Time to upgrade!

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vidanay

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Well, my 24 year old Radio Shack Pro-90 just isn't cutting the mustard any more, so it's time to upgrade. (still works, but it's slow and only analog)

I'm very indecisive between a 436HP or a 325P2 :(

My decision might largely be decided by which one goes back on sale at Amazon first. I missed the sales earlier in the week/month by ONE DAY! :mad:

Hopefully one or both of them are on sale for Prime Days on the 10th and 11th.
 

ofd8001

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You might do so more snooping around this forum. A number of posts on this topic have been made.
 

vidanay

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You might do so more snooping around this forum. A number of posts on this topic have been made.

I've been reading for the last day and a half....that's what has brought me to the conclusion to purchase one of those two models.
 

safetyobc

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IMO, the 325 has better receive. Meaning, it picks up better. But the battery life sucks. I get about 4 or 5 hours on a set of batteries. The 436 I get closer to 7 or 8. The screen on the 436 is awesome! The 436 also has the record feature. If I had to choose one, it would be the 436. You really can't go wrong with either one though.
 

CanesFan95

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You've brought some memories with this post. I got a PRO-90 back in 1998, when they cost $300. That's prolly like spending $500 today. The PRO-90 was the Radio Shack version of the Uniden BC235XLT, which was a groundbreaking success in the scanning hobby at the time. The first ever trunking scanner. It only did Motorola trunking and only on 800 MHz, but it was huge for the hobby. At a time when trunking was becoming widespread, this scanner gave us back a big part of the hobby.

At first, I barely even understood trunking, but realizing how this scanner was able to track conversations was remarkable. The concept of a talk group was new and confusing. There was a mailing list called Trunkcom which was very active at the time, because of how groundbreaking this scanner was. Then, about 2 years later, Uniden came out with the BC245XLT which added EDACS and trunk following in other bands, not just 800 MHz. The BC245XLT was another huge step that made a big difference in the scanning hobby.
 

vidanay

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You've brought some memories with this post. I got a PRO-90 back in 1998, when they cost $300. That's prolly like spending $500 today. The PRO-90 was the Radio Shack version of the Uniden BC235XLT, which was a groundbreaking success in the scanning hobby at the time. The first ever trunking scanner. It only did Motorola trunking and only on 800 MHz, but it was huge for the hobby. At a time when trunking was becoming widespread, this scanner gave us back a big part of the hobby.

At first, I barely even understood trunking, but realizing how this scanner was able to track conversations was remarkable. The concept of a talk group was new and confusing. There was a mailing list called Trunkcom which was very active at the time, because of how groundbreaking this scanner was. Then, about 2 years later, Uniden came out with the BC245XLT which added EDACS and trunk following in other bands, not just 800 MHz. The BC245XLT was another huge step that made a big difference in the scanning hobby.

Your memories closely mirror mine. I'm pretty sure I bought mine some time around '93. I got married in '95 and I am think I had it before then.

The whole concept of trunking did indeed seem like black magic voodoo at the time. I wonder if there are even analog trunking systems in use anywhere these days?

I remember the Trunkcom mailing list! It looks like it was active up until very recently. The TrunkCom Archives
 

CanesFan95

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I believe the first trunking scanners didn't come out until like 1997 or so.
 

ofd8001

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The whole concept of trunking did indeed seem like black magic voodoo at the time. I wonder if there are even analog trunking systems in use anywhere these days?

A lot of public safety folks around my area were skeptical of the trunking concept when it first came out. So there wasn't much interest. Then time went along and the FCC narrowband mandate became effective January 1, 2013. A lot of communities, including ours, had to do something to comply. So that's pretty much the driving force for out migration to a digital trunked system. Seems to have worked rather well.

I'm sure there are still numerous analog trunked systems around. Probably those previous to the narrowband concept's genesis. Anything after is likely to be digital.
 

vidanay

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The 436 dropped $30 this morning on Amazon. Now it's a waiting game to see how low it goes or how long I push my luck.
 

CanesFan95

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They had a right to be skeptical and still do. It is an expensive proprietary mess that doesn't work as well as conventional analog. And if the control channel goes down, then you're all screwed up.
 

RRR

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Well, my 24 year old Radio Shack Pro-90 just isn't cutting the mustard any more, so it's time to upgrade. (still works, but it's slow and only analog)

I'm very indecisive between a 436HP or a 325P2 :(

My decision might largely be decided by which one goes back on sale at Amazon first. I missed the sales earlier in the week/month by ONE DAY! :mad:

Hopefully one or both of them are on sale for Prime Days on the 10th and 11th.

Are you stuck on Unidens? It is noteworthy to mention that Whistler has NXDN already installed, (Uniden does not offer NXDN Digital) with future upgredes (Like DMR, etc.) free on the TRX series scanners.
 

vidanay

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Are you stuck on Unidens? It is noteworthy to mention that Whistler has NXDN already installed, (Uniden does not offer NXDN Digital) with future upgredes (Like DMR, etc.) free on the TRX series scanners.

I am not "stuck" on Uniden, neither practically nor politically. I really don't have a need for DMR or NXDN though. Out here where I am at, I don't think there are any systems utilizing DMR or NXDN (I may easily be wrong). If anyone has a listing of systems in DeKalb County IL that uses either of these, I'd be happy to learn about them.
 

tumegpc

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I am not "stuck" on Uniden, neither practically nor politically. I really don't have a need for DMR or NXDN though. Out here where I am at, I don't think there are any systems utilizing DMR or NXDN (I may easily be wrong). If anyone has a listing of systems in DeKalb County IL that uses either of these, I'd be happy to learn about them.

You can do a search here for DMR and NXDN in your area.

Digital Frequency Search
 

vidanay

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You can do a search here for DMR and NXDN in your area.

Digital Frequency Search

Thanks for that info!

It looks like there are only a handful of interesting entities in my area using DMR, and nothing of interest to me that are using NXDN (looks like only railroads).

And on another topic....CRAP, the price of the 436 jumped up to $409.42 after lunch today!
 
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