Took me all of 10 minutes to have a 996p2 up and running without ever cracking open any paperwork ... Used 780 and 996 previously. Programed my 2 local trunk systems (wo a lot of TG's loaded) and most VHF.
Then maybe 10 minutes to get the driver loaded and the Freescan Beta going, once it was available. I had mine before Freescan would work.
Comparing a 996 to that Whistler in not even anywhere in the same boat.
436/536 with the database might have been more you bag - but those do have issues.
Then maybe 10 minutes to get the driver loaded and the Freescan Beta going, once it was available. I had mine before Freescan would work.
Comparing a 996 to that Whistler in not even anywhere in the same boat.
436/536 with the database might have been more you bag - but those do have issues.
I've been lurking and learning here (new to RR but not to scanning/radios) and this thread is a goldmine for all the info I should have had before investing in a new radio, but live and learn.
Not that anybody gives a hoot about a newbie's opinion, but boy, do I have to throw my lot in with the "Uniden products are half-baked" crowd. The BCD996P2 has neat hardware, cool features and capabilities...and a gawdawful manual, lousy tech support, and painful programming. Setting up the systems and groups in Freescan was very easy, and once it's in the scanner the programming is easy enough to tweak...but the weak link in the chain is that bit in between getting the computer and scanner to talk to each other. The manual is useless and terribly written, the website is worse, and what support/software/drivers are available are damn near nine years old. C'mon, Uniden, in nine years nobody could come up with a bundled plug-and-play software solution on a CD that comes with the radio? I've got to go hunting for software and drivers and tweak esoteric parameters on both the PC and scanner to get the two to even recognize each other instead of just plugging the damn thing in and having it work right out of the box? Pathetic.
After a month with this thing I've finally got it set up how I want it, and it works fine, does what I bought it to do, and....it won't fit in my console, thanks to the way the radio techs put the primary radio install together. Not their fault; they did a fine job for the agency, and I can't complain since it isn't my vehicle in the first place, but I'm back to square one.
Which is that I should have bought the Whistler. Remote head=install problem solved. Bundled software and internal database=programming problems solved. Support, decent manual, and a much more polished and well engineered design making that support and manual mostly unnecessary=everything that the Uniden should have been and just was not.