BCD536HP in Atlanta

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wise871

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This week I'm up in Atlanta and I brought the 436 and 536 with me. I am very happy with the performance of both radios in the Metro Atlanta area. The reception and audio is great. On the drive up from Florida the 536 w/GPS performed flawlessly and all the systems along I-65/I85 sounded great.

BCD536HP in Atlanta
 

KevinC

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This week I'm up in Atlanta and I brought the 436 and 536 with me. I am very happy with the performance of both radios in the Metro Atlanta area. The reception and audio is great. On the drive up from Florida the 536 w/GPS performed flawlessly and all the systems along I-65/I85 sounded great.

BCD536HP in Atlanta

What??? It can't be!!! Everyone knows it doesn't work, haven't you been reading the forums? :D
 

WILSON43

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KevinC,

Attempted sarcasm aside, I do not believe I ever read someone stating they did not work.

You will admit that there are issues, and it is those issues which created concern for many folks plunking down big bucks for these units.

I am sure the scanners work quite well for most folks and many parts of the country. These are after all, very complicated devices attempting to decode many complex radio systems.

For me, it is the minor quality control issues, dust, scratched screens, etc., that have me SMH....
 

bberns22

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West Chester PA
I took my 436 to NYC this week - it was flawless. Was on the E train listening to transit place with the radio in my bag and phones in my ears. Listened to citywide com's - a lot of people go missing in NYC, and on Amtrak listened to train com's and some local repeaters on they back home. Perfect perfect perfect.........
 

WILSON43

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Thankfully most of the NYC public safety comms are analog. For now.

So, even with my Pro -2006, monitoring those freqs is - perfect, perfect, perfect....
 

Ghstwolf62

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Clifton Forge Virginia
Well Dconti my 436 is "Perfect, perfect, perfect" on both STARS P25 and WV SIRN as well as analog in the area. 11 days with it and counting and it works "Perfect"

Pick up things I didn't with my 600 including an additional two sites on the STARS system. I also pick up two counties fairly well that I didn't really get before. Picked up the WV system about 20 miles away which is a UHF system. It is also very hilly, mountainous terrain between where I was and the site in WV not to mention I was inside a car with just a HT antenna.

That is with a problem external antenna and very poor geographical home location. (Down in a hollow)

No tweaks to anything either.

So 11 days using the proper computer system and not messing with things and guess what? It has none of the supposed "Problems" which exist and works like a charm.

So you be happy with your 2006 and I am very happy with my "Perfect" 436.
 
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wise871

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Well I'm back from my 5 day trip to Atlanta. All and all the scanner performed great. Again I was impressed with the reception and audio of all the major systems in the area. The 2 things that I found negative with the scanner after my trip was the ability to quickly glance at the display when on the move or at a traffic light and no analyzer or CC only mode. I had to bring my 396XT so I could search for control channels.

3-line mode was ok but if I was looking for new tones or additional information, forget about it. In non-3-line mode the font is to small to read. I also found it quite cumbersome to turn the function knob and read the display if I quickly held on a channel and I need to back up a few talk groups. I have my radio mounted in the center console. When I was in downtown traffic I wouldn't even think about looking down at the scanner. If I wanted to hold on a channel I would just press the button I wanted to hold on a system, department, or channel. Sometimes the stupid buttons would delay the action of the button press causing me to miss a hold.

On the interstate driving through Georgia / Alabama is the area I truly wanted to search for updated CTCSS, etc. The interstate was pretty empty on the way back so it afforded me more opportunities to glance down at the display. Thankfully I just recored my trip so I can go back and review the audio at a later time.

As far as menu usage while mobile, forget about it. The XT scanners are much simpler to navigate when on the road. The x36HP has way to many sub menus to make corrections on the fly. I would wait till I was at a rest stop or parked before making changes.

Again, the scanners performance was great but mobile functionality sucked. I am waiting like the rest of you for the release of the app. This should resolve a lot of the issues mentioned above.

On a side note, using the 536 scanner in my local area is not that much of a pain for the fact I recognize the dispatchers voices and I know who is talking. I don't need to look at the display and I can operate by feel alone to move between channels. Using the 536 mobile in a new area is difficult based on what I said above.
 
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mrkelso

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Dec 4, 2008
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NNJ
I took my 436 to NYC this week - it was flawless. Was on the E train listening to transit place with the radio in my bag and phones in my ears. Listened to citywide com's - a lot of people go missing in NYC, and on Amtrak listened to train com's and some local repeaters on they back home. Perfect perfect perfect.........

Is it not against the law to walk or drive in NYC with a scanner?
 
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