325p2 Or 436HP

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scannerjunkie

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Well the time has come to decide what scanner i should buy. Im looking at the 325p2 more and more because it seems like the 325p2 has less complaints and repair issues over the 436HP. i also like the 2 battery over the 3 battery situation. its much easier to charge 2 batteries than it is 3. but i admit im lazy and like the database already in the radio making it much easier to get it up and running. this will be my first uniden since all my gear is either whistler or radio shack. between the 2 which unit receives p25 signals better and which unit handles heavy RF areas better? any info would be great. thanks.
 

jonwienke

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If you can afford it, definitely the 436. 3 batteries last longer than 2, and the database is extremely useful, especially when traveling. The 436 also has the best receiver. I live near a pager tower that spams the entire VHF band on some radios, but the 436 pretty much ignores it and locks on to adjacent frequencies with few issues.

The 436 has more options and if you want to customize the programming, it may take longer to learn, but is ultimately much more flexible.
 

kandrey89

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Thanks guys for all the advice and info. a decision has been made and come thursday i will be the owner of a new BCD436HP.

Here's a few tricks that I figured out:
1. if you want auto-power on when in a vehicle, drain your batteries until the radio turns off immediately when disconnected from USB power
2. if you want to record while in a vehicle, make sure the batteries although technically dead, still show some voltage, this voltage but no current condition will keep the record functionality enabled
3. when setting up the settings, make sure to power cycle the radio to remember them, otherwise when the radio is not properly shut down, which is the case when ignition is turned off, the latest setting changes will be lost, but I rarely change my settings now since I found what I like so it's not that big of a problem
4. use a maximum 32GB microSD card, 64GB are not supported, but 32GB is plenty since there's a folder limit anyway that will not allow more than ~20GB written to the card, depending on transmission length of each recording
 

milcom_chaser

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Interesting.

Larger display on the 325, light weight, compact, good Phase II decode on Multi-Site systems.

436 has interference issues in the 460Mhz band, remedied by insulating the battery cover.

The larger display got my vote. Cool little radio.
 

rs16

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I've been considering a 436HP also. (I don't travel or want to record anything) The county I would listen to (Erie County, NY) is listed below. My local police is the only thing digital here. Mostly everything is in the 420-470 range. Should I avoid the 436HP because of this possible interference issue? I am not savvy enough to repair these myself.

https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?ctid=1839
 
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kandrey89

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Even 325p2 is on sale from amazon at $252.

Not familiar with other Uniden programming software except for Whistler, so prefer Sentinel. Not sure EZScan will be easy.
Not familiar with 460MHz issues.
 

hiegtx

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Even 325p2 is on sale from amazon at $252.

Not familiar with other Uniden programming software except for Whistler, so prefer Sentinel. Not sure EZScan will be easy.
Not familiar with 460MHz issues.
I have two 436HPs; one was from they were first released, the other was purchased last fall. I have not had any issues on Uhf (~460MHz) reception with either unit. Dallas (city) PD & FD primarily use Uhf conventional channels at the present time. I did add the battery cover 'foil' as per the long-running thread on this issue, but did not see any noticeable change (for the better, or worse) after using it. I also have a TRX-1, and prefer Sentinel (for the 436hp's) over EZ-Scan (for the TRX-1). Other members have indicted they frefer EZ-Scan, so YMMV.
I've been considering a 436HP also. (I don't travel or want to record anything) The county I would listen to (Erie County, NY) is listed below. My local police is the only thing digital here. Mostly everything is in the 420-470 range. Should I avoid the 436HP because of this possible interference issue? I am not savvy enough to repair these myself.

https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?ctid=1839
While you say you 'don't want to record anything', I suspect you would find the replay feature much more useful than you realize. Using that, you can re-play the last series of transmissions you have received to make sure you heard it correctly, or to get the full transmission if you walked back into the room in the middle of a conversation.

While your city may be 'the only digital' (P25 conventional) in your county, I see a few agencies using DMR, and a few more utilizing NXDN. If any of the DMR agencies are of interest, you would need to purchase the DMR upgrade for either a 436HP or the 325P2. If one or more of the NXDN agencies are of interest, then your only choices are either the TRX-1 (hand-held) or TRX-2 base/mobile.
 

rs16

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I have two 436HPs; one was from they were first released, the other was purchased last fall. I have not had any issues on Uhf (~460MHz) reception with either unit. Dallas (city) PD & FD primarily use Uhf conventional channels at the present time. I did add the battery cover 'foil' as per the long-running thread on this issue, but did not see any noticeable change (for the better, or worse) after using it. I also have a TRX-1, and prefer Sentinel (for the 436hp's) over EZ-Scan (for the TRX-1). Other members have indicted they frefer EZ-Scan, so YMMV.

While you say you 'don't want to record anything', I suspect you would find the replay feature much more useful than you realize. Using that, you can re-play the last series of transmissions you have received to make sure you heard it correctly, or to get the full transmission if you walked back into the room in the middle of a conversation.

While your city may be 'the only digital' (P25 conventional) in your county, I see a few agencies using DMR, and a few more utilizing NXDN. If any of the DMR agencies are of interest, you would need to purchase the DMR upgrade for either a 436HP or the 325P2. If one or more of the NXDN agencies are of interest, then your only choices are either the TRX-1 (hand-held) or TRX-2 base/mobile.

I'd be OK with the DMR upgrade...is Uniden coming out with the NXDN upgrade at some point?
 

hiegtx

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I'd be OK with the DMR upgrade...is Uniden coming out with the NXDN upgrade at some point?
Uniden has made no announcement either way, as to a possible NXDN upgrade. Their policy is to not make announcement until, or just before, it is released. They have not stated that one is in progress, though many members, including myself, hope that eventually one is released.
 

SOFA_KING

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I have 'em all, and I love my 325P2. I prefer it over my 436. It just works flawlessly and has such a clean (and compact) design. It scans faster, and the display is easier to read. It's sensitivity is great, and when MANUAL P25 Threshold is set to 10 (for my government stuff) it does better on range. I get just under 9 hours run time on a set of Odec 2450 batteries. It sounds better, although maybe not quite as loud as the 436. I just like it. The 436 always misses transmissions, but the 325P2 gets them all. It's just a well designed scanner.

Now I use my 436 mostly in the SUV to listen to lesser important state, county and local systems with GPS connected for location control. That's basically background noise, as my federal stuff on the 325P2 is front and center. The 996P2 has also taken the same role in my home station as the 325P2 in the SUV. The 536 is now just an "auxiliary" scanner anymore. P2 scanners rock!

Phil
 

gonefishn1

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Can the 325P2 be charged with the batteries in while its turned on? Seems like I have read that the 436 can not be charged while "on"... Maybe I have it confused?
 

scannersnstuff

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bcd325p2

I will not turn this into a bcd436hp bash. I have the bcd325p2, I find it to be an excellent radio. Large display,great phase 1 and 2 decode, darn good sensitivity,easy to use. With that being said I would like to get a bcd436hp. All the negatvie press has turned me off. I probably will wait a few month's, and get one. I can always return it if I don't like it.
 

jonwienke

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The negatives are overblown IMO. The 436HP is a stellar scanner, even if it does have a few quirks.
 

ShyFlyer

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While I don't have the 325P2, I do have the "little brother" 125AT and the 436HP. I like the 125's form factor and display (which the 325 inherited), even if you only get one backlight color. The 436's display is, obviously, much bigger but the white-ish backlight is somewhat useless during daylight conditions and a little irritating at night. Please note I use mine in a mobile environment.

I found FreeScan much easier and friendlier than Sentinel, though Sentinel gets the job done. I haven't had any of the UHF reception issues others have reported with the 436, though I did notice that volume output to my external speaker was lower when compared to the 396 I used previously. I don't know how the 325 would compare.

If I had it all to do over again, I would have gone with the 325 over the 436. I chose the 436 (January 2016) because it offered ProVoice capability which wasn't available on the 325 at the time.
 

seth21w

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I bought a 325 to use on a phase 2 simulcast system and spent 2 hours hand programming it to replace my 396XT when my city upgraded. But the 325p2 does some phase 2 systems but not all as I was not getting any good decoding. Harris makes an linear simulcast system that the 325 will not decode! So I spent a few more dollars and the 436 has no problem with the same system. So check and research which system you have. If it's simulcast get the x36 line.
 
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