P25 Performance Uniden vs RS/GRE

[Julian1]

Greetings.....

Hope to hear from those who have both Uniden and RS/GRE P25..

I use a 996 mostly in my car. P25 not consistent. I understand some systems are more difficult than others to decode.

Is the RS/GRE latest scanners performing better on P25 than Uniden?

Curious to hear from those who have used both units on a given system.

 

[N8IAA]

Julian, I can only go with an opinion of the 106. It works quite well on the digital systems that I monitor in Gwinnett- Forsyth, Cobb. I like the mute on the lose of digital signal (no motorboating). The only 996 I have ever heard is /\/\ike's. I wish that we had done a side-by-side comparison. Didn't have the 106 then, only the 96.
Larry

 

[rdale]

For non-CQPSK systems, they are the same. For CQPSK, I'd give a SLIGHT edge to GRE, but MUCH MUCH more important (did I say "MUCH"?) is the antenna pointed at the closest tower.

 

[KD8CES]

I have been a Uniden fan for many years, owning only one rs pro95 until now. I was very disapointed in the decoding of my bc796d on the marcs system in northern ohio. I bought a pro-106 and am receiving p-25 signals on a rubber duck antenna that I could not receive on the 796d with a 800mhz yagi beam, the audio is clear, no motorboating and very legible. I don,t think I will buy another uniden for digital reception. I am Pro Pro-106! scannerdweeb

 

[Viper43]

Three Unidens, all three do better than my 600, but the 600 does Ok too, and all are using the latest firmware. If I were to buy another scanner (which I probably will) it will be a Uniden though.

V

 

[KB8UYC]

All I can say is I have owned the Radio Shack Pro96 and 2096. The Uniden 796 and 996T. I currently own the GRE PSR500 and 600's.

I live in Michigan so we have a few Digital Simulcast systems and the MPSCS. Hands down the Radio Shack and GRE's blow the Unidens out of the water. The 996 was the most deaf radio that I have ever owned. Mine you I have great Yagi's and LMR400 coax, so nobody can say that it was my antenna or coax.

The GRE line of scanners handles Simulcast systems much better than any of the Unidens. In my opinon Uniden sparkles when it comes to display on the radios, however they are so far behind when it comes to the technology. Exactly why do I need GPS in a scanner? Uniden lost me at the 796. I still own and use my 780 EVERYDAY and that is an awesome radio, but anything after that was simply junk. Again this is just my opinon.

The Pro96 and 2096 were plagued with "motorboating" on the digital systems and Radio Shack never cared. Never came out with a update to fix the problem to the thousands upon thousands of users that purchased those great scanners. When GRE annouced that it was going on its own, everyone that I know got really excited. Now that they are here and here to stay, we could not be more happy. The PSR line of scanners will out do ANY UNIDEN on the market. Plain and simple.

Thats my story and I am sticking to it, because I have used all of them with the exception of the 396, and I will not waste my money on junk. Buy GRE, they simply rock and they are ALL OVER any upgrades that need to come out and do it very timely and they let folks know where they are in the process if they plan an update.

Hope that helps

 

[radiowaves1]

Have both...396 hands down better scanner

Have both scanners with new firmware (just did the V3 on the 396 3 days ago) and the 396 rocks steady on P-25. I had a Radio Shack Pro 96 and it just didn't have the quality, feel or performance others said they had with it. RS just makes cheap junk. The Uniden 396 where I'm located is the finest scanner on the market today providing people update them & program them right. I know some users of RR personally who live down the road from me and say their 396 is junk. I also know for a fact that they do not do the updates either and always have issues with programming yet have no issues slamming an otherwise good scanner. The 396 is the best choice in my opinion. I also have a 996 in the truck and the GPS feature is nice when travelling as you don't have to search for the system to be loaded, its detected for you which is why I LIKE the GPS feature in my scanner yet again, one must understand why its there and how to use it otherwise I can understand why some folks who may not understand it, slam it. My PSR 500 is up on EBay right now and soon as its sold, a new 396xxx Uniden will soon release in early 2009 will be in my hands. Another fine quality product from Uniden...Can't wait.

 

[iMONITOR]

I've owned the following digital scanners (more than one each), and all were used in S.E. Michigan. I'll give them a score of 1~10, with 10 being the best:

Uniden BC296D-----------------7
Uniden BC796D-----------------7
Uniden BCD396T---------------5
Uniden BCD996T---------------5
Radio Shack PRO-96-----------8
Radio Shack PRO-2096--------8
Radio Shack PRO-106--------10
Radio Shack PRO-197--------10

In addition to having the best decode capability, the PRO-106, and PRO-197 are the only ones where the audio sounded 100% clear, and normal. No robotic accent at all. The AGC works perfect as well!

 

[KE4ZNR]

Thread number 1 million on the topic of which is better GRE or Uniden.
As I say every time this topic is brought up is it like the age old
Coke vs Pepsi question: Ask 100 people which is better and 50 will tell
you coke and 50 will tell you Pepsi. There is no perfect or "best" radio. You have to figure out which radio offers the features you think you will use on a daily basis.
Happy Monitoring & Good Luck!
Marshall KE4ZNR

 

[poltergeisty]

Have both scanners with new firmware (just did the V3 on the 396 3 days ago) and the 396 rocks steady on P-25. I had a Radio Shack Pro 96 and it just didn't have the quality, feel or performance others said they had with it. RS just makes cheap junk. The Uniden 396 where I'm located is the finest scanner on the market today providing people update them & program them right. I know some users of RR personally who live down the road from me and say their 396 is junk. I also know for a fact that they do not do the updates either and always have issues with programming yet have no issues slamming an otherwise good scanner. The 396 is the best choice in my opinion. I also have a 996 in the truck and the GPS feature is nice when travelling as you don't have to search for the system to be loaded, its detected for you which is why I LIKE the GPS feature in my scanner yet again, one must understand why its there and how to use it otherwise I can understand why some folks who may not understand it, slam it. My PSR 500 is up on EBay right now and soon as its sold, a new 396xxx Uniden will soon release in early 2009 will be in my hands. Another fine quality product from Uniden...Can't wait.

:lol: Chicago is a great city and so is the 396!

Securitas?

 

[radiowaves1]

Nope...

Department of Energy (D.O.E.)

 

[PHOENIX_SCANNER]

I have carefully done comparison testing of all digital scanners out there, and there really wasn't any doubt. I have owned all the digital scanners. For me, the GRE 500 & 600 are better at decoding p25, with better more life-like sound quality and less garbled noises, when put on the same antennas in the same spot. I remember how annoyed I was that you had to do the "tweak" to the unidens (press the knob, press this, adjust that, change this value, etc....) to get it to decode correctly. How dumb. The GREs take care of all this automatically, and always have. The 996/396 was better than the 96 and 2096, and then GREs came along and raised the bar, IMHO. Even more importantly for many of us, as a previous poster mentioned, the GREs do better with simulcast systems like the one I am forced to deal with every day. Take my word for it, there is a difference.

Don't get me wrong, I just bought a uniden bct15 and psr-400 for testing with outdoor antennas, and the uniden KILLED the GRE doing analog stuff, so I am no uniden hater. I currently LOVE my new BCT15, and will tell you NO other scanner can touch it on analog. I fully appreciate uniden scanners, and have for decades since my first bearcat.

I will also tell you the PSR scanners feel and look cheap, making creeking noises when held tightly, sometimes with loose duck antennas, and silly little displays that look horrible next to a uniden. They look and feel cheap and clunky next to a uniden scanner, but after extensive comparison testing, I use the 500 and 600 for digital, so there is my two cents. But this might not hold true for you...

As an interesting side note, every person has a unique situation, with all sorts of factors in play, that combine to create various effects. Combine this with different things that they are listening to, and you can see every persons scenario is unique. What this means, is that the ONLY way you will know which scanner does what best for you, in your unique situation, is to buy one of each of the competition, and do comparison testing. Yeah, it is going to cost you. You won't get back every dollar you spend when you sell the losers, but it is worth it to me, and always will be. I have to know I have the best tool for my particular uses. I believe the guy who said his uniden smoked the psr's on digital. I am sure in his situation, they did. Just as in mine and others situations, the unidens fell short of the GREs. There is no one size fits all answer. Do the testing, my advice.