OMG, I just bought a 436HP

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Anderegg

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So I am very happy with my LARGE fleet of clonable and identically operating 996XT and 396XT scanners, but I NEEDED a new toy, and thought I would give the 436HP a try. I need a spare Uniden to add to a scanner over IP set-up, so huge deal.

Anyway, my current XT scanners are programmed with 6 main SYSTEMS. City PD/FD, Co PD/FD No, Co PD/FD SOo I don't use groups, but I dedicate the quick keys to these systems. I am a journalist, and I need the ability to quickly access a specific police or fire channel quickly, and find that getting only 1 system on the display, pressing hold, and scrolling is the fastest way to do this.

I want to pretty much program the 436HP the same way, I hope that is possible? Does it operate the same way system/group as the XT scanners? I was thinking create my own programming in Sentinel, then add favorites lists in lieu of stock department city RR database programming. What pitfalls or things should I be aware of before attempting to begin programming my new toy? I guess my number 1 question, and I have been searching.....are the light grey buttons at the bottom different iteration of the HOLD button? I am assuming the CHAN button is basically what the XT HOLD button was?

Paul
 

jonwienke

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Create separate favorite lists for each agency (PD, FD, etc.) and then assign quick keys to each favorite list.
 

UPMan

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What Jon alluded to is one of the major features of the new models: A layer above system called "Favorites List" with its own FLQK and other attributes.
 

hiegtx

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So I am very happy with my LARGE fleet of clonable and identically operating 996XT and 396XT scanners, but I NEEDED a new toy, and thought I would give the 436HP a try. I need a spare Uniden to add to a scanner over IP set-up, so huge deal.

Anyway, my current XT scanners are programmed with 6 main SYSTEMS. City PD/FD, Co PD/FD No, Co PD/FD SOo I don't use groups, but I dedicate the quick keys to these systems. I am a journalist, and I need the ability to quickly access a specific police or fire channel quickly, and find that getting only 1 system on the display, pressing hold, and scrolling is the fastest way to do this.

I want to pretty much program the 436HP the same way, I hope that is possible? Does it operate the same way system/group as the XT scanners? I was thinking create my own programming in Sentinel, then add favorites lists in lieu of stock department city RR database programming. What pitfalls or things should I be aware of before attempting to begin programming my new toy? I guess my number 1 question, and I have been searching.....are the light grey buttons at the bottom different iteration of the HOLD button? I am assuming the CHAN button is basically what the XT HOLD button was?

Paul
You can do that in the 436. Actually, there are several ways to do it, depending on what you want.

As jon suggested, you could create a separate favorites lites for each city (or county).

Or, put them all in one list, but assign Number Tags to quickly jump to a specific system or department.

On the 436HP (as well as the 536HP), a trunked system is still a trunked system. But, instead of having groups, as in your 396XT & 996XT's, these are considered departments You have 100 quick keys for departments, versus only 10 for groups in the XT series, plus, you can use that 100 in the next system as well. You also have 100 quick keys available to assign to your various favorites lists, and 100 to use for your systems, so there's a lot of flexibility.The only caveat is that the Department quick keys share the same 100 available for Sites within a given System.

Even without using number tags, it's easy to hold on a System. Just press the System key to highlight that field (System name), then se the scroll knob to go to the one you want, and press System again to Hold on it.
If you then want to Hold on a Department (same as a Group on the XT's) within that system, press the Department key, scroll to the one you want, and hit Department again. You're now doing a hold, scanning only that specific "Department". On the XT series, you could use System Hold to scan a specific system, but that did not extend down to the groups. In the x36hp series scanners, you can do that.

If you have not done so, download and install Sentinel. I think you'll find that you can do what you want, once you get used to the difference in the terminology used between the two scanner series XT & the x36HP's).
 

Anderegg

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Hey Paul, would the easiest way to get the scanner the way I am used to be to simply manually (keypad) add systems, then use Sentinel to add text and talkgroups? I can't seem to modify anything on the Sentinel program, although I do not have my scanner yet. Was hoping I could build up the programming while waiting for it to arrive.

I like the idea of the favorites. It's one of the big reasons I am trying this new scanner out. It reminds me of the separate scan lists in a Motorola radio, which I cannot live without!

Paul
 

Anderegg

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You can do that in the 436. Actually, there are several ways to do it, depending on what you want.

As jon suggested, you could create a separate favorites lites for each city (or county).

Or, put them all in one list, but assign Number Tags to quickly jump to a specific system or department.

On the 436HP (as well as the 536HP), a trunked system is still a trunked system. But, instead of having groups, as in your 396XT & 996XT's, these are considered departments You have 100 quick keys for departments, versus only 10 for groups in the XT series, plus, you can use that 100 in the next system as well. You also have 100 quick keys available to assign to your various favorites lists, and 100 to use for your systems, so there's a lot of flexibility.The only caveat is that the Department quick keys share the same 100 available for Sites within a given System.

Even without using number tags, it's easy to hold on a System. Just press the System key to highlight that field (System name), then se the scroll knob to go to the one you want, and press System again to Hold on it.
If you then want to Hold on a Department (same as a Group on the XT's) within that system, press the Department key, scroll to the one you want, and hit Department again. You're now doing a hold, scanning only that specific "Department". On the XT series, you could use System Hold to scan a specific system, but that did not extend down to the groups. In the x36hp series scanners, you can do that.

If you have not done so, download and install Sentinel. I think you'll find that you can do what you want, once you get used to the difference in the terminology used between the two scanner series XT & the x36HP's).

Very helpful Hi. I am expecting a MAJOR learning curve, but am also expecting main operational features to remain intact, but in need of relearning now.

To see if I understand you correctly, the systems and group format is pretty much XT, but with renaming now allowing more direct access to those specific groups/sites etc? Sounds like with a few direct access buttons I can DRILL DOWN to a talkgroup much quicker than turning XT systems on and off and spinning the knob for 30 seconds!

A pretty important question.......system and favorites now share the same 1-0 (99 I know) S0, and the sites and departments now share what was the lower G1-0 whatever on the XT's? I like the idea of being able to punch up north county, or the city, or just turn those buttons off and just select an "at home" favorites", or a "downtown lunch break" favorite just as if I were turning on or off a single system on my XT.

Am I understanding this correctly?

Thanks guys, this helps immensely!


Paul
 

UPMan

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Actually, QKs are FL.SS.DD That is, top level is 0-99 FLQK, next level is 0-99 SQK, and next level is 0-99 DQK (with sites sharing DQK "qk-space").
 

hiegtx

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Right.
You can toggle a given Favorites list on or off with just it's QK number.

Or, a System with (FL).(SYSTEM) (Favorites list quick key, a decimal point, and then the quick key for the System in question).

To drill down to the Department (or Site) level, add another decimal point, then the quick key for the Department or Site. Or as UPMan typed it, FL.SS.DD.

Rather than programming totally by hand, you can "point and shoot", appending systems and departments from the main database as was shown in the video linked above. Then, using the Favorites list editor, you can tweak the text tags as desired, or move things around to suit your own preferences. You can, however, create conventional or trunked systems by hand, if you prefer. Your choice. You have a lot more display real estate for your text tags as well.
 

ofd8001

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So I am very happy with my LARGE fleet of clonable and identically operating 996XT and 396XT scanners, but I NEEDED a new toy, and thought I would give the 436HP a try. I need a spare Uniden to add to a scanner over IP set-up, so huge deal.

Anyway, my current XT scanners are programmed with 6 main SYSTEMS. City PD/FD, Co PD/FD No, Co PD/FD SOo I don't use groups, but I dedicate the quick keys to these systems. I am a journalist, and I need the ability to quickly access a specific police or fire channel quickly, and find that getting only 1 system on the display, pressing hold, and scrolling is the fastest way to do this.

My suggestion is to create one Favorites List, which is kind of like a big container that holds systems. Then you can include those 6 main systems, just as you have with your other Uniden scanners.

Alternatively, you could create 6 Favorites Lists, with each one containing one system. (These scanners are such that you can go a couple of different ways to arrive at the same destination).

For rapid access to certain channels, your best bet is to use a number tagging system, which is something that your XT scanners will do. With a press of some buttons, you go right to the desired channel. The only challenge to that is remembering what numbers you've assigned to what channels.

I've found that hitting the channel hold button and scrolling with the x36 doesn't always follow the sequence of channels I'd hope it would - it goes kind of strangely for some reason. (1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 6, 5, 7 rather than 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9).

If by chance you programmed your XT scanners with Butel's ARC XT, you could get Butel's ARC 536. The ARC 536 will import the XT files so that you could program the new scanner just as you have programmed the XTs.
 

Anderegg

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My suggestion is to create one Favorites List, which is kind of like a big container that holds systems. Then you can include those 6 main systems, just as you have with your other Uniden scanners.

Alternatively, you could create 6 Favorites Lists, with each one containing one system. (These scanners are such that you can go a couple of different ways to arrive at the same destination).

For rapid access to certain channels, your best bet is to use a number tagging system, which is something that your XT scanners will do. With a press of some buttons, you go right to the desired channel. The only challenge to that is remembering what numbers you've assigned to what channels.

I've found that hitting the channel hold button and scrolling with the x36 doesn't always follow the sequence of channels I'd hope it would - it goes kind of strangely for some reason. (1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 6, 5, 7 rather than 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9).

If by chance you programmed your XT scanners with Butel's ARC XT, you could get Butel's ARC 536. The ARC 536 will import the XT files so that you could program the new scanner just as you have programmed the XTs.

Yeah, it looks like my old XT 1-6 SQK's will now become my 1-6 FQK's, and basically do the same thing.

Number tagging is interesting, I have that feature in my 128 channel Spectras.......can never remember where things are though!

1,5,2,6,7,8,9,0? Is it forcing alphabetical or something? I've got my agencies programmed by alpha and then by their channel numbers, that could get weird.

I am closely looking at ARC536, seems to be the only program that really has what I need. Looking at that excel spreadsheet someone made and posted to get the basic stuff transferred into the Sentinel program.

Paul
 

hiegtx

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Yeah, it looks like my old XT 1-6 SQK's will now become my 1-6 FQK's, and basically do the same thing.

Number tagging is interesting, I have that feature in my 128 channel Spectras.......can never remember where things are though!

1,5,2,6,7,8,9,0? Is it forcing alphabetical or something? I've got my agencies programmed by alpha and then by their channel numbers, that could get weird.

I am closely looking at ARC536, seems to be the only program that really has what I need. Looking at that excel spreadsheet someone made and posted to get the basic stuff transferred into the Sentinel program.

Paul
It does not "force" alphabetical, but Sentinel can sort your favorites lists (or systems, or departs, or all three) by a number of different values- name, quick key number being just a couple of them.Systems can be sorted by type (conventional vs trunked, then also, within those groups, by name). Channels (conventional or talkgroups) can be sorted by the text tags or by frequency (conventionals) or TGID (talkgroups), among other parameters.

I haven't found a need to purchase ARC536, but if you are more comfortable with it, that's your choice. Many of the "features" listed for ARC536, such as adding a frequency or talkgroup not in the database, or adding a new trunked system from scratch, can in fact be done with Sentinel, along with the renaming and sorting. ARC536 does give you the option of importing systems from the database, but you can do much the same by simply appending the system to a Favorites list from the main database in Sentinel.
 

hiegtx

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I've found that hitting the channel hold button and scrolling with the x36 doesn't always follow the sequence of channels I'd hope it would - it goes kind of strangely for some reason. (1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 6, 5, 7 rather than 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9).
It appears to follow the order that the systems are displayed in Sentinel, not by quick key. I've sorted my Favorites lists by the FL quick key, which gives me a set order.
 

Anderegg

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I thought that the "favorites" thing was just a new additional feature, but it appears it is the main OS so to speak of the new scanners. Did not know that. :)

Paul
 

hiegtx

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I thought that the "favorites" thing was just a new additional feature, but it appears it is the main OS so to speak of the new scanners. Did not know that. :)

Paul
Actually, I tend to think of it more like the programming file that you & I load on our XT scanners. Except, with the XT's (396XT & 996XT), you can only have one specific file loaded at one time, though you can set aside certain systems with Start-up keys for use in different areas, such as segments of a trip. That's not the case with the new units.

With the x36HP scanners (436HP & 536HP), you can have more than one Favorites list loaded (again, my thinking is it's a set of programming instructions for the systems, conventional and/or trunked, that you want to monitor). Either scan with only one active list, which is what I usually do, or set up more than one, and toggle them on or off with the quick keys to focus in on a specific department, city, or area. That appears to be more in line with your usage.

You can have multiple favorites lists, but you are limited to only 100 Quick Keys for them, and you can't share the same quick key on multiple Favorites.
 

Anderegg

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End result though seems to be a HUGE improvement in accessibility. I can now throw a couple of conventional frequencies into my all 800MHz trunked County FD "system", which will now be my County FD "Fav". I like that! :)

Paul
 

Anderegg

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Well, I just picked up my shiny new 436HP from the local HRO.........and now it is going up for sale on eBay. It is an utterly useless contraption compared to my old ratty falling apart 396XT.

So I walk out of HRO to my car in the parking lot 50 feet away to test reception. First P25 channel it popped up on was full signal and breaking up. Took the antenna off of the 436HP, then the one off of my 396XT, and ran both scanners with no antenna. The 396XT was not only receiving when the 436HP was not, when the 436HP got enough signal to receive, it would unmute a second or some after the 396XT, and that's on analog trunked.

Check the firmware, it's the new reportedly less sensitive 1.03. OK, so the scanner is 10 minutes old at this point, plastic still on the screen, all I did was put in batteries and power it up once. Walk back into HRO to ask what their return policy is in the event I revert to 1.02 and the reception is still worse than my old 396XT. I explain to the clerk that I am a journalist, and if the 396XT would say "Officer down!", and the 436HP would receive silence, obviously, that is a huge issue.

The HRO clerk says "Our return policy is very clear, there is a 15% restocking fee." Um, I walked outside for a few minutes, and he says it is now considered used, because I left the front doors to test reception. So I take my shiny new turn back to the car, fuming a bit at his customer appreciation, and didn't notice my 800MHz antenna had fallen out of the car on my way back into HRO.

So I get home, roll-back to 1.02, and the reception is still substantially worse than the 396XT, again, testing with no antenna......because I lost my 800 antenna. $75 restocking fee, $25 to replace the antenna, $100 lost on this piece of crap. Never going back to HRO.....ever. "Our policy is very clear, we don't care about our customers past the point of taking their money." After I bought the scanner, I was even browsing around looking to spend a few hundred more on toys and accessories. Now they bought themselves enough hatred and internet flames that I hope I can cost their company $75 in retaliation.

Anyway, rant over, will actually wait a few months for the $550 price increase on the 436HP, then pass it off new on eBay to recover as much of my $540 as possible. Also seems like the QK's are not push on push off, I get a menu any time I press a button.....drilling down is a nightmare, and takes way too long. I guess I will buy a new housing and parts kit in black to make my superior 396XT look prettier.

What a waste.....what a disappointment. :(
 

Anderegg

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I heard they are upping the list to $550. And I was specifying "eBay new", which allows you to put new (other) and specify open box, taken out to test, etc. And I have decided not to sell the scanner. It has problems that I believe go further than design issues. The error rate problems I am seeing don't seem to be common, and I could not in good conscious sell a lemon to anyone just to get out of it myself.

This design is fun to play with, I must admit. I enjoy pressing buttons and looking at it and holding it, it's just so sad the noise coming out of it is so horrible. It's like a hot supermodel that laughs like a snorting piglet. :)

Paul
 

Anderegg

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I just want to thank you guys who contributed the rough in post user manual for me.........you basically laid out everything necessary to blindly begin operating the radio without having to resort to the manual or google. :)

For anyone who gets to this post through google, here is what I learned.

The three white buttons control the three LCD display levels. Left is top, middle is middle, right is bottom. Each one toggles freezing what is shown on that level of the bar, and another press highlights the level/bar and allows you to turn the dial to move through the systems, channels, whatever that level pertains to. Another press sends that level scanning along on it's way. Each level has it's own little "hold" icon in the bottom corner, and I can see the biggest problem being accidentally leaving something on hold and not noticing for a long time. :)

They all do the exact same thing, just named different things. It's a lot simpler once that is explained to you.

Paul
 
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