Uniden's New Product Called Home Patrol

[CoolBlue87GT]

FYI:
I ordered a HP yesterday from Scanner Master. I asked for the $479 price offered by BearWarehouse and was told they could do that. Unfortunately, when I received my electronic invoice it stated I was charged the full $495. I sent a message to Scanner Master . . .

I double checked my invoice, they did it right for me.

Order Details:

Uniden HomePatrol 1 $479.90

Subtotal: $479.90
Tax: $0.00
Shipping Cost: $10.07
Grand Total: $489.97

 

[paul76]

Home Patrol

brought this radio home after the 500 dollar purchase, initially thought it was going to be a great radio.. although after playing with it for about 2-3 hours I hated it.

I have been into scanning for the better part of a decade, and the true joy of scanning is knowing the ins and outs of your device, the fact that this is such a dumbed down version of a scanner made me second think my purchase, along with the fact that you are basically not able to really enter frequencies on the fly as easily as any other scanner. What u see is what u get, if your township rebands one day, you will be out of luck until they update there database, which can take up to 2 weeks if that!!

this is definilty not the scanner for someone who knows true scanning and comm receivers etc, this is the scanner for the retiree, or less techy neighborhood watch group. Not worth the 500 dollar tag price, I'd probably only feel confortable paying 400 max

I returned this radio the next day for the handheld BCD 396XT .. love it

 

[Ensnared]

No, I don't suppose this radio is for everyone; however, I am going to purchase it one day, probably after I sell a vital organ. What appeals to me is the spontaneity of operation. It is a pain for me to analyze trunking systems, analyze maps of states and program accordingly. One day, I will purchase a GPS, HP, and rock and roll on the road. No, it is not a perfect radio, but certainly a handy one. I doubt many families have $500 for this exclusive hobby. But, in my opinion, this is an issue of supply and demand. Perhaps, digital radios will reduce in cost with increased sales. I really don't know.

 

[markbart]

No, I don't suppose this radio is for everyone; however, I am going to purchase it one day, probably after I sell a vital organ. What appeals to me is the spontaneity of operation. It is a pain for me to analyze trunking systems, analyze maps of states and program accordingly. One day, I will purchase a GPS, HP, and rock and roll on the road. No, it is not a perfect radio, but certainly a handy one. I doubt many families have $500 for this exclusive hobby. But, in my opinion, this is an issue of supply and demand. Perhaps, digital radios will reduce in cost with increased sales. I really don't know.

How true not all of us are blessed with money.

Mark

 

[winstonandmike]

You are right Paul

It is a pricey toy. Bought one and should get it next week. This is geared more for people like me who are not making this a major hobby, but want to know what is going on the neighborhood, without having to worry about trunking systems and finding frequencies. Do know their is a great deal of digital around here as well as trunking from looking at Sentinel, so this is the best bet for me. And on the road this should be some fun when I have some down time. Just turn it on and I'll know who I'm listening to without opening a page. May not work for some of you old pro's, but think it will be ok for me.

 

[Justive]

Home Patrol

Home Patrol’s zip code magic doesn’t work in all of New York City. Home Patrol can’t figure out all of New York City’s multiple zip codes. It seems to think that New York County is all of New York City and does not realize that there are five separate counties that comprise New York City. New York city consists of five boroughs that are conterminous with five counties. New York County is the Borough of Manhattan; Kings County is the Borough of Brooklyn; Richmond County is the Borough of Staten Island; Bronx County is the Borough of The Bronx; and Queens County is the Borough of Queens. Together they comprise New York City. If you enter a zip code in any borough other than Manhattan you won’t get police, fire, EMS, transit, or any of the hundreds of frequencies used by the City of New York. So if you want to find the frequency of a police precinct in the Bronx, you have to enter a Manhattan zip code. If you’re using the GPS function, you’ll get nothing. This is a major drawback. Do similar anomalies exist elsewhere?

 

[UPMan]

Home Patrol’s zip code magic doesn’t work in all of New York City. Home Patrol can’t figure out all of New York City’s multiple zip codes. It seems to think that New York County is all of New York City and does not realize that there are five separate counties that comprise New York City. New York city consists of five boroughs that are conterminous with five counties. New York County is the Borough of Manhattan; Kings County is the Borough of Brooklyn; Richmond County is the Borough of Staten Island; Bronx County is the Borough of The Bronx; and Queens County is the Borough of Queens. Together they comprise New York City. If you enter a zip code in any borough other than Manhattan you won’t get police, fire, EMS, transit, or any of the hundreds of frequencies used by the City of New York. So if you want to find the frequency of a police precinct in the Bronx, you have to enter a Manhattan zip code. If you’re using the GPS function, you’ll get nothing. This is a major drawback. Do similar anomalies exist elsewhere?

That is not an accurate description of HP-1's operation. If you enter a zip code, HP-1 will select all radio systems that overlap a 10-mile circle centered on that zip code. If you want to extend the selection range, you can increase that from 10 miles up to 30 miles (or reduce it to 0 miles).

The selection process is described in detail here: How it Works: Location, Location, Location

 

[Ensnared]

Tell me. Do you have significant intermod problems in NYC?

 

[johnwashington]

Mine just shipped today 10/18/10

 

[rjviola12]

I have a dumb question, and it might be in here somewhere, just can't find it. Will HP1 be an OK portable scanner? Can you "stick it in your pocket" and use it? Also, how long will it run on the batteries?

 

[rdale]

It's a little bulkier than my pocket. It's nothing I would ever carry in public, but it's easily transportable.

 

[KE4ZNR]

How Scanner Geeks roll in the 'hood of Raleigh, NC

Had the Monthly meeting of the "Tarheel Scanner/Shortwave Radio Group" at a local restaurant. We had not one, not two, not three, but FOUR HomePatrol's make an appearance! Of course one of the above is mine along with the BCD396XT & BCD996XT pictured to the left. Cool seeing that many HP's in one place at one time!
Happy Monitoring!
Marshall KE4ZNR

 

[markbart]

How Scanner Geeks roll in the 'hood of Raleigh, NC

Had the Monthly meeting of the "Tarheel Scanner/Shortwave Radio Group" at a local restaurant. We had not one, not two, not three, but FOUR HomePatrol's make an appearance! Of course one of the above is mine along with the BCD396XT & BCD996XT pictured to the left. Cool seeing that many HP's in one place at one time!
Happy Monitoring!
Marshall KE4ZNR

Now that's cool.Where's mine? LOL

Mark

 

[wise871]

That is so cool that a bunch of scanner hobbyist get together to meet up from time to time. I wish we had a group like yours in the Florida/Alabama area.

 

[RadioDaze]

I think I just wet myself a little...

Now, the one with the big center-loaded, telescoping whip is just too much bling for my nizzie, fo' shizzle. (Although I truly do not know what that means, if anything.)

 

[jaymatt1978]

Again I'm not knocking the HP-1 and no I don't own one but I dont see the draw for experienced scanner listeners. Let's take a brief stroll through scanner history, from an experienced scanner listener. Going from crystal to dipswitches didn't have to order anything else with thescanner. Going from dipswitches to actually punching a frequency into a radio, verycool. More channels and full frequency readout, nice. Trunk tracking and PL/DPL decode, now we're cooking with gas. Digital and newer frequencysplits, needed tokeep up with modern radios. Dynamic memory, a bit of a learning curve there but now I would nevergo backto the old channeling system. GPS cpability, never played with it but ok I see the usefulness.
The Home Patrol yes it programs itself with a few key strokes but maybe in NYC there are precints I DON'T WANT TO LISTEN TO. My town just got a new zip code, maybe we're not even in the Home Patrol. I don't drive so I don't own a GPS. Call me "old-fashioned" but like seeing thefrequencies and the PL/DPL with the alphatags like the 996 and the396. I think you're going to lose your core marketing base if you're going to build different versions of the Home Patrol and not countinue with the traditional police scanners like the ones i mentioned. Also the retail price is WAY TOO HIGH. I have never said this about any other scanner on the market.

 

[rdale]

Nobody said that Uniden will no longer continue with traditional scanners. This scanner was not marketed for people like you, so the fact that you don't like it is expected. I'm not sure why you think it will push away the core base for them?

 

[h8tdigitalradio]

Again I'm not knocking the HP-1 and no I don't own one but I don't see the draw for experienced scanner listeners...The Home Patrol yes it programs itself with a few key strokes but maybe in NYC there are precincts I DON'T WANT TO LISTEN TO.

If you make a Favorites List, you can pick what channels you want to monitor. You don't have to monitor everything. It's obvious you don't understand the HP-1 and one not having one makes one oblivious to what the HP-1 is capable of.

Again as others mentioned, the HP-1 is not for you. Its for those who look for simplicity and ease of use.

73

Dave AKA The Tripzter

 

[Ensnared]

I will make another statement about HP. Would using an BNC adapter significantly affect HP reception for an outside antenna installation?

 

[KE4ZNR]

That is so cool that a bunch of scanner hobbyist get together to meet up from time to time. I wish we had a group like yours in the Florida/Alabama area.

You can always start a group up...all it takes is at least one dedicated person....
The Tarheel Scanner/Shortwave Listeners Group has been active since the late 80s early 90s here in the Raleigh/Durham Triangle area.....We have gone through many periods of up and down group activity but usually have anywhere from 15-20 people show up to our monthly meetings....we used to have a Monday night net on the local RARS 2 meter repeater but that has gone on hiatus for the time being....In the early days we were lucky enough to have Rich Wells (of Strongsignals.net fame) be a part of the group....I guess these days I have taken his spot as the the local scanner guru
BTW: Rich is alive and doing well...just busy with large family and church obligations...
Anyway, just reach out to other scanner geeks in your area and I am sure with a little effort and a constant meeting time & date you too can get an active club going....
And if I can do anything to help email me! Anytime I can help give back to the hobby what the hobby has given me over the years I am glad to help out!
Happy Monitoring
Marshall KE4ZNR