baayers
Member
I had this radio for about 4 months and wanted to share my thoughts with those who are thinking about making the purchase.
First I will start with the good things about this radio. I will agree with what others have stated in other threads that this radio on systems such as the ones in Phoenix, Indianapolis, & the East Bay system in CA is excellent when it comes to dealing with simulcast issues. It also does a good job on P2 systems such as the new radio systems in Tucson. I personally used my radio in all of the areas I mentioned and have nothing but good things to say about the results. In 400MHz areas such as LA and Chicago this radio held its own quite well. When I put my 436 against a friends 396XT while in Chicago we found that for analog channels the 396 had a slight advantage in the sensitivity department but when it comes to decoding P25 the 436 was able to cleanly decode much weaker signals than its older brother. My PRO 106 was in the shop so I did not have it with me to make any comparisons. On 40MHz channels such as CHP I honestly couldn't see a difference between the 436 my 106 and a local friends 396. For battery life I was getting about 10-11 hours per charge using PowerEx Imedion LSD 2300MaH batteries. I have a total of 12 batteries I keep dedicated to my scanner. When you add up the 3x4 sets for the Uniden vs the 4x3 sets for the 106 the total time I received out of all the batteries combined was almost equal. The last thing I will say in the good section is probably more of an opinion than fact but once I adapted to layout of the X36 Sentinel software it did a good job of handling my needs.
Now to the bad. When it comes to the VHF High band in my 20 years of using scanners this scanner is the worst I have ever used. I honestly received stronger signals on other scanners with their attenuators on than I did with the 436's turned off. As an example on on the NOAA band I receive 3 stations where I live 1 strong 1 medium and 1 weak on all other receivers. On the 436 the strongest which is normally full quieting at my location had static, the medium which I can here anywhere in my house was reduced to the point that I had to go outside and even then I could barely understand what was being said. The weak station on the 436 did not exist. i had a friend from San Diego visit for Labor Day and his 436 showed the same results. My 1st and 2nd scanners were a 13XX and his is a 07XX so that rules out a bad batch. All 3 were using the 1.03 firmware. My first scanner arrived with a defective belt clip attachment on the radio that was broken so had to do an exchange. This seems to be a sporadic issue but still something to keep an eye out for. Using the included MicroSD card my scanner would get sluggish after about an hour or two of use and I would have to reboot it. I swapped it out with a class 10 card and issue went away. Last but not least the plastic that covers the screen is a scratch magnet. The plastic the covers the screen of a $40 Baofeng is 100 times better than what they have chosen to put on a $500 scanner. Once again when I compare it to all scanners I have used in the past it is the worst. Make sure you plan on adding a screen protector to your purchase or you will regret it.
The bottom line is that if your main need for scanning is in the UHF or 7/800MHz bands this is a great scanner and is worth buying but if your area is still primarily in the VHF High band this scanner is NOT for you.
For me I decided to sell my 436 and it will be living out the rest of its life in Concord where it can be used to its fullest potential but for others i hope this VHF issue is something that can be corrected with firmware. Sadly with others talking about lawsuits UPMan has become quiet on this topic so when or if it really can be resolved is unknown.
First I will start with the good things about this radio. I will agree with what others have stated in other threads that this radio on systems such as the ones in Phoenix, Indianapolis, & the East Bay system in CA is excellent when it comes to dealing with simulcast issues. It also does a good job on P2 systems such as the new radio systems in Tucson. I personally used my radio in all of the areas I mentioned and have nothing but good things to say about the results. In 400MHz areas such as LA and Chicago this radio held its own quite well. When I put my 436 against a friends 396XT while in Chicago we found that for analog channels the 396 had a slight advantage in the sensitivity department but when it comes to decoding P25 the 436 was able to cleanly decode much weaker signals than its older brother. My PRO 106 was in the shop so I did not have it with me to make any comparisons. On 40MHz channels such as CHP I honestly couldn't see a difference between the 436 my 106 and a local friends 396. For battery life I was getting about 10-11 hours per charge using PowerEx Imedion LSD 2300MaH batteries. I have a total of 12 batteries I keep dedicated to my scanner. When you add up the 3x4 sets for the Uniden vs the 4x3 sets for the 106 the total time I received out of all the batteries combined was almost equal. The last thing I will say in the good section is probably more of an opinion than fact but once I adapted to layout of the X36 Sentinel software it did a good job of handling my needs.
Now to the bad. When it comes to the VHF High band in my 20 years of using scanners this scanner is the worst I have ever used. I honestly received stronger signals on other scanners with their attenuators on than I did with the 436's turned off. As an example on on the NOAA band I receive 3 stations where I live 1 strong 1 medium and 1 weak on all other receivers. On the 436 the strongest which is normally full quieting at my location had static, the medium which I can here anywhere in my house was reduced to the point that I had to go outside and even then I could barely understand what was being said. The weak station on the 436 did not exist. i had a friend from San Diego visit for Labor Day and his 436 showed the same results. My 1st and 2nd scanners were a 13XX and his is a 07XX so that rules out a bad batch. All 3 were using the 1.03 firmware. My first scanner arrived with a defective belt clip attachment on the radio that was broken so had to do an exchange. This seems to be a sporadic issue but still something to keep an eye out for. Using the included MicroSD card my scanner would get sluggish after about an hour or two of use and I would have to reboot it. I swapped it out with a class 10 card and issue went away. Last but not least the plastic that covers the screen is a scratch magnet. The plastic the covers the screen of a $40 Baofeng is 100 times better than what they have chosen to put on a $500 scanner. Once again when I compare it to all scanners I have used in the past it is the worst. Make sure you plan on adding a screen protector to your purchase or you will regret it.
The bottom line is that if your main need for scanning is in the UHF or 7/800MHz bands this is a great scanner and is worth buying but if your area is still primarily in the VHF High band this scanner is NOT for you.
For me I decided to sell my 436 and it will be living out the rest of its life in Concord where it can be used to its fullest potential but for others i hope this VHF issue is something that can be corrected with firmware. Sadly with others talking about lawsuits UPMan has become quiet on this topic so when or if it really can be resolved is unknown.