I have questions regarding a couple of earlier points made... and at this point I'm leaning toward the BCD436HP.
Can someone explain to me a bit about simulcast? What is it and does the 436HP model handle simulcast well (my take from hiegtx's post is that perhaps the 436HP does not handle simulcast well)? I have read the SDS100 is better with simulcast, but not knowing what exactly simulcast is, my conclusions are limited.
Too, since I think many systems in my area use DMR, what is the fee and is it a one time fee?
Simulcast is where two or more sites, on the same system, are transmitting the exact same radio traffic on the same frequencies. Multiple sites are used so that there is better signal coverage in the area, especially for handheld radios, which might be used inside a building, or in spots where terrain might impact the signal path if only one transmit tower was used. Depending on what is needed in the area, you may have only a few sites, or you might have many more. These would be at various distances from your location. Even though radio waves move very rapidly, there still is enough time difference, even as minute as it is, for these signals to conflict with each other and affect how well the scanner can handle them. Professional radios, those used by the public safety agencies, are designed to deal with this, and don't have the problems that a scanner does. The older scanner designs are less able to handle the simulcast effect, and will either miss some radio traffic, or it may be received in such a garbled form that you cannot understand what is being said. A more complete explanation of Simulcast can be found in the Wiki.
Simulcast digital distortion - The RadioReference Wiki
For your home county, Lafayette, as well as most of the
LWIN sites, frequencies licensed to your state are being used, so there is not a specific FCC license for the site, and thus there is no map of the sites so that you can see their placement. But, here is a map of the tower locations for a simulcast site in
Montgomery County, on the
TxWARN system. (Yes, that is a different site than Lafayette, and on a separate system, but the illustration of simulcast towers would still be useful.)
Exactly what the tower placement in your parish looks like, I have no way of knowing. But as you can see in the map above, if you were, let's say, in Conroe, you would be surrounded by a ring of towers, all using the same frequencies at the same time, with the signals arriving at the scanner far enough apart to severely impact reception.
The 325P2 is not a good choice for simulcast. The 436HP is better, but not the best, which is one of the SDS series scanners. There are a number of systems here in the DFW area where members of RR have noted simulcast issues. After I got the SDS100, I made it a point to try the SDS100, 436HP, 325P2, and TRX-1 in some of the areas where the problem was noted as severe. In areas where the SDS100 was getting solid reception of a system, the 436HP was in the 70-80% range of what the SDS was hereing. The 325P2 was in the 50-60% range, and the TRX-1 much lower, say 20-30%.
That being said, when I'm at home, the 436HP and SDS100 are hearing the same percentage of the same systems most of the time. That's because for the systems involved, I'm far enough outside of their service area that I am not affected by simulcast. I will be, in the not too distant future, once Dallas (city) & Dallas County migrate to their planed P25 Phase II simulcast system. When that change is made, I expect that scanners other than the SDS100 & SDS200 will have problems at my location.
As already noted, virtually all of the public safety agencies in your home parish (Lafayette) are encrypted. But in most of your surrounding parishes, many agencies are not in the dark. If that holds true, the 436HP might be a good choice, as you may be out of the simulcast trouble zone for them, but hopefully still in range. That question should probably be asked down in the Louisiana forum, where someone in your vicinity may see your question, and give you an idea of what works for them. To do that, do
not create a new thread. Instead, click on the Report in the lower left corner of one of your posts, and request that a moderator move your thread to the state forum. Someone in the area would be more likely to see it there.