Uniden_BCD-396XT_review.pdf

68 MONITORING TIMES June 2009 B ob Grove said the BCD396T handheld, “is the most advanced scanner ever designed.” And when you looked at all the scanning capability built into that small package, no truer words were ever spoken. Now Uniden has released an updated version of the venerable 396 and it made a great scanner into a super scanner. Case, Controls and the Antenna The BCD396XT is a direct descendant of the popular BC396T handheld scanner. Many of the primary features found in the earlier unit apply to this new handheld. The 396 case measures 2.40 (W) x 1.22 (D) x 5.35 (H) inches and weighs in at 9.6 ounces with batteries, and about four ounces without. There is a multi-color backlight system for the 1-5/16 by 13/16-inch liquid crystal display. There are four user-selectable menu options for display backlighting: backlight on for 10 or 30 seconds (push button select- able), squelch (backlight illuminates when the squelch opens and stays on for five seconds), keypress (backlight turns on when any key is pressed then stays on for 10 seconds), and infinite (backlight turns on when you press the multi-function power on/off key, then stays on until you press it again). The screen backlight can be tied to a channel alert, so even though dark blue might not be good for normal viewing, it is useful to indicate a channel alert (the display briefly changes to the alert color, then reverts to the normal selected blacklight color after the alert). Available LCD backlight colors include red, blue, magenta, green, white, yellow and cyan. The keyboard backlight is not tied to the LCD backlight color selection; it is always white. There is only one knob (scroll type) on the top of the unit that controls a variety of the scanners functions depending on other controls being depressed. The multi-function scroll knob is used to set volume and squelch levels, adjust menu settings, enter text, change channels in the hold mode, resume scanning, and change display screens. There are two push buttons on the side of the 396XT that perform the same operations as the buttons on the side of the 396T function and menu selections. These controls are the heart of the scanners menu, display, and ad- ditional control functions in conjunction with keys on the front of the scanner. The 396XT uses a flexible antenna with an SMA connector. They have included a BNC to SMA adapter for additional antenna connection options. Antenna jack impedance is 50 ohms. Its what is under the hood that counts. Given all of the recent concern over rebanding in the 800 MHz band, you wont have a problem with the 396XT. The memory unit can be re-flashed via your computer so it The Best Just Got Better Unidens BCD396XT By Larry Van Horn, N5FPW FIRST LOOK New Product Reviews can handle any rebanding situation you might encounter. Looking inside the radio, I found a world of scanning capability. Here are some of the features that BC396XT owners will be familiar with. APCO25 Digital audio decoding Adaptive digital threshold that automatically sets the digital decode threshold for APCO 25 systems. Our fi eld test indicates that this unit is a substantial improvement in this regard over the 396T. TrunkTracker IV trunk tracker technology with control-channel only scanning and I-Call monitoring. Close call signal capture Supports step sizes of 5, 6.25, 7.5, 8.33, 10, 12.5, 15, 20, 25, 50 or 100 kHz Fire tone out alert Motorola control channel only trunking DCS/CTCSS/NAC rapid decode Scan and (selected) service searches. You wont have to select just one or the other. A frequency/ID auto store function that automati- cally stores frequencies from a service or limit search into a conventional system or store talk group IDs into a trunked system, 16 character text tagging for each system, group, channel, talkgroup, search range, and SAME group Compatible with the Uniden BC-RH96 remote head accessory. Analog and digital AGC functions. Quick search; 12 service searches (Public safety, news, ham radio, marine, railroad, air (military and civilian), CB radio, FRS/GMRS, racing, FM broadcast, and special itinerant; and custom search that lets you program up to 10 search ranges. SAME weather alert and weather priority Priority scan with priority plus. Signal strength display, battery level display on the LCD. LCD and keypad backlight Adjustable (0 to 5 seconds) scan delay Adjustable Hold (scan duration 0 to 255 seconds) per system, custom or service search Strong signal attenuation Upgradeable fi rmware Channel alert Independent alert tone volume lets you set the volume level of the following tones: Key Beep, Emergency Alert, Channel Alert, and Close Call Alert Repeater reverse Broadcast signal ignore while searching (TV and radio station frequencies, pagers, etc) Duplicate channel alert Key Lock PC Programming and control Wired cloning (will only clone to another BCD396XT) A battery saver mode MT RATING: 4 3/4 STARS June 2009 MONITORING TIMES 69 New Trunk Tracking Capability The BCD396XT is a Trunk Tracker IV model scanner. This lets the user follow unen- crypted conversations on the following trunk radio systems: Motorola Type I; Motorola Type II; Motorola Type IIi Hybrid; Motorola Type II Smartnet; Motorola Type II Smartzone; Motorola Type II Smartzone Omnilink; Motorola Type II VOC; EDACS Standard (Wide); EDACS Standard Networked; EDACS Narrowband (Nar- row); EDACS Narrowband Networked; EDACS SCAT; EDACS ESK (will not decode ProVoice); LTR Standard; and Project 25 Standard. The 396XT will receive the following voice systems: Analog; Analog and APCO-25 Com- mon Air Interface (P16); and APCO-25 Common Air Interface Exclusive (P25). Trunk systems in VHF, UHF, the new 700 MHz public safety band, 800 MHz, and 900 MHz bands can be programmed. This includes trunk systems now being installed by the Department of Defense in the new 380-399.9 MHz LMR sub-band. The scanner can also scan both con- ventional and trunked systems at the same time. In addition, the 396XT can monitor certain trunk systems using control channel trunking. If the scanner is set to scan trunk frequencies, the user can track the trunk system using only control channel data. You do not have to program all of the systems voice channel frequencies into memory in this mode as long as all possible control channels have been programmed into the scanner. So What Has Been Added? So is it worth upgrading from your BCD396T to a new BCD396XT? With the new feature set listed below, the answer to that ques- tion is a resounding Yes! There are a lot of new features incorporated into the 396XT, a lot of them based on feedback from owners of the 396T scanner. The ability to manually select a specific programmed channel in the older Uniden dy- namic allocation memory scanners was one of the biggest complaints by the old channel and bank scanner crowd. With this new system/channel number tagging feature in the 396XT, you now have rapid access to a specific system or channel. More information is available on this at http:/ NumberTags Intermediate Frequency Exchange changes the IF used for a selected scanner frequency to help avoid image and other mixer-product inter- ference on that frequency. A new band scope provides a graphic rep- resentation of signal activity on the display. You can get more information on this feature at http:/ BandScopeMode Quick-Access Search Keys This scanner has three search keys that you can assign to a special search range. More information is avail- able at UnidenMan4/SearchKeys This new scanner has support for P25 conventional channel monitoring that includes NAC and talk group ID user differentiation (P25 One-Frequency Trunk). Another new feature is Control Channel Data Output that permits the analysis of control channel data without the need to perform inva- sive modifications to the scanner. You can now use software programs such as Unitrunker and Pro96Com to analyze or monitor trunk radio systems. Private Systems lets you flag a system so that it cannot be read out of the scanner or modi- fied. There is also a Key Safe mode that, once set, lets you hand the scanner to a novice user without fear that they will modify the program- ming in the unit. Other new features include: NAC decoding of all P25 signals Ability to fl ag a channel as digital, analog or all Multi-site system support like its 996T cousin Close call temporary store (last 10 hits) GPS support for location-based scanning, loca- tion alerts, and crows-fl ight navigation. (Note: The GPS unit is not provided and must be purchased separately) Independent GPS control of sites and channel groups Fire tone out search has a built-in frequency counter to display the received tones A temporary lockout feature Startup confi gurations. You can learn more about this feature at bin/view/UnidenMan4/StartupKeys Individual channel volume offset Priority ID scan on trunked radio systems Preemptive priority on Motorola analog systems Negative channel dropout delay (forced resume) P25 Low-Pass Filter On some systems you can hear a tone that is an artifact of the 4.096 kHz sampling rate. Turning on this fi lter effectively fi lters out the tone Whats in the box? In addition to the BCD396T scanner, acces- sories included in the box include a PC interface cable, three “AA” 2250 mAH rechargeable bat- teries, wrist strap, AC adapter/charger, swivel belt clip, rubber duck antenna, BNC/SMA adapter, and an owners manual on CD. Overall Rating and Final Thoughts There is a lot to like about this handheld scanner. Even though the audio amplifier system supplies 90 mW less audio, Uniden has done some re-engineering and the audio is definitely an improvement over the 396T. The 396T had a hissy and muddled sound, but I did not note that in the side by side test I conducted. APCO25 digital audio was also a major complaint and Uniden seems to have put those problems behind them as well. The unit performed well on the four trunk/conventional systems on which I tested the unit. I did not hear any motorboating, and when compared with the 396T, I did note a definite reduction in watery audio. I also saw better rates and fewer drop outs on the 396XT. The multi-colored backlight of the display is a neat feature, but, when using lower contrast settings, on most of the colors the display is hard to read. I would dump that lousy blue color in favor of a bright orange color as used on the BC-330 or BC-246. There is no UASD programming software as of presstime, and without it, programming this scanner can be laborious. Based on our conversations with Uniden, UASD software will be available soon. In the meantime, I have published in our specifications table a couple of software packages that are available right now, including FreeScan. FreeScan works okay with the 396XT I tested, but I did get some timeouts from time to time. On the VHF High bands and above, the re- ceive sensitivity on our test unit was definitely better than the 396T and 996T units against which it was tested. No major intermodulation issues were noted at our rural location. MT FIRST LOOK RATING (0-10 SCALE) Audio Quality .9 Audio Levels .10 Backlight/Display .7 Battery Life .8 Ease of Use .8 (programming is much easier with computer software) Feature Set .9 Keyboard/Button/Control Layout .9 Overall Construction .9 Overall Reception .9 Owners Manual media on which it is presented. .5 content. .8 Sensitivity .8 Selectivity .7 70 MONITORING TIMES June 2009 But there are a couple of negatives. There is NO printed manual. You do get a CD-ROM with the user manual and additional material on it, but you will have to have a computer in order to use it. There is an up-to-date manual online and changes are made to it as they are discovered by the Uniden team, but that also requires a computer and internet connection in order to use it. I really think some sort of printed manual with at least the basics required to program the radio is important for users who do not have computer capability or access to one when they need to program the radio. Are you listening in Fort Worth? As mentioned above, I still dont like the backlight colors. Fortunately there are more options on this unit than the cobalt blue colored screen on the 396T. The white color wasnt too bad, but it was a little hard on the eyes over time. While not a Uniden problem, I could not get the 396XT to work with Unitrunker, even though that radio is listed as being supported. I understand that others have had the same problem. Bottom line Uniden has released yet another new scanner with cutting edge technol- ogy. No one in the scanner marketplace right now offers a scanner in handheld or base/ mobile model that has the frequency coverage or the listening capability that this unit has. The new Uniden BCD396XT handheld is truly another marvel of modern scanning technology. The best just got a quantum leap better. The Uniden BCD396XT (SCN 53) is avail- able from Grove Enterprises (1-800-438-8155 or http:/www.grove-) for $519.95 plus shipping and handling. Table One: BCD396XT Frequency Coverage Frequency (MHz) Freq Range Default (MHz) Modulation Step (kHz) 25.0000 27.9950 AM 5 28.0000 29.6800 NFM 20 29.7000 49.9900 NFM 10 50.0000 53.9800 NFM 20 54.0000 71.9500 WFM 50 72.0000 75.9950 FM 5 76.0000 87.9500 WFM 50 88.0000 107.9000 WFM 100 108.0000 136.9916 AM 8.33 137.0000 143.9875 NFM 12.5 144.0000 147.9950 NFM 5 148.0000 150.7875 NFM 12.5 150.8000 161.9950 NFM 5 162.0000 173.9875 NFM 12.5 174.0000 215.9500 WFM 50 216.0000 224.9800 NFM 20 225.0000 379.9750 AM 25 380.0000 512.0000 NFM 12.5 763.0000 805.99375 NFM 6.25 806.0000 960.0000 NFM 12.5 1240.0000 1300.0000 NFM 25 Note: The scanners frequency coverage is not continuous and does not include the cellular telephone, UHF TV bands, or the 960-1240 MHz ranges. Table Two: Scanner Specifications (Manufacturer Supplied) Sensitivity (nominal) 12dB SINAD/Signal Noise Ratio (nominal) Sensitivity Ratio Signal Noise MHz Frequency Range Mode 0.4 V 50 db 25 27.995 AM 0.3 V 41 db 28 53.98 NFM 0.5 V 55 db 54 71.95 WFM 0.2 V 47 db 72 75.995z FM 0.4 V 60 db 76 107.9 WFM 0.3 V 50 db 108 136.9916 AM 0.3 V 41 db 137 173.9875 NFM 0.5 V 55 db 174 215.95 WFM 0.3 V 40 db 216 224.98 NFM 0.3 V 51 db 225 379.975 AM 0.3 V 40 db 380 512 NFM 0.3 V 41 db 763 960 NFM 0.5 V 37 db 1240 1300 NFM Close Call Sensitivity (nominal) 350 V VHF Low 1 Band 160 V VHF Low 2 Band 70 V Air Band 60 V VHF High 1 Band 56 V VHF High 2 Band 10