Post-V2 Update Performance for BCD396T and BCD996T

[whooey]

Paul, still no luck with the extra packet.... I sent a EM 3 or 4 days ago.... Let me know man, my 396 is unusable!

Edit, Paul sent me an EM. He is in Tokyo.

 

[jerk]

My BCD396 till not working well...

(My BCD396T)
Does not scan well with the newer firmware and Uniden "lacks" information about cause, fixes, anything regarding these problems.

Lately, every time I check something, or check old systems that I used to receive, or things that worked okay, like CC search, Type I systems, p25 systems and hold, the scanner does not perform well at all.

Also, a system that I could receive excellently at the 23 mile marker heading South, barely receives at the 19, picks up somewhat at the 13.5, and fades and drops alls the way down to the 10 mile marker. Before I had the system at the 23, and before that fade in and out north of that with reception beginning at the 26 or so with fade.

Today, Limit CC search missed A P25 systems. Holding on it results in a long delay; 1-2 seconds at least, noise comes through, then an ID.

Analog volume is still too low, digital is so so, I’ll still getting braaap, motorboating on Safe-T, maybe a little less, but the burst that comes through seems to hang in there longer now. In other words I get less of it, but it sounds for a longer time.

Analog is still too soft with volume adjusted for digital listening.
Uniden has a big screw up in my opinion. Every time I check something, it just leads to more problems.

My advice don’t upgrade… buying a new scanner, get a GRE, it works, has timely updates, is responsive, and they trunk rebanded systems right now. No possibly month long waits for another firmware update.

AL

 

[ActionSeeker]

Hello Mike,

Just want to report my findings. I kicked the P25 wait time up to 700 ms and took care of the problem. Thanks again for your help.

Eric

For MARCS try setting your P25 Waiting Time to 500 ms.

Mike

 

[matthewtomek]

396 upgrade went well. I'm listening to the Memphis/Shelby County (http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=4361) system. I seem to be getting some interference from either my computer or printer.

 

[ravthree]

after upgade on 396t has caused degraded signal reception on all bands resembles attunated signal. have rechecked all settings (same) would like to know if the upgrade has a tendancy to cause this problem and if there is a way to resolve this issue. would a reinstall be possable of the upgrade and is it poss to return to the old version.

 

[Viper43]

What scanner and what systems are you monitoring?

 

[ravthree]

additional, after upgrade to 396t, reception problems with vhf high WESCOM broadcasts not previosly experienced. bolingbrook il clear signal recept, now loud humm that drowns out voice vhf high, kencom uhf was maxing out signal meter, now 0-2 bars w/ static , joliet and naperville trs 1-2 bars, now 0-1 w/ waves of static. plainfield and ill state pd crappy before, now apco 25 great sound. need to get this machine back to the great piece of equipt that i had before the upgrade.

 

[loumaag]

The preceding 3 posts were moved from the wrong topic to this one.

ravthree:
Please don't ignore the PM I sent you earlier today.

Viper, you are okay.

 

[Viper43]

additional, after upgrade to 396t, reception problems with vhf high WESCOM broadcasts not previosly experienced. bolingbrook il clear signal recept, now loud humm that drowns out voice vhf high, kencom uhf was maxing out signal meter, now 0-2 bars w/ static , joliet and naperville trs 1-2 bars, now 0-1 w/ waves of static. plainfield and ill state pd crappy before, now apco 25 great sound. need to get this machine back to the great piece of equipt that i had before the upgrade.

eavthree,

did you reload your scanners programming after doing the update? If not do that first. Also you can try the P25 timing and see if changing that makes a difference. Press HOLD, go to program mode and SETTINGS in the menu, scroll to P25 Timing, it will probably be set to around 400ms, try different settings and see if things get better or worse.

V

 

[DaveIN]

eavthree,

did you reload your scanners programming after doing the update? If not do that first. Also you can try the P25 timing and see if changing that makes a difference. Press HOLD, go to program mode and SETTINGS in the menu, scroll to P25 Timing, it will probably be set to around 400ms, try different settings and see if things get better or worse.

V

Viper43, how is the 396 working out for you on Indiana SAFE-T?

 

[Viper43]

It's been fine, a lot less motorboating , better audio most of the time, good reception. I'm picking up towers 40+ miles away so I can't complain. The issues I have at the moment would require a chainsaw to fix

V

 

[EyeSpy]

I found that adjusting the P25 Waiting Time got rid of my 'motor boating' or 'BRAP'. Paul said that the default was set at 600, but when I checked mine, it was on 400. As I moved it lower, it got worse. I moved it up to the 'default' 600 and the motor boating/BRAAP has ceased... Digital sound is louder, analog sound still lower than I wish (even with the tweak), but I still seem to miss some of the transmissions on the mixed mode systems (Howard/Harford/Baltimore City) that I have listened to... Maybe try adjusting the P25 Waiting Time to see if that helps with any of the motorboating...

 

[kb9sxk]

Mr. Upman

I am having the same issues that Mr. Viper had with the Indiana Safe-T system. What I do recieve sounds very strong. I think Im mkissing about 75% of the traffic. I will bring my actual system radio home tonight and compare it with the scanner. I have a few heavy use TG that i can monitor in both the radio and scanner to see what is up.

 

[Viper43]

Mr. Upman

I am having the same issues that Mr. Viper had with the Indiana Safe-T system. What I do recieve sounds very strong. I think Im mkissing about 75% of the traffic. I will bring my actual system radio home tonight and compare it with the scanner. I have a few heavy use TG that i can monitor in both the radio and scanner to see what is up.

Check your PM in a minute

V

 

[Viper43]

Mr. Upman

I am having the same issues that Mr. Viper had with the Indiana Safe-T system. What I do recieve sounds very strong. I think Im mkissing about 75% of the traffic. I will bring my actual system radio home tonight and compare it with the scanner. I have a few heavy use TG that i can monitor in both the radio and scanner to see what is up.

Actually ... first: did you reload your files?
second check squelch
third did you try to change the hidden P25 settings to see if that helped?
last send me your email address with the problems your having. I actually lost all of SAFET.

V

 

[donc13]

(My BCD396T)
Does not scan well with the newer firmware and Uniden "lacks" information about cause, fixes, anything regarding these problems.

Lately, every time I check something, or check old systems that I used to receive, or things that worked okay, like CC search, Type I systems, p25 systems and hold, the scanner does not perform well at all.

Also, a system that I could receive excellently at the 23 mile marker heading South, barely receives at the 19, picks up somewhat at the 13.5, and fades and drops alls the way down to the 10 mile marker. Before I had the system at the 23, and before that fade in and out north of that with reception beginning at the 26 or so with fade.

Today, Limit CC search missed A P25 systems. Holding on it results in a long delay; 1-2 seconds at least, noise comes through, then an ID.

Analog volume is still too low, digital is so so, I’ll still getting braaap, motorboating on Safe-T, maybe a little less, but the burst that comes through seems to hang in there longer now. In other words I get less of it, but it sounds for a longer time.

Analog is still too soft with volume adjusted for digital listening.
Uniden has a big screw up in my opinion. Every time I check something, it just leads to more problems.

My advice don’t upgrade… buying a new scanner, get a GRE, it works, has timely updates, is responsive, and they trunk rebanded systems right now. No possibly month long waits for another firmware update.

AL

Did you follow the instrucitons? That is...start with a backup of your scanner?

If so....then restore that backup to your scanner....then see how it works. Paul says that when folks had issues like your's after the update...to simply restore the backup and ALL the "new" issues go away.

The analog vs digital volume is adjustable...have you tried adjusting it?

and if you really don't like your radio...sell it. There's lots of folks here who'd love to have a 396.

If I hated something like you seem to hate your radio...I'd get rid of it.

 

[Viper43]

Paul says that when folks had issues like your's after the update...to simply restore the backup and ALL the "new" issues go away.

SAFET has some issues that Uniden found a fix for, but it only seems to affect certain scanners, just reloading the programming doesn't fix it in some cases, some it does though.

V

 

[jerk]

Did you follow the instrucitons? That is...start with a backup of your scanner?

If so....then restore that backup to your scanner....then see how it works. Paul says that when folks had issues like your's after the update...to simply restore the backup and ALL the "new" issues go away.

The analog vs digital volume is adjustable...have you tried adjusting it?

and if you really don't like your radio...sell it. There's lots of folks here who'd love to have a 396.

If I hated something like you seem to hate your radio...I'd get rid of it.

500.00 shipped if you want it.
Now I made the backup and Paul and Uniden are wrong. The problem is not easily fixed. And just wait until rebanding. You haven’t seen anything yet! It killed my reception and saying just get rid is a simplistic, lets get on the good side of Uniden answer.

There is a problem, Uniden promised to fix it several times, it's not fixed.
The analog V. digital issue has been around a year, it was supposed to be fixed, it's not.
The motorboating/braaap was supposed to be fixed, it's not, in fact in many cases it is worse. And more users are experiencing this issue now. Some still blindly support Upman and Uniden like yourself.

I am aware of ALL the adjust parameters for the BCD396. And I’ve tried them, which according to Upman’s promise “nobody” would need to do so. He said the problems would be fixed. They are not, and in some cases they are worse.

Yes it sounds like I hate the radio. It is clearly not doing what it is supposed to do, and it is now worse, now missing transmissions, it has trouble with Motorola Type I systems now, and P25 systems. Never had those issues before. It doesn’t even come close to prior performance under the version 1.xxx firmware’s.

Again you want the radio, with firmware version 2.01.00; send me money and it’s yours

 

[loumaag]

Let's stay on topic

newsalan:
Okay, you have stated that your radio works worse now than before, suppose you wait for a response before continuing to complain. You are well aware that the main contact is out of the country. Most of the time you are a pretty level-headed poster, I am not sure what bug crawled into your pants, but ease up the rhetoric.

donc13:
If you don't have something constructive to say, don't post.

 

[oldtymer]

Oops......

Previously I reported my BCD396T had static and random intermittent noise after I performed the upgrade. Since reporting it my scanner has not acted up once!!!!! It could only have been me.

BR330T
BCD396T
Channel Master 6752A
Radio Shack (model # worn off)