I agree! I've had a BCD436HP for many years and I don't have any trouble with simulcast either. Sometimes it can be location but I think it's antenna. Less antenna is better. Gain antennas are part of the problem. That being said, the BCD43HP is much better than the SDS100 if you want to listen to analog. Not everything is digital.
I'll be honest in a short test I did with the 436 vs the SDS 100, I couldn't tell much if any difference on the simulcast I listen to. I wasn't able to test a long time but there was virtually no difference. It wasn't until I tried the Unication G5 and G4 that I found out just how much I was missing.
Comparing it for a couple hours in my area, I could not tell any difference between the 436 and SDS 100. I also had the Remtronix antenna, and I'm not sure what was on the temporarily borrowed SDS 100.