GRE PSR600 or Uniden BDC996XT

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K9DUO

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Im looking for someone that has used both of these radios to give me some feedback on which they prefer and why? I have always been a Uniden fan, but when the GRE's latest scanners came out, I have changed my way of thinking. I currently have a PSR600 and 996 (not the 996XT). Im curious how the new 996XT compares to the PSR600. In the past the Unidens have had such a slow scan rate. Have they made any improvements on that? Thanks for any info.
 

dcr_inc

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The GRE's audio and P25 decoding is far superior to the Uniden.
 

iMONITOR

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Their performance is about equal. The GRE/Radio Shack's are a little sensitive, and might do better in rural areas, while the Unidens might be better suited for the big city with a lot of RF saturation.

The biggest difference is in the programming, operation, and features.
 

K7TKR

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My two cents.

I just bought the PSR500. And I NOT getting rid of eithor the 996T or the 396T. I love the programming philosphy of GRE and it works well. And as preformance goes, well they both work well where I'm at in the Phoenix area-I do not carry around thousands of dollars of test equipment to nit pick with. Having said that, I am using the PSR500 to control the 396T using Pro96com-which is an interesting ultility.

But but but, for mobiling and for mobiling the distances I do as a trucker, I still say that the Quick-keys of Uniden are better then the V-folders of GRE.

Both GRE and Uniden are high quality units and one can't go wrong with ithor in my opinion. Really depends on you and your tastes and what system of programing you want to learn (I am comfortable of both worlds).

I am going to enjoy the best of both worlds and will no doubt use my PSR500 as often as I use the other, especially in situations where they work together.
 

K9DUO

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Thanks for the replys but what Im looking for is a comparison between the PSR600 and the new 996XT. Is the 996XT much improved over the 996?
 

scannersnstuff

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i prefer my bcd996xt over my sold psr-600. 600 was useless on vhf due to overload. yes, the audio & p-25 decode were both good. just as good on my 996xt imho.
 

Drafin

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Is the 996XT much improved over the 996?

Seems like a Uniden question. You may have better luck asking in the Uniden part of the forum.

As to the comparison of the PSR600 and the XT it has been done to death here. As MPSCS said above the GRE is better in rural areas due to being more sensitive and the Uniden works better in metropolitan areas, the rest comes down to a matter of preference of the features. For a comparison of the features look here BCD996XT - The RadioReference Wiki and here PSR-600 - The RadioReference Wiki.

Draf
 

GTO_04

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I have a 996XT and a Pro-197, the PSR-600 clone. They are both very good scanners. My only complaint about the 197 is the touchy volume control. It is very difficult to adjust at lower volume levels, where a slight turn of the volume control means a huge change in volume. That is a major design defect IMHO. The 197 has great audio otherwise, it's just hard to control the volume. I like the display on the Uniden better and it is plenty sensitive. I have not used the 197 in a high RF saturation area.

I agree that the Uniden is better for urban and metro areas, and the GRE is better for rural areas due to the sensitivity. I did eventually use the GRE PSR-500 on VHF in urban areas, and it definitely has trouble on VHF with overload.

GTO_04
 

greenthumb

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I'm not sure where you're located, but one deciding factor for me was the inability of the GRE scanners to follow EDACS patches correctly. The Uniden line of scanners do this correctly with no need to program in a patch talk group ID that may or may not be used for that same patch later on.
 

torontokris

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Sell your 996T on ebay (they seem to get good value - remember to include canada shipping and youll get aprox 10% more for it)

then with that money get a 996XT.

The decoding and sound is better then the T... its up for debate if its superior to GRE or not.

But i agree run both and you have the best of both worlds.
 

davidmc36

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Thanks for the replys but what Im looking for is a comparison between the PSR600 and the new 996XT. Is the 996XT much improved over the 996?
I can almost answer directly.

Have had a 996T for a while. Recently got a PSR 600, just got a 396XT a couple of days ago (did you get my last two emails Kris?).

GRE......digital decode is leaps and bounds better than the ...996T.
396XT...digital decode is almost a tie with the ....................GRE.

Applies to this system.
 

K7TKR

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When you guys are discussing rural vs. urban reception. Just curious as to the conditions and antenna's involved-mobile, stationary, etc. I have a basic mobile installation of the right-mirror extension of my KW660 which has served pretty good for both my 396T and 996T. Going to be interesting to see how the PSR500 performs on the same set-up. Bearing in mind tha thet mirror entensions on the KW660 are not the best grounded antenna fix points.
 

DonS

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When you guys are discussing rural vs. urban reception. Just curious as to the conditions and antenna's involved-mobile, stationary, etc.

Don't forget location and actual RF in the area, not just "urban" vs. "rural". For example, I live in the middle of a pretty "urban" area, and my PSR-600 connected to a discone on a 2-story roof doesn't seem to suffer from any "overload" (or any other problems with VHF) - it receives CHP (42MHz) and the county Sheriff (151MHz) just fine.
 

Drafin

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Don't forget location and actual RF in the area, not just "urban" vs. "rural". For example, I live in the middle of a pretty "urban" area, and my PSR-600 connected to a discone on a 2-story roof doesn't seem to suffer from any "overload" (or any other problems with VHF) - it receives CHP (42MHz) and the county Sheriff (151MHz) just fine.

That's actually more accurate than my rural/urban statement. I would think that if you live in the middle of nowhere but live in an area where RF interference is a problem then you are gonna see a little overload in the PSR500.

Everyone talks about the sensitivity as a problem. I NEED the extra sensitivity in my area. It really helps to be able to pull in the signals my other previous scanners never could.

Draf
 

SCPD

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I'm not sure where you're located, but one deciding factor for me was the inability of the GRE scanners to follow EDACS patches correctly. The Uniden line of scanners do this correctly with no need to program in a patch talk group ID that may or may not be used for that same patch later on.

I have it on good authority that GRECOM will soon release a firmware upgrade to the PSR-500/600 radios that will properly handle "patching". Craig
 
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