BCD436HP vs PSR800
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rocksteady
Member
No. That would be a downgrade. Wait until they get the bugs out. And keep the 800. It's my favorite scanner. I wish I never sold mine.
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tommypierson
Member
lol,
IMHO, Yes it was for me and the main reasons are.
#1 KEYPAD, Now I can enter my own frequencies easy and fast.
#2 Communication from the computer to the 436 is lighting fast compared to the PSR-800.
rocksteady
Member
Not to mention the variety of ways to program the PSR800 it, with and without a computer. Never get rid of it. You will regret it.
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Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk
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rocksteady
Member
When Whistler comes out with a new 800 & 900, I'm buying them.
Sent from my tricked out Droid4!
Sent from my tricked out Droid4!
Although I do not own a new Uniden(no plans to buy one either), I do have the HP1,396xt,996xt and of course my PSR 800. After the bugs are worked out of the NEW ones from Whistler, I will buy the WS 1080 is the PSR 800 and the WS 1095 is the never shipped PSR 900 detachable face. Stick with the PSR 800!
What I read On the GRE/Wsler Forum the 800 does poorly in a high IF/IR Location.
Many of the Folks putting down Uniden on the Uniden Forum do not mention this.
So if you out in the County the GRE will do great, BUT if you're in a big City according to the GRE forum it will be worse
LIScanner101
Completely Banned for the Greater Good
I don't think it's specific to the 800, but GRE in general.
With that said, I have a PRO-163 in addition to my BCT15X. I live in a fairly well-populated suburban area surrounded by VHF high frequencies and I have never experienced any of the oft-reported high band intermod problems that supposedly plagues the GREs. I actually really like it AND I ALSO love the BCT15X but it's way past time I got a digital.
Keep it!
With that said, I have a PRO-163 in addition to my BCT15X. I live in a fairly well-populated suburban area surrounded by VHF high frequencies and I have never experienced any of the oft-reported high band intermod problems that supposedly plagues the GREs. I actually really like it AND I ALSO love the BCT15X but it's way past time I got a digital.
Keep it!
Well I do own a pro 96,97,2051.95,163,164 and that list justs goes on,and I do own the gre 500, 600, and the 800 but hold on I have the Uniden 536 I and the 436 is on the way, the HP1 needs them here. so if you want input from someone that has the whole pile sitting right here in front of them" its my crack", the GRE and the Pro suffer from front end over load and that is a simple fact, get uesd to it, even my friends that ride in my car........ and have to hear that and think the sound is junk, and think , that I am nuts for having so meny scanners. the simple fact is the 536 does not have front end over load and the 436 will be a great asset to the mix.I been at this from the 60's
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Yea I think it just depends on your specific area and what it is youre trying to monitor. For me my county phase 2 P25 system sounds great on a 436 compared to 30% unreadable with a PSR 800. Theres another distant p25 system my 800 doesnt even hear but my 436 picks up quite a bit. But then again, there is a distant EDACS system that my 436 wont hear but my PSR 800 will. I am in a high RF area too.
Yea I think it just depends on your specific area and what it is youre trying to monitor. For me my county phase 2 P25 system sounds great on a 436 compared to 30% unreadable with a PSR 800. Theres another distant p25 system my 800 doesnt even hear but my 436 picks up quite a bit. But then again, there is a distant EDACS system that my 436 wont hear but my PSR 800 will. I am in a high RF area too.
bberns22
Member
I have 3 PSR-800's, given to me by my ham buddies, which are in perfect condition but useless due to simulcast issues here .I've already made one video, and was going to make a second, in which I run over them with a truck but since people seem to find value in these poorly designed devices I will be happy to give them away for nothing (their real value on p25 systems). PM me.
I have the PSR-800 and the 436HP. I will NOT get rid of my 800. One reason only. The 800 recording feature allows you to set specific channels to record. The 436HP does not. It records everything.
Otherwise, I like the 436HP much better. I always thought my 396xt was better at decoding the local P25 system than the 800. The 436HP seems to me to be better yet. The 436HP has discovery mode which I use a lot.
The 436HP has some bugs to be worked out, but it's worth the money if you really want one. Just hang on to the PSR-800 too!
Otherwise, I like the 436HP much better. I always thought my 396xt was better at decoding the local P25 system than the 800. The 436HP seems to me to be better yet. The 436HP has discovery mode which I use a lot.
The 436HP has some bugs to be worked out, but it's worth the money if you really want one. Just hang on to the PSR-800 too!
high RF
I live near Newark and NYC,and the PSR-800 works perfect!I also have Nash-FM on 94.7 that is an FM radio station and WPAT 93 nearby,this is a superb scanner,wish it had a keypad,but it does have the full database,and you can use the arrows up down left and right to navigate a frequency or range in.
I live near Newark and NYC,and the PSR-800 works perfect!I also have Nash-FM on 94.7 that is an FM radio station and WPAT 93 nearby,this is a superb scanner,wish it had a keypad,but it does have the full database,and you can use the arrows up down left and right to navigate a frequency or range in.
I would gladly take one !!
safetyobc
Member
I would got with the 436HP, at this point. I own them both. I like it more. But if you like the 800, then I would wait for the Whistler release of the new 800.
The PSR-800 is great if you never have to put in a custom frequency, channel, or system - either "on the fly" or with the provided EZ-Scan Digital (which is anything but easy to use). I would rather stab myself in the ear with an ice pick than try to program a large trunk system - or any other system - by hand, with EZ-Scan Digital, ever again. You can't type information in quickly (cursor keys are disabled for moving from cell to cell) and the import from text files/clipboard is only partially available, and poor at that.
The user interface for the 800 is atrocious too. You have cursor keys and menus, and cascading menus, and more menus. Want to temporarily lock out one site of a trunk system (or even temporarily hold on one site)? Too bad. Go back to your computer, download the data to EZ-Scan Digital, make the changes, and reupload it.
The 436 is the most sensitive radio I have had since my PRO-43. Connected via multicoupler to the same antenna as a HomePatrol-1, a PSR-600, and a 996XT, the 436 is receiving things clearly that the HP1 barely picks up, and the other two don't even open up on. The digital decode is leaps and bounds over the HP1. The recordings are nice and clean. (I never got my PSR800 to record decently, and the playback interface in EZ-Scan Digital is, you guessed it, difficult to use and buggy as hell.) I do subtract points from the 436 for not being able to take the metadata off the audio files and display it on my PC, but it's just going to take somebody to write some software to do that, and there are people already working on it. The 436 also gets some critique from me for not having trunk analysis functioning yet, but that is supposed to be coming soon too. The GRE radios never had on-screen analysis, but I will admit my PSR-500 is the go-to radio when I need to do a Unitrunker session. If only it wasn't so deaf (and got even worse when the USB was connected).
The biggest, most important piece of info, though, is something you haven't given - where you are and what you listen to. That's what depends the most. The people who say the 436 is a giant steaming pile of crap are wrong. So are the people who say the 800 is garbage. There are people who holler and whine about how the Uniden radios prior to the x36 line are useless because they don't do P25 Phase II or don't do well on simulcast systems. Couldn't matter less to me; my area has neither of those. There are people who trash talk the GRE line for multiple reasons. For example I criticize the PSR-500/600 for only allowing 32 freqs per trunk system. Those radios don't do multi-site trunking at all. They also don't display information properly for P25 VHF systems. But if you have one of those radios and only have an 8-channel EDACS system in your area, you'll never come across those "problems".
In my opinion, if you have the money to spend, you can't go too wrong getting an x36, be it the 436 or 536. I've only had mine since Tuesday and have already fallen in love with it - just for the increased range over ALL my other radios, and the impressively improved digital decode. If I had the cash, I'd get about half-a-dozen 536s to put in my home office, my vehicle, my work office, the firehall, etc. I feel the radios are that good.
Again, what kind of stuff you're going to be listening to is going to determine if the radios are going to be worth your while (and $).
The user interface for the 800 is atrocious too. You have cursor keys and menus, and cascading menus, and more menus. Want to temporarily lock out one site of a trunk system (or even temporarily hold on one site)? Too bad. Go back to your computer, download the data to EZ-Scan Digital, make the changes, and reupload it.
The 436 is the most sensitive radio I have had since my PRO-43. Connected via multicoupler to the same antenna as a HomePatrol-1, a PSR-600, and a 996XT, the 436 is receiving things clearly that the HP1 barely picks up, and the other two don't even open up on. The digital decode is leaps and bounds over the HP1. The recordings are nice and clean. (I never got my PSR800 to record decently, and the playback interface in EZ-Scan Digital is, you guessed it, difficult to use and buggy as hell.) I do subtract points from the 436 for not being able to take the metadata off the audio files and display it on my PC, but it's just going to take somebody to write some software to do that, and there are people already working on it. The 436 also gets some critique from me for not having trunk analysis functioning yet, but that is supposed to be coming soon too. The GRE radios never had on-screen analysis, but I will admit my PSR-500 is the go-to radio when I need to do a Unitrunker session. If only it wasn't so deaf (and got even worse when the USB was connected).
The biggest, most important piece of info, though, is something you haven't given - where you are and what you listen to. That's what depends the most. The people who say the 436 is a giant steaming pile of crap are wrong. So are the people who say the 800 is garbage. There are people who holler and whine about how the Uniden radios prior to the x36 line are useless because they don't do P25 Phase II or don't do well on simulcast systems. Couldn't matter less to me; my area has neither of those. There are people who trash talk the GRE line for multiple reasons. For example I criticize the PSR-500/600 for only allowing 32 freqs per trunk system. Those radios don't do multi-site trunking at all. They also don't display information properly for P25 VHF systems. But if you have one of those radios and only have an 8-channel EDACS system in your area, you'll never come across those "problems".
In my opinion, if you have the money to spend, you can't go too wrong getting an x36, be it the 436 or 536. I've only had mine since Tuesday and have already fallen in love with it - just for the increased range over ALL my other radios, and the impressively improved digital decode. If I had the cash, I'd get about half-a-dozen 536s to put in my home office, my vehicle, my work office, the firehall, etc. I feel the radios are that good.
Again, what kind of stuff you're going to be listening to is going to determine if the radios are going to be worth your while (and $).
I ordered the 436 waiting on shipment since its on back order. I have the psr800 since it has recording options for each Tgid or conv and I'm using that for our system to record new tgids or get ctcss/dpl/p25.
wnjl
Member
Everyone's RF backyard is different obviously - but in my experience, the PSR-800 performs exceptionally on my two local Type II w/P-25 systems, so I have no plans of selling it despite also having a 436. But the 436 has a better feature set...just having a keypad of course is a start in terms of comparing the two, and as was stated, it's hard to make any changes on the fly to the 800 without doing it in the software. I've grown to like the quick key structure on the 436, and it's tremendous for multi-site trunking with the site hold feature and being able to assign each site a quick key. Also love being able to do a close call do not disturb while scanning - you can't apply the 800 "spectrum sweeper" while scanning.
In my testing I've found the 800 is slightly more sensitive than the 436, but it's splitting hairs, and again probably is dependent on environment more than anything.
In my testing I've found the 800 is slightly more sensitive than the 436, but it's splitting hairs, and again probably is dependent on environment more than anything.
When I was trying to pick up the P25 trunking system by me the psr800 was picky on the signal I had to move the radio around every few mints to get the signal. When I get my 396xt it picks up the signal with no problem.
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