Former enthusiast getting back in to the hobby

[sparklehorse]

I've had the 536 for nine months, and just got a 436 recently. I like the 436 a lot, but I probably like the 536 more. I agree with frazpo, I wish the 436 were a bit more compact, but the features still make it worthwhile. It decodes P25 better than my 396, so that's a huge plus. The record feature is nice, instant replay is nice too, Sentinel is free and works Ok, being able to travel with the entire Radioreference database stored on the SD card is pretty awesome. It's maybe not as a sensitive on VHF-Hi as my 396, but I need to do more testing before I can say that for sure. You might do some searching on that topic with regard to the 436, as VHF sensitivity might be an important attribute for someone in a rural setting. But overall I do like it, and haven't had any SD card issues or other problems so far.

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[tornado82]

Just got mine about a month ago. The recording function is a plus and I love the fact that the software and database access is free. I wish it were closer in size to the 396XT though. It just seems a little tall for the small footprint. I got a hard leather case and the case actually broadens the footprint and has rivets it sets on so it worked out well. The radio case doesn't seem quite as sturdy as the 396 but the hard leather case makes up for it. I have never had any issues with decoding P25 systems, no tweaking needed.
I had a 396 for years and feel that the 436 will hold up to its predecessors reputation fairly well.
I have no regrets with the 436 purchase.

Very helpful frazpo thanks a lot. I am starting to really narrow in on the 436HP. It has most of the same features and system support of the new 1088 whistler but with a nice large screen, and wider availability. Ill let the options simmer a bit, but Im really warming up to the 436HP. I also love that you can just put in a zip code and get started. If traveling this would be a great plus. Im curious how effective is the zip code thing? Im sure it would leave some things out? Does it only load police/fire/ems or will it also pull stuff like air towers at air ports, and other such items in that zip code? Have you been able to rely soley on the internal database or have you had to do additional programming? Im just curious how thorough that internal database is. Also, will that internet database also pull analog frequencies if it is a rural zip code with no digital and no trunk systems?

 

[Blackswan73]

Oops, duplicate post

 

[tornado82]

I've had the 536 for nine months, and just got a 436 recently. I like the 436 a lot, but I probably like the 536 more. I agree with frazpo, I wish the 436 were a bit more compact, but the features still make it worthwhile. It decodes P25 better than my 396, so that's a huge plus. The record feature is nice, instant replay is nice too, Sentinel is free and works Ok, being able to travel with the entire Radioreference database stored on the SD card is pretty awesome. It's maybe not as a sensitive on VHF-Hi as my 396, but I need to do more testing before I can say that for sure. You might do some searching on that topic with regard to the 436, as VHF sensitivity might be an important attribute for someone in a rural setting. But overall I do like it, and haven't had any SD card issues or other problems so far.

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great to hear that, thanks.

 

[frazpo]

Very helpful frazpo thanks a lot. I am starting to really narrow in on the 436HP. It has most of the same features and system support of the new 1088 whistler but with a nice large screen, and wider availability. Ill let the options simmer a bit, but Im really warming up to the 436HP. I also love that you can just put in a zip code and get started. If traveling this would be a great plus. Im curious how effective is the zip code thing? Im sure it would leave some things out? Does it only load police/fire/ems or will it also pull stuff like air towers at air ports, and other such items in that zip code? Have you been able to rely soley on the internal database or have you had to do additional programming? Im just curious how thorough that internal database is. Also, will that internet database also pull analog frequencies if it is a rural zip code with no digital and no trunk systems?

Sparklehorse may be able to elaborate a bit more on the programming with zip code. I program mine with sentinel the way I want. But you mentioned picking what you want to scan. This is chosen in the menu under "service type". So if you program with the zip code you can pick and choose among all the service types. Police,Fire,Fire Tac,utlities, and so on. You will also be able to zero in on what you scan with the distance settings also.

 

[Blackswan73]

I have the Home Patrol 2, RS 668, and a 536. All are zip code programmable. Of all I like the 668 the best. It hears things the others miss, and I like the portability. However the best readout is on the HP2. Also, if you travel, both the HP2, and the 536, as well as the 436 you are considering, work with GPS, automatically reprogramming the scanner as location changes. As for the 536, I am taking a strong dislike to this radio. Sound is too bassy and muffled for my taste, and I need a magnifying glass to see the display. I am seriously considering selling it, or trading it and getting a Whistler 1095 or 1098.

 

[tornado82]

I have the Home Patrol 2, RS 668, and a 536. All are zip code programmable. Of all I like the 668 the best. It hears things the others miss, and I like the portability. However the best readout is on the HP2. Also, if you travel, both the HP2, and the 536, as well as the 436 you are considering, work with GPS, automatically reprogramming the scanner as location changes. As for the 536, I am taking a strong dislike to this radio. Sound is too bassy and muffled for my taste, and I need a magnifying glass to see the display. I am seriously considering selling it, or trading it and getting a Whistler 1095 or 1098.

Well, back in the day, when I was young, I was always very bias toward GRE (radio shack) scanners. They simply performed better than uniden to me. They would pick up stuff, and sound stronger than most unidens. Thats one reason when I finally decided all this time later to get a new scanner my first stop was to see what the latest radio shack offering was. The features of the 436HP though are really winning me over.Ive been watching youtube videos of the 436hp in action and I am impressed with what I see. The size of the unit isnt a huge concern to me personally- features and systems support is the top of my list. I want a scanner I can use for years to come, and take anywhere. I likely wont own a 2nd scanner, or jump hard into the hobby again, I just want some ears again, but I want a good set that wont leave me wanting 1 or 2 years from now. One thing I may seriously do however is install an external all band antenna. I used to have that radio shack external antenna up about 35 feet years ago and it worked really well.

 

[fxdscon]

Im curious how effective is the zip code thing? Im sure it would leave some things out? Does it only load police/fire/ems or will it also pull stuff like air towers at air ports, and other such items in that zip code?

Before purchasing, you can determine exactly what will be loaded into your scanner for the zip code or scanning range that you enter into the BCD436HP. Keep in mind that the scanner doesn't scan "everything" in range of the zip code that you enter. It only scans those items that are already in the database within range of your zip code. There are countless frequencies in use that are not listed in the database for one reason or another. The database is derived from the database right here on Radio Reference, and is pretty much powered by user contributions.

Download the latest version of x36 Sentinel software here:

BCD436HP < UnidenMan4 < TWiki

You don't need to have the scanner in order to use the software.

Very important to read and understand this first.... as to exactly how location based scanning works:

http://www.homepatrol.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=17:how-it-works-location-location-location&catid=5:homepatrol-1&Itemid=12

After you have the Sentinel software up and running on your computer....

From the top menu click "Update", then "Update Master HPDB". It will either go through the update process or tell you that it is already up to date.

Then, from the top menu click on "Edit", then "Add channels on range".

In the window that comes up next, click the "Zip/Postal" button and enter your zip code. That will automatically set your Lat and Lon, and set your range for 10 miles as noted in the article referenced above.

Choose the service types you are interested in, or select all of them to see everything you can expect to be loaded. Then click "OK", and in the next window, click "New Favorites List" and give it a name, then click "OK".

Your new favorites list will be seen when you expand the tree in the left side of the window, and you will now see in the right side of the window what will be in your scanner based on your zip code and choice of service types when you click on the items listed in your favorites list.

To experiment with different ranges and service types, repeat the process to add another favorite with a different name and different "Range" selections from the drop down window (other than the default of 10 by entering your zip code) and/or select different service types. Then you can compare the different favorites to see what would be loaded.

You can add anything to that favorites list that is not in the database, or delete things that you don't want, or make many other customizations by using the favorites list editor in Sentinel....

Click "Edit", then "Edit favorites list".



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[tornado82]

thanks fxdscon, helpful info. Ill bookmark that.

 

[tornado82]

welp, I got tired of watching youtube videos and pulled the trigger. BCD436HP is on the way. I researched it hard the last couple days. I always worry when I spend $400 on such a device I will regret it later, but hopefully I wont Thanks to everyone who shared their knowledge and info. Im excited to start scanning again. There is a bit of nostalgia involved here for me as it was such a big passion when I was a teen.

Now to wait for shipping

 

[tornado82]

Any recommendations on an all band aftermarket antenna upgrade? Or is the included rubber duckie good enough?

I don't plan to do it right now, but I may add an external antenna in the future. I had pretty good results with the radio shack $60 discone antenna years ago, so I may do something similar in the future. I live out in the country, a good 15 minutes from the nearest town so Im interested to see how the rubber duckie will perform where Im living.

 

[frazpo]

Now to wait for shipping

Torture.

But hopefully worth the wait.

 

[frazpo]

Any recommendations on an all band aftermarket antenna upgrade? Or is the included rubber duckie good enough?

I don't plan to do it right now, but I may add an external antenna in the future. I had pretty good results with the radio shack $60 discone antenna years ago, so I may do something similar in the future. I live out in the country, a good 15 minutes from the nearest town so Im interested to see how the rubber duckie will perform where Im living.

People rave about the 800mhz Radio Shack for the handheld.
Don't have one yet but may order real soon. Only $24 or so.
But they do say it does not do well out of the 800mhz band

 

[tornado82]

Torture.

But hopefully worth the wait.

next day shipping was hardly more than standard where I purchased from, so I went with next day It says expected delivery date is thursday. Im off thursday - tuesday so im hoping it shows up that day ill have several days to play and learn.

 

[frazpo]

next day shipping was hardly more than standard where I purchased from, so I went with next day It says expected delivery date is thursday. Im off thursday - tuesday so im hoping it shows up that day ill have several days to play and learn.

I had sold my 396 and haven't had a scanner for several months before ordering the 436 and getting back into listening. Like yourself I had scanned for years and hand never not owned one. I realized just how much I enjoyed scanning the last couple of days with all the flooding and water rescues to listen to. Whether its the weather, road conditions, or fire and police, it is still more entertaining then TV most of the time.

 

[tornado82]

Well, I woke up to see the tracking number in my email. According to UPS it will be here today. They shipped it right after I placed order yesterday obviously. I wasnt expecting it till tomorrow. Something to look forward to after work today

Want to thank fxdscon again for the post above. I got home last night and went ahead and downloaded the sentinel software and played around with it for a little bit. Very simple and straightforward software. Ill put the radio on it tonight if it does in fact arrive.

The primary sherrif/police I would want to monitor is a good 20/21 miles from me. I may end up having to put up an external antenna sooner than I thought. we will see. I plan to do lots of testing these next many days that im off for new years holidays. One thing I was curious about is the digital systems. What is the typical range of these Phase 1 and Phase 2 systems? Digital communication is a whole different ball game than traditional analog. With digital you either get it or you dont, and im curious how these radio systems perform. I am within about 10 miles of a major interstate, and wondering how I might fare in receiving the state patrol in Florida.Anyone know information on Florida highway potrol? I see 2 state wide law enforcement listings in the database.

 

[fxdscon]

I am within about 10 miles of a major interstate, and wondering how I might fare in receiving the state patrol in Florida.Anyone know information on Florida highway potrol? I see 2 state wide law enforcement listings in the database.

I don't think you will have much luck with that.....

According to this list from RR, all of the Florida agencies listed here are using encryption, and can not be monitored by any scanner:

Encrypted Agencies - The RadioReference Wiki

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[tornado82]

I saw something about the 436HP getting Pro voice support in a firmware update. Does this have any impact on that encryption?

EDIT: this is what im referring to: http://info.uniden.com/UnidenMan4/ProVoice

 

[fxdscon]

I saw something about the 436HP getting Pro voice support in a firmware update. Does this have any impact on that encryption?

EDIT: this is what im referring to: ProVoice < UnidenMan4 < TWiki

The BCDx36HP scanners can now monitor ProVoice, but not when it is encrypted.

There are no scanners on the market that can monitor encryption of any kind, on any type of broadcast, on any system. It is illegal to do so.

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[tornado82]

The BCDx36HP scanners can now monitor ProVoice, but not when it is encrypted.

There are no scanners on the market that can monitor encryption of any kind, on any type of broadcast, on any system. It is illegal to do so.

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I see. I just noticed the "encrytpion type" for florida highway patrol was listed as "Provoice DES"

It makes you wonder though, if this trend continues to grow, may we reach a time in the future where nearly all radio transmissions from law enforcement agencies is encrypted?