InterceptRadio.com Forums

So has anyone tried this scanner yet? I understand it needs to be on the latest firmware for it work correctly on P25 systems... but otherwise, it's fairly close to the 996XT.

UPDATE: This scanner is practically being given away. Flea-bay for one is around $350-ish with free shipping. Amazon also sells it and with Prime 1-day shipping I'm getting it Monday for $389 shipped -- no tax. These are NEW units -- not refurbs.

I sold my 436 and bought one, it works great for me. Haven't tried it on a phase 2 system yet, but works great on phase 1 and analog systems. The only issue I have with it is I got a popping interference on numerous lowband freqs, both on AC and DC, roof mount antenna and back of set whip antenna. Hope to run up north next month and try it out on Pierce, WSP, Tacoma, and King Transit.

Sounds good Jeremy. I get mine tomorrow. I'll update the firmware and will try it out with the various local systems. I still have my 436HP.

I can't find a straight answer on whether the 996P2 has the AMBE+2 vocoder or not. I know the 436HP does but no idea if the 996P2 has it.

From youtube videos I've watched, the P25 audio sounds pretty good as does analog communication.

So it it's time to replace the 396X which way do you go? So many option out there now...

You go could this route: http://universal-radio.com/catalog/scanners/4325.html

(They're selling for $342 on Flea-bay -- new in the box.)

But since Uniden released the 996P2 there's speculation that they'll come out with a 396P2 as well... or something similar.

If you can handle the changes the 436HP isn't a terrible option. It is missing some features that the older portables have but Uniden may eventually implement them in the future -- who knows what's going on with Uniden these days.

UPDATE: Just want to point out that the 325P2/996P2 both are of the older system. In other words, you use FREESCAN to program them. The x36HP or HP-1/2 require different software and have major changes in usability of the scanner.

The BCD325P2 sounds pretty good on Phase 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcGZJvWj_SM

Didn't Wil just buy a 325?

Received the BCD996P2 today and it's working just fine. Firmware update went very smoothly. X2-TDMA sounds pretty crappy even with full signal and external antenna. The PSR-800 does better on its rubber duck!

P25 sounds fine so far. Waiting to hear Phase 2.

Mine sounds pretty good on the 700 simo phase 2, but I suspect it's sensitive to location.

Yeah that is an understatement. I think it depends on the units location as well. For whatever reason, I get the Field Ops units almost 100% perfect decode regardless of where they are...

The dispatchers and bus drivers though are always hit or miss.

It was interesting to hear the system on both scanners side-by-side. The PSR-800 handles errors better than Uniden. I'll ask around and see if there's any tweaks to make.

Looks like i need to upgrade (rolling the 396T) as well to keep up with Pierce county. All of a sudden there are too many choices. I was eyeing the 436HP but trying to read up on all of them (especially the BCD325P2)

It's hard to put into words but if you don't mind playing with new software and learning new ways to doing things (even if they seem totally opposite of what you already had learned before) then you'll be OK with the 436HP.

If you would rather have an easier transition and still want to use software like Pro96com, Freescan, Unitrunker for advanced analysis then go with either of the P2-series.

Thanks. I am having a hard time deciding between the 436HP and the 325P2. Been reading online but it is one of those things where everyone has an opinion.

One question on the 436HP zip code scanning - can you select which of those databases you listen to? I go to San Diego once a year but only listen to a couple of systems. If the answer is yes, is it easy to select what you want to listen to in those zip codes?

Perhaps someone else can answer that. I don't use the stock database stuff. I create my own.

ok, but the creating databases is not too complicated (or at least you can can get use to)? Is that one of the areas you mentioned that seemed counter intuitive?

It's definitely something you can learn -- I'll leave it at that. :)

No I was actually referring to the scanner buttons themselves. Some aspects are similar to the XT series but some are not -- and have no logical purpose -- other than to confuse the user.

The Uniden software is decent. It just takes a lot of patience at first. I believe there are YouTube videos that will help you walk through it.