Official BCD996T Prerelease Thread

[K5MAR]

Yes they do...you would have to go back to pre-Pentium days to find a box without PCI slots...and I'd be surprised to find a box that old still running.

Then be surprised! There are alot of 386 and 486 machines still performing tasks suited to their abilities. You don't need a 2.xx ghz machine with 513mb of ram and a gaming video card to program radios. In fact, with Moto software, you are better off with a 386, the software won't operate on machines much faster.

Mark S.

edit: I've still got my Commodore 128 sitting on my desk, it runs some programs (like my X-10 controller) that do a perfectly satisfactory job, never saw any need to go out and find (and buy) PC versions, just to replace something that works the way it is. Like the saying goes, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

 

[rescue161]

Still using an IBM 486SX 25 MHz with 4MB RAM to program my radios!

 

[gg750]

I never said you had to have the latest and greatest to program radios...I was just stating that you'd have to have a REALLY old computer for it not to have a PCI slot. I program my radios with an old Compaq laptop with a PII in it...but I bought it specifically for that task since my newer computers don't have serial ports at all.

I know that old computers are great for 2-way radios such as Motorola's and Kenwoods, since most of their software is DOS based anyway, but in the case of newer model scanners, most programming software requires Windows 98 or later. I don't think 98 will run on anything older than an original Pentium (maybe a 486, but at a painfully slow pace).

Not trying to discount serial, but I'm glad Uniden is moving in the USB direction. Although I do agree with several others that it would be great if they had left the option open for both connections to be used...then everyone would be happy.

G

 

[KWs]

I cant wait ! the 785 & 296D will have to keep me occupied till then.
Of course based on past release dates .. I'm thinking late summer '06.

 

[rdale]

"Of course based on past release dates .. I'm thinking late summer '06"

396T came out on schedule as I recall, and the 330T was ahead of schedule, so I'm curious what makes you think this will be delayed?

 

[KWs]

I seem to recall we were tortured on release date teases for the 296 & 796.
Or maybe i was just like the kid at Christmas .. days seem like months !

 

[Voyager]

"Of course based on past release dates .. I'm thinking late summer '06"

396T came out on schedule as I recall,

Nope. Release date of the 396 was 'late summer'. That's the latter part of August. It actually came out the first part of July nearly two months early.

Joe M.

 

[Southtown800]

any pics yet?

 

[rdale]

"any pics yet?"

Just the one in the Wiki...

 

[wesct]

Nope. Release date of the 396 was 'late summer'. That's the latter part of August. It actually came out the first part of July nearly two months early.

Joe M.

Uniden claims "Available Summer '05"


wesct

 

[rdale]

The point remains that they hit or beat the last two release dates, so there's no need to think they will miss this one.

 

[bcast]

Feature request

During any search mode or close call mode, when the scanner stops on an active frequency that is stored in memory, the display indicates (somehow) that the hit is already stored in a memory position. Perhaps the display could alternate between the search hit & the memory entry (or entries, if there are multiples). This could assist the scanner user with frequency identification & memory allocation decisions.

If this has been discussed elsewhere in the thread, or if this is an actual feature already, my apologies.

 

[Voyager]

Uniden claims "Available Summer '05"


wesct

Hindsight is great, isn't it? Yes, that was the end availability date. From the announcement in early January until 6/1/05, the availability was "Late Summer, 2005".

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BCD396T/message/979

On 6/1, this was changed to "Early to Mid summer"
http://www.radioreference.com/forums/showthread.php?p=111466&highlight=%22Late+Summer#post111466

And actual availability was June 28, 2005.

So the actual 'available' date was Summer 2005 as their site says. That doesn't mean that the projected availability was the same. I'm sure they will hit and publish the release date of the 996 dead on after it's released, too!

Joe M.

 

[oregontreehugger]

Another couple of suggestions for the 996:

1. I see from the picture on the Wiki page that there appears to be a large knob on the right hand side of the scanner. If this is going to be for scrolling through the menu and selecting channels/frequencies, can the knob please be textured or rubber coated? From the looks of the preliminary picture, it appears smooth or chrome-covered.

2. It would be GREAT if the unit included a LTR "sleuthing" ability like the Radio Shack Pro-97 and 2055.

As always, thank you Uniden for listening!

 

[cg]

Paul,
Since we are only about 6 weeks from CES, how is it looking for a 996 to be there? Yourself? I plan on going so it would be nice to see the radio or at least meet the Uniden folks.

My wish would be for programmable front panel buttons for a single function or a series of functions. Anyway, looks good so far.

chris
hiker8261@cox.net

 

[UPMan]

I should have all four of the 1H2006 models at CES in some form (some rougher than others).

 

[Schnoor1648]

I can see that I haven't been paying close enough attention to this thread lately. What are the four 1H2006 models? I suspect one of them is the BC996, but what are the other three? Also, this is probably getting a little off-topic, but I just learned that Garmin has several new GPS receivers that also are capable of XM satellite radio reception. Lets see, if I had money to burn, I could get a nice new SUV, install the BC996, and connect it to a Garmn StreetPilot 7500 http://www.garmin.com/products/sp7500/ That would be great for a true road warrior. Scanning all the traffic, staying on track with GPS, and cool listening from the satellite. Oh well, back to reality now.

 

[Voyager]

Also, this is probably getting a little off-topic, but I just learned that Garmin has several new GPS receivers that also are capable of XM satellite radio reception. Lets see, if I had money to burn, I could get a nice new SUV, install the BC996, and connect it to a Garmn StreetPilot 7500 http://www.garmin.com/products/sp7500/

Suggested Retail Price:
$1938.45 U.S.D. (for domestic US market only)



Hey Paul, how about a scanner with XM built in? (For a list price under a grand)

Joe M.

 

[RESCUE4NFD]

Bcd996t

Love those BEARCATS!!!

 

[UPMan]

I can see that I haven't been paying close enough attention to this thread lately. What are the four 1H2006 models?

Ah, you're right. I'm getting ahead of myself, as we've only announced three:

• BCD996T
• BC340CRS
• BC370CRS

Announcement for the 4th isn't until CES.