Home Patrol-1... My Review

[ratboy]

I played around with an HP at a friend's house and liked it a lot, so I ordered one, and then a friend had me order one for his dad, who was very frustrated with his last scanner, to the point he got out of scanning completely. He had been listening since the Little Tiger days. I should get mine Monday, and have it pretty well set up and since his dad is only about 3 blocks from me, just duping the settings I have should work out well.

 

[Robert784]

Uniden's HP 1 is really great!

It has been years since I've listened to the police because when they changed to digital I found it a hassle to figure out the programming on the newer scanners. Putting a crystal in a set was really simple years ago. I'm terrible about technical things and had trouble trying to hook up a VCR. When I recently saw something on Uniden's Home Patrol 1 I ordered it and watched the video's from You Tube that showed you how to set it up and found it really easy to set up and it is awesome to just put in a zip code and next thing everything is coming in great. The screen and call details are awesome too. Uniden, you guys rock! Thanks!

 

[ROCK]

Keep pro-106, I have both and Home Patrol sucks.

Hi
I am looking into a Home Patrol scanner. Is it effective with use in a statewide system? I guess I am asking if it is good with non local monitoring?. The Pennsylvania State police are VHF and use a local frequency for each city in the state but that frequency isn't included for Wilkes-Barre municipal PD.
Hope this question isn't too vague. I use a Radio Shack PRO 106 to monitor up here.
Thank you,
Mike

Keep the pro-106, I also have the Home Patrol 1. The pro-106 is chattering all the time and the Home Patrol once and awhile will grab the same signal. I have scan cat-lite and butel arc patrol and have yet to figure out how to install frequencies. The instructions in both are not very clear and hard to understand. Why can't they come out with a program with very simple steps, I do not need all the other junk. I think with Home Patrol radio, extreme update, 2 programming software programs, i have approximately $625.00 in it, plus I need to get a mobile antenna and a special antenna for $89.00 for the gps in the home patrol to work...a lot of money for not so great radio..

 

[KE4ZNR]

A few things to consider:
1) You bumped about a year old thread.

Keep the pro-106, I also have the Home Patrol 1. The pro-106 is chattering all the time and the Home Patrol once and awhile will grab the same signal.

What type of antenna are you using on the HP-1? Antenna is 60% of receiving any signals while 30% is the radio and 10% is luck.

I have scan cat-lite and butel arc patrol and have yet to figure out how to install frequencies.

You need neither of those 2 software programs to "install frequencies". In fact since the HP comes preloaded with the entire US & Canada RR database you should not need to "install frequencies". Just punch in your zip or city and go.

If you do wish to customize/create/edit favorites lists then use the software that came with the HP-1 called Sentinel. No need to use any 3rd party software programs.

The instructions in both are not very clear and hard to understand.

Turn on scanner. Punch in zip code or city name and you are off and running.
Seems pretty clear cut & simple to me.

Why can't they come out with a program with very simple steps, I do not need all the other junk.

They did come out with an easy to use program with "simple steps"...its called Sentinel.
I don't know what "other junk" you are talking about.

I think with Home Patrol radio, extreme update, 2 programming software programs, i have approximately $625.00 in it, plus I need to get a mobile antenna and a special antenna for $89.00 for the gps in the home patrol to work...a lot of money for not so great radio..

The radio itself is great. However you will only get out of it what you put into it.
If you learn to use Sentinel to its fullest ability to tweak the HP-1 to it's fullest potential then you will find out the radio is great. If you did also get the Extreme Upgrade I would recommend learning those features too.
Not too long ago I was able to use the EDACS/LTR LCN finder (part of the Extreme Upgrade) to map out a local EDACS system and get that system added to the database.

I have a strong feeling that were you to spend a little more time learning the basics about using Sentinel that you would find out that you don't need 3rd party software and your HP-1 could be the top of the line scanner in your collection once programmed correctly.

Marshall KE4ZNR

 

[rwier]

..................................................................................................
The radio itself is great. However you will only get out of it what you put into it. If you learn to use Sentinel to its fullest ability to tweak the HP-1 to it's fullest potential then you will find out the radio is great. If you did also get the Extreme Upgrade I would recommend learning those features too. .........................................your HP-1 could be the top of the line scanner in your collection once programmed correctly. Marshall KE4ZNR

Amen Brother! I would only add that the Extreme Analysis Features can help pull your other radios up by their bootstraps.

Rob

 

[daveharpe]

I relocated to the Denver area about two years ago, having never lived here before. Knew nothing about the radio systems, county coverage, pretty much anything. I tried to get to know the area using my 396XT, and for simple in-city listening of one or two systems it was okay. But as I wanted to learn about more systems and get a feel for the radio traffic here, the 396XT wasn't really a good tool.

The HP-1 made learning the area a whole lot easier. Large, informative display, all of the database features, the advanced features, etc. Much easier to casually listen to systems and figure out how they work. It's still my primary scanner for much of the listening I do out here. Being able to drive to Boulder or Ft. Collins and have all of the systems available in the scanner already is really nice.

But I can also see where the HP-1 would be overkill if you lived in an area with relatively simple radio systems, or only wanted to listen to a couple of well-defined systems and talkgroups. A smaller, less complicated scanner with banks and buttons like the 396XT would work better.

 

[XTS3000]

Over the last year, I have special ordered 4 HP-1's for customers. 3 were returned for many of the reasons in the original post #1. I also agree with the OP review.

Compared to the 396xt, the HP 1 has lower sensitivity. 4 out of 5 HP1's have lower sensitivity when tested on the service monitor. The other 1 HP I never heard or seen the customer again. I guess he's happy.

I put a speaker from an old Jedi speaker mic in the HP1 along with some damping foam. This made a world of difference on the staticky and hissy audio. Bought the Jedi mic for a buck at a hammy fest.

HP1 sensitivity is about the same as the AOR8000, which is known for poor sensitivity.

 

[markab]

Hmmm

HP1 sensitivity is about the same as the AOR8000, which is known for poor sensitivity.

Hmmm... Monitoring Times rated the HP 9/10 for both sensitivity and selectivity. And in comparing mine to my PSR500 it is at least as sensitive, and the 500 is known for it's excellent sensitivity. Something is a miss here.

Mark

 

[KE4ZNR]

Hmmm... Monitoring Times rated the HP 9/10 for both sensitivity and selectivity. And in comparing mine to my PSR500 it is at least as sensitive, and the 500 is known for it's excellent sensitivity. Something is a miss here.

Mark

Yep. Overall reviews have been said time and time again that sensitivity
on the HP-1 matches up or exceeds any other receiver on the market.
No radio is perfect and the HP-1 has things that can be improved on
here and there but sensitivity is not one of those things.
Marshall KE4ZNR

 

[XTS3000]

In my area, the 396XT sitting on the table can receive 5 out the 7 NOAA WX channels. Place the HP1 in the same exact space the 396XT was and only 2 out of 7 WX channels are received on HP1. I am using the same exact portable antenna on both radios.

I don't care much for the sentinel software, but it's not the worst software, I've used way worse.

The 800 reception is not as bad as the VHF and UHF ranges.

Monitoring Times is a joke. They rate Alinco's 9/10. They rarely say anything negative about any manufactures product, so they don't loose their advertisements.

Don't get me wrong, my HP1 sounds 100% better now with a 50 cent speaker and a small amount of acoustic foam. I put a discone antenna in the attic to compensate for the lower sensitivity.

 

[ratboy]

My HP-1 is pretty deaf compared to my PSR-500 and my Pro-106 on VHF high and UHF, even with a much better antenna. It's still usable, but would never be my primary radio. I have a pretty decent antenna for my car, and with it, the HP-1 is about equal to my PSR-500 with the aftermarket duck on it. The speaker is weak and a friend's failed not long after he bought it, but it's not all that bad a radio. I think some of the deafness is just a matter of alignment, as my friend's is much better on VHF than mine is, UHF and 800 is about equal. There are a few choices made by Uniden when they made the HP-1 that boggle my mind, just simple stuff that should have been a no brainer, like making the display rotate when turned, like any cellphone does, and making the one side flat so it can be stood up like a handheld. And the price is nuts, just crazy high.

 

[Kingmobileaudio]

cell, what did you ever find out about your radio? was it a bad one?

 

[ResQguy]

I put a speaker from an old Jedi speaker mic in the HP1 along with some damping foam. This made a world of difference on the staticky and hissy audio. Bought the Jedi mic for a buck at a hammy fest.

Did you happen to document this with pics? Sounds enticing.

 

[wc8i]

, I find it very good as far as reception goes ,I half to agree with the one person that said better check ur antenna , I give it a excellent rating , nice for traveling with the gps , a very nice scanner. Bill

 

[del1964]

Have had the 396xt for quite a while. Made the HP plunge with the Extreme upgrade few months ago. I have learned how to use and program it and now prefer the HP especially for traveling. Awesome scanner. GPS and external antenna makes all the difference in the world