BCD396XT Or BCD436HP Which to buy?

[SCPD]

436hp vs 396xt

Never encountered an SD card problem with my 436, not once.

Me neither.Only thing the BCD436 is missing is control channel only search so you can search,find a control channel and poof you are listening to trunking.
Can not be done with the 436 only the 396XT and 996XT.
Also no service search.Wish they would add these two!

 

[Dusco25]

I have these two scanners and they suck when it comes to decoding P25 audio like all uniden scanners.. It seems like they have not done a upgrade to the decode since their first digital scanner.. GRE or RS scanners own Uniden when it comes to decoding.. It is a known fact..

 

[Jay911]

I have these two scanners and they suck when it comes to decoding P25 audio like all uniden scanners.. It seems like they have not done a upgrade to the decode since their first digital scanner.. GRE or RS scanners own Uniden when it comes to decoding.. It is a known fact..

The videos posted since the x36 line was released contradict your "known fact".

 

[lep]

I have both the 396XT and the 436 and they both work fine in my application and I don't see much difference between them.

LEP

 

[radioman97]

So does the 436, or any scanner for that matter decode encryption?

 

[Jay911]

No scanner has ever nor will ever decode encryption.

 

[jonwienke]

So does the 436, or any scanner for that matter decode encryption?

No.

But the 436 will decode non-encrypted stuff the 396 cannot.

 

[sibbley]

And the 436 decodes better than the 396.

 

[natedawg1604]

If you want to monitor a huge SmartZone P-25 system with thousands of talkgroups and/or hundreds of sites (like we have in Colorado), the 396XT's memory limits max out very quickly. As other have noted, the newer units have much better memory resources available.

 

[natedawg1604]

No.

But the 436 will decode non-encrypted stuff the 396 cannot.

I assume you're talking about Phase II? That is the only such protocol I'm aware of...

 

[Gilligan]

I've had the BCD436HP for at least six months and just purchased a BCD396XT last week. The 436 is the best radio I've ever owned. It's incredible for discovering new talkgroups and frequencies and the display is awesome. I wanted the smaller 396 mainly due to size and ease of use, as even after having the 436 for so long, I still have not mastered this radio. I have pretty much mastered the 396 within 2-3 days of use and the only real drawback other than lack of recording is the display size/functionality. I would have rather had a 3-line display or more options for what is visible and not deal with flashing/changing lines. It's not idea for discovery but so far I'm very impressed with Close Call range. The hardware feels very solid and although I'm usually very careful with my equipment, I'm not worried what would happen to it if I dropped it because it feels much more sturdy than my 436. Overall it really depends on what your primary use is. If you are looking a simple digital radio with a small size than you can take anywhere, then the 396 is the way to go. If you're looking for a radio to find new channels and where size isn't an issue, get the 436.

 

[AC2OY]

I have these two scanners and they suck when it comes to decoding P25 audio like all uniden scanners.. It seems like they have not done a upgrade to the decode since their first digital scanner.. GRE or RS scanners own Uniden when it comes to decoding.. It is a known fact..

Huh? Do you own a 436 or a 536 to compare it to let's say a 800? I owned a 197 and still have my 800 my 536 actually picks up p25 a little better I think the 800 always sounded like it was underwater.

 

[KG7JEV]

Does the Home Patrol models link to wifi or plug in? How do they "pull" the new information?

 

[Jay911]

Does the Home Patrol models link to wifi or plug in? How do they "pull" the new information?

You run a program every Monday (or as often as you like; the database is updated each Monday morning) to download over the Internet on your computer the updated database. Then you connect your scanner and computer together via USB cable and do the transfer of new data.

 

[EJB]

Huh? Do you own a 436 or a 536 to compare it to let's say a 800? I owned a 197 and still have my 800 my 536 actually picks up p25 a little better I think the 800 always sounded like it was underwater.

I might be able to give you my perspective on this as I have spent the last year and a half using and owning:

HP1
396XT
PSR800
GRE600
396T

Bought the GRE, Traded a HP1 for a PSR800, Traded the PSR600 for a 396T, traded the PSR800 for a 396XT and got a HP1 back.

And I got several opportunities to use a 436.

I don't know why I traded the HP1 in the first place. The trade was between friends and I have every opportunity to reverse the trade but I wanted to see why GRE/PSR whatever the company is now called, why so many people say that the audio is better than Uniden brand scanners.

Well for 6 months I had a PSR800 as my 'go to' scanner and frankly it was a strange fit. Me owning anything other than a Uniden scanner, it's sorta like me, left of centre, ever voting for the GOP, or Conservative Party here in Canada, it would be wrong, it doesn't fit and it was a big mistake.

Lol, that out of the way, the PSR/GRE scanners do have better sound I think than the HP1 & 396XT. The 800 probably has a better analogue/digital sound than the 396/HP1. What I mean by this is that the Uniden scanners, the difference between the analog and digital P25 transmissions is a little more pronounced than the PSR. And when comparing the Digital sounds on the 396XT, HP1 and PSR800, I am going to say that the PSR800 might be the best of this list but its a personal choice I think. I wouldn't buy a PSR for the sound that is, over a Uniden scanner.

The PSR800's P2 audio on our provincial simalcast system, god, that was bad. Horrible. There might be more P2 talkgroups on various systems coming up in my area but right now I can do without listening to commuter busses complain about traffic or what time they are arriving, lol.

The 436 did a darn good job with P2, it does a fine job with the difference between digital and analog comms on the same systems and it has the DB built in. It's slightly better than the HP1.in terms of sound and more portable.

The 396XT is an amazing scanner in that its portable. For the size it sounds as good as you can expect it to. The only drawback about it is that it wasn't designed to tag radio Id's (UID's or RIDS) and you are limited to 500 of them and/or a combination of talkgroups). The provincial system that I monitor has literally thousands of different RID's so thats a deterrant.

So, in order: 436/536 Brand, HP1 then 396XT, PSR800.

Good luck with your choice, worst case, unless you live totally out in the sticks there are people here who will either buy/sell/trade. Part of the fun is trying out these radios and trading them, constantly learning new things about communications and about the radios here.

E

 

[Bushwack44]

To resurrect this thread from a few months ago, very recently my 396XT stopped working (wrote about it here - http://forums.radioreference.com/uniden-tech-support/322470-scanner-started-smoking.html). Of course I need to replace it and until I came upon this thread, I was going to just buy another 396XT as I am already familiar with it and it does more then I have ever asked of it. But this thread has convinced me to get the 436.

From experience, the perfect product will never exist. Whether it's a car, computer or cell phone, there will always be a feature missing that I may like while other features exist that I have no use for (at the moment). I recently bought a luxury car with navigation but it also came (as a package) with a top of the line stereo system (which doesn't do much to a news & talk radio listener). Nevertheless, turned out to be a good investment as now I'm 'forced' to insert a Doors or Jethro Tull CD and enjoy it.

I learned long ago to buy a little more then I can afford - especially when it comes to electronics to get a longer life from the purchase. It seems the 436 (or maybe the 536 as the scanner doesn't leave the house) is the right choice; especially as I live in Los Angeles and can possibly make use of the APCO 25 Phase II feature.