The two Uniden scanners recommended when working VHF/UHF are the BCD325P2 and the BCD996P2. Save the BCDx36HP’s for the digital trunking on the 700-900 MHz bands and the SDS’s for the same and when there are simulcast concerns.
When Paul Opitz (RIP) was heading up the Uniden scanner line he eluded to a couple of things relating to why certain Uniden scanners played better on certain bands. He did it in a fashion that didn’t bash the BCDx36HP’s or the SDS models but the takeaway was it’s become evident these two models weren’t performing as well on VHF/UHF as previous models had. The differences were slight as all models had reached or exceeded their target points, but because the differences were noticeable, and reported to Uniden I guess Paul thought it worth mentioning.
Don’t ask me to direct you to what posts or videos he mentioned this In, I didn’t tag them. But this is the general feeling of those who have upgraded from the older BCD396’s and the BCD996’s to the BCDx36HP’s and the SDS’s.
Paul was a bit more fourth coming, not following the tight lipped official Uniden line all that closely. He stepped slightly over the line on occasion. But when he did, he did it diplomatically, not raising the ire of Uniden too much. (I suspect Uniden recognized the trust Paul was building with his customers and gave him some room to further build on that trust.)
All that being said, the BCDx36HP and SDS models do play within exceptable levels on the VHF/UHF bands. I will add “provided a proper aftermarket antenna is used” because the stock antennas play more akin to a dummy load. Broad band scanner receivers are general coverage receivers. As such, they loose something. That is why an amateur VHF/UHF transceiver with a general coverage receiver does better on those bands when receiving. But marketing a multi-band scanner receiver to receive all bands as well as a single or dual band band receiver, while possible, is an expensive proposition. (There are commercial grade radios available, used in applications such as medivac helicopters. They need to talk to ground personnel on different bands on a daily basis. But the final cost to the typical scanner user would put it out of reach.)
I run the SDS radios for 700-900 MHz and the BCD325P2/BCD996P2 for VHF/UHF. I’ve compared the radios, using the same Log Periodic antenna made by Create, listening to the same radio systems on the different bands. While not a scientific comparison, my results are as follows; All radios received what I was using for test signals on the different bands, with the SDS radios slightly lacking on the VHF/UHF bands.
