Official BCD996T Prerelease Thread

[ofd8001]

Time to end it

I agree enough has been said, and it probably doesn't matter one way or the other if Uniden does or does not have a prototype.

Look on the positive side. If we have the time to debate this, that must mean nothing of interest is going on our scanners, which means no one is having something miserable happening to them.

 

[yaesumofo]

996

You guys sure are silly.
Of course Uniden has some form of prototype. It may not be physical. It most certainly is in the prototype stage in the virtual sense.
The radio features are clearly based on the 396 that's a no brainier. The 396 is clearly running some form on Linux. That said it really is a matter of creating an expanded feature set which includes GPS (it mystifies me why they do not just stick a single chip GPS into the radio...silly not to) functions. not a big deal.
Any way There is probably no real working 996 radio but there certainly is a virtual unit on the design computers that have the radio part built virtually. The rest will come once design and feature set is settled upon by designers.
Don't you realize that when places like these forums are given information about projects that close attention is paid to OUR response. This is an important marketing tool used to determine our desire(in this case) for the base model version of the 396 radio.
I will say this if uniden doesnt put a secure digital slot on this radio allowing unlimited channels then they need to re think the whole concept.
Yaesumofo

 

[DaveIN]

As much as I like the idea, I'd say based on the current memory block size of 6000, SD is most likely not going to happen. As for the GPS feature set there are many GPS units (handheld and mobile) available on the market that should interface with the 996, so why add it. Some on this list have even expressed that that is not a feature that they would use.

I really like the idea of Unidens involvement in the scanner forums for our input. You can tell how well it's working by the feature set that is available on the current models and the growing list of features in future models on the board.

 

[budmci]

I guess a blue tooth connection with a GPS would be too much to ask!

 

[PJH]

Personally, I would like the sensitivity of the BC9000 retuned to the current line of scanners. I brought my in to work at the 911 center, and its great for all the lowband departments around here. I can't tell you how disappointed I was with the rx sensitivity on the 780 then the 796 I bought for work. Doesn't pick up half the traffic that the 9000 does...even on 800. My Astro Saber in my driveway will RX a TRS that's 40miles away, but the 780 with a nice discone antenna on the roof can't hear it. There is something wrong with that.

What would be nice of course...is OpenSky when we get it here in NY (and PA of course). With the state really pushing the SWN and all the volunteer agencies we have, that would be a major thing to have.

Of course, your pretty much as the mercy of MA/COM.

In insight to that?

Another feature that would be nice (it might have been touched upon) is being able to desinate a channel P25 only, or at least be able to enter NAC codes on a channel like PL/DPL. It is really annoying to put in a P25 channel with a distant station on it as well.

 

[Videokid]

I guess a blue tooth connection with a GPS would be too much to ask!

Although a built in Bluetooth module would be nice to have I don't know if I'd want a transmitter built into my scanner. It's low power and is at least a thousand MHz away from the average consumer scanner's frequency range, but still, it's yet another source of possible interference. A built in GPS would be a better solution. It could even have an external GPS antenna jack for an under-the-dash/under-the-seat installation.

 

[garys]

I've had enough experience with Bluetooth devices to know that it's a huge source of potential headaches. I'll stick with a cable for now, thanks.

Gary

 

[tennesseefreq]

I've had enough experience with Bluetooth devices to know that it's a huge source of potential headaches. I'll stick with a cable for now, thanks.

Gary

I agree with you 100%

 

[safetyobc]

per the wiki "Trunking Activity Indicators"

What is that?

 

[DaveIN]

per the wiki "Trunking Activity Indicators"

What is that?

The visual representation (a black square on the display) of active frequencies that turn on and off with trunked activity. The BC235XLT, BC245XLT, the RadioShack OEM versions, and the BCD396T and BR330T all have it. The 396 and 330 are not as useful because the function is attached to the Volume/Squelch display timeout. It only works with all the frequencies programed into memory (voice and control channels), not in control channel only. This could be the same on the 996.

 

[crony803]

Tone-Out Wish List

When the 396 was announced with fire tone-out, it was planned to be just one tone pair at a given time. When some noted that there was a need for multiple pairs to be monitered by some who were members of various units - fire, ems, hazmat, water rescue, etc., they made the change to up to ten pairs if on the same frequency. Paul and his team does listen to reasonable desires that are practical.

Well, if so, I've got a few suggestions:

1. I would love for the fire tone out to be able to monitor multiple frequencies for tone-out while in standby. I believe that this can be done and still be relatively dependable. I'm not sure of the technology required to detect these tones, but I would imagine that the scanner could scan a few channels (say county fire, county ems, city fire/ems, city2 fire/ems, etc) and whenver a transmission is received on one of the frequencies, it will stop briefly and listen for a "tone" similar to DCS and CTCSS decoding. If no tone is detected, or if a tone sequence is detected but does not match any sequence programmed in, it will continue scanning. As long as you keep the list of frequencies short, I think that could be accomplished and be fairly dependable in the process.

2. I also think it would be nice if you have the scanner alert on a matching tone-out while in a normal scan mode. While I certainly could not rely on this for response, it would be nice for the alert to sound to draw my attention to the scanner if I'm busy doing something else. Kind of like a channel beep alert. I think that this feature could be easily be added.

Just an idea (actually, 2 ideas)

 

[PJH]

Tone paging is based (usually) on two sets of tones. If the scanner only catches the 2nd tone, or depending on the paging format used, lenght, its not going to alert.

For it to accurately work properly, it needs to sit on a channel or be included in a short scan bank. Either way, it will never be as good as a dedicated pager or what not. Its just another little toy that doesn't have much function.

 

[rdale]

I wish they would take the toneout feature away so the 996T would be cheaper!

 

[mikea7531]

You really are not paying anything extra for the toneout feature - it's in the firmware, and the toneout was already developed from the 396t. Yes, Uniden may have to tweak some settings, but taking away toneout from the 996t is not going to drop the cost.

> that should be an otpion that you might want to download so
> you do NOT have to pay the full price unless you would really need it.

You aren't paying an extra penny for the GPS feature, so I don't follow your
line of reasoning at all...

Same principle applies that you've demonstrated on the Yahoo group, it's not a hardware change, so cost for toneout would be minimal at the most.

 

[rdale]

It was a joke in response to PJH's "toy" comment.

 

[DaveIN]

I'd like to see multiple a RF frequency list for tone-out and be able to link them together like search and scan.

 

[rdale]

As mentioned above, if you do more than one frequency you'll likely miss many of the tones - defeating the purpose.

 

[ofd8001]

Tone Paging - Multiple Frequencies

For those so interested, the new Motorola Minitor V pager will monitor 2 frequencies, both in tone control mode.

I've had one for a couple of months and it really does open up on either of the two channels it monitors while in tone control.

Motorola calls this feature "Silent Scan".

 

[safetyobc]

Would a feature that only detects tones work? For instance, if your scanner is scanning only for tones, and alert when one is found. Kinda like the DCS/CTCSS tone search. I think it could be done but I'm no radio expert. Instead of setting one particular tone, you could use the Fire Tone Out "Search" There are only so many tones, have the scanner preprogrammed with all of the tones and when one is detected by the scanner, it alerts you with the alert you have chosen. It may still require you to be in a different mode other than scanning but it's just an idea.

 

[Voyager]

For those so interested, the new Motorola Minitor V pager will monitor 2 frequencies, both in tone control mode.

I've had one for a couple of months and it really does open up on either of the two channels it monitors while in tone control.

Motorola calls this feature "Silent Scan".

Previous models had a disclaimer about scanning frequencies that they would not guarantee alerts if scan were used. I have't looked at the Min V specs yet, but did they remove that disclaimer?

On a related note, the Min V is a step backward IMO. It's all bulked up (much larger than the Min IV, III, or even II) and the return to a proprietary battery pack stinks. I can carry a spare set of AAA cells in my change pocket for the III or IV, or even a spare Min II cell if needed. The new battery is going to be a PITA to carry around with all the sharp edges. But, I'm sure we will make much more selling replacement batteries than on the IIIs and IVs.

Joe M.