Uniden BCD436HP in Fort Worth Area work?

[jason_fw_817]

I was wondering if anyone is using the BCD436HP handheld scanner in the Fort Worth area. I am wanting to purchase one but want to make sure it will pick up local law enforcement like NRH, Keller and other mid cities Police and Fire. I know Ft Worth is encrypted and cannot hear them, but would like to listen to the others around here.

 

[willdanl]

I live in FW and have the 436HP. It works great on the FW Regional system. I commute from the SW part of town to Irving through the mid-cities every day. I listen to FW Fire, Tarrant SO, Haltom City and NRH on the combined dispatch, Bedford, Euless, and Grapevine. It is also working on the Phase II site in Irving - audio on that is not as clear as it is on the others, but it isn't bad. I get much better digital performance with the 436HP than with my 396T and my GRE PSR800. The 436 handles the simulcast much better. I haven't ever put the RS 800 mhz antenna on it because it has done very well for me with the stock antenna.

 

[BenScan]

I was wondering if anyone is using the BCD436HP handheld scanner in the Fort Worth area. I am wanting to purchase one but want to make sure it will pick up local law enforcement like NRH, Keller and other mid cities Police and Fire. I know Ft Worth is encrypted and cannot hear them, but would like to listen to the others around here.

I'm not impressed with the scanner for the Fort Worth sites. It misses LOTs of traffic from where I scan at home and work in Bedford and Hurst. It works great for the NE Tarrant stuff. I'm hoping Uniden will change the design to improve coverage where "multipath" problems are common for P25 systems. There are some new Whistler scanners coming out, but it's too early to tell if they will do any better. If the BCD436HP worked as advertised, I'd buy more of them. For now, I'll keep hoping for something better to come along.

 

[jason_fw_817]

Thank you

Thank you guys for the feedback.

 

[Ensnared]

Linear Simulcast/Simulcast Distortion

I'm not impressed with the scanner for the Fort Worth sites. It misses LOTs of traffic from where I scan at home and work in Bedford and Hurst. It works great for the NE Tarrant stuff. I'm hoping Uniden will change the design to improve coverage where "multipath" problems are common for P25 systems. There are some new Whistler scanners coming out, but it's too early to tell if they will do any better. If the BCD436HP worked as advertised, I'd buy more of them. For now, I'll keep hoping for something better to come along.

I would not count on Whistler improving their simulcast distortion issues at present. From what I've gathered, they have repackaged the PSR 500/600/800. This is the main reason I abandoned my GRE PSR 500. This radio was horrible on simulcast distortion. My 436HP handles simulcast distortion very well. In Waco, they installed a new "linear simulcast." It rendered my PSR 500 useless for digital trunking in Waco. I've monitored some of the FW Regional System with my new 436HP & found reception to be very good. The 436HP also works great at home.

 

[w5kcm]

Interested in this post. I live in Watauga and I am interested in hearing how the BCD436HP will do as far as monitoring NE Tarrant county. Watauga, NRH, Richland Hills, Haltom City. Sounds like it should do a good job. Still checking out all the other models before I settle on one scanner.
73

 

[UPMan]

I listen to them all the time from the office. Also Irving (on the new Phase 2 system), Arlington (still analog), Dallas (conventional).

 

[w5kcm]

Other local municipalities going encrypted?

UPMan Thanks for the info.
In an earlier post, the writer said " I know Ft Worth is encrypted and cannot hear them,". What is the likelihood of NRH or Watauga and others, deciding they want to go encryption?

 

[w5kcm]

436 in NE Tarrant Co.

Well I got the BDC436HD here the other day and all is working pretty well. The last scanner I purchased new was the BC245XLT a long time ago, so this one took a lot of new thinking to figure out . The scanner operates very well on the conventional frequencies. My main interest is monitoring the Fort Worth Regional Radio System P25 Phase II. NRH, Haltom City, Watauga, Combined Talkgroups.
Having some issues with very choppy distorted decoding. A few of the transmissions come through pretty clear but most are very difficult to understand what they are saying. I have read where some others have had similar issues on other P25 systems. I have tried making a few changes like using the FM mode in the range instead of NFM but I did not see any difference. Setting the squelch very low, etc.
1. Is this choppy distortion caused by Simulcast issues?
2. Would a directional antenna help with this?
3. When I create a favorites list, it includes several sites. A Fort Worth Layer 1 and Fort Worth Layer 2. Do I need both of these or just the Layer 1 site? If I include these additional sites, will that cause more simulcast issues?
4. If Simulcast is not the issue, is there a problem with my 436?
5. I have ready where some have gotten better results by going back to an earlier firmware. Thought I would try this but cannot find this firmware. Is there a new location?
Any ideas are most appreciated.
Possibly, someone in my area has already resolved these issues and you can email me direct?
Thanks,
Randy