New guy around Mcpherson county wants to listen in. Please show me the way.

[kawasakifreak77]

Hello everyone, new guy here. I have been wanting to get into scanning local fire / ems & police. I dug out my dad's old hyperscan pro 37 & got some frequencies in it only to hear nothing so I got to reading & now I feel more confused than when I started.

Here is what I think I need for a scanner: something that gets up into the 850mhz range, digital (thats why the old hyperscan isn't working correct?) & capable of picking up trunking systems. My local "talkgroup" is 547 & I'm not understanding what that is... I just want to double check before I dump several hundred bucks on a scanner that might not work.

Also: I do not have any sort of PC or laptop so I have to have a scanner that I can imput frequencies manually right on the scanner itself.

I'm wanting a handheld for portability (I hike a lot in the country when I'm off work) so I have been looking at the Whistler ws1040, trx-1 or the uniden bcd352p2 & bcd436hp.

I'm not worried about having something super fancy or monitoring a million channels. I just want a good solid unit to moniter happenings in my little corner of the world so I'm hoping someone local to me here can help guide my purchase.

Any help as to what the best unit for me would be greatly appreciated. Thank you & have a great day.

-Raymond

 

[doctordialtone]

uniden bcd352p2

It's a 325P2.

I have one and love it.

BCD325P2 - The RadioReference Wiki

wiki.radioreference.com

It's current technology.

 

[tvengr]

I believe you will find the Uniden scanners are a little easier to program manually. The BCD325P2 sounds like a good choice for you. It can receive P25 Phase 2 and can be upgraded for DMR and NXDN if necessary. I don't see any systems in your area requiring the upgrades to monitor them. If you need any help programming the scanner, we are here to help.

 

[kawasakifreak77]

Thank you all for the quick replies!

One thing: with the bcd352p2, lots of reviews say the battery life is horrible. Is this true?

If so: is there an upgrade to extend battery life? I don't want to be out hiking & have to carry around a bunch of batteries.

Thank you again.

-Raymond

 

[kawasakifreak77]

Oh! Bcd325p2... whoops. Being an old ford FE guy my mind latched on to 352 instead lol. I was reading too fast. Thank you for the correction.

-Raymond

 

[doctordialtone]

lots of reviews say the battery life is horrible.

Unfortunately, when they went from the 396XT to the 325P2 they made it a 2 battery design.

I run mine on AC so I can't tell you anything about run time.

 

[tvengr]

The BCD325P2 has only 2 AA batteries. You can carry an extra set of charged batteries with you or power it using an external USB battery pack if the internal batteries run down. The battery cover easily slides off.

 

[Redneck0410]

When you do get one, let me know. I live in Hutch and I wouldn't have any issues running up there real quick and getting it programmed up for you. I have the cables and such to program it. To listen to McPherson County's system, you don't necessarily need a digital scanner. To listen to KHP on the statewide system, you will. I have the sister to the 325P2 (the 996P2) and I am very impressed with it. I also have owned the Whistler 1040 and previous iterations thereof, and I liked those too. If it were me, I'd almost get a base model (the Whistler 1065, or the 996P2 I mentioned earlier) as those will pick up a little better than the handheld versions. If it gets down to it where price is an issue, get an external antenna for whichever you use. You will pick up traffic a lot better that way. Just my two cents worth.

 

[kawasakifreak77]

Okay so one last thing: if I get rechargable batteries, can I leave them in the scanner to charge or do I need an AC dock to do that?

I'm looking on amazon & found these:

Amazon.com: POWEROWL AA Rechargeable Batteries, 2800mAh High Capacity Batteries 1.2V NiMH Low Self Discharge, Pack of 16: Home Audio & Theater

Buy POWEROWL AA Rechargeable Batteries, 2800mAh High Capacity Batteries 1.2V NiMH Low Self Discharge, Pack of 16: AA - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

Thinking those would help the run time. I'm just not sure if I need something seperate to charge them or if they can charge in the scanner itself.

My appologies for all the questions & thank you all for so much help.

-Raymond.

 

[Redneck0410]

Okay so one last thing: if I get rechargable batteries, can I leave them in the scanner to charge or do I need an AC dock to do that?

I'm looking on amazon & found these:

Amazon.com: POWEROWL AA Rechargeable Batteries, 2800mAh High Capacity Batteries 1.2V NiMH Low Self Discharge, Pack of 16: Home Audio & Theater

Buy POWEROWL AA Rechargeable Batteries, 2800mAh High Capacity Batteries 1.2V NiMH Low Self Discharge, Pack of 16: AA - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

Thinking those would help the run time. I'm just not sure if I need something seperate to charge them or if they can charge in the scanner itself.

My appologies for all the questions & thank you all for so much help.

-Raymond.

I personally would recommend that you not charge the batteries directly in the scanner. In theory, they CAN charge in the scanner, but it’s not that great an idea to do it. I’d almost hit up the Wal-Mart in Mac and pick up the rechargeable batteries they have there. Again, my $.02 worth.

-Shawn

 

[dgruver911]

To listen to McPherson County's system, you don't necessarily need a digital scanner. To listen to KHP on the statewide system, you will.

McPherson is runored to be switching to digital mid year. But I've also heard they plan to encrypt everything. Let's hope not, but who knows in this day and age. But over 3/4 of the state is digital now.

I don't see P2 being necessary anytime soon, but if you're spending the money, it's probably the thing to buy. I personally dislike Unidens and how difficult they are to program. Much prefer the Whislter or Radio Shack. But to each his own.

 

[Insulator]

I like my 325P2. I find easier than my TX-1 to manually program. I can run mine about 6-8 hours before re-charging. I did buy a special antenna from Scanner Master along with a case. Don't know if you have any simulcast issues in the area but I also have an SDS 100 for those issues here in Colorado, but they are a bugger to program without a laptop. Go with the 325. My opinion.

 

[tvengr]

If a scanner is not capable of P25 Phase 2, you will not be able to upgrade it for DMR or NXDN in the future.