Desire to purchase hand held scanner...

[PD47JD]

Looking to purchase a hand held scanner...but no SDS...capable of monitoring CSP I & G along with area depts in the New Haven County. I'm located in Woodbridge. My trusty and quite aged Radio Shack (remember those?) was swiped from the car (silly me) at Amity Shopping Ctr. Yikes! It's about time to move up!
Any suggestions/recommendations (other than an SDS)? Thanx as always.

 

[nhfdcadet]

other than the SDS, theres like 3 models of handheld scanner that have phase 2, to my understanding, all of them are subject to issues with simulcast systems.
Whistler TRX-1
BCD436HP
BCD325P2

 

[W1KNE]

Looking to purchase a hand held scanner...but no SDS...capable of monitoring CSP I & G along with area depts in the New Haven County. I'm located in Woodbridge. My trusty and quite aged Radio Shack (remember those?) was swiped from the car (silly me) at Amity Shopping Ctr. Yikes! It's about time to move up!
Any suggestions/recommendations (other than an SDS)? Thanx as always.

Curious as to why you're opposed to the SDS?

 

[PD47JD]

I suppose it's where I am at. To wit: I have a wide collection Bearcat & Regency scanners, a number of Plectrons (including a four channel Uhf), Multi channel VHF Sonar radios, Motorola professional grade portables (460 and 800Mhz) etc. ad nauseam. Purchased a BCD 996P2 a year and a half ago. Attempted to have it "professionally" programmed (Ha) by the folks in Mass. (no need to name names)! and now it sits unused because it did not and does not function as one would reasonably expect. As an aside, I have the correct programming software and have read and followed programming instructions on various publications.,
Now continuing on, I have read numerous posts on Radio Reference about the SDS radios and the comments/complaints and the like about setting them up and thereafter using them.
1) Yes, in my day I was a sworn PO.
2) Yes, I did have an amateur radio license.
3) Yes, I am somewhat proficient with electronics.

So, all of the above is why I am reticent to purchase a Uniden SDS radio

Responses are welcomed and appreciated.

 

[K9KLC]

I don't think I'd buy anything with the plethora of receivers you already have especially the 996P2. I have reservations recommending anything newer if you can't get that to work. Please understand I'm not trying to be rude or condescending but, honestly if you can't get that to work there's no point putting money on bad money. I have the 996xt (like yours but doesn't do phase 2) and I use Proscan for it and honestly it was pretty easy to set up.

Now if I misread your post and the 996P2 is working well well for you then I apologize and would recommend the 325P2 which would program similarly to the 996 or I guess if you want the 436 which is totally different.

IF you have simulcast 700/800 then all bets are off. You need either a SDS100 or a Unication voice pager but the Unication is not a scanner and has limitations compare to a scanner.

 

[N1GTL]

There's so much to say, I'm not sure where to start. I've owned or programmed most of the scanners you've mentioned. I have an SDS100, SDS200, Whistler WS-1065, BC125AT, BCT15X, an APX4000, 4 MotoTRBO radios and more amateur and professional series radios. I am retired LEO and I worked for Utility Communications for 14 years. (Don't judge me) I did a LOT of programming of all the above-mentioned radios and more.

That being said, with the state system being P25 Phase 2, your best option is the SDS series. It's designed for exactly that and works pretty well. It takes some dedication to figure out how to program and operate it. It's not easy. If you plan on listening in the car, the audio is very disappointing. You'd need an amplified speaker.

Your post explained a lot of your background and radios, but I didn't see what the aversion is to the SDS specifically. It is a ***** to figure out but once you do, it's a good digital radio. The analog side of things is pretty disappointing which is why I have some of the other radios. I have mine set up with a ton of different "banks" on the CSP system that I can easily turn on and off depending on where I am and what I want to listen to. Looking at your profile, you could take huge advantage of this when traveling. My parents are in NC and when I travel there, I just press a few buttons and I'm monitoring those local agencies.

If you'd like, message me here and I'd be happy to chat and assist in programming.

 

[PD47JD]

I don't think I'd buy anything with the plethora of receivers you already have especially the 996P2. I have reservations recommending anything newer if you can't get that to work. Please understand I'm not trying to be rude or condescending but, honestly if you can't get that to work there's no point putting money on bad money. I have the 996xt (like yours but doesn't do phase 2) and I use Proscan for it and honestly it was pretty easy to set up.

Now if I misread your post and the 996P2 is working well well for you then I apologize and would recommend the 325P2 which would program similarly to the 996 or I guess if you want the 436 which is totally different.

IF you have simulcast 700/800 then all bets are off. You need either a SDS100 or a Unication voice pager but the Unication is not a scanner and has limitations compare to a scanner.

Thank you. Your input was well received.

 

[PD47JD]

There's so much to say, I'm not sure where to start. I've owned or programmed most of the scanners you've mentioned. I have an SDS100, SDS200, Whistler WS-1065, BC125AT, BCT15X, an APX4000, 4 MotoTRBO radios and more amateur and professional series radios. I am retired LEO and I worked for Utility Communications for 14 years. (Don't judge me) I did a LOT of programming of all the above-mentioned radios and more.

That being said, with the state system being P25 Phase 2, your best option is the SDS series. It's designed for exactly that and works pretty well. It takes some dedication to figure out how to program and operate it. It's not easy. If you plan on listening in the car, the audio is very disappointing. You'd need an amplified speaker.

Your post explained a lot of your background and radios, but I didn't see what the aversion is to the SDS specifically. It is a ***** to figure out but once you do, it's a good digital radio. The analog side of things is pretty disappointing which is why I have some of the other radios. I have mine set up with a ton of different "banks" on the CSP system that I can easily turn on and off depending on where I am and what I want to listen to. Looking at your profile, you could take huge advantage of this when traveling. My parents are in NC and when I travel there, I just press a few buttons and I'm monitoring those local agencies.

If you'd like, message me here and I'd be happy to chat and assist in programming.

In the past I've been in your shop on numerous occasions for various reasons ...a Sherman Avenue frequent flyer. Thank you for the gracious offer.

 

[K9KLC]

Thank you. Your input was well received.

I sure meant it in the right spirit. I just hate to see people spend money when it may or may not help them. Things have some a long way since your Sonar plug in the crystals to receive,(GREAT old units by the way) or even the earlier programmable scanners.

These days people are looking to use "easy to use" scanners and I'm afraid, they're just not out there. Even the scanners with Zip code scanning are not plug and play you have to enable service types, such. I have only used Zip code scanning when not at home and frankly was not happy even then with how that all worked out. IF I were you, I'd try and get the 996P2 working properly (for you) and then see if you have simulcast distortion. If you do, then you're limited to the SDS stuff and go from there.

There's a lot of help to be had to get your 996P2 working out here, I see you're a premium subscriber, and while I don't usually promote paid software, I'd highly recommend Proscan for that unit, and go from there. I think it still has a 30 day free trial so nothing lost if you don't like it. I ended up buying it after probably 3-4 days of using it, I knew it was the way to go given I help others program also. I use it on my 436, 536, and 996XT and have used it for others on a couple other models of uniden scanners. Good luck to you.

 

[Moodus-CT]

My reason for not spending $700 on a SDS series.......probable 24/7 CSP system encryption.

 

[K9KLC]

My reason for not spending $700 on a SDS series.......probable 24/7 CSP system encryption.

I suspect a lot of public service will be encrypted at some point, the question is "when"?? Until then however I'll happily keep using my 3 Unication pagers and various other devices to scan the airwaves and be thankful for what I am able to receive.

A lot of SDS devices and Unications come up for sale and often the area going encrypted is the reason. This is how I ended up with my 3.

 

[PD47JD]

My reason for not spending $700 on a SDS series.......probable 24/7 CSP system encryption.

A good point. There has been some talk in Meriden and Hartford re: FT E for patrol in addition to the J Cars.

 

[nhfdcadet]

My reason for not spending $700 on a SDS series.......probable 24/7 CSP system encryption.

The CSP System was decommissioned and disposed of a few years ago. I'd say it's probable that they won't encrypt it any time soon.

 

[wtp]

Troop G Simulcast
Troop I Simulcast
so any problems you are having are usually related to the simulcast problems.
you could have 5 bars and hear nothing.
with my radios i got 1/4 second of audio , and then 1/4 second on silence with 5 bars.
and that was the best i could do.
so you should rethink the SDS receivers.
got the 100 and all is well.

 

[K9KLC]

Troop G Simulcast
Troop I Simulcast
so any problems you are having are usually related to the simulcast problems.
you could have 5 bars and hear nothing.
with my radios i got 1/4 second of audio , and then 1/4 second on silence with 5 bars.
and that was the best i could do.
so you should rethink the SDS receivers.
got the 100 and all is well.

This is similar to what I experienced in some areas on the BCD 436. While at my house and around town here it worked great, the minute I got a little west of town the simulcast distortion started. Depending on where I was at the time, correlated to the amount of stuff I missed. Sometimes it was a lot or whole transmissions, sometimes not so much. This was verified on a Unication G5 with exactly the same system, site and talk groups in both units.

I was honestly amazed it worked here at home but it did. Less than a mile west it all went down. I was likely at the fringe of one site here and moving west it got more sites.

While I do not have the SDS 100 any longer I did have one for a few weeks and it at least handled the simulcast better than the 436 did. In my case I opted for the Unication pagers which fit my needs better and still use older stuff for most things analog.

I agree if he's gonna have one thing and simulcast is involved the SDS series is what he's after.

 

[MarkB513]

This is similar to what I experienced in some areas on the BCD 436. While at my house and around town here it worked great, the minute I got a little west of town the simulcast distortion started. Depending on where I was at the time, correlated to the amount of stuff I missed. Sometimes it was a lot or whole transmissions, sometimes not so much. This was verified on a Unication G5 with exactly the same system, site and talk groups in both units.

I was honestly amazed it worked here at home but it did. Less than a mile west it all went down. I was likely at the fringe of one site here and moving west it got more sites.

While I do not have the SDS 100 any longer I did have one for a few weeks and it at least handled the simulcast better than the 436 did. In my case I opted for the Unication pagers which fit my needs better and still use older stuff for most things analog.

I agree if he's gonna have one thing and simulcast is involved the SDS series is what he's after.

Just wanted to mention something quick about the simulcast issue you're discussing. I find in CT, most of the Troop's TGs are carried on more than one site and I'm usually in range of more than one at a time. When I'm in an area that has the interference with my BCD996P2, a lot of times the conversation begins, and then I find its continued from another site, whereas if I didn't have both sites programmed, I'd miss the reply completely. Obviously, it only works with the above conditions mentioned and I'm not familiar with the systems you're discussing.

 

[K9KLC]

Just wanted to mention something quick about the simulcast issue you're discussing. I find in CT, most of the Troop's TGs are carried on more than one site and I'm usually in range of more than one at a time. When I'm in an area that has the interference with my BCD996P2, a lot of times the conversation begins, and then I find its continued from another site, whereas if I didn't have both sites programmed, I'd miss the reply completely. Obviously, it only works with the above conditions mentioned and I'm not familiar with the systems you're discussing.

Appreciate the info for up there. That was not the case here however. Interesting what you said about using the 996P2. I have the 996xt and for the phase one stuff I've checked it on, it actually seems to out do the 536 with both having the same antennas at my sons house even ons simulcast system. On analog vhf I'm pretty sure the 996xt outdoes the 536 or at least on the days I've had both there that seemed to be the case.

Again thanks for the info.