So my question(s) are; I have read the 200 programs differently than the 996P2 and it's not as easy (according to some reports I have read).
If you are comfortable programming your 996P2, which is what Uniden calls a "DMA Scanner", you won't have a lot of trouble with an SDS200, nor any of the other 'database scanners, that Uniden categorizes as the Home Patrol category. Besides the original Home Patrol-1, and it's follow on HP-2, the other 'database' scanners include the x36HP (BCD436HP & BCD536HP) as well as the SDS100 & SDS200.
What your 996P2 calls "groups", the database scanners refer to them as "Departments". Your P2 has a limit of 20 groups per system. That can be a handicap, especially in urban metro areas using a large regional system, or as a agency on a statewide system. For larger cities, there are often separate groups for public safety- one each for law enforcement (police), and one for fire. In some systems, EMS may also be placed in the same group fire, but in other cases, EMS might instead be a separate group. Multiply that by several cities, as well as smaller towns which only have a few talkgroups, but in a group specific to them, you quite often can exceed the group limitation (20). So, you either have to consolidate talkgroups to reduce the total number of groups, or split them into an additional system. That's not an issue with the SDS200 and other database scanners. While your P2 has a limit of 25,000 'channels', the only limitation for the database scanners is that a Favorites list cannot exceed 1 megabyte. That's a huge difference. Plus, if you need more room, you can add one or more additional favorites lists to handle them. For your P2, you have ten quick keys (0 through 9) to assign to groups. If you have more than ten groups in a system, either the same QK will need to be shared on one or more systems, or else you can have groups without a quick key, In the SDS and x36HP database scanners, you have 100 quick key numbers available (0 through 99) for use, making it simpler to toggle one or more Departments, within a system, on or off while scanning.(Note the the HP-1 & HP-2 do not have quick keys, but you still have no set limit on your number of Departments.)
Your P2 has one programming file. Everything has to fit in there. That can be a handicap when programming for a trip to multiple areas. You'd need to either use a GPS to limit the scanner to systems in the immediate range, or use start-up keys to break your file down to systems in the various areas you'll travel to or through. For the SDS200 and other HP scanners, you can have multiple Favorites lists, say one for your home area, and additional lists for other sections of your trip or the final destination. You can select which lists to be scanned either through the scanner menu, or assign quick keys to them to control when they will be in use.
Note that, since you have already used ProScan for programming your 996P2, ProScan can import your 996P2 file & convert it to a Favorites list for your potential SDS200.
