Uniden Bearcat BCD436HP first impressions

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yaesumofo

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I have to disagree with you on this @rtharmon1. I strongly prefer to charge and condition my batteries in a capable charger like the Powerex, Maha or La Crosse units.

Would it be cool if the 436 had all of those capabilities built-in? Yes, I guess it would, but it can charge when it is powered off and that's enough for me. Further, I would definitely NOT want my AA NiMH batteries to constantly be getting a charge while I scanned with the USB connected. I also would not want the 436 design to have been any ;larger to incorporate simultaneous charging and conditioning.

So to me, a non-issue. Very pleased with overall product and will use it along with the 396XT and PSR-800 I have had for some time.


I also prefer to charge my batteries OUTBOARD.
I have one set of three in the radio.
I have one set on charge
I have one set resting before being used. (in a battery holder carried in my edc bag)
So with 9 batteries and an external charger I seriously doubt I will ever run out of juice.
These 9 cells should last at least a year of moderate use.

The charge circuit in the radio will not be stressed or cause the radio to get hot or even warm.

Maha NiMh cells, or SANYO NiMh, (over 2700 mAh. Dont buy batteries that claim a higher capacity ie 3000mAh. The current real max has been reached in AA NiMh cells and its around 2500-2700 mAh.

When the battery saver is OFF the radio does seem to go through batteries....

BTW I always have a set of alkaline Primary AA's in my bag too.

Has anybody done any kind of runtime test?
That might be interesting.

Yaesumofo
 

kd7eir

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While we are on this topic, I purchased a USB charger from Radio Shack. I know its not the best. On one side is the wall plug, and the other side is the USB port. The specs say the USB port puts out 5 volts and 2.1 Amps.

Is that safe to use for charging the 436? I know the manual says 5 volts, +/- 5% Thank you.

Greg

That will be fine for charging the 436.
 

Dewey

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...
These 9 cells should last at least a year of moderate use.
...
Yaesumofo

I use the Maha low-discharge 2300 mAh Imedions. Since I am somewhat OCD when it comes to my batts, I only charge them in a Maha MC-C401FS charger, and cycle them twice a year in a Maha MH-C9000 on the Refresh/Analyze mode. While I have newer, I'm also still using batts that I bought in 2010 for my old 396XT, and they still give me a capacity in the mid 80% area.

While I like the stamina of the PowerEx 2700s, I find that their longevity has been right around two years for me.
 

yaesumofo

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So today I finally got around to playing with the recording system on the 436.
First of all is sounds very good. as good as the receiver hears it.
Its funny I live in the center of Los Angeles.
I have a 436 set up with a 3.5 inch long flexable wire antenna I took off a wireless mic transmitter.
Guess what? It hears UHF really well. The LAPD lives between 48X.XXX and 512.XXX.
I am impressed with the Uniden it hears very well.

Anyway back to the recordings I set the radio to scan a bank of channels wihich includes the LAPD AIR SUPPORT tac channel.
The radio once it is told to record, the radio makes a new clip for each squelch break. It seems to number them 01-100. then I think it creates a new "file".
These recordings sound great. turning the tuning knob selects a "clip number".
Getting to the playback menu was tricky until I RTFM. there I learned to press and hold f+replay. this brings up the playback menu.

This feature is very powerful BUT There does not seem to be any way of sharing the recordings.
Anyway. I really like the 436. its a very nice radio and will absolutely be my road trip radio.

I must admit I like the form factor of my 396T the hand held size is great. the display of the 436 is awesome. BUT Id like more control of what I see. maybe less information but a larger font? Id like that.

OK so for me the recording system is great. I have yet to try to pull the recordings off the card and play them on the computer. Has anybody been playing with playback?
What application will playback the audio as well as the meta data? that would be very cool.... What do you guys use?

Yaesumofo
 

pwscott

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Good write up Yaesu Mofo. Am liking mine very much too...taking it to San Fran and Tampa with me next week.....recording does work quite well. The Butel SW is really coming along too.

You know there is/was a 3rd party 'Player' for HomePatrol-1 audio that showed most of the meta data while playing (CH#, Dept etc. Timestamp I think).....I have emailed the author pleading for support for 436/536.
 

KevinC

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Has anybody done any kind of runtime test?
That might be interesting.

Yaesumofo

After I conditioned the factory batteries I got 9 hours out of them with...

Backlight set to squelch
No LED indicators
Volume set to 7/8
No recording
Battery saver on
Scanning 3 analog SmartZone sites and 1 P25 simulcast, about 70% of listening analog and 30% P25. Very busy systems.
 

pvf

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I'm not one to complain about handhelds never being loud enough but for $500 I'm going to complain about this handheld not being loud enough. I think my BC125AT was louder!
 

yaesumofo

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I'm not one to complain about handhelds never being loud enough but for $500 I'm going to complain about this handheld not being loud enough. I think my BC125AT was louder!

If you are finding the audio to be less than then you may have a defective radio. My 436 is loud enough so that if cranked up it distorts the speaker. It's too loud.

Shoot Paul an email.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 

rtharmon1

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I have the same complaint. My hearing isn't as good as I get older and most handheld's only have 300 or so mw while the older mobile/desktop models were 2 or 3 watts. I hate straining to decipher the conversation with the volume all the way up and still can't make it out. Certainly would think for $500 they could improve the audio power.
 

stingray327

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Okay..I read the entire manual, looked in HELP, started up Sentinel software which apparently has NO help file...just one thing:

Every time I turn the 436 on, it says "Loading Database" or something very similar.

I've seen this topic/question before, but searching yields no help.

Could someone help please?" I'm just like everyone else in hoping my scanner is not malfunctioning. Thanks.

Greg

That 100+ page manual?
 

stingray327

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I'm not one to complain about handhelds never being loud enough but for $500 I'm going to complain about this handheld not being loud enough. I think my BC125AT was louder!

What I did to solve that problem on my other hand helds was to hook them up to two amplified computer speakers with their own battery supply. I don't know if they still sell those kinds of computer speakers in pairs anymore.
 

greggk

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That 100+ page manual?

I asked this question the very first or second day I had the scanner. I was looking for a quick answer. I don't need help to read the manual..., but perhaps you could go back to the manual that was in use at that time and see if it was answered there.

Greg
 

kd7eir

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Loading database

I've seen a few people worried about their scanner loading the database every time they start it up. This is perfectly normal. Each time you turn on the scanner it loads the database and/or favorites lists from the sd card to the internal memory of the scanner.
 

greggk

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Thanks for the info guys, but this was a fairly old post of mine that was brought back to life. It was suggested that I read the manual. :roll:

Have a good one !

Greg
 

miles267

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Just received my 436. Opted to set my location manually using the Lat/Long of my house from Google Maps instead of zip code.

Am primarily interested in local police, fire and NOAA/SAME weather alerts.

Defaults to 20 mile range from home location. What range are you all using? Am in a somewhat rural area with 300-500K population.
 
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