- Joined
- Jun 29, 2021
- Messages
- 97
All,
I’ve had my 325P2 for about a year now. It’s my first real scanner and I love it. However as I’ve continued to dive deeper in to the hobby my needs have changed. Mainly I’ve found the lack of recording functionality to be something I didn’t think I’d need but now I miss it as enjoy dispatching for the Incident Page Network. So being able to play back the transmissions is now more important to me than I first thought.
So now I’m looking at either the 436 or the SDS series. I’m lucky enough to live just outside of Boston MA, meaning I end up needing to monitor everything, which is a mess of city run conventional UHF, single city P25 in the 400mhz range, a few VHF frequencies, and two different statewide trunks. (I know the old Mass State Police Motorola system is being retired and replaced with CoMIRS a all P25 system.)
So I am stuck with a scanner that does well on digital and conventional UHF. It’s been a while since I’ve looked in to either line of scanners but in my quick looking around I’ve seen reports that the SDS’s have poor performance on conventional frequencies as compared to digital on the 700-800mhz band. Does the SDS line still have these issues in the VHF/UHF band or have they been fixed? Same goes for the 436? Or would I even notice a difference when compared to my 325P2 given I set them up similarly?
Next, is the 436 still worth it over the SDS’s? According to scanner masters website there’s about a $140 delta between that and the SDS100. So I’m wondering which is the better long term buy if there is one?
Also given that both are SMA instead of BNC does anyone have any antenna recommendations? I know I’ll need a couple to cover everything especially VHF, for when I monitor aviation.
The last thing I have questions about is what do I do with my 325P2? Is it worth selling it to help aid the financial blow to my wallet or do I take the slightly larger financial blow and keep it around as either a second scanner, a broadcastify feeder, or something else.
Thanks for all the feedback in advance!
EastCoastSunrise
I’ve had my 325P2 for about a year now. It’s my first real scanner and I love it. However as I’ve continued to dive deeper in to the hobby my needs have changed. Mainly I’ve found the lack of recording functionality to be something I didn’t think I’d need but now I miss it as enjoy dispatching for the Incident Page Network. So being able to play back the transmissions is now more important to me than I first thought.
So now I’m looking at either the 436 or the SDS series. I’m lucky enough to live just outside of Boston MA, meaning I end up needing to monitor everything, which is a mess of city run conventional UHF, single city P25 in the 400mhz range, a few VHF frequencies, and two different statewide trunks. (I know the old Mass State Police Motorola system is being retired and replaced with CoMIRS a all P25 system.)
So I am stuck with a scanner that does well on digital and conventional UHF. It’s been a while since I’ve looked in to either line of scanners but in my quick looking around I’ve seen reports that the SDS’s have poor performance on conventional frequencies as compared to digital on the 700-800mhz band. Does the SDS line still have these issues in the VHF/UHF band or have they been fixed? Same goes for the 436? Or would I even notice a difference when compared to my 325P2 given I set them up similarly?
Next, is the 436 still worth it over the SDS’s? According to scanner masters website there’s about a $140 delta between that and the SDS100. So I’m wondering which is the better long term buy if there is one?
Also given that both are SMA instead of BNC does anyone have any antenna recommendations? I know I’ll need a couple to cover everything especially VHF, for when I monitor aviation.
The last thing I have questions about is what do I do with my 325P2? Is it worth selling it to help aid the financial blow to my wallet or do I take the slightly larger financial blow and keep it around as either a second scanner, a broadcastify feeder, or something else.
Thanks for all the feedback in advance!
EastCoastSunrise