Uniden BCD536HP HomePatrol Series Digital Phase 2 Base/Mobile Scanner with HPDB and Wi-Fi. Simple Programming, TrunkTracker V, S.A.M.E. Emergency/Weather Alert. Covers USA and Canada.

This scanner took some time getting set up and programmed but man was it worth it!! Acutal call: Dispatch to officer, we have a caller on the line needing assistance with two drunk ninjas throwing beer cans at his car. Officer to dispatch, Im finishing up a call nearby and Ill be on my way. Dispatch to officer, caller has updated they are now in bandanas and playing with themselves. Officer to dispatch, send me the address and mark me in route to the drunken ninjas. Dispatch to officer, caller states they are now in a helmet and snorkels.

What a scanner! I have had scanners from the day they were presented. This BCD536HD has to be the one that is so impressive. I like the way it hooks up to my PC and the way I can program frequency and favorite channels. Before I purchased this rig I was told that trunk tracking was not in my area. Well the joke is on the one that gave me this info. I hear many trunk frequencys and they use P25. The only thing I dont like is the speaker is underneath. I will purchase an external speaker for a clearer sound. I did purchase the program ARC536PRO and it is a great program for virtual control on PC. I did learn a lot from other users on http://www.radioreference.com/ and video on YouTube.com. If you are thinking of getting this scanner, dont hesitate, it is a great receiver.

Easy to program from face of radio if you hold on channel and add. Watch video on YT. Search through the full database and see what you want to listen to. Just turn off full database and your saved list will load fast. Audio is ok-good but an expert speaker would be better.

I love how easy it is to program this scanner by simply entering your zip code, but that may also overwhelm you with channels you dont care that much about which causes it to take much longer to scan through all the channels and you can easily miss parts of a conversation or updates about an event. So, youll still have to learn how to go through your channel list and block out the ones you dont want so you dont miss the important things you do want to hear (such as police band or fire and rescue traffic only). Otherwise you may hear the dispatch say something, then it takes so long to get back around to that channel again and you missed the response. My other major dislike about this scanner is it has no auto volume control feature. You set the volume to a normal level and then you have these very loud female dispatchers come on and blow you out of the room. You turn it down so it doesnt disturb everyone in the house and you cant hear anyone else. The extreme difference in volume levels during the same conversations on the same channels is more than annoying and a very good reason not to buy this scanner, it gets old very fast, especially at night when other people in your house may be trying to sleep. Almost everything out there in the market these days, tvs, stereos, etc has a very simple feature known as auto volume control or auto leveling for the audio output stage so your volume level will stay fairly consistent as you switch channels or input sources, and its usually enabled by default. I thought maybe I turned it off accidently somehow but after looking through a lot of the forums this seems to be a very common complaint with most of these scanners, the feature simply isnt there, and the company doesnt seem to care much about fixing the problem. Its hard for me to believe a scanner so technically advanced would not have this very basic and much needed feature, but do consider this before making a purchase. The only fix Ive found so far is to route the output audio of this scanner thru another (extra cost over the $500 you are spending) device that does control the audio output level and make it consistent. Overall, if you can live with the extreme volume level differences, then this isnt a bad scanner, but there are other brands out there that work just as well and dont have that type of ongoing unresolved issue. One last thing Ill say... youll be paying a whole lot for this scanner versus the price of an analog scanner or even digital scanners from some other companies. Its nice that they have released a product that is usable now, and has a builtin feature to upgrade the firmware as they continue to work on it, but in reality the software is an unfinished product and youll have to pay dearly to get the other features added to your scanner as they complete them. I thought I was paying a lot for a well supported product but right after I spent my money on this I learned there are a few updates available for it but Ill have to pay even more to get those. Thought I did all my research on scanners before making this purchase, but knowing what I do now, I think the choice would have been the other one I was looking at instead. For reference previous scanners owned were a Radio Shack Pro Base Station (still have), 2 Bearcat Mobile (still have 1), 3 Bearcat Handhelds (still have 1).

I have had this scanner a couple weeks and it has worked flawlessly. The Sentinel software is great, and very user friendly. I chose to select from the database to program the local frequencies I needed. It was also very easy to utilize the software to program auto racing frequencies that were not in the database. I am an Amateur radio operator and also programmed in numerous repeater and Skywarn frequencies. I recommend using the Uniden videos available in YouTube that show how to easily program this scanner for a frustration free programming experience. Excellent Scanner, packed with features and worth the money! You will not be disappointed with this scanner.

The easiest software programming interface and process that I have ever used. Have owned several Uniden/Bearcat scanners since the 90s and still have a BCD992 and BCD396XT. I would have preferred more display colors available- similar to my handheld 396 but the white background is fine. The stock telescoping antenna is functional could use a better dual band behind the set BNC connector unit. Just havent found one yet .

It is hard to program but all it takes is time. Only used it for a few days but I needed the digital. As always it’s quite expensive for an amateur.

Overall this is a great scanner. The Siren app has me frustrated however. It is not completely functional, as promised. I knew this before purchasing the scanner, but I wanted a mobile scanner with the Provoice option, and this was one of two choices. The app is supposed to work, but with very limited function. I would like to see that, as I cannot even get my wifi dongle to connect. All of my other wifi devices connect, just not the 536. Also, there are a few things I dislike about the scanner. I wish you could turn systems on in the database by selecting a drop down menu. This works well in Sentinel (although the way this program is written is also frustrating), but it would be nice to be able to make database selections when a computer isnt available. All in all its a great scanner. But I cant give it a higher score because the Siren app is not functional even though it has been repeatedly promised.

This is the coolest scanner I have ever seen. The negative reviews are definitely about how complicated it is to operate. Well, it is as complicated as you want to make it. I was listening to it within 2 minutes of plugging it in and entering my zip code. Have I done more to it since then? You bet. I added some channels from my local Jail. I made the different departments in my area show up with different colors. I have caught some new frequencies with it also and blocked out some frequencies that I didnt want. IF it is too hard for you to read the manual and learn about the features then you wont get that far. Buy something cheaper and live and let live. This is the coolest scanner I have ever seen. Worth the $ in my opinion.

This unit is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, its got fantastic build-quality. It works as it should, scans channels and lets you listen. The buttons and knobs work well. Its a quality unit. Or is it? It might be me, perhaps Im old and stupid, but I cannot, for the life of me, understand how to use the favorites system. In a web browser, youre on a page you like, and you hit a button and save it as a favorite. Later, you can go back to it. But this thing has no such button. Instead, it has an elaborate and over-complicated favorite-list system which is impossible for me to understand even after watching countless YouTube videos. The problem is you cant just say Hey, this is interesting, fave it! For goodness sake, Im a computer programmer and I *still* cant understand how to operate the user interface of this thing. Why cant I, for example, just quickly set a frequency / operation mode of my choice like I can on a regular radio? So now it sits here gathering dust instead of being used because the UI is so annoying.