UnidenBCD436HP HomePatrol Series Digital Handheld Scanner. TrunkTracker V, Simple Programming, S.A.M.E. Emergency/Weather Alert, Covers USA and Canada

Make sure you read the review item next to the name of the user. Amazon mixes reviews of different units in one.Before I get into the scanner I would like to address some complaints in general on scanners and the frustration of programming and using them and resulting in a bad review and complaints about a scanner be it a simple scanner or a complex one. Radio systems (simplex, trunking, digital, etc) and all the frequencies assigned worldwide is a complex matrix. It's not a simple as scanning every frequency under the sun to find some activity, its more complex.And truth be told 95% of scanner enthusiast like the complexity as it adds to the hobby. Learning and gaining knowledge and always figuring out new tricks, etc. If it was simple it would not be a fun.But there are some who want quick and easy. So you must to 1 of 2 things. 1: Make sure any scanner you purchase you can hook up to the computer (some use serial so be patient) and use FreeScan software (free) and subscribe to a frequency database. It's cheap and worth it. I paid 30 a year that's pennies a day to have an awesome database at your fingertips. This will load and label all the systems in your area and put them on the scanner.2: Purchase a more expensive with a built in database and other features (like this Uniden 436HP). Even if you do #2 it's always good to do #1 also. And be patient. While watching TV or hanging out, mess with the scanner nightly and learn little things as you go. Watch some videos on YouTube like Scanning 101, etc. Enjoy the process and do not get frustrated.On to my quick review of the BCD436HP. I had purchased the BC346XTC and used it for a week. Great unit highly recommend if you want analog with trunking. I wish the display was bigger so you can see more of the 3 areas system, dept and channel. But it worked great and I rated it 5 stars. But I wanted something digital with a larger display so I plunked out more than double the price of the BC346 for the BCD436HP.Love the large display, it really shows a lot. A separate line for the system, department and channel which you can hold each one and scan subs of them. When I first turned it on I entered my postal code and was scanning in minutes. The BC346 I had to manual scan or load it with FreeScan to get it really working. I have not hooked the BCD436HP to the computer yet but will this week to load detailed databases.This has a ton a features and essentially has unlimited channels (no cap). Firmware will future proof this unit. It pretty much does everything (trunked, digital, etc). The Micro SD card is a great feature to load a ton of databases and this unit will record and playback transmissions.Some users commented on the cheap feel of the unit. That's a slippery slope with a lot of opinions. Its light weight and feels good to me, the plastic is not super tough industrial but Uniden most likely weighed the pro and cons.Example: A Motorola VHF 2 way 99% of the time will be used in a work environment and be dropped, thrown on a dash or ledge, etc. That is why they also do not put displays on most of them for durability. Now a scanner is typically a hobbyist device and I can imagine 95% of the time it would not be used in a rugged work environment, so to me Uniden chose well with light weight plastic.The display screen plastic seems like it may get scratched easy but I have not had it long enough determine that. Some people do not like the Uniden clip on the back since it sticks out, but if you see why they did that it nice. It's basically the same CB mic mount to when you take the clip off it slides real nice into a CB mic mount. I bought a CB mic mount and use it in my van. Very nice feature.Battery life is dependent on processing, led, etc. I have not used it long to determine but if I had to charge it every night no big deal.Bottom line with anything you buy there is always things some people like and others do not. Is this unit a little pricey, probably but then it has a lot of R&D in it and they do not sell tons of them so there has to be a price point to make money. So I am ok with the price. You basically have a little computer in your hand ready to scan the RF Spectrum and should be future proof for a long time.If your trying to figure out if you like scanning buy a smaller Uniden or Whistler and program it via your computer and check it out. If you want to move up into the full spectrum (trunking, digital, etc) then you need something like this. I would recommend this to someone who knows what they want and ready to shell out a few bucks. For a beginner maybe start smaller.I had a chance to mess with hooking this up to my computer. Turns out the FreeScan does not support this unit. BUT Uniden makes free software for this called Sentinal which has a real good database with it. Its all installed on the 436 already so you really do not need to use the software unless you want to make easy edits or import stuff from freescan, etc. Sentinal software may not be as in depth for the hard core seasoned scanner users but for me its good.So in reality the BCD436 is a unit that will have you scanning in minutes with little to no programming and has the capability for the seasoned users to program till the cows come home.Update: I love this scanner. The screen showing all the info is great. The hold for each area is awesome I cannot say enough about that.I have NOT needed software like on other scanner I have used. Maybe I will one day but Uniden shipped this will ALL the frequencies in my area and nationwide for the most part!

I wanted a radio scanner capable of reaching the local frequencies of my local law enforcement agencies but noticed a trend among many other scanners. Most were either very technical (and expensive) requiring in depth knowledge of communication systems. Others were too simplistic and lack functionality, most not being capable of scanning higher MHz’s. Then I found this one, it combined ease of use with high level functionality. Expensive, yes, but if you’re actually wanting something to quickly and easily get you locked onto your local frequencies nothing is as efficient as this scanner.

I am a tech geek, ham, operator, computer nerd, radio and scanner hobbyist for decades. if you’re not like me and you buy this radio, all I can say is, bless your heart. starting from scratch, knowing nothing about it, it took about five hours to get it going and another one or two hours to straighten out mistakes I made. You’ll need a modern computer and port assignments and drivers, disregard the software on the memory chip inside the scanner and go to the Uniden website. Download the software for your specific radio. It will contain both the firmware and most recent database. If you’re lucky enough to get the set up program open, you will be prompted to go to your operating systems website for some software repair software that has to run in the background of your computer for the software for the radio to operate. You will need to start and stop your computer several times. You may have to learn by accident the proper method to get your scanner to read from your computer and vice versa. Be sure to read the book and look at all the prompts on both screens simultaneously. do not think for a moment that just putting your ZIP Code in is going to be satisfactory. There are many talk groups in systems that you will not want to hear within the default range that has been pre-set for you. You will have to build your own user files and know how to access them through both the scanner and the software. You will go through massive systems of talk groups and you will have to know which ones you want to hear in your vicinity and manually click 4 to 6 times to set each one into your personal listening list. I could go on and on, but it gets harder. I would recommend that you learn how to go through the menus and open each setting and look for sub menus and try out everything. Be sure that you back out carefully by pushing the lower button on the left side and do not, I repeat, do not change any settings if you see a bunch of crazy numbers and letters, leave that alone or you will screw it all up and have to start over and over again. How do I know that? I guess I made every mistake there is. Good luck and enjoy your scanner which is of medium value, somewhere around a 4 or 4 amazon score. It doesn’t sound very good through the speaker and the audio sounds warbly compared to some older cheaper scanners that I bought 20 or 30 years ago. So, good luck and happy scanning.