longitudes in the US are West and you need to enter them as negative numbers in UASD. Your longitude should be entered as -930405.99 in UASD and 0930405.99 if entering it directly in the 996T (it defaults to West longitude).

 

[MacombMonitor]

Display Light Stopped Working...

The display light stopped working on my BCD996T after two days. No Bright, Dim, Green, Red, nothing. Doubled checked all the settings, still no luck. Just sitting on my desk this happened. Anyone else?

Bill

 

[bratsch]

display light

That is a bummer, I have not even received mine yet, now I am already worried, I know radio shack was having problems with there one batch of radios also with the light issue. I hope its just something simple for you. I will be watching mine when I get it this coming week...Good luck, anybody else...

 

[STiMULi]

Hmmmm

Try this:

Setting and Using the Backlight
The LCD has a backlight that can be set to green or red with three levels of
intensity for each color plus OFF.
To make your selection, press [VOL]. Each time you press the control, the
backlight cycles in the following order.
OFF — Low Intensity Green — Medium Intensity Green — High Intensity Green —
Low Intensity Red — Medium Intensity Red — High Intensity Red
When you stop at the desired level, the scanner remembers your setting the next
time you turn on the scanner.
You can also set the backlight using the menu.

Setting the Dimmer
If you connect the orange wire to a wire in your car that changes state when you
turn on the headlights, the scanner can automatically dim the display when you
turn on the headlights.
Tapping [VOL] overrides the menu setting and cycles through all backlight
settings.
[MENU] Settings
Set Backlight
Set Dimmer
Auto — Use this setting if you have connected the scanner to your vehicle’s
headlights using the orange wire. If you have connected the wire, the scanner
automatically dims the backlight when you turn on the headlights. After selecting
this option, select either:
+ Polarity — If the headlight wire is connected to +12V when the headlights
are on.
- Polarity — If the headlight wire is connected to vehicle ground when the
headlights are on.

Manual — Use this setting to manually set the dimmer level to High, Middle,
Low, or Off. To guide you in your selection, at each setting the display shows what you can expect to see.

Hope that does it for you!