Akuriko
Member
i think he wants the cheaper ones for air traffic as well as public works and the buses and trains, i dont think he wants to listen to the police or fire or ems, he finds tuning his beafang to gmrs or frs is pretty entertaining, lol
choosing a uniden scanner
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Akuriko
Member
So my father-in-law bought an SDS 100 and SDS 200 for his area in Cleveland, my brother was looking at the BCD325P2 or the BCD996P2, I told him the best for Ingham and Eaton counties is the SDS 100 or SDS 200, before I give him bad advise will the 325P2 or the 996P2 work for his needs or should he spend the extra funds for the SDS 100 or SDS 200?
tvengr
Well Known Member
Eaton and Ingham Counties both use simulcast sites (MPSCS statewide system). Any scanner other than the SDS100 and SDS200 may or may not work depending upon his location. The SDS100 and SDS200 are the only scanners specifically designed to receive simulcast systems. At my home, the SDS100 and SDS200 are the only scanners that will receive the Baltimore County simulcast system. All other scanners fail miserably including the BCD325P2, BCD996P2, BCD436HP, and BCD536HP. The SDS scanners are definitely the best choice for the Lansing area.
I am in Allegan, Mi…and my home patrol 2 works pretty darn good.
tvengr
Well Known Member
You are one lucky person! The HP2 is known not to like simulcast.
Akuriko
Member
so what would work for Lansing Michigan then?
My home patrol 2 also works good in the Lansing area also. A lot depends on your specific location. If you get a new scanner to try just make sure you can return it easily…just in case. I went through 3 great scanners before I found one that works for me.
The key is really your location, relative to the subsites (transmit towers) in the simulcast site.
In your case, one of the simulcast site towers is practically in your back yard. If you are close to one of the towers, the strong signal overrides the weaker, out of sync, signals from transmit towers much farther away.
Your location, Wayland, is somewhat hidden under the pin for the specific site. I circled it.
But someone else in your vicinity, in roughly the middle of the county, would likely get hammered with out of sync signals from elsewhere.
Akuriko
Member
Thanks i will show my brother this, i been asked if i wanted a Whistler TRX-2 as a gift from my room mate, whats the difference between TRX-2 and my 536 or 436? i think i am happier with my 536 and 436.
The TRX-2 is Whistler's top of the line base/mobile. (The hand=held is the TRX-1.)
The TRX-1 & -2 are terrible choices in heavy simulcast areas. Their performance is well below that of the 436HP & 536HP. If you were in an area without simulcast, and mostly conventional channels, they will work, but Whistler scanners, derived from the original GRE design, tend to overload if in a dense radio traffic area (such as a major metro area). If you were in a semi-rural area, no simulcast, they may work well for you. One thing the TRX-2 has is that you can mount the display, say, on your dash, and it connects to the rest of the scanner, which you might mount under the seat, or elsewhere that's non-intrusive. It has a cable to connect the remote head & the main body of the scanner.
Unless you just have your heart set on the remote head in your vehicle, and you do not have any simulcast systems to deal with, I think you'd be better off with the 536HP. While the x36HP scanners are not bulletproof in dealing with simulcast, they are better than the Uniden P2 series scanners & the TRX-1/TRX-2. Of course, in heavy simulcast areas, you'd be better off with one of the SDS series scanners, a Unication pager, or one of the Blue Tail receivers. If I recall, you are not in the middle of a major metro area; is that correct?
I don't have the TRX-2, but do have the TRX-1. I do like it's solid feel in my hands, but I can't really use it for simulcast systems, of which there are many in my area. I generally load the TRX with a set of conventional channels, and leave it running to record frequencies that are not currently in the database, to get an idea what they are being used for.
Akuriko
Member
No No No, i said my room mates giving me one a Whistler TRX-2, i didnt say anything about lansing, except i will show my brother the list of towers, lol
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