Looking for new scanner

[xecutioner]

My interest are mostly Texas DPS, Brazoria, fortbend and harris county law enforcement. emergency agencies etc. I am looking at the BCD 436HP. Would this be a good choice and should I order the GPS recieve , DMR update and Provoice update? Thanks

 

[AggieCon]

Can you expand on your goals?

Will you be using it inside or on the road?

How much will you be traveling with it?

Are you interested in Police/Fire only, or do you want to be able to scan other radio traffic?

It seems like you'll be mainly listening to TxWARN P25 digital. The scanner you selected is probably just as good as any, if not the best, for receiving this system. You probably don't need ProVoice, unless you are going to visit San Antonio a lot. You probably don't need the GPS either. If you want to venture into scanning outside of public safety and TxWARN, DMR can be very interesting. I did a search of FB and Brazoria, and there are a ton of DMR users (DMR Frequency Finder). It's probably worth getting.

I'm not sure how much of the south Harris county law enforcement is in the clear. Maybe someone in the area will chime in.

 

[xecutioner]

probably be using it mostly in the car but don't travel out of the area to much. I may venture into several counties in a day. I like listening to everything but really want to monitor law enforcement and all departments involved in natural disasters and emergencies. My primary area would be Brazoria county (Angleton) with day trips into Houston and surrounding areas. I have a 396t now but DPS has dropped off of it.

 

[hiegtx]

probably be using it mostly in the car but don't travel out of the area to much. I may venture into several counties in a day. I like listening to everything but really want to monitor law enforcement and all departments involved in natural disasters and emergencies. My primary area would be Brazoria county (Angleton) with day trips into Houston and surrounding areas. I have a 396t now but DPS has dropped off of it.

If you are mainly using the scanner for your county, and some of the surrounding ones (say, a radius of 50-75 miles), then you could just as easily create Favorites lists for those areas and manage them by toggling the ones you want monitored on or off via the quick key.

Where the GPS does come in handy is where you are making a longer trip, say 100-200 miles or more, like up I-45 to Dallas/Fort Worth, or west on I-10 to the Austin'/San Antonio area.

 

[AggieCon]

natural disasters and emergencies

No kidding. Having the scanner going has been important for getting through the past few months.

Sounds like it will be a useful tool for you. Let me know how you like it.

 

[AggieCon]

Did you get this figured out?

There is enough Phase 2, including DPS I think, that you want a Phase 2 capable scanner in Brazoria County. The simulcast works well, I assume the flat land helps with that.

 

[K8cpa-chuck]

My interest are mostly Texas DPS, Brazoria, fortbend and harris county law enforcement. emergency agencies etc. I am looking at the BCD 436HP. Would this be a good choice and should I order the GPS recieve , DMR update and Provoice update? Thanks

It all depends on what you want to do and the type of scanner you want. Do you want a scanner to hold in your hand or a desktop? I have the BCD536HP with the DMR and Pro-Voice upgrades and I love it. I have yet to hear any pro-voice around here yet. But, the scanner is awesome.

I also thought about getting the 436 for something to have, when I am out. Let know how you like yours.