Thank you for your reply. I'm used to the 396 and the 436HP looks like it might fit the bill nicely. I'll have to see what the difference between the 436HP and 325P2 is.
The
325P2 is basically the replacement model for the 396XT. It's in a smaller body than the 396XT, and only uses two AA batteries. As such, the battery life is not near as what you see on the 396XT & other 3-cell scanners. Battery life, of course, depends on how much activity you are hearing, and how loud you have the audio set. You don't have the programmable display colors like you can assign to specific agencies or services in the 396XT. Programming on these two scanners is the same, so a 396XT file from FreeSCAN would be usable in the 325P2. Of course, the 325P2 can do P25 Phase II systems, and can get the upgrades for DMR & NXDN if those interest you. The ProVoice upgrade is also available, but those systems are dwindling as the format is no longer supported by the manufacturer, so unless you had a ProVoice system of interest near you,
and you can confirm that a transition to a different operating format (such as P25 Phase I or Phase II) is not already in progress, the ProVoice upgrade would be a waste of money. Both the 396XT & 325P2 are DMA scanners.
The
436HP is larger than either the 396XT as well as the 325P2. It is a database scanner, so you can use the RR database along with location & a range to start scanning quickly, while you work to create one or more Favorites lists for the systems that interest you. You can download & install Sentinel before you get a 436HP (or a different one on the x36HP & SDS product lines. That would let you 'test drive' the software.
Sentinel is free, provided by Uniden. You would need Sentinel for database updates and to apply any firmware updates that might eventually be provided. However, you can try
ProScan and ARC536 on a free trial basis to see if you like either of them better. ProScan can import your existing 396XT programming file and use that in creating a new Favorites list for your scanner. Having three cells, the battery like on the 436HP is longer than the two of the 325P2. It has a programmable alert LED (instead of the colored display of the 396XT) to use for selected agencies or service types. The DMR, NXDN, and ProVoice upgrades are also available for the 436HP. Being a database scanner, the 436HP has the replay feature so that you can review the most recent transmissions it has received. Or, you can set it to record all transmissions for later review. The supplied USB cable, used for programming & updates on the 436HP, is identical to the one packaged with the 325P2. There are a number of Wiki pages, posts here on RadioReference, as well as dozens of videos on YouTube regarding programming & operation of the 436HP & the other Uniden database scanners.
Unlike the SDS series scanners, neither the 325P2 nor 436HP are 'simulcast proof', but in my experience in the DFW metro area, the 436HP is somewhat better than the 325P2. The
436HP is usually about $100 more than the
325P2, but it does have more features.
