536HP vs. 436Hp

[Pyrojoko93]

I know that these units have almost the same features besides one being portable and one being a base unit. But I wondering if one has better reception then the other? I would thin that the base 536hp would be better because its a base unit.. is this true? is the 536hp worth the extra money over the 436hp?

 

[pinballwiz86]

Usually base models have better performance, yes. This could be due to a number of factors such as larger speaker, more features, larger antenna, etc. etc...

But the trade-off is in portability. If you can only afford one scanner, get the portable one.

 

[cm]

With the 436 I can pick up towers that are 25-30 miles away if they are conventional digital channels. On analog my range is about 15 miles or so using a Diamond and a Watson portable antenna. I live in a hilly area so that decreases my reception

 

[mitbr]

I am thinking the same question....
I have the HP1 and the 536hp.
Today I took both of these radios mobile in the car with an external 800mhz antenna listening to the local p25 simulcast system here in Pinellas County FL.

The results with the HP1 on p25 were horrible would occasionally decode the signal so you could understand it but not very good. Does great when on analogue systems but not p25. If I stopped the car got out put a portable 800 MHz ant on it it decoded p25 very well just not while driving.

The 536hp under the exact same conditions performed perfectly 100 percent decode and copy.

So my question is does the 436hp on p25 decode as good in the car as the 536hp?

 

[Voyager]

The x36 series has better filtering for some modes compared with the HP-1, so that may explain the varied results.

 

[mitbr]

The x36 series has better filtering for some modes compared with the HP-1, so that may explain the varied results.

Have you actually used the 436hp for P25 in your car?

 

[jonwienke]

I have. It does an excellent job on the West Virginia SIRN and Virginia STARS P25 systems. I have an external antenna for the scanner on my vehicle.

 

[iMONITOR]

I found performance on the 436HP & 536HP, using the same antenna, to be equal. This has been my observation on all like hand-helds vs base/mobile scanner, made by Uniden as well as GRE/Radio Shack.

 

[mitbr]

As I mentioned in my post the HP1 is horrible thanks for confirming that the 436 and 536 perform equally since I have tested the 536hp in the car myself.
I guess its time to buy a 436hp LOL.

Anyone else have results?

 

[Voyager]

Have you actually used the 436hp for P25 in your car?

Quite often (with and without external antennas on the vehicle). Like others, I've found the performance very good with the only exception being when I'm in a heavy urban area (such as a first class city). In that environment, even Motorola radios are affected adversely, as are any receivers.

 

[mitbr]

Quite often (with and without external antennas on the vehicle). Like others, I've found the performance very good with the only exception being when I'm in a heavy urban area (such as a first class city). In that environment, even Motorola radios are affected adversely, as are any receivers.

Thanks for your reply Voyager....I just want some real world performance info by people using the 436hp in the car on p25 before I drop another 500 dollars on a new scanner. Looks like it performs pretty well.
Cant really be worse than the HP! because it doesn't decode p25 in the car at all.

 

[NWI_Scanner_Guy]

Thanks for your reply Voyager....I just want some real world performance info by people using the 436hp in the car on p25 before I drop another 500 dollars on a new scanner. Looks like it performs pretty well.
Cant really be worse than the HP! because it doesn't decode p25 in the car at all.

I don't use my 436HP in my car too often, but here, in the shadow of Chicago, it performs well on both the Illinois Starcom and the Indiana Safe-T P25 systems. Decode is crisp and clear; very few dropouts.

But then again, I could say the same for the HP-1 that I keep in my car all the time. I've always had good luck with it on the two P25 systems mentioned above. The digital decode seems a wee bit more muffled sounding with the HP-1 than the 436HP, but the difference between the two isn't enough to be a big deal.

I do use an external mag mount antenna that's stuck to my trunk lid no matter which scanner is being used.

 

[AA6IO]

I use my 436HP all the time in the car (hooked to car stereo speaker). Excellent P25 decode while moving on most P25 channels here in Los Angeles and Orange County. Better than my HP1, PRO-106, WS-1080, and BCD396XT with regard to P25 decode quality. PRO-106 and WS-1080 both have more treble audio (which I like), but on weaker P25, especially, with the WS-1080, I get a lot of Donald Duck sounding audio. They miss a lot of what the 436HP seems to pick up. Even with no bars on some signals, P25 decode is usually good.
Recently bought the HP-2, but have not used that in the car yet. I never have used any of my base units like 536HP, 996XT, or GRE-600 in the car.
If I could only have two scanners out of my list below in signature, it would be the 436HP and 536HP. If only one, then the 436HP for portability.
Steve AA6IO

 

[sibbley]

I've used the 436 in the car often. It performs very well on ALL digital using a mobile mag mount. If you decide to buy one, I think you'll be happy.

 

[TxScanner]

How did you run the antenna wire into the car? I thought about running through the crack in the door but thought it might hurt the weather stripping

Sent from my Galaxy S5 via Tapatalk

 

[sibbley]

How did you run the antenna wire into the car? I thought about running through the crack in the door but thought it might hurt the weather stripping

Sent from my Galaxy S5 via Tapatalk

I have a 2007 Accord. I attach the magnet to the trunk lid, run the cable into the trunk, then through the lower part of the rear seat, run along the console, and up the dash board to the scanner. Not permanent, not real pretty, but it works.

On my Blazer, I just attach the antenna to the roof and run the cable through the door opening over the weather stripping. Thing that bothers me about doing it this way, is hurting the cable rather than the weather stripping.

 

[TxScanner]

Yeah, I can see that happening, I was just worrying about it doing something to the weather stripping and causing the leak in sometime in the future

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[jonwienke]

Prolonged running a cable through a door is bad for both the cable and the door's weatherstripping.

 

[TxScanner]

I figured that

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[cqbspecialist18]

I use my 436HP all the time in the car (hooked to car stereo speaker). Excellent P25 decode while moving on most P25 channels here in Los Angeles and Orange County. Better than my HP1, PRO-106, WS-1080, and BCD396XT with regard to P25 decode quality. PRO-106 and WS-1080 both have more treble audio (which I like), but on weaker P25, especially, with the WS-1080, I get a lot of Donald Duck sounding audio. They miss a lot of what the 436HP seems to pick up. Even with no bars on some signals, P25 decode is usually good.
Recently bought the HP-2, but have not used that in the car yet. I never have used any of my base units like 536HP, 996XT, or GRE-600 in the car.
If I could only have two scanners out of my list below in signature, it would be the 436HP and 536HP. If only one, then the 436HP for portability.
Steve AA6IO

Do you ever have trouble with the pro668 switching between full signal and no signal? In pinellas county in florida it seems to have trouble maintaining a control channel signal no matter what antenna is on it.