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.

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 .

I purchased this bcd536hp scanner due to the wifi adapter. I use proscan software with the web server and now can listen to my stream anywhere in the world. You must have proscan turned on with web server. so computer has to be on and scanner has to be on all the time. I make sure I have light on scanner turned off. I dont need that to die on me!. I use it mostly for simulcast in Central NY. I have to say it does pretty good on simulcast. I just couldnt afford the Uniden sds200. ProScan is well worth it. try it out for free for 30 days and if you like it then you pay a one time fee of 50.00

If youre familiar with the menu system on Uniden/Bearcat scanners over the past 10 years, you will not have to relearn everything from scratch with this unit. I love the extra long lines of text that can be used for naming Systems, Sites, Departments, and individual channels/talkgroups. There is an extra layer of complexity introduced with the Favorites feature which can make enabling/disabling groups of channels with just the numpad+.+E keys a tricky mess, but the Favorites feature itself is cool. A Favorite is like an entire set of systems/groups/channels in a scanner grouped into a bucket, where you can now have multiple of those named buckets to enable/disable at will, like Local Only, Vacation Spot, Imported from RadioRef, I Love Railroads!, etc. Having those Favorites saved to the included SD card is cool, as well as the HomePatrol feature of preloaded sets of systems across the entire US and Canada, scannable and selectable by Lat/Long. The USB dongle is included, and the Uniden Sentinel software is free for updating the firmware and the SD Cards national database. I have been using BuTels ARC software with prior Uniden scanners, and there is a version for this scanner too. There is a useful multi-color ring LED that can be lit for specific types of services or individual channels; note that youll never see it light up if you only ever scan with the built-in national database. When I programmed channels I set it to light up blue for Police, red for Fire/EMS, green for Public Works, and more for other services. I set it to flash for my hometowns channels, which is easily visible from across a room. I also tried out Unidens Siren app on Android to listen to the scanner remotely within my house through WiFi, which is a cool concept but a bit buggy right now; occasionally the app gets stuck or stops streaming audio even though the system/site/channel continues to follow along in realtime. The app cannot handle higher-latency network connections, so if you connect to your scanner from outside your home through a VPN, the app will show system/site/channel but will not stream any audio. There is a purchasable, third-party Windows desktop app that can do this called ProScan; there may be others. For a relatively small receiver this thing is heavy! I like that it has a 13.8VDC input for the AC Adapter, and a 3-pin 13.8VDC jack commonly used for mobile receivers.

recently got back into scanning, but in my absence from the hobby my local police had went to digital, so had to get a digital scanner. the BCD536HP was the perfect choice. comes with software that makes firmware and database updates a breeze. makes a perfect base scanner, well worth the money!

Nice unit very hard to program. Unless your computer savvy. Returned and got sds200 programmed 3 counties but very nice unit would buy again

The BCD536HP has all the the makings of the top of the line scanner...except inexplicably Uniden fell asleep at the wheel. The units build quality is top of the line...sturdy and rich feeling. The advertised features...who could ask for more?! The problem is they dont deliver on some of the features (at least not as of yet...as I am hoping a few firmware updates down the road they will). No App and no Analyze Mode feature even though those are two of the selling points . Worst of all if you buy this unit and are not located near the hub of what you are trying to receive...you absolutely will need to buy a better antenna. This is unforgivable. How is it possible that my 1980 Bearcat 210 can pull in clear stations that just show up as noisy scratchy inaudible transmissions on the 536???! Not sure if this is a bad antenna or worse poor sensitivity internal to the scanner. Either way...think external antenna unless your transmission source is close by. One would think that shelling $600 for this would get you a decent antenna. I want to love this unit...it has the makings of a great scanner...I just cant understand why Uniden skimped on the antenna / reception sensitivity and did not deliver a product that has the advertised features working ...unbelievable! For now I just like it and hope that firmware updates will deliver what was promised and then may be I will love this after all.

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.

It has been almost 50 years since I owned a police scanner and man have things changed. In my first scanner, you had to add crystals for stations you wanted to receive. A later version was programmable. And now its as simple as typing in your zipcode and letting the scanner determine what channels are available in your area. I love the Uniden BCD536HP but you have to understand that these days there are a lot of frequencies that you cannot listen to anymore. One reason is that many of the state and local agencies are now using ENCRYPTED channels. These cannot be monitored with ANY public scanners. I would also suggest that you consider an external (outside) scanner antenna to increase reception.

I knocked off 1 star only due to the high price. This seems like a very high quality product and it seems to work great. I now regret paying extra for the home patrol version as I only used the zip code function for the first hour or so while I figured out how to use the software to create favorites lists from the database.

Like most people haven’t listened to my old scanner for 25 years. Bought this about 2 months ago and inputted the daylight savings time frame, the date and time zone and zip code that I’m located in and that was it. I live in Weirton,WV and also down in a valley and I have it sitting by my chair on the end table with the antenna the came with it and it picks up around 50 mile radius I’m guessing, I think it’s incredible the range it gets with this antenna. Someday I will sit down and figure out the downloading off the internet, but really as far as I can see within a few hours it had picked every emergency system up. Seems like an excellent quality radio if you ask me, I’m no expert though.