What to buy? - Rural Arkansas

[ol-redneck]

I'm not too technical on this.
I have an old analog scanner.
Still get some local Sheriff Dept traffic but much less that before.
NO State Police.
DO get local volunteer FD & 1st responders.

I see a Uniden Bearcat BCT15X for $200

& a Uniden Bearcat BCD536HP for $600

Is there $400 worth of features that I need?

Thx, ol-redneck

 

[hiegtx]

I'm not too technical on this.
I have an old analog scanner.
Still get some local Sheriff Dept traffic but much less that before.
NO State Police.
DO get local volunteer FD & 1st responders.

I see a Uniden Bearcat BCT15X for $200

& a Uniden Bearcat BCD536HP for $600

Is there $400 worth of features that I need?

Thx, ol-redneck

Welcome to RadioReference.

Without knowing which Arkansas county you are in, it's difficult to make a good recommendation. However, the State Police, plus in some areas cities and/or counties, are on a digital system, AWIN.
Arkansas Wireless Information Network (AWIN) Trunking System, Statewide, Multi-State - Scanner Frequencies

That would rule out the BCT15X, which, while it is a good unit, it is analog only, and would not be usable at all on digital systems.

I know that in some parts of your state, some of the cities and counties are using DMR, MotoTRBO, which is a form of digital, but not one that many models can receive.

If you do not need DMR (again, that will be location specific), then the BCD996P2 would work. But if DMR will be needed, you should be looking at the BCD536HP, the Whistler WS1095, WS1098 or the TRX-2. (All of these have hand-held/portable versions, but the two you mentioned were base/desktop models, as are the ones I added).

Give us an indication of your location (city/county), and then we can see if you need DMR capability.

 

[ol-redneck]

Location

Montgomery County, Arkansas (AR) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference Montgomery County, AR. I like the price of the bcd996 better. What would the hand held model comparable? Good info. Thx!!!!

 

[hiegtx]

Montgomery County, Arkansas (AR) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference Montgomery County, AR. I like the price of the bcd996 better. What would the hand held model comparable? Good info. Thx!!!!

The hand-held equivalent for the BCD996P2 is the BCD325P2.
Currently, on Amazon, the 325 is more expensive than the 996P2.

Too bad you missed this Amazon Lightning Deal on the hand-held BCD436HP (the sibling to the BCD536HP). The 436HP was at $311.00 from Amazon for several hours.

Looking at the database page for your county, it shows the Sheriff's dispatch 155.595 to be used both in analog mode as well as DMR (MotoTRBO). However, their licence for that frequency does not show them as licensed for that transmission mode (the emission code for that format is not present on the license details). I do see the county is licensed for TRBO on a different frequency, which is not on the database page (no one has submitted it with usage details). The Sheriff's Office also has a talkgroup on AWIN, the statewide system.

If you want to continue your query in the Arkansas Regional forum, to see if anyone in your general area has more information or can give you their recommendation for your area, don't create another post in that state forum. Instead, use the red triangle in the upper right corner of your post to "report" year thread, and make the request for it to be moved. Creating a new port on the same subject, in more than one forum, is considered as cross-posting, which is against forum rules.

 

[ol-redneck]

@ Steve

OK - Thanks!!

 

[ol-redneck]

Whistler 1040

Is this one worth considering given my location? I realize that is doesn't have GPS capability (Only Uniden?) -- I wonder how much I'd use that feature anyway??

 

[bama9999]

Is this one worth considering given my location? I realize that is doesn't have GPS capability (Only Uniden?) -- I wonder how much I'd use that feature anyway??

As long as you don't need DMR, as Steve mentioned earlier, then yes, that model should work for you. GPS is a very nice feature if you use your scanner mobile a lot, especially if you travel a broad area. I use it with my BCD536HP if I'm traveling out of my local area, but when I'm in my home area using it mobile or base, it's not necessary. However, if you are just going to use the scanner at home, then you don't need GPS capability, nor if you are using in a relatively smaller area, say withing the county you live.

GPS is definitely nice to have, but is by no means a requirement to get a lot of use and enjoyment out of a scanner.

 

[wbswetnam]

From my location in Russellville, I have monitored the Montgomery County Sheriff and Fire channels. they come in surprisingly well, kind of scratchy but not bad given that the signals are traveling more than 60 miles. I have heard Montgomery County Sheriff on DMR (in fact, I was the one who posted the DMR data for the Montgomery County Sheriff to RRDB) so yes, they do use DMR some. However, if you can live without that, you can get the sheriff, fire etc. as well as state agencies such as State Police, Highway Police, ADEM, etc. with a Uniden Home Patrol 1. A brand new one sells for $345 on Amazon.com right now.

 

[wbswetnam]

Better yet, the Whistler ws-1095 is selling for $343, and it includes P25 phase 1 & 2, AND DMR digital. Sorry Uniden.

 

[ol-redneck]

Ok. I went with the Uniden BCD436hs + Butel software + RR subscription. I have my county conventional & AWIN repeater & talkgroups loaded as a Favorite but have a lot of questions. Is this a good place to discuss or another suggested?

 

[ol-redneck]

Ok. I went with the Uniden BCD436hs + Butel software + RR subscription. I have my county conventional & AWIN repeater & talkgroups loaded as a Favorite but have a lot of questions. Is this a good place to discuss or another suggested?

I mean like I have trouble understanding how to turn the dang thing on to my favorite.
It's kinda crappy that you have to turn it off to charge the batteries.

 

[Nasby]

I mean like I have trouble understanding how to turn the dang thing on to my favorite.
It's kinda crappy that you have to turn it off to charge the batteries.

All of the new USB charger scanners are that way. Both Uniden and Whistler models.

 

[wbswetnam]

Ok. I went with the Uniden BCD436hs + Butel software + RR subscription. I have my county conventional & AWIN repeater & talkgroups loaded as a Favorite but have a lot of questions. Is this a good place to discuss or another suggested?

Now that you've already bought it, your questions on how to use it should probably be in the Tech Support forum.

 

[ol-redneck]

Guess maybe a spare set of batts???

 

[ol-redneck]

AWIN question.... I have a repeater 'Highpeak' nearby. I kinda want to hear troop k ASP. Do I activate both? All ASP talk groups on that repeater? Do I need to activate other repeaters in the area? RR repeater names don't always match the map. Sorry for being so newbie. Thx