396t vs 396xt

[mpwilson]

I'm planning to purchase a digital scanner and wondered if the 396XT is actually worth the money versus the 396T? I've ready all about them, but being a casual scanner user, I don't really know the difference.

I'm selling my PRO-96 which I've had a few years, but wonder if the 106 is better or just different than the 396T or XT?

Any help is appreciated as Black Friday at the Shack is coming soon.

Thanks and 73,

PatW
W4PW

 

[torontokris]

396XT Adds 16,000 more channels, multi-site, 7 colour backlight/alerts, radio ID's etc etc
The wikipedia page on the BCD396XT should outline all it's features and holds all the new items over the 396T... I can't copy the link since I'm mobile maybe someone else can or search in the top corner for BCD396XT


The radio shacks are good radios as well just different.
The black Friday deals are great $299 for a new digital can't be beat. Note if you get the handheld it comes a la cart.. No batteries no ac adapter no programming cable

 

[fmon]

I'm planning to purchase a digital scanner and wondered if the 396XT is actually worth the money versus the 396T? I've ready all about them, but being a casual scanner user, I don't really know the difference.

I'm selling my PRO-96 which I've had a few years, but wonder if the 106 is better or just different than the 396T or XT?

Any help is appreciated as Black Friday at the Shack is coming soon.

Thanks and 73,

PatW
W4PW

Pat, In many Virginia STARS forums the xt is raved over t using the STARS system. The t is lousy using STARS.

However, Pro-106/197/PSR-500/600 all work great on STARS and system I've scanned thus far including 9 other states.

 

[hiegtx]

I'm planning to purchase a digital scanner and wondered if the 396XT is actually worth the money versus the 396T? I've ready all about them, but being a casual scanner user, I don't really know the difference.

I'm selling my PRO-96 which I've had a few years, but wonder if the 106 is better or just different than the 396T or XT?

Any help is appreciated as Black Friday at the Shack is coming soon.

Thanks and 73,

PatW
W4PW

Pat,
For your specific state, Virginia, I'd definitely say that the 396XT would be worth the money over the 396T. I own both models. The XT is more sensitive than the 396T, and has better overall performance, in my opinion. Features present on the 396XT, but not the 396T, are listed in bold on the XT's wiki page. There are a couple of those "differences" that were later eliminated via a firmware update to the 396T, those being EDACS ESK key support, & "Close Call-Do Not Disturb".

However, the biggest difference between the two models, and the one that would, to me, be most important for your state, is the multi-site capability of the 396XT. Virginia's statewide radio system, STARS, is a multi-site system. For the 396T to successfully track it, you'd need to enter each transmitter site you wanted to receive as a separate "system", along with the talkgroups that you also were interested in. For the XT, you can enter however many of the sites you want, but they'll all share the same talkgroups, because the sites are all within the same 'system'. (See this on Uniden's dynamic memory , DMA, for a little more explanation.) If you wanted, with the 396XT, you can also hook up a GPS and let that turn systems and/or sites (for STARS or other systems) on and off as you travel in your vehicle. Can't do that with the 396T.

As far as whether the Pro-106, or a 396XT would work better, that's a question for somebody from the area. Remember that the Pro-106 & the PSR-500 are the same scanner. The differences are in the front panel layout (speaker & keyboard placement). GRE makes & sells the PSR-500, and manufactures the Pro-106 for Radio Shack, with the Shack's nameplate instead of GRE's. Firmware is different. But operation, programming, & capability of the two is identical. So comments as to how well one model (say the PSR-500) works, applies to the other as well. The Pro-106/PSR-500 also have a multi-site function. It's different than that of the 396XT, but it works well.

GRE includes the ac adapter & pc programming cable (which would also be required for future firmware updates). Radio Shack charges extra for those (about $30 each, at the regular price, though I saw one comment someone found a cable for $20). Radio Shack does give you a printed manual, whereas GRE's is a pdf file on the driver cd. (That's not a big deal for me, since I prefer to view the pdf manuals on the pc. I can use the search function in Adobe Reader to quickly find what I need, rather than rely on a skimpy index or incomplete table of contents.) Radio Shack's Black Friday sale price for the Pro-106 will be $299.99. Add the cost of the ac adapter and cable, and you're in the ballpark of where ScannerMaster is selling the PSR-500, $363.00. (See the Radio Shack forum; in the "Black Friday" thread, there's some back & forth discussion as to whether there's any downloadable Radio Shack coupns.)

Edit: I see that while I was typing, fmon, who is from your state, answered part of the question as to how the 396XT works. Nothing better than someone from the area! The link I have above for the 396XT's wiki page shows the differences torontokris mentioned.

 

[mpwilson]

XT vs T

I appreciate all the answers. I am selling the PRO-96, as I mentioned. I really like the FreeScan software I've used with the Uniden 230 race scanner I just got used and since I like the software and the look of the Uniden, I think I'll try to find the XT.

I have the cable for the radio shack models, but would have to purchase more software. I already have the Win97 and Win96 and I'm a little tired of radio shack, though the PRO-96 has been a lot of fun to have to listen to the goings on.

Thanks again and it appears that the XT might be the way I go.

Thanks All.

Pat
W4PW

 

[BHinAZ]

Pat,
...... I'd definitely say that the 396XT would be worth the money over the 396T. I own both models. The XT is more sensitive than the 396T, and has better overall performance, in my opinion. ..........

I was wondering what version of firmware you are running on your BCD396T and when you mention better overall performance, do you hear a noticable improvement in the digital decoding of the XT vs the T?

Thanks.

 

[MarkWestin]

I have both the 396T and the 396XT, and in my opinion, the XT is superior in every way. The most important improvements to me in my area are the Digital only and Analog only settings on conventional channels. Also the XT has better sensitivity. The display is nicer to look at.

Mark

 

[hiegtx]

I was wondering what version of firmware you are running on your BCD396T and when you mention better overall performance, do you hear a noticable improvement in the digital decoding of the XT vs the T?

Thanks.

My 396T has the most recent firmware, 3.02.02. The most improvement I noticed between the two models is in sensitivity. I'm getting some of the more distant trunked systems on the XT that I did not get with the 396T, using the same antenna (R/S 800mhz), in the same locations (whether that be at home, or various points around the area). Similar improvement in reception range, again with comparable antennas, appears when using a different gain antenna when I'm out of the metro area, and most of the rural counties are on Vhf-high.

Digital decoding on the XT does seem better, than on the "T". However, I should add that, as yet, we don't have any of the large, simulcast, regional/digital systems in the DFW metro area as yet. For the systems that I specifically listen to, there is not enough difference to mention between the 396XT and my PSR-500. At various times of the week, I may be in range of most all of the major systems, as I commute from one side of the area to the other, and get out & about on the weekends. Without looking at the display, to see which scanner is 'active', it would be hard for me to tell which scanner I was hearing. But again, I don't have a large simulcast digital system to make a comparison on. I've seen enough comments from users who have, or have used, both the 396 series, and the GRE scanners (PSR-500 or Pro-106), that I'll take their word for the GRE units doing somewhat better on that system type. But I don't have a comparable system in this area to relate their experience to.

I think digital decoding on both my PSR-500, and the 396XT could be improved a bit by tweaking the settings a little. However, as is, they are perfectly readable. We also have a mix of systems: a couple of mixed mode (analog/digital) trunks, a few P25 systems, with some more in the build process, plus a growing number of agencies, including Texas DPS, that use P25 in conventional mode. I strongly suspect that if I stray too far in trying to optimize reception for one system or agency, I'll degrade one, maybe a number, of the others too much.

 

[BHinAZ]

My 396T has the most recent firmware, 3.02.02........

Thanks for the reply. Like you, I can hear a noticeable improvement from the "T" to the "XT" in sensitivity. I really can not hear much if any improvement in digital decoding going from the T to the XT. I have read posts saying how much better the XT is on digital but I suspect they were running older versions of firmware on their T unit. That is why I was curious about what the firmware you had on your T. I bought the XT with the expectation that Uniden resolved their decoding problems but that does not appear to be the case for me.

I noticed the senitivity on the XT is almost as good as the Pro-106 using a portable antenna. The difference is so close that it is not significant. However the excellent sensitivity of the Pro-106 on VHF and UHF is of no value when attempting to use a roof antenna because of the intermod overloading in my area. That is not a sigificant issue with the T or XT.

I found the digital decoding between the Pro-106 and the T/XT to be about the same. The Pro-106 may be slightly better but it is very hard to do a side by side comparision. They all have trouble in my area with the Phoenix RWC simulcast system but all do an acceptable job on the Maricopa County system. I get a strong signal on both systems using either a portable or roof antenna. They also have issues with the Tempe portion of the RWC.

To address the original post, I like the BCD396XT the best for my use. I like the XT over the T because of the better senitivity, the ability to see the frequency while displaying the alpha tag description, the additional memory, faster processor and the improvements to the interface (i.e. the use of the Function button). I like the XT over the Pro-106 due to the way it handles intermod, and for my use it is more refined overall in the memory model, the display, and the interface. However the Pro-106 is a very nice radio and may be the best value at the Black Friday price $299. I am disappointed in all three in their digital decoding.

 

[ausscan]

I would go the XT anyday. Just got myself a BCD996XT and must say it is a very impressive step up from the UBCD396T that I have.

 

[W4UVV]

I agree plus some GRE/Uniden comments

I would go the XT anyday. Just got myself a BCD996XT and must say it is a very impressive step up from the UBCD396T that I have.

I use a GRE PSR600, 996T and 3 996XTs. Using Win 500 and Butel software I program digital scanners for others to include the 396T and GRE/RS base and HT models. I agree with previous comments about the 396T and XT. One important difference in the 396XT and 396 is when programing the 396T it only gives a percentage of available resources used vice with the XT a specific number of channels used plus a percentage of available resources used additionally is displayed. This unknown amount can be a problem when doing global file transfers and exceeding the resource limit. From the 396Ts I have programed 85% seems to be the maximum percentage allowable for file transfers. You don't know whether you are one channel or many channels over the limit. Either way a reconciliation has to be done and another smaller files transfer made.

I live in central Virginia and have a 100 ft. tower with a number of ham radio and scanner antenna arrays that include Scantennas up about 120 ft. The terrain is relatively flat and I have an excellent ground wave reception coverage area. All my scanner antennas use RS mast mount preamps which work great. I am very familiar with the Virginia vhf STARS system. The push is on to convert the entire state by the end of 2010. VSP Division 3 Appomattox and Division 6 Salem went operational approximately 6 weeks ago. The final Division 4 Wytheville will go operational o/a 09 Dec finishing an installation that is about 2 years behind schedule.

Attention Home Patrol users: DO NOT RELY on all Va. RR database files as being correct. Some listings are correct but some may contain errors or omissions especially in the STARS section. But that's the chance one takes using RR files. I obtain my frequency/user information from off air monitoring and frequency information exchange among a small in state monitoring group. Since 1985 I have maintained my own state frequency database that now contains about 74,000 listings. Exchanging frequency/user information with other local monitors or joining a scanner club/group or area specific website are also good info sources.

I have the advantage of real time performance comparisons of the PSR600 and the 996T and 996XT. There is little equal comparison to the features and performance of the 996XT. All digital scanners are less sensitive than analog scanners. However my experience is the PSR600 is slightly more insensitive than the XT. Additionally GRE scanners are prone to front end signal overload. Using the same tower monitoring pre-amped antenna(s) I must use a 20 db attenuator in line for PSR600 nominal operation whereas the 996T, 396 and 96XT have no problem. I use mast mount pre-amps because reception of weaker signals is my objective not strong local area signals. The PSR600 has a nice diagnostics feature but requires a high signal level threshold to function. It alsohas a superior LED color display to the 396XT/996XT using the front panel LED light. In my opinion the Uniden XT temporary color overlay displays are an inferior display method. Plus Uniden's color palette for the color yellow and mine differ. Uniden's yellow is more greenish tinted then a sun yellow color. But that's a minor criticism. The GRE scanners were the first to provide NAC decoding capability. That feature now is included in the XT scanners. My PSR600 has been relegated to doing 162-174 and 406-420 mhz. range searches for new P25 federal users.

The PSR600 has approximately 1825 "objects" using a remix in various "scanlists". The 996T has 6,000 and 996XT 25,000 channels maximum respectively. Not even a close comparison for that feature. Additionally XT models have a maximum of 500 talkgroup entries. You think you will never use that many? Currently my STARS 996XT talkgroup database has 451 programed.

The 996XT allows me to program ALL Virginia 95 counties and 35 independent cities to include all trunked radio/conventional systems plus military, business, aviation, utilities, railroads, etc. Currently I have programed approximately 11,000 channels on the project. Additionally where appropriate I program GPS data.

Your experience may differ and that's fine.

 

[MarMatthias]

I'm planning to purchase a digital scanner and wondered if the 396XT is actually worth the money versus the 396T? I've ready all about them, but being a casual scanner user, I don't really know the difference.

I have the 396XT and am quite happy with it. I highly recommend it.