Admittedly, I am not particularly savvy on most of the details of radio transmissions. I owned a home patrol 1 prior to midland pd going phase 2. I use my scanner primarily to monitor frac jobs I am on, but I also like to listen to pulic safety elements. If I buy a home patrol 2, will it have any short comings in midland? I don’t know anything about the SDS units, but didn’t want to by the HP2 and regret not going with the SDS. Thanks in advance.
Midland Scanner
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While I have and use an HP-2, it is not a good choice for dealing with Simulcast. See this thread for a discussion of Simulcast problems in Midland as well as San Angelo. BCD536HP: - P25 Showing Full Signal, No Audio
The HP-2 does not handle simulcast well. It and the 325P2 are probably the worst of current Uniden models in dealing with the problem.
The only scanners that can deal with simulcast are the SDS100 or SDS200. The Unication pagers work well for simulcast, but are not 'true' scanners. You can only monitor one site at a time, with at most 64 talkgroups. You can program additional sites & sets of talkgroups, and switch to them if needed, but you're limited to one site & 1 set of TGIDs. The Blue Tail receiver also handles simulcast, but, again, it is not a true scanner. It has no display, and you have to provide external power (no battery pack).
If you are 'out in the boonies' on a frac job, you might be far enough out that the HP-2 might work. But don't count on that scanner working in town where it catches the full force of the simulcast sites. So, if you still wanted to try the HP-2, buy from someone that does not heavily penalize you if you need to return it because of simulcast problems.
The 436HP, as well as the 536HP, are somewhat better at simulcast than the HP-2 (or 325P2), but in severe areas, they won't work either. Yes, I realize the price differential of about $200 is painful to the wallet, The same caution about choosing your dealer carefully in case you have to return it applies to these two scanners as well.
I use the SDS sometimes but I usually don't have a problem with the 436HP when I come into Midland. I can't pick up the Midland system at all from the west side of Odessa where my office is.
Any reason you would recommend the sds unit?
Programming an SDS100 (or SDS200), or one of the x36HP scanners, is no more difficult than programming your HP-1 or an HP-2. Yes, you have more options on one of the SDS scanners than on one of the HPs' You can set quick keys, alert LEDs, NAC codes, & filters, but the base programming of systems is the same. If you still had the HP-1, you could export one of it's Favorites lists & use it in one of the SDS (or X36HP) scanners, Exporting one of my HP-1 lists was how I jumped started programming my new 436HP & 536HP when those came out. One of the x36HP Favorites lists was the jump start to the SDS scanners when they arrived. Yes, in both cases, there are more options & details that can be set in the newer scanners, but the base programming is the same.
Of course, one of the old HP-1 lists might not be of much help (in your case) since Midland's system has changed a lot since the HP-1 came out. But these are all database scanners. Use the correct version of Sentinel, update it's database, then append what you want from the main menu. Or, update the database, select the service types that interest you, and set your location & a range, and scan using the main database until you get comfortable creating more specific Favorites lists.
That's a good example of how location dependent Simulcast issues can be. If you are lucky enough to be in the right spot, such as very near (less than a mile) from one of the transmit sites, or you are at a location where terrain (hills) or clusters of buildings block enough of the out of sync signals where the 436HP can work, then you may not need the SDS scanner. You may even find that if you try the scanner in various places inside your house, sometimes a move of only a foot or two makes a difference between working, and not picking up anything.
Should you decide to try a 436HP (or the base/mobile 536HP), do what I suggested if you wanted to try an HP-2. Buy from a dealer that does not charge an exorbitant restock fee if you find that the x36HP does not work due to simulcast.
I would also add that if you are monitoring some of the frac jobs you're working, at least some of those may be using DMR (or less likely, NXDN). The x36HP as well as the SDS series scanners can use a paid upgrade to monitor DMR or NXDN. You do not have that option on the HP-1 or HP-2. Also, the x36HP & SDS series scanners allow you to edit systems or add more to a Favorites list via the keypad. You cannot do that with an HP-2 unless you also purchase the Extreme Upgrade. (You can, of course, edit or add to lists in the HP-1/HP-2 version of Sentinel, but not directly via the keypad without the Extreme Upgrade.)
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I haven’t had a big problem with simulcast distortion in Midland at all yet. I’m sure there are hotspots like upper floors of hotels and such. Just personal experience. It isn’t like going through Austin, Houston or Shreveport where only the SDS works.
frac jobs are almost all still conventional analog. I haven’t heard any yet using a digital enabled radio. We had the CP100D at my last job for a long time but not flashed with DMR option. Frac hands destroy radios, hoard them, pawn them when they quit, and companies aren’t going to be investing into any serious technology for them any time soon unless they are willing to take major accountability measures.
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