I was looking into getting a home patrol but noticed on scanner master you have to buy a $112.00 update
Is that correct I not only have to spend 500.00 but then another 112.00 ??? doesn't make sense to me or am I understanding that wrong. please explain if someone would please. what happens if you don't buy the update? ( I am in Kewaunee county Wi. and they just switched to digital) just some fyi if that helps on what I want to do with it. thanks in advance
No, you don't "have" to buy a $112 update. That's actually what Uniden calls it's "Extreme
Upgrade", not update, and can be purchased direct from Uniden for $99.99. That upgrade adds some features not present on the HP-1 'out of the box'. You can read about those
here.
I have the Extreme Upgrade on my Home Patrol, and have used those features, Very handy. However, they are not necessary to be able to use the scanner. It will still work very well without the added functions. The one thing it adds, that might make you think, is that without the Extreme, you cannot program the HP-1 through the keyboard. With the upgrade, you can add or edit systems. However, the Sentinel software that comes with the scanner
does allow you to make whatever changes you want, even without the Extreme. As far as the cost of the scanner itself. shop around. Some of the sellers on
Amazon are much lower, and I have seen occasional listings under $400.
On the other hand, if the features of the "Extreme Upgrade" do interest you, consider ordering the soon to be released BCD436HP. It will have all of the features of the Home Patrol, with the Extreme, plus be capable of monitoring Phase II systems.
WISCOM is not Phase II, but more systems around the country are using that, so you could encounter them while traveling.The 436HP is selling for $499 from a number of sources. They are taking pre-orders, though some are sold out already.
