Official BCD996T Prerelease Thread

[ButchGone]

What 996 picture?

I looked at the WIKI page and could not find the picture of the 996 people are talking about. Can anyone give a hint as to where on the WIKI page it is? Is there anyway someone can post picture in this thread? Thanx

 

[safetyobc]

http://www.radioreference.com/wiki/index.php/BCD996T click the pic on the right for an enlarged view.

 

[dfw1417]

What is this indicator/button for?

Just to the lower right of the FUNC button there is an indicator or button of some type. What is this for? I did not see it labled.

Thanks.

http://www.radioreference.com/wiki/index.php/BCD996T click the pic on the right for an enlarged view.

 

[kikito]

Just to the lower right of the FUNC button there is an indicator or button of some type. What is this for? I did not see it labled.

Thanks.

That's the front computer connector (the small type like in the handheld).
And then the actual DB9 one is on the back.

That's all according to the info know to date.

 

[bear105]

Does anybody know the freqs ranges that this scanner will do? Is it gonna go to 1300Mhz like the BR330T or will it have the same ranges as the BCD396T??

 

[kikito]

Does anybody know the freqs ranges that this scanner will do? Is it gonna go to 1300Mhz like the BR330T or will it have the same ranges as the BCD396T??

According to the first post of this thread, which is also the Official release announcement,
it'' be from 25 to 1300MHz, and probably the same as the BCD396T.

It's also on the wiki:

http://radioreference.com/wiki/index.php/BCD996T

 

[rdale]

"According to the first post of this thread, which is also the Official release announcement,"

Maybe we should put this info in the Wiki?

"It's also on the wiki"

Maybe we should have this info in the thread too?

 

[bear105]

"According to the first post of this thread, which is also the Official release announcement," Maybe we should put this info in the Wiki?
"It's also on the wiki"
Maybe we should have this info in the thread too?

Yea..sorry...its there but its buried in there....

 

[kikito]

Yea..sorry...its there but its buried in there....

That, it is (buried).


Maybe we can have UPMan update the wiki to show the coverage on the feature summary area and to also show the coverage broken down by the bands it covers.

 

[John_M]

I don't understand all the hype about a scanner that is still in development. At least with the 396t Uniden waited until the unit was certified by the FCC. Isn't this a little premature? There isn't even a working prototype of this scanner. Just my opinion.

 

[kikito]

I don't understand all the hype about a scanner that is still in development. At least with the 396t Uniden waited until the unit was certified by the FCC. Isn't this a little premature? There isn't even a working prototype of this scanner. Just my opinion.

Because NOW is when we need to let Uniden/Paul O. our likes, dislikes, suggestions, requests and questions before the feature set gets "locked in". If we wait for later, all we will be doing is *****ing because it'll be too late too make some or many changes.

 

[Jay911]

Agreed. My take on this is that Paul is doing the ultimate 'consumer relations' by announcing this radio and letting us all chime in on what we would like to see in it. I seriously believe that this (and perhaps other) forums will have a MAJOR part to play in determining the ultimate final specs of this machine.

My feeling is this: If you have a wish list that's realistic and doesn't involve breaking the laws of physics (monitoring x number of systems simultaneously to check priorities, without any gaps in reception) or copyrights/laws (being able to decode proprietary, semi-secretive format xyz), post it here. The odds are just about certain that you won't get a reply, but that doesn't necessarily mean that Paul and others at Uniden aren't listening.

(then again, it doesn't mean your idea is a shoe-in, either..)

 

[John_M]

Okay, I used to work (Had to work with this guy) who couldn't keep his mouth shut and promised people things. He just wanted to get the job. When it was time to show the project to the people funding it he ran into alot of problems and it was kinda funny watching this guy try to talk his way out of it. Sometimes he would just try to dump the project on somebodyelse. Kikito, I really think that Uniden is done listening to us on this one. The developement team isn't going to stop what there doing and and start things over because of us. If they kept listening to us the project would never get done. I haven't heard anything in this thread about changing any of the features. If they do, the changes will be small. Like
changing the LED colors. Since were talking about change how about a base model of the 996t without the GPS feature?

 

[kikito]

Kikito, I really think that Uniden is done listening to us on this one.....

You never know, We never know....

 

[jf222]

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.

 

[John_M]

You never know, We never know....

True. True.

 

[MarkEagleUSA]

Since were talking about change how about a base model of the 996t without the GPS feature?

I doubt there's any significant hardware (if any at all) required by the GPS functionality. It seems likely it's all done in firmware so I don't think removing the feature really saves anything. It also seems like those that don't want/need the GPS stuff can simply ignore it.

 

[Jay911]

I doubt there's any significant hardware (if any at all) required by the GPS functionality. It seems likely it's all done in firmware so I don't think removing the feature really saves anything. It also seems like those that don't want/need the GPS stuff can simply ignore it.

At the risk of talking out of my hat (i.e. I know no more about it than any of you do), I think the above is correct. The GPS is not included. The scanner is most likely going to get a position report from a consumer-supplied GPS (which is basically the only thing that can be sent from a GPS). There will be some kind of map or algorithm in the scanner which will most likely be applied to each system. Hopefully it'll be user-definable, so we can choose and pick where we start hearing things.

If you choose not to hook up a GPS receiver to the scanner, my bet is that it will ignore the "bank/system-switching based on location" algorithm.

The creation of a version of the 996 without GPS is probably as likely to happen as the creation of a scanner without weather SAME/FIPS decoding. Some of us don't use it and just leave it alone.

 

[oregontreehugger]

Just thinking out loud here... I noticed the new picture on the Wiki of the unit shows the number keys as having a silver or gray outline.

My thought is, wouldn't the number keys be a lot easier to see, especially while mobile, or in the dark, a la BCT-8? Basically, the way the "menu" and "gps" keys, etc. are shown on the 996T's current mock-up. Those look great like that and could probably be read easily.

Maybe someone with a BCT-8 can chime in here. I haven't used one, but from what I've seen in various shack pictures, the keys are super easy to read.

Just my .02

Thanks again Uniden and Paul for participating in the forum and listening to all of us.

 

[Voyager]

There isn't even a working prototype of this scanner.

I gotta ask... HOW do you know that?

Interesting to see the return of the Bearcat logo. :wink:

Joe M.