2096 vs, 996

[mass-man]

Oh boy, here goes.

$$$ is a little tight right now. I want APCO25 for the TX DPS when it gets to Dallas...or maybe I put the new purchase in the truck.

Which way to go??? I do understand about many of the Uniden features and other lack of features in the RS...

Please, good advice for a confused person

TNX....cleve

 

[jeffrey420]

I would just research the threads here, and in the uniden section. I have seen threads that say the 2096 is a bit more sensative than the 996.

I have a 2096, and I like it very much. With win96 you are able to open up the frequency range. They say the 2096 will not trunk track in the 700mhz band. It will recieve 700mhz after checking the extended freqs in win 96.

I like the list of features the 996 has. I have been watching the post in the uniden section for a while. From the looks of things, it might be wise to let uniden work some of the bugs out first.

Like I said earlier, do some research and give it some time viewing the threads. Read the reviews on the RS website.

Good Luck!

 

[rdale]

"They say the 2096 will not trunk track in the 700mhz band."

Whoever "they" is - is correct.

"It will recieve 700mhz after checking the extended freqs in win 96."

No help, all 700MHz comms will be trunked.

 

[jeffrey420]

"They say the 2096 will not trunk track in the 700mhz band."

Whoever "they" is - is correct.

"It will recieve 700mhz after checking the extended freqs in win 96."

No help, all 700MHz comms will be trunked.

Hello....hello....hello....hello....they are people on this site.

 

[DaveIN]

As Rob said, the 2096 will NOT TrunkTrack 700MHz APCO-25 systems, only receive them conventionally.

As for the 996 not being as sensitive, I don't buy it. I can pull in 800MHz trunked systems better on the 996 than my 2096 and have less garbled or dropped P25 comms. It depends where you are located, what you want to monitor (i.e. band), and the antenna you use.

Mil-air comms are loud an clear on the 996. You can use Win96 to "open-up" the mil-air band on the 96/2096, but the radio was not designed to cover that band.

If you are in a metro area you may want to lean to the 996 for less intermod in my *humble* opinion.

 

[jeffrey420]

As Rob said, the 2096 will NOT TrunkTrack 700MHz APCO-25 systems, only receive them conventionally.

As for the 996 not being as sensitive, I don't buy it. I can pull in 800MHz trunked systems better on the 996 than my 2096 and have less garbled or dropped P25 comms. It depends where you are located, what you want to monitor (i.e. band), and the antenna you use.

Mil-air comms are loud an clear on the 996. You can use Win96 to "open-up" the mil-air band on the 96/2096, but the radio was not designed to cover that band.

If you are in a metro area you may want to lean to the 996 for less intermod in my *humble* opinion.

Will not trunk track APCO-25, or will not trunk track at all in 700 mhz band?

As far as the garbled sound, the Pro-2096 sounds much better with the AGC turned off.

With the Mil-Air I don't know. I know it will cover Mil-Air when opened up in win96, but unsure if it is the right step size. I think I read a thread that said it was not very sensative in the band.

I will still wait a while before I get the 996 for myself. Seems to be some failure issues in the Uniden threads. Could always be operator error, but I will give it some time.

 

[pro92b]

Will not trunk track APCO-25, or will not trunk track at all in 700 mhz band?

As far as the garbled sound, the Pro-2096 sounds much better with the AGC turned off.

With the Mil-Air I don't know. I know it will cover Mil-Air when opened up in win96, but unsure if it is the right step size. I think I read a thread that said it was not very sensative in the band.

I will still wait a while before I get the 996 for myself. Seems to be some failure issues in the Uniden threads. Could always be operator error, but I will give it some time.

The 2096 will not track 700 MHz trunked systems at all. I would expect everything in the 700 band to be P25.

The right AGC setting will depend on the system. If the system is using newer firmware, the 2096 will likely sound better with AGC off. I have found that the 996 decodes better than the 2096 if the signal is weak. If the signal is strong, the 2096 P25 decoding sounds better to me.

The 2096 is not very sensitive in the mil air band but is much better than the PRO-95. Those wanting a scanner primarily for mil air should look elsewhere. The step size is 5 kHz.

 

[mesoman]

What is the AGC on the 2096 and how do you turn it off??

 

[pro92b]

See the PRO-2096 manual page 45.

 

[jeffrey420]

Automatic Gain Control

Func+Man, keystroke toggles it on and off.