Trunking Issue with 996

[andrewccm]

Old thread here but I have yet to find any answers to this. My 996 used to be fine but ever since the upgrade to the new firmware, I'm having the exact same problem. when the scanner does stop on a p25 talkgroup (if I'm lucky), the audio is HORRIBLE. I really wish I could revert back to the old version but I guess that's not an option. I'm hoping Uniden will fix this problem. The scanner was great until now, and now it's a 700 dollar brick.

Wow.. Nothing works on it (ie, Brick)? If you're talking strictly about P25 issues, I'd not call that a brick. But I certainly could see some frustration. Sell it. The 996 works great on most systems as I understand it and I bet there would be plenty of buyers. Maybe grab a cheaper GRE600 and come out even on the deal.

 

[jthorpe]

Well I did some work on it last night and it's much better, but still not great on the P25 side. You're right. It's not completely a brick, but it IS frustrating when I have an older scanner with it side by side, and the older unit sounds so much better.

Either way, it's stopping on conversations now even though much of the time they are breaking up. Side by side, the 796 is throwing out perfect audio while the 996 is broken.

Analog is fine though I might add. P25 is the problem.

 

[UPMan]

See: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/unidenflash

 

[Airdorn]

See: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/unidenflash

Is there any way at all to view the information on that yahoo site without having to *gulp* join yahoo groups? The entire Yahoo site is like a spamming ad virus.

 

[torontokris]

I belong to the yahoo groups and I dont get a spam or an ad virus.. I read the messages online. Most groups had moderators that stop any spam

 

[Airdorn]

Yeah, I tried joining a yahoo group the other day and it was an endless process of entering information, and all kinds of promotions, and unchecking boxes and so on. It just seemed like a huge hassle and with all the turmoil Yahoo is going through lately, I wasn't sure what all that was about.

 

[torontokris]

I never had a single promotion forced at me joining a yahoo group.
Did you need to get a yahoo ID? You can probably join without a yahoo email

Some groups make the messages available without needing to sign up (you jsut cant post) but sadly it doesnt seem that, that particular group does

 

[beischel]

Yes Houston, there is a problem

I bought a 996T last year at the Dayton Hamvention. It does the same thing here in Ohio with the Hamilton County Cincinnati APCO system. Signal strength bounces up and down most of the time and the voice becomes garbled.

I was thinking of buying a hand-held scanner this year. I was considering the 396, but because of the 996T problems, I decided to go with the GRE PSR-500 and got it from AES since they had a Dayton special of $429.. I loaded it up with virtually the same frequencies as are on the 996T using the Starrsoft software.

What a difference. When I put the two scanners next to each other, using the stock included scanner mounted antennas, the GRE runs rings around the 996T. Now the PSR-500 is not perfect. Sometimes audio may drop out briefly, but compared to the 996T, they are world's apart.

The audio sound crisper and clearer on the PSR-500 compared to the 996T which sounds heavy and bassy. The PSR-500 scans a lot, and I mean a lot quicker. I am listening to many more conversations now.

BTW, I do have all the latest updates for the 996T. Also, since the 996T had the new firmware loaded, I now have an annoying tick sound that comes at the end of every trunking transmission (does not happen on conventional channels).

I believe the 996T has poorer adjacent channel interference rejection or the front-end is getting overloaded. Uniden issued this firmware update to make the 996T sound "like the other guy's" audio. I can tell you from comparison, that Uniden is not even close yet.

On Friday I placed an order for the PSR-600 with the intention of replacing the 996T. If the PSR-600 performs better, then the 996T is going up on ebay.