I cannot say there is not more that they did, but I can say that one without the cap cannot pickup weak UHF signals at all. The one with the cap is receiving them fine. Just the same as the shielded door proved. So it does have a significant effect. Keep in mind I never tested a unit with the old board that you have. I started the shielded door tests after it came back from the repair campaign. I do know that mine was deaf with the old board also.
BCD436HP/BCD536HP: UHF Reception Issues due to Noise from Battery Compartment
- Thread starter bearcat
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Interesting. One problem I have is there's not much here on uhf at all. It's vhf and 800. I don't have a good feel for the performance in that range like I would back when things a county away were all uhf. It would be interesting to take out the foil I added and test it along side a new one. A friend just bought one so I will try to remember to compare them next time I'm at his place.
It would be interesting to see if he has the cap. I do not think the shielded door does much of anything on 800. Maybe a bit on VHF. Then again in my tests I never saw any significant noise up at 800. It was very similar to your findings. 250 - 580 roughly.
troymail
Silent Key
EXACTLY.
Uniden needs to take advantage of all of the effort folks in this thread have put into pointing to the problem and a likely solution....
It's long past time for Uniden to STEP UP.
k3fs
Member
Uniden has fixed the issue. It appears they were aware of the issue. The new boards, made due to RTC and dimming included the resistor and capacitor. For some reason the capacitor was not put on the board. Now it seems they are installing the capacitor on the board and the problem was corrected. In an attempt to confirm, a capacitor was placed in a unit without it, and problem resolved.
Uniden's silence makes it look like they were aware of the issue, fixed the issue, and had no intent to let those who have already bought it know about the resolution or do anything about it for them. I find it hard to believe those components show up for no reason at all.
Question is, what will Uniden do?
When there is a problem, admit it as soon as possible.
◦ Customers are not stupid. Ignoring or denying a legitimate problem is not the way to handle it.
Uniden's silence makes it look like they were aware of the issue, fixed the issue, and had no intent to let those who have already bought it know about the resolution or do anything about it for them. I find it hard to believe those components show up for no reason at all.
Question is, what will Uniden do?
When there is a problem, admit it as soon as possible.
◦ Customers are not stupid. Ignoring or denying a legitimate problem is not the way to handle it.
troymail
Silent Key
Excellent (almost) -- Now we just need Uniden to do the right thing (finally) and have them initiate their 2nd or 3rd recall campaign on these things....
Kemet SMD Ceramic Capacitor .1uF 100v 1210 C1210C104K1RAC 0.1uF RoHS 100pcs | eBay
Group buy???
5.5 cents for the capacitor, shipping considerably more.
Group buy???
5.5 cents for the capacitor, shipping considerably more.
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I wonder how many 436's are out there with the problem and customers are not aware their reception is hampered? At this point I think Uniden should advertise there is a potential problem with some units and offer to make the needed upgrades.
prcguy
prcguy
It is hard to tell by that picture. I know that picture is magnified, but it looks too square. The one on the board is much flatter. That being said if it fits it should be fine. Is yours missing?
I had a .01uf installed
It's a larger value (0.1 vs 0.01), so it's square rather than rectangular cross-section. The thickness is irrelevant as long as the length and width are similar. SMD components are pretty standard. I haven't opened my scanners up yet.
Once you open them you should be able to make the call on size. It will be interesting to see if you have the cap on your unit(s)
Do not hold your breath. They will never admit they messed up anywhere. They rushed this whole project and made a LOT of errors. They will continue to do quiet behind the scenes fix attempts and hope you are in that family of folks P. T. Barnum made famous in a saying.... No need to repeat it here. With this issue, they fixed it, you just have to send the scanner in for another issue they are fixing, and surprise, new board, with things that were supposed to be on the originals... Hmmm? So now I guess I need to take off the tape, send it in for the dim backlight etc fix... And then hopefully by the time it gets back, they will finally have found the right firmware fix for the false TG issues.... :roll:
One I'm pretty sure won't, I bought it a couple years ago, and it may be coming down with the clock reset problem.
You are correct. If they never went back for the backlight/clock issue then they could have the original board. I have no idea how to fix the original board. When you open it, before you even remove the display board look at the white sticker on the board. If it is 01.01.xx then it is the old board. 01.09.02 is the new board. That being said I have seen 01.09.02 with and without the cap. So you have to look. I never had the clock issue on mine, but the new display/backlight was really worth the trip back to Uniden.
It was cheap, so I bit the bullet on the $5.59 order. Of course, I didn't even bother to check what board I have. Given I have noise without the layers of foil on the battery door, I'm pretty confident the cap isn't installed though. And I can't see, have fat fingers, and have a fat soldering gun. I'll probably ruin the whole 436 if/when I try to do it. But, like one guy in a movie once said, "I gots ta know"
Mike
Mike
Can you measure the size of the capacitor in your unit? This listing cites the actual dimensions.
10pcs .047uF 50V Capacitors SMD SMT 1812 18125C474KATMA | eBay
woodpecker
Member
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2005
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- 695
My sticker says V:1_03_00
Its not been back for repair and doesn't have the pads to fit the cap.
What's the best way to check for this noise, I mainly use mine on an external aerial, can't say I've really noticed it??
k3fs
Member
You will not notice the issue when using an external antenna. You will only notice it when using it as a portable, with antenna mounted on the radio.
I believe it was confirmed that it is a 0.01uf capacitor.
This is something Uniden needs to fix. They shouldn't be making more money on people trying to fix Uniden's defect, and causing an issue to their radio and sending in for repair.
It's bad enough they would not acknowledge the problem publicly, and made money off people buying battery doors to figure this out.
Speaks volumes about their commitment to their customers.
When there is a problem, admit it as soon as possible.
◦ Customers are not stupid. Ignoring or denying a legitimate problem is not the way to handle it.
I believe it was confirmed that it is a 0.01uf capacitor.
This is something Uniden needs to fix. They shouldn't be making more money on people trying to fix Uniden's defect, and causing an issue to their radio and sending in for repair.
It's bad enough they would not acknowledge the problem publicly, and made money off people buying battery doors to figure this out.
Speaks volumes about their commitment to their customers.
When there is a problem, admit it as soon as possible.
◦ Customers are not stupid. Ignoring or denying a legitimate problem is not the way to handle it.
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A very simplistic way is if you have another scanner. Program it to 460.000. Open the squelch so you hear the hiss. Put the antenna of that radio against the battery door of the 436 you should hear the hiss increase. This is not the best way but it works.
Do you have an SDR (Airspy or Dongle)? Spectrum Analyzer? If so then previous postings in this thread show how to do it with one of the above.
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