I've been into scanning for a long time but know little about s/w, as programming them was more fun than listening to them for me. I had the 895XLT hooked up one time so I could trunk and scan at the same time, which wasn't possible without the s/w. I also played with a little recording and looking for hits, but that was probably 15 years or better. So my question is... why the heck would anybody buy s/w like Sentinel? The free version seems to program the radio so why buy? I'm going to use s/w for the 1st time to program my 100 if they ever ship it as all orders before 3PM gets shipped out but mine didn't and I ordered it the night before. Missing a ship day on a holiday weekend is really a long delay. Not a good thing to do with Amazon out there with that Prime.
So what am I missing? I'd prefer to program it myself but there's just too much alpha-numeral crap to put in it. I want all talkgroups to be named rather than IDs.
By "program my 100" I presume that you are referring to an SDS100.
Sentinel can handle all your programming, and is necessary for both database as well as firmware updates. I primarily use Sentinel for creating and loading Favorites lists, as well as tweaking the profile used, including display changes for the SDS100. If that's all you want to do, then just stick with Sentinel.
However, if you also want to have the capability for logging and virtual control (control the scanner operation via your PC), then you may want to at least try ProScan. See the
webpage for a longer list of what it provides. I use the logging to get an idea on the frequency that given talkgroups are used. Recording is another option that ProScan gives you. On the SDS100, you can set the replay fuction, so that you can review a recent transmission, in case you weren't sure what you heard. Or, you can set the scanner to record everything it receives, then go back and sort that out later. But that's all activity, or just the last few transmissions that Replay catches. However, using ProScan and your PC, you can designate only certain channels (conventional frequencies or talkgroups) to record, without having to record all of them. That eliminates having to go through & discard what is not of interest, to get the number of recordings down to a more reasonable number, of just the ones you wanted to review.
You an use ProScan for a 30-day, full function, free trial, before you either have to pull the trigger & purchase it, or discontinue use. The cost is $50, with updates being free. As you can see on the ProScan webpage, it also can handle programming for a large number of other Uniden scanners. I use ProScan for programming my 325P2, since FreeSCAN, which I had been using for my 396XTs and a few other scanners, does not fully support DMR systems, and has zero support for NXDN.
While I don't use it, there is also ARC536, from Butel. The Basic version, $39.95, only handles programming. If you want the logging, virtual control, and additional features, you would need the Pro version, @ $69.95. ARC536 only handles the 436HP, 536HP, SDS100, and SDS200. A number of members prefer the Butel software. I don't have ARC536, as ProScan does everything I need or want.
Butel does have a trial period, where you can see if their software meets your needs.
Either of these two programs, as well as Sentinel, allow you to edit text tags for conventional channels or trunk system talkgroups. Try one, or both, and see if the additional features are worth it to you.
