Uniden BCD436HP

[Bottlecapr]

Looking for some good advice😏
I am newbie. Never owned a decent scanner. Just cheap $100 Base.
I am now retired and want to get a good scanner to monitor local police, state police,
Fire departments and emergency, utilities and DOT etc... I live in Indianapis Ind-Marion County.
From what I researched on my own I think the Uniden BCD436HP is my choice.
Do I need to get any of the upgrades , DMR, Provoice, and install myself or let them do it.
Amazon has this for $420 plus $25 square trade 4 year warranty. But it has no upgrades
Thanks for any helpful advice.

 

[firejay15tcy]

Do you need to get the upgrades.. no. There are tons of frequencies available still to scan with just the out of box scanner. With that said, check your local area using the resources here to see if there is more you can scan with the upgrades. For instance.. in my area there are no Provoice systems in use however about 75 miles away there is one public safety agency that does use ProVoice. For me it's not worth it to go with the ProVoice upgrade. DMR however is becoming popular in my area so having that would be nice.

There are scanner stores out there that will sell you everything already upgraded. That in my opinion isn't worth the cost. Get the scanner, do your research then upgrade the features you want. The unlocking of the features can be done on your own and the scanner doesn't have to be sent in.

Side note, Amazon isn't the cheapest out there. I just picked up slightly used one with an extra antenna and all the accessories from someone on EBay for $300. Many people are selling their scanners as the public safety agencies in their areas are going to an encrypted form of P25 which isn't able to be scanned.

 

[GROL]

A quick look in the database indicates the systems in your area are P25 Phase 1 which would not require any of the upgrades. I would be a bit cautious about buying a BCD436HP from eBay to save $120 as some people like to tinker and mess things up, plus you will have no warranty. And it is easy to return it to Amazon.

You should probably post your question in the Indiana State Forum asking users in your area if the BCD436HP without upgrades will be all you need since they should be familiar with what is required. Sometimes systems listed in the database may be in the process of conversion or replacement. A system in my area was replaced by the agencies joining a system in an adjacent county. Best to get local advice.

https://forums.radioreference.com/indiana-radio-discussion-forum/

 

[ofd8001]

I agree you may wish to ask this in the Indiana forum. The Indianapolis system can be tricky to receive given that it is a simulcast system. Even though its more expensive, the SDS 100 is better on simulcast systems. Still I'd defer to local experience on the 436, which is a good scanner in most places.