you should see my Civ/Mil Air rig at home with the 396!
perhaps one of the more powerful features of the 396 is its ability to do many things at ONCE. here's what i mean. my 396 is linked to a 2m Yagi that i've turned broadside to the city (i live north of the city) and this in iteself is a great way to pull out air traffic frequencies for just about everything that flies over San Antonio...
now add to this several priority channels, like Airlife and Kelly Tower.
now add to that the Close Call RF detection in Civilian Air band (for planes flying overhead that you don't have the frequencies for!)
and finally add to that the ability to "search" the air band while you are scanning! you can set up a limit search, say 118-121 or 300-320 and have it take place pretty much while you are doing everything else!
that's 1) scanning, 2) multiple priority, 3) RF nearfield detection, 4) search while scanning.
oh yeah, dont' forget it runs on 3 regular AA batteries.
the 396 is a powerful little scanner, that's for sure!