BCD436HP / BCD536HP First Impressions

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safetyobc

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Sep 25, 2004
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South Arkansas
Had the BCD436HP a few days now. It is an awesome radio! So many features packed into a small hand held device! I posted pictures on my blog. Videos are being uploaded as I type.

The BCD536HP is great. LARGE LCD!!! Again the record/replay is great. Audio can get very loud without distorting. P25 decoding on both are great. I'm not seeing any problems on my systems.

Aircraft monitoring (civ air) on each seem to be on par with my BCD996T and BC125AT.

I will do a full review on each in a week or 2. In the mean time check out the pics and vids below:

Monitoring Reviews: Uniden BCD436HP First Impressions

Monitoring Reviews: Uniden BCD536HP Initial Impressions
 

KSDeputy

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Sep 28, 2012
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79
Location
Lecompton, KS
I bought a BCD436HP scanner. I was particularly busy at the time, so did not have time to try and set the freqs I needed to listen to. I read so many bad reports on the RR forum about it, that I returned it. Now everyone seems to be interested in a Whistler digital handheld, but I understand that it is a 6 year old GRE scanner with a new case as Whistler bought out GRE. The county I worked for for 30 years just put up a multi million dollar P25 phase two digital system. It was not operational when I had the Uniden scanner. The county I live in, adjacent to the one I worked for, is piggybacked on the state digital system ( I have been told ). I don't know what handheld scanner to buy. So I am waiting until I find out what people that know a lot more about scanners than I do, figure out which is the best.
 
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emt587

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Jan 23, 2016
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i had a 436 returned it very hard to understand, i don't like the way the hp series gets programmed
 

netguy1999

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Mar 16, 2016
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Location
Edmonton, Alberta
Great review, OP. I just received my 436 this past Thursday and I'm loving it. It is a new series and it seems that the issues have been resolved with this batch. The favorites lists are a breeze to manage and it's simple to switch between which list(s) you want to listen to. The fit and finish are excellent. My only gripe is the way you have to enter the ZIP/Postal Code. I would much prefer direct entry from the keypad. Other than that, I'm quite impressed. I put a SRH519 antenna on mine and I'm picking up everything in my locale extremely clear.
 

WX4JCW

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Jun 26, 2006
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Stow, Ohio
I have had the 436HP for about a month now, i am quite impressed, i use it all over the US with the Uniden GPS and the performance is flawless, still much to learn about it but i am quite happy with my purchase
 
Joined
Jan 16, 2010
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288
Location
Buckeye, AZ
Great review, OP. I just received my 436 this past Thursday and I'm loving it. It is a new series and it seems that the issues have been resolved with this batch. The favorites lists are a breeze to manage and it's simple to switch between which list(s) you want to listen to. The fit and finish are excellent. My only gripe is the way you have to enter the ZIP/Postal Code. I would much prefer direct entry from the keypad. Other than that, I'm quite impressed. I put a SRH519 antenna on mine and I'm picking up everything in my locale extremely clear.
You must have a different 436 than I do, cause I enter the zip code directly from the keypad....
 

netguy1999

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Mar 16, 2016
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Location
Edmonton, Alberta
You must have a different 436 than I do, cause I enter the zip code directly from the keypad....

I'm in Canada and our postal codes are alpha-numeric. I have to use the select knob to scroll through the letters to enter them. Unless I'm missing something. Please tell me I'm missing something because this way is kind of a pain.
 

Moose

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Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
287
Location
New Jersey
BCD536HP or something else??

I currently have a BCD536HP and a GRECOM that I use to monitor P25 systems. I want to add another radio. Is the 536 still the "better" of the pack or have the new Whistlers or Bearcats surpassed it? Thanks
 

Voyager

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Nov 12, 2002
Messages
12,059
May as well ask which is better:
Coke or Pepsi
Ford or Chevy

It's all personal preference, and in the case of P25 I would suggest whichever works better on the systems you want to monitor.
 

kevin467

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Dec 8, 2011
Messages
58
Location
Staten Island,ny
I brought my 436 about 2 weeks ago very nice radio The biggest problem I have with the radio is distance. I live on the south shore of staten island,ny. Depending on my location i can pickup Somerset and Hunter ton county in New Jersey but not Union county a 20 minute ride by car. I'm just using the watson 801 antenna. When i lock on Union county it comes in but hardly in scan mode
 

N5XTC

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Joined
Dec 24, 2012
Messages
819
Location
Hampton, Virginia
Great review, OP. I just received my 436 this past Thursday and I'm loving it. It is a new series and it seems that the issues have been resolved with this batch. The favorites lists are a breeze to manage and it's simple to switch between which list(s) you want to listen to. The fit and finish are excellent. My only gripe is the way you have to enter the ZIP/Postal Code. I would much prefer direct entry from the keypad. Other than that, I'm quite impressed. I put a SRH519 antenna on mine and I'm picking up everything in my locale extremely clear.

may i ask where you ordered the scanner from? did they check the serial for you before shipping? i would like to order one. also, what did you pay?
 
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