Possible new life for older scanners.

[gary123]

I have a BCD5326HP that I am very happy with. I have been looking at my old 396 and wondering if there might be a way to give it a new life.

I know that Uniden has said that this generation of scanner cannot support DMR and I accept that. The question is is that lack of support based on having the scanners keep the existing modes?

Maybe Uniden can create a new (purchased) firmware for some of these older units. This firmware will NOT support P25, EDACS or LTR it will only support DMR operation (Connect Plus, Capacity Plus, One freq DMR and simplex DMR). With many local services on DMR this would not only allow many to have a single service scanner. it would also increase the value of these older scanners.

The advantage for Uniden would be a new source of revenue in selling the firmware upgrades. Unidens reputation would also increase as it shows a interest in supporting the existing customer base. No doubt Uniden will eventually create a basic scanner that supports DMR but I think that is a few years away.

 

[UPMan]

BCD396T/XT does not have the processing capability necessary for the higher bitrate used.

 

[fxdscon]

I have a BCD5326HP that I am very happy with. I have been looking at my old 396 and wondering if there might be a way to give it a new life.

I know that Uniden has said that this generation of scanner cannot support DMR and I accept that. What I was thinking is this.

Maybe Uniden can create a new (purchased) firmware for some of these older units. This firmware will not support P25, EDACS or LTR it will only support DMR operation (Connect Plus, Capacity Plus, One freq DMR and simplex DMR). With many local services on DMR this would not only allow many to have a single service scanner. it would also increase the value of these older scanners.

The advantage for Uniden would be a new source of revenue in selling the firmware upgrades. Unidens reputation would also increase as it shows a interest in supporting the existing customer base. No doubt Uniden will eventually create a basic scanner that supports DMR but I think that is a few years away.

A 396 scanner would not have the physical hardware or the memory space (at the very least) necessary for de-coding DMR. You can't add those things with a firmware update.

.

 

[marksmith]

The way to give it a new life is having it monitor one of the many P25 phase 1 or Motorola digital systems that are out there.

The 396T and 396xt are both very capable scanners yet and can receive a very high percentage of what is out there.

It hardly has run out of "life" simply because of DMR or P25 Phase 2 inability.

Mark
WS1095/536/436/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/325P2/396XT/PRO668/PSR800/PRO652

 

[buddrousa]

Mark that is why my 15x's run local trunking my 996p2's run Phase 1 and 2 and my 536 is DMR with a 536 added if we get NXDN in the x36 line.

 

[bryan_herbert]

I have many scanners, but I've found the BCD396 is by far the best scanner for listening to aviation and military aviation. In fact, its the only thing I have programmed in my BCD396XT. Its paired with a Diamond SRH77CA whip antenna that is mounted on a shelving unit here in the house, I can hear bombers, fighter jets, and refueling tankers working ranges not only here in Nevada but also in California.

I have been looking at my old 396 and wondering if there might be a way to give it a new life.

 

[wbswetnam]

Even a fairly old scanner still has "life" to it as long as it runs reliably. For my sheriff's department online feed, I use a Uniden 142XL 10 channel scanner that was made in early 1991! So even though it is nearly 26 years old, it still has "life"; I guess it's the purpose you expect to get out of it.

 

[gary123]

Actually I used the 396 as an example because that is the scanner I have not doing much. Maybe this option is something that might apply to other newer scanners.

FYI I use the 396 for DSD and site data decoding, it works very well for this use.