Own PSR500... is it worth buying a companion Uniden BCD396XT

[GrumpyAeroGuy]

Putting aside the issue that it appears I have more money than sense on this one....

just curious. Anyone have both, Uniden 396 and PSR500?

I would consider it just for the fun of having both and learning both systems...and seeing how one performs vs the other.

silly? ... or no?

[pdfdems286]

grumpy, imho. if you've waited this long, wait and see what's around the corner from uniden. if they don't come out with the next generation hand held scanner <update to bcd396xt> then i would buy it.
i can honestly sat that the bcd396xt is the closest i've gotten to a really good hand held scanner.
i usually end up listening to a vhf-hi band portable, and a dual band amateur portable for my uhf,air and lo band frequencies. i do enjoy the 396xt for trunking,close call etc.

i do like it over the psr-500. like that one too, for different reason's.

[russellmaher]

Hey GrumpyAeroGuy:

I see nothing silly about it....I would definitely "go for it".

What's the harm? It would be good to learn both types and compare one vs. the other.

That's my suggestion....

Russell

[W2GLD]

Originally Posted by GrumpyAeroGuy

Putting aside the issue that it appears I have more money than sense on this one....

just curious. Anyone have both, Uniden 396 and PSR500?

I would consider it just for the fun of having both and learning both systems...and seeing how one performs vs the other.

silly? ... or no?

It depends on what your scanning pleasures are! I have both, and honestly, I personally still believe that the Uniden is by-in-far a much better scanner. First off, the build quality is much better. Battery life is twice that of the PSR-500 using the same batteries. Overall operation, programming on the fly, etc. is much more streamlined and user friendly, but will take a bit of learning to get comfortable with. More importantly, VHF & UHF reception is practically flawless on the BCD396 when compared to the PSR-500. If you like scanning the ham radio bands and conventional VHF/UHF channels, you simply can't beat the Uniden scanners. Finally, trunking operation. With the Uniden, I can turn on/off selected sites on the fly as I move around my state, or let the attached GPS accessory do it for me based on my preprogrammed settings. On the PSR-500, generally you'd use the roam setting but it's a trade off because you'll likely miss traffic from other sites; there are other settings as well but they generally are more of a pain with large statewide systems.

[GrumpyAeroGuy]

All interesting input...and... thanks so much.

So, any rumors on what Uniden has up its sleeve for a future release regarding their digital hand-held model?

Also, which is the preferred programming software for the Uniden 396?...Is there one that DLs from RR like Win500 does?

I use Win500 for the PSR500 --- Win500 turned out out to be very intuitive for me, and made the programming task seamless.

I can easily see that the Uniden would do very well on VHF/UHF. I have an ancient BC200XLT. To this day, it rocks on VHF/UHF, and the audio quality is outstanding compared with my PSR500. I mean, the PSR500 is OK... just the 200XLT blows its doors off --- easily. Also, it seems that the old 200XLT OUTPERFORMS the PSR500 on VHF/UHF... almost no comparrisson.

[pdfdems286]

although unidens future product plans are a well guarded secret,as they should be, paul usually "leaks" some info. a few month's in advance to get the speculation and hype going. at some point that info. develops into a press release type statement laying out the product plans. i guess tdma will be in there,somewhere.

[spectr17]

GAG, I use Freescan to do my programming. The software works great, for me the hangup was the transition to the new trunking scanners.

[pro106import]

Originally Posted by GrumpyAeroGuy

Putting aside the issue that it appears I have more money than sense on this one....

just curious. Anyone have both, Uniden 396 and PSR500?

I would consider it just for the fun of having both and learning both systems...and seeing how one performs vs the other.

silly? ... or no?

A little history on my findings:
I owned a Pro-96 for years and sold it when the Pro-106 came out (GRE made like the PSR500). I still own the Pro-106.
The encryption racket from the 106 was really getting on my nerves (and the YL's also!). I learned that the Unidens have a feature to mute encrypted comms.
So, I went and picked up a BCD396XT. Then another one. I have owned two 396xt's now for about 2 years.
Well, I can say they both have their pro's and cons. I am sure there are many threads about the comparisons here on RR. But to make it brief, you really need both type radios. The GRE does a better job on digital as far as the audio goes. Although a recent firmware update on the 396XT has improved theirs quite a bit. And the audio output of the Pro-106 itself is better than the weak audio output of the 396XT. The 396XT does a 1000 times better job on VHF. There are things I can hear loud and clear on VHF using the 396XT that don't even break the squelch on the GRE using the same discone. The GRE's have a very large problem with overload desensing on VHF. And I am no where near any transmitters that would normally make that situation worse.
Hope this helps in your decision.
Bob

[NYRHKY94]

Just to add to this thread, if you happen to live in a heavy P25 digital listening area (which NH is almost 100%), the decode and audio clarity produced by the GRE PSR-500/600 and also the Pro-106/197 "out of the box" is far superior to the Unidens IMO (I own both). The most recent firmware for the Uniden XT line has indeed improved P25 digital, but it still does not match the GRE/Pro line. I'm also a heavy user of the Favorites, Virtual Folders & LED features on the GRE/Pro line. On the other hand, the other posts about the build quality and feature set of the Unidens is also very true. I enjoy both product lines and own both for that reason.

Just some additional feedback...

[GrumpyAeroGuy]

All interesting.

I appreciate the input.