N9WP's brief firmware thoughts
Uniden's BCD396t Firmware:
Version 1.10.01 - Old firmware, I don't have any notes on this version however this is the version my 396t came with when I received it new.
Version 1.11.03 - I have been running this version of firmware since about the time I got my 396t until October, 2008.
Pros: - Very little Motorboating, can receive systems pretty good.
Cons: - Digital or P25 audio has an underwater sound.
Additional Notes: - Hidden menu settings for AGC (These are the settings I found to work the best: P25 Res Time -7, P25 Ref Gain +4, Ana Res Time -4, Ana Ref Gain -1, GN Range 15
Version 1.13.17 and Version 1.20.13 - These 2 versions are the same, the only difference is that 1.20.13 adds in the ESN and Checksum numbers to be able to do future upgrades. Minumum squelch setting has been moved up.
Pros: - Digital or P25 audio much better then before. Can receive P25 systems a little better.
Additional Notes: - Hidden menu settings for AGC (These are the settings I found to work the best: P25 Res Time -7, P25 Ref Gain +5, Ana Res Time -4, Ana Ref Gain -5, GN Range 15. I also found with this version of firmware most Auto decoding threshold error rates were 15 or lower.
Version 2.00.07 - Version 2, I never loaded so I don't have any experience with this version. I might roll my 396t back just to compaire notes.
Version 3.00.00 - Version 3, Just released October, 2008. I upgraded to this version on 10/08/2008 and have been using it for a few weeks now. This version added P25 wait time, close call do not disturb, and rebanding support.
Pros: - Digital or P25 audio much better then before, almost a more natural sound. Hardly any motorboating, if any, it's on weak systems, P25 decoding is agressive. Much faster scan rate.
Cons: - Still a little bit of motorboating but better then all the previous firmwares I have used. P25 decoding is agressive but almost to much. Sometime because it tries to correct the error rate so fast that it creates partially garbled sound, but for the most part sounds good.
Additional Notes: - Hidden menu settings: P25 Adjust mode needs changed from 1 to 3. P25 adjust level defaults to 50 which is fine. For AGC, they unhid these settings now, (These are the settings I found to work the best: P25 Res Time -5, P25 Ref Gain +4, Ana Res Time -4, Ana Ref Gain -4, GN Range 15. (I'm still tweaking these) I also found with this version of firmware most Auto decoding threshold error rates were 10 or lower.
Version 3.01.00 - Version 3 fix. Fixed a couple problems in the earlier release.
Uniden's BCD996t Firmware:
More history to come later...
Version 3.00.00 - Version 3, please see notes for Version 3.01.00
Version 3.01.00 - Version 3, Just released weeks after 3.00.00. This is a fix for a couple small things in 3.00.00. I upgraded to this version on 11/08/2008 and have been using it for a week now. This is the same scanner that is used for my on-line feed. This version added P25 wait time, close call do not disturb, and rebanding support.
Pros: - Digital or P25 audio much better then before, almost a more natural sound. If you have the talkgroups defined as p25, you won't have any motor boating, if not there is still hardly any motorboating, if any, it's on weak systems, P25 decoding is agressive. Much faster scan rate.
Cons: - P25 decoding is agressive but almost to much. Sometime because it tries to correct the error rate so fast that it creates partially garbled
sound, but for the most part sounds good.
Additional Notes: - Hidden menu settings: P25 Adjust mode needs changed from 1 to 3 in version 3.00.00, it doesn't need changed in 3.01.00. P25 adjust level defaults to 50 which is fine. For AGC, they unhid these settings now, (These are the settings I found to work the
best: P25 Res Time -5, P25 Ref Gain +4, Ana Res Time -4, Ana Ref Gain -4, GN Range 15. (I'm still tweaking these) I also found with this version of firmware
most Auto decoding threshold error rates were 10 or lower.
This page last updated
11/2008