uniden home patrol is garbage

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NWI_Scanner_Guy

SCANNING THE AIRWAVES SINCE 1987
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If you're trolling, go away.

If you're looking for help, we can help you, but you need to tell us specifically what your problem is. 9 times out of 10 with this radio, it's just not set up right.

What exact system are you trying to listen to? What zip code did you put in? Is that the zip code of the place you're at?

When I first got my HP1, I was one of those 9 people. Took me a while to figure the radio out, but with perseverance, and the help of plenty of folks here on the RR, I finally got to the point where I knew what I was doing.

Crash_iam, don't throw in the towel. The HP1 is a complicated radio, but with patience and help, you'll get it.

:)
 

majoco

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1. When all else fails, RTFM. (read the flaming manual)

2. If you still don't understand how it works, see 1. above.
 

kb8rvp

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Very disappointed on the uniden home patrol. 500 bucks on a scanner that works like crap.
If your thinking of buying one DONT. I have it set up right and the static you get when a channel is on is total garbage. And they want a hundred bucks for a upgrade? what are they smoking. My old radio shack works ten times better. Even the antenna that comes with it is garbage. Never will i buy a uniden junk again.

What is your location? Have you tried a better antenna? Are you on analog or a digital system? I have helped at least 10 people setup the Uniden Home Patrol and all but one worked very well. All of them needed a right angle SMA to BNC adapter so they could switch to the Radio Shack 800MHz antenna upgrade and they work great. I have also found it depends on the location but the newest firmware 1.04 doesn't work the best I had to down grade some to version 1.03. This is not something you can't spend one day and boom it's perfect. It takes some trial and error and reading the wiki for the Home Patrol and reading past forums to find out how others made it work for them. The one that I mentioned that didn't work the person had a cell tower in the back yard and it wiped out the receive. Plus depending on the place you purchased it from they will tell you all you have to do is to put in the zip code and it just works. You need to install the Sentinel software and then connect the Home Patrol to the internet to download the newest programming information so the zip code will work correctly. The scanner could have been sitting on a shelf for months and it's just out of date.

Mike
 

crash_iam

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ty kb8rvp

I did update the program Sentinel and updated the scanner. and made sure you right to scanner to i did. I live in wyoming county and they come in all broke up. For what they charged for this thing it should do the new stuff, like pick up the new genesee county. But understand have to dump more money for that. I will be trying a new antenna and trying that out. Ty for you help
 
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phask

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up the new genesee county. But understand have to dump more money for that.

If by dumping mpre money, you mean the extreme upgrade, you are wrong.

I'm not even going to take the time to see what the "new" system is and if the HP is capable of receiving it. Looks like you didn't either.
 

Jay911

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Which of the 50 states are Wyoming and Genesee counties in?? I could take a wild guess and assume Wyoming, but odds are there are counties matching those names in several states.
 

crash_iam

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I live in ny Jay911 Going to try and get a better antenna for it.
And @ phask no i already understand the hp wont work for genesee county and others
new phase.
Dump more money, i meant if i wanted to do the newest phase i would have to save
for new scanner.

ty guys
 

hiegtx

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I live in ny Jay911 Going to try and get a better antenna for it.
And @ phask no i already understand the hp wont work for genesee county and others
new phase.
Dump more money, i meant if i wanted to do the newest phase i would have to save
for new scanner.

ty guys
crash_jam, for your specific county, Wyoming, it appears that you have a mix of Vhf-low, Vhf-high, as well as Uhf frequencies. You might try the Diamond SRH789 antenna. The SRH version has an SMA base, which will directly mount to your Home Patrol, the RH789 would require an adapter. The antenna swivels at it's base, so that you can position it vertically.This antenna telescopes, adjustable to optimize for your frequency range of interest. There's a scale printed on the antenna. I used that antenna when I spent a month in the hospital for surgery & rehab last year. It picked up the local systems much better than I really expected.

If you had a number of 800MHz systems of interest, then you'd be better served to get an SMA to BNC adapter, and grab one of the Radio Shack 800 MHz antennas. I have the adapter on my HP 1, and also use an elbow adapter so that my other antennas, which have BNC mounts, are vertical.
 

crash_iam

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ty hiegtx
i will be trying out both of those antennas. Thank you very much on the info.Hope your surgery has helped you out. I had surgery
and it is a complete failure. But win some lose some. ty again hiegtx
 

Jay911

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The SRH789 is also fine for 700/800 MHz - you don't need to get another one. Use the 789 for all frequencies you want to listen to. I have them on my BCD436HP, my two HP1s, and my PSR-500 (and PSR-800 when I had it).
 

crash_iam

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Ty Jay911
Just ordered one will give it a go and let ya know if works better. i am sure it will
As i do get wyoming county but breaks up bad.
 

JamesO

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Ty Jay911
Just ordered one will give it a go and let ya know if works better. i am sure it will
As i do get wyoming county but breaks up bad.

Since the HP1 is easily transportable, forget about the better antenna for now and take the radio and go to some other locations around where you live and see if the reception is any better.

You have to realize there are a LOT of variable in wireless communications. The problem could be your location, your radio, the system, could even be on the local end and have nothing to do with your equipment.

The real question is did you purchase the HP1 new or used? This is also important. It sounds like you purchased it used based on your comments? Why would you spend $500 on a HP1 which you would have to spend another $100 for the Extreme Update when you could have purchased a 436HP for just over $500?

If you purchased the scanner used, it could have a problem or broken antenna connection inside.

So what happens when you listen to a NOAA Weather broadcast or an FM Broadcast? How many signal bars do you have for the system/channels that are breaking up?

Basic troublshooting 101 AND record what is breaking up and post either the video or audio recording and tell us how far you are located from the transmit site.

Keep in mind, inside the house with the stock antenna, you will be lucky to get a reliable digital signal more than 5-10 miles in hilly and tree lined areas. Again, lots of variables and many times the issue is not the radio, but environmental/operational issues and again programming and configuration is very important.
 

Jay911

Silent Key (April 15th, 2023)
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A "used" HP-1 for $500.00 ????

You can buy top notch, like new re-furbs for under $300.00.....

Maybe he bought it from Canada. Our highway-robbery retailers are still wanting over 6 bills (in Canuck-bucks - 90¢ on your dollar) for a new one.
 

tsalmrsystemtech

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Oh yeah those HP-1 are pretty junkiee and trashy. It does work okay but would I recommend it absolutely NO.

I went to a local retailer to where I knew I could return it in 15 days no questions asked and I wanted to see how this turd worked and it works just okay. I returned it in 3 days just so I would not get stuck with the hot potato

The reception is horrible with the stock antenna, plus you would have to spend another 100 bucks to turn on a feature that is already built into the unit. That is a complete turd move by Uniden to do something like that.

So to spend 500 bucks on old technology, just don't do it. These units need to be sold with extreme for about 300 bucks and call it a day.

Please don't think about purchasing one of these radios, you will be dis-appointed for sure.

Just spend a lit bit of some extra cash for the 436 or the 536.
 

jyams

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Totally disagree with anti-HP1 rhetoric. I purchased a used one for $350 (included Extreme Update). Have it on an outside antenna and monitor public safety over a 4 state area with "location" set to "off" on digital (local) and conventional systems (60+ miles out) on 40 Favorites Lists. Aeronautical freqs with my location being a FAA Regional center rocks especially at night! Best scanner I've ever owned (including PSR-800, Uniden digital models, RS digital models, etc). I read the manual first. Program it weekly using Sentinel. I try new things from time to time. I also periodically reformat my sdcard and factory reset the scanner to keep everything fresh and fast. It sits by my recliner and never disappoints. Reception using an Antennacraft ST2 never disappoints.
 

NWI_Scanner_Guy

SCANNING THE AIRWAVES SINCE 1987
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Oh yeah those HP-1 are pretty junkiee and trashy. It does work okay but would I recommend it absolutely NO.

I went to a local retailer to where I knew I could return it in 15 days no questions asked and I wanted to see how this turd worked and it works just okay. I returned it in 3 days just so I would not get stuck with the hot potato

The reception is horrible with the stock antenna, plus you would have to spend another 100 bucks to turn on a feature that is already built into the unit. That is a complete turd move by Uniden to do something like that.

So to spend 500 bucks on old technology, just don't do it. These units need to be sold with extreme for about 300 bucks and call it a day.

Please don't think about purchasing one of these radios, you will be dis-appointed for sure.

Just spend a lit bit of some extra cash for the 436 or the 536.

Yeah, spend a little bit extra cash and get those radios....along with the problems that they have.

Yes, I own one of each, along with an HP-1, and while the newer scanners are nice, they really don't out perform my HP-1 on any of the systems I regularly monitor.

I guess the old saying is true, that one person's junk is another person's treasure.

:)
 

vortex360

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BTW, ALL antennas shipped with most scanners are junk. Plenty of decent aftermarket antennas for under $25 that will do a much better job.

The one that came with the 996T was junk but the ones that came with the 996xt and the 536HP I feel are very good. I can understand the frustration and it's probably because they're expected to pay for an update. I just learned of that and even I am surprised.
 

Jay911

Silent Key (April 15th, 2023)
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The plastic ones that came with the Home Patrol 1 radios were useless for me. Both of the ones I had broke within days of installing them.

I use Diamond SRH789 antennas on all my SMA scanners and RH789 antennas on the BNC ones. Far better antenna than anything else I've used.
 
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