You didn't mention if any of the P25 systems you want to listen to, beyond the statewide system, are simulcast systems. If so, any of the consumer scanners are likely to disappoint unless you are one of the 1% who live in a sweet spot in relation to the towers. There is much written in these forums about the difficulty of receiving simulcast systems without shelling out the money for a commercial grade receiver or a Unication G4/G5 pager (which is not a scanner.) If this applies to you, do your research before you spend $400 or more for a Whistler or Uniden toy.
Reception of the new state P25 Phase 2 system will not be possible with a Unication pager as of now. At some point, Unication could provide software updates to their gear that will allow for Phase 2 audio reception. Right now, they only work on Phase 1.
I have received the Ellendale site on a BCD436 and it worked fine. However, all PSP traffic is currently encrypted. Other agencies may or may not be, depending on what they decide as they deploy equipment. Also, the Ellndale site is a stand alone* location right now, so there are none of the typical simulcast issues that commonly make monitoring the newer P25 systems almost impossible.
While I have used the BCD436 on this system and use it regularly, I have a love/hate relationship with the thing. I wouldn't recommend it over a Whistler for this application...they're both potentially useless depending on location.
* - stand alone in the sense that the simulcast site it is linked with is several hundred miles north in Warren Co. It was set up during the coverage testing phase so the folks in Harrisburg could better monitor activity.
