BCD160DN/BCD260DN: Is this a new Uniden model? BCD260DN

[garys]

That's not quite the same thing, at least in theory. I never quite got the explanation of why in conventional scanning DMR slots couldn't be programmed. It requires setting a conventional system up as an OFT system.

That would seem to be doable as opposed to making the scanner trunking capable. My town DPW only uses one slot although they are busy enough to use both. Which makes scanning easy for me, but I can see why others would want to be able to listen to one slot (DPW) and not the other if a frequency was shared.

I don't believe there will be TG entry. This is an entry level unit. It's not a replacement for the 325.

 

[hiegtx]

I'm just waiting for the Home Patrol 3. One thing I like about those scanners is the touch screen.

That would interest me as well, especially if it could handle simulcast, and/or was upgradeable for DMR. The two local public safety trunked systems that used NXDN, which were why I purchased that upgrade, both moved to a semi-regional P25 system. So, at this point, I would not need NXDN on any additional scanner purchase. There are some business, or school district, users of NXDN in the DFW area, but none that I'd be likely to monitor. I have both the HP-1 & HP-2. while there's some things (like DMR) that they cannot do, they work well on many systems of interest to me. And with the Extreme Upgrade, they have several capabilities that the newer x36HP and SDS series scanners do not..

 

[Akuriko]

so after sitting on this last night i decided after thinking about it, my opinion is like this, this might be a specialty scanner for the future, ie when trains change to dmr or ndxn however most of us here with lessons learned from all know what work and dont, i live on a island so conventional, people say the 536 is overkill, but i love the 536, i also use 2-15x and a few hand helds, when i go for walks i have my hand-held 125at, radio shack pro 97 or 30c with me, again it depends on the location, i spent allot of time analyzing radio reference data base state by state and whats digital and whats analog, i know what work and what doesnt, eventually everyone says everything gets encrrypted then whats there to listen too, lol only time will tell, some people will say they have the sds 100/200 it works and does the job, i am kinda intrested in seeing the price, i say and my opinion uniden could sink it self if and i say if the price is higher then the 996p2 or the 325p2, now the trx1 and 2 is like $600 to $700 on sale, but someone here i think said the trx if i read it correct didnt decode it cleanly, like i said only time will tell, i like to monitor marine, public safety, wsdot, wsp, however air band and ham band i found no chatter yet, so for me i program my scanners to monitor everything i can listen to off island and on island as public safety as a prepper i want to know if something happens, plus i like to monitor if the power or winter storm i can know whats going on plus i find it entertaining, to me i know this might be a niche for someone in the future, i am just thinking uniden is hiding the price then when it comes out its more money then a 325p2 or 996p2 or even a 436/536 i find the sweet spot to be the 15x price as well as the 75xlt, 125at and the 30c, now whistler makes a few entry that is very nice for the sweet spot on price too, i do want to give uniden a honorable 2 mentions the 355n good scanner and the 365cr, all good for preppers and hobbyiest.

 

[hiegtx]

That's not quite the same thing, at least in theory. I never quite got the explanation of why in conventional scanning DMR slots couldn't be programmed. It requires setting a conventional system up as an OFT system.

That would seem to be doable as opposed to making the scanner trunking capable. My town DPW only uses one slot although they are busy enough to use both. Which makes scanning easy for me, but I can see why others would want to be able to listen to one slot (DPW) and not the other if a frequency was shared.

The TRX series scanners allow entry of slot & TGID (as well as, of course, color code) when programming DMR as conventional channels. You do not have (nor need) an direct OFT equivalent in the TRX scanners, though you could, if desired, create a DMR "trunked" system using only one site frequency with specified TGIDs. (Of course, the TRX does not actually trunk track a system, so all you're really doing is entering frequency & talkgroup details for it to receive conventionally.

 

[bigcam406]

so after sitting on this last night i decided after thinking about it, my opinion is like this, this might be a specialty scanner for the future, ie when trains change to dmr or ndxn however most of us here with lessons learned from all know what work and dont, i live on a island so conventional, people say the 536 is overkill, but i love the 536, i also use 2-15x and a few hand helds, when i go for walks i have my hand-held 125at, radio shack pro 97 or 30c with me, again it depends on the location, i spent allot of time analyzing radio reference data base state by state and whats digital and whats analog, i know what work and what doesnt, eventually everyone says everything gets encrrypted then whats there to listen too, lol only time will tell, some people will say they have the sds 100/200 it works and does the job, i am kinda intrested in seeing the price, i say and my opinion uniden could sink it self if and i say if the price is higher then the 996p2 or the 325p2, now the trx1 and 2 is like $600 to $700 on sale, but someone here i think said the trx if i read it correct didnt decode it cleanly, like i said only time will tell, i like to monitor marine, public safety, wsdot, wsp, however air band and ham band i found no chatter yet, so for me i program my scanners to monitor everything i can listen to off island and on island as public safety as a prepper i want to know if something happens, plus i like to monitor if the power or winter storm i can know whats going on plus i find it entertaining, to me i know this might be a niche for someone in the future, i am just thinking uniden is hiding the price then when it comes out its more money then a 325p2 or 996p2 or even a 436/536 i find the sweet spot to be the 15x price as well as the 75xlt, 125at and the 30c, now whistler makes a few entry that is very nice for the sweet spot on price too, i do want to give uniden a honorable 2 mentions the 355n good scanner and the 365cr, all good for preppers and hobbyiest.

Breathe....Breathe......

 

[garys]

There are a couple of NXDN commercial trunks that I listen too, so for now I'd want NXDN. If we move, the areas we are looking at don't have nearly as much DMR or NXDN use, so I'd have to think about it.

I'm blue skying here when I say that a HP format with the functionality of the SDS scanners would be great.

That would interest me as well, especially if it could handle simulcast, and/or was upgradeable for DMR. The two local public safety trunked systems that used NXDN, which were why I purchased that upgrade, both moved to a semi-regional P25 system. So, at this point, I would not need NXDN on any additional scanner purchase. There are some business, or school district, users of NXDN in the DFW area, but none that I'd be likely to monitor. I have both the HP-1 & HP-2. while there's some things (like DMR) that they cannot do, they work well on many systems of interest to me. And with the Extreme Upgrade, they have several capabilities that the newer x36HP and SDS series scanners do not..

 

[sallen07]

OK here's my two cents, not that anyone wants to hear them.

The whole purpose of the replacement of the BCD996XT/BCD396XT with the BCD996P2/BCD325P2 was to add P25 Phase 2 capability. (DMR and NDXN came later, after they had been rolled out in the 436/536.) Unfortunately, as many of us know first-hand, most (but not all) of the P25 systems that have been rolled out the past 5 or 10 years are simulcast, and the 996P2/325P2 are NOT designed to handle simulcast.

Not to be rude, but for all of those out there ready to reply "but it works just great for me" ... no one cares. As has been discussed over and over again on RR, the fact that your BCD996P2, sitting on a certain spot on your desk, works like a charm on your local P25 simulcast system just means that you won the simulcast lottery, and we all congratulate you. That has exactly ZERO bearing on whether or not those scanners will work for me or most others trying to listen to a simulcast system.

So that brings me to my first point, which is "why no P25?" I think the simple answer is that the hardware design of the new scanners (which is obviously based on the 996/325 based on the form-factor and some of the comments that have been made) just doesn't work well on P25 simulcast trunked systems, which is what most emergency services that use P25 are on. There have actually been recent comments on RR to the effect that Uniden should have a disclaimer on the box of those units that says, "Works on P25 Phase 2 ... but not for most people". So we got our answer ... no more "false advertising" because the new scanners won't decode P25.

Point number two is, "why DMR and NDXN but no trunking?" I think that's easy too ... how many posts have we seen saying that "Uniden is ripping us off for something (DMR/NDXN) that Whistler gives us for free"? As many have pointed out, the fee Uniden charges for DMR and NXDN is for *trunking*, and the Whistler scanners that can do DMR and NDXN don't trunk-track. So now Uniden has a scanner that works the same way, and DMR and NDXN are "free". (I can only speculate that the apparent lack of ability to limit by TG might be a deliberate effort to stay away from any of the licensed trunk-tracking features.) Many have told us that the Whistler approach works just great, so I'm expecting the same results.

My final point is that while we might all have wished for a "SDS100/200 in the 996/325 case", that was never going to happen. The SDS100 and 200 are a totally different design than any of the other Uniden scanners, and the fact that they used a new form factor instead of that of the 996/325 or 536/436 which tend to suggest that was born out of necessity. In particular, UPman told us that the SDS-based design was far too power-hungry to run off AA batteries, hence the battery pack. Indeed, for those of us who got one of the first runs of the SDS100, Uniden replaced the battery pack with a higher-capacity one at their own cost since testing indicated the original one didn't last long enough.

Will I buy one? Probably not; I already have scanners for analog (of which there is still a lot around here), DMR/NXDN, and P25 simulcast. But scanner enthusiasts who already have multiple scanners aren't the target market for these models, any more than they are the target market for the SR30C. But I probably won't buy a BCT15X or BCD996P2 either since I already have 'enough' scanners. For now.

 

[JvdK]

There were some features that were not included so as to not make 'another 325'.

As for outside NA, it may but I don't have any contact with those markets.

@JoeBearcat

I don’t know if and how well Uniden USA work together with Uniden Europe but I think the 160DN and 260DN could do well in Europe. The 125XLT and 15X are used a lot over here, especially by civil/military aviation and marine enthousiast. As I read the first impressions these new models are (slightly) more sensitive, 10 banks for 100 channels and can handle conventional programmed DMR/NXDN. To be honest, if Uniden decide not to sell a European version I probably will buy one in America and let it send to the Netherlands. Only thing holding me back of that will be the selling price (because Dutch import taxes and added administative cost can really spoil your Christmas bonus 🤬)

 

[JoeBearcat]

That's not quite the same thing, at least in theory. I never quite got the explanation of why in conventional scanning DMR slots couldn't be programmed. It requires setting a conventional system up as an OFT system.

That would seem to be doable as opposed to making the scanner trunking capable. My town DPW only uses one slot although they are busy enough to use both. Which makes scanning easy for me, but I can see why others would want to be able to listen to one slot (DPW) and not the other if a frequency was shared.

Talkgroups use a vastly different paradigm than conventional where you have [CTCSS\CDCSS\RAN\CC\NAC]. If multiple TGs were possible, I would also want to see multiple CTCSS/CDCSS capability. While that is technically possible, there is no reason why OFT for TGs would not work since you would end up at the same destination through a different route.

Perhaps you can explain the shortcoming with OFT and why that is not desirable. (this should probably be a separate thread)

 

[wtp]

quite the hornets nest...

 

[Ubbe]

There were some features that were not included so as to not make 'another 325'.

As for outside NA, it may but I don't have any contact with those markets.

Jonathan said it will also be a European model (and possible other regions) like it have been done to SDS100/200.
The DMR would work fine at my location, I listen to all TG's as there's mot much activity in the system and I also have some conventional NXDN and IDAS channels. I have several $100 MD380 DMR radios that scan some systems and that have far superior RF performance than any scanner. So it mostly depends on the sales price and how exactly the BCD160/260 handles CAP+ systems.

Is there a preliminary user manual we can have a look at?

/Ubbe

 

[JoeBearcat]

My final point is that while we might all have wished for a "SDS100/200 in the 996/325 case", that was never going to happen. The SDS100 and 200 are a totally different design than any of the other Uniden scanners, and the fact that they used a new form factor instead of that of the 996/325 or 536/436 which tend to suggest that was born out of necessity. In particular, UPman told us that the SDS-based design was far too power-hungry to run off AA batteries, hence the battery pack.

100% true about the AA cells and that is provable. The SDS200 original concept was either the current form OR a 536-size display and form factor, so something IQ based in the form of a 996 is certainly possible. The 325? Not so much. There are reasons why the larger display was chosen that are not known to the general public yet, but may be in the not-too-distant future. What is known is the much greater amount of details that can be shown, but there are other reasons too.

I do acknowledge that there is a demand for a mid-tier IQ (simulcast) model. If that happens it will likely be before replacement of the SDS series - perhaps replacing the x36 series or the 996P2 and adding to the portable lineup.

 

[JoeBearcat]

Jonathan said it will also be a European model (and possible other regions) like it have been done to SDS100/200.
The DMR would work fine at my location, I listen to all TG's as there's mot much activity in the system and I also have some conventional NXDN and IDAS channels. I have several $100 MD380 DMR radios that scan some systems and that have far superior RF performance than any scanner. So it mostly depends on the sales price and how exactly the BCD160/260 handles CAP+ systems.

Is there a preliminary user manual we can have a look at?

/Ubbe

The last I heard about that (early last week) the user manuals were being produced. I will check to see if they can be made available.

I missed the Euro comment, but will not dispute that since it was crazy busy last evening.

 

[Ubbe]

So that brings me to my first point, which is "why no P25?"

Wasn't that a costly licence issues, that Uniden wanted it to be a lower cost digital scanner for a noob hobbyist.

/Ubbe

 

[W4ELL]

I can definitely see the market for these scanners. I am mildly interested in the 160 as a replacement for my 125AT. I guess the big question will be the price... how much would you pay for them?

Looking at the pricing comparison/estimate mentioned in this thread...
Between a 125AT and 325P2 for the 160
Between a 15X and 996P2 for the 260

I would take a wild guess and say street pricing might be in the following ranges:
160: between $189 and $229
260: between $229 and $279

My limit would probably fall into those ranges anyway.

 

[Hit_Factor]

so after sitting on this last night i decided after thinking about it, my opinion is like this, this might be a specialty scanner for the future, ie when trains change to dmr or ndxn however most of us here with lessons learned from all know what work and dont, i live on a island so conventional, people say the 536 is overkill, but i love the 536, i also use 2-15x and a few hand helds, when i go for walks i have my hand-held 125at, radio shack pro 97 or 30c with me, again it depends on the location, i spent allot of time analyzing radio reference data base state by state and whats digital and whats analog, i know what work and what doesnt, eventually everyone says everything gets encrrypted then whats there to listen too, lol only time will tell, some people will say they have the sds 100/200 it works and does the job, i am kinda intrested in seeing the price, i say and my opinion uniden could sink it self if and i say if the price is higher then the 996p2 or the 325p2, now the trx1 and 2 is like $600 to $700 on sale, but someone here i think said the trx if i read it correct didnt decode it cleanly, like i said only time will tell, i like to monitor marine, public safety, wsdot, wsp, however air band and ham band i found no chatter yet, so for me i program my scanners to monitor everything i can listen to off island and on island as public safety as a prepper i want to know if something happens, plus i like to monitor if the power or winter storm i can know whats going on plus i find it entertaining, to me i know this might be a niche for someone in the future, i am just thinking uniden is hiding the price then when it comes out its more money then a 325p2 or 996p2 or even a 436/536 i find the sweet spot to be the 15x price as well as the 75xlt, 125at and the 30c, now whistler makes a few entry that is very nice for the sweet spot on price too, i do want to give uniden a honorable 2 mentions the 355n good scanner and the 365cr, all good for preppers and hobbyiest.

Oh my. Here are a few periods you can have .................................................................

 

[Hit_Factor]

That wasn't the question and you missed the point ...

Not really, to do what you want. Multiple scanners capable of being programmed for TS1 or TS2 are required.

 

[KevinC]

makes 3 of us, i been sensored too, roflmao

I don't have the ability to add sensors to anyone, so if someone "sensored" you it wasn't me.

 

[garys]

IIRC, OFT requires the ability to trunk. Which these new scanners don't do. For another city I'm familiar in order to receive the four talk groups and be able to Alpha Tag them, I had to set that up as OFT. Now, they've added a second frequency pair, so it's just a two frequency DMR trunk.

DMR and NXDN trunking use Color Code and RAN.

Someone more familiar with the technology may want to chime in.

Talkgroups use a vastly different paradigm than conventional where you have [CTCSS\CDCSS\RAN\CC\NAC]. If multiple TGs were possible, I would also want to see multiple CTCSS/CDCSS capability. While that is technically possible, there is no reason why OFT for TGs would not work since you would end up at the same destination through a different route.

Perhaps you can explain the shortcoming with OFT and why that is not desirable. (this should probably be a separate thread)

 

[ProScan]

IIRC, OFT requires the ability to trunk. Which these new scanners don't do.

OFT does not trunk. The term "One Freq. Trunk" is misleading. Perhaps they should have named it something else.