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.

I have one of these in my patrol car and one in my personal. I paid for the provoice and dmr upgrades and will soon get the NXDN upgrade as all 3 are used in my state. I prefer this size over the new model because the new one takes up twice as much real estate. Both work great and I couldnt be happier.

Ive owned other scanners for over 25 years and all were simple to program. Ive had this one now for over a month and still havent been able to program in the frequencies that I really want. They do have YouTube videos but they arent in any particular order so you have to keep jumping from video to video trying to find the continuation of the video you were just watching. You do have the option to have them program what you want to listen to but they charge too much and if you want it changed you have to pay again and they send you a new micro-sd card. They could do a better job of explaining the spreadsheet of information you need and how to use their programming software. You can select the preprogrammed frequencies but then you have to use what they want you to listen to.

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.

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.

I can only say, if you want a quality scanner IE Police, fire, air, etc. Look no further than this! There is a small learning curve but for what all you get and can do it would be silly to think there would not be. However with the easy zip code option, you can turn it on enter zip code and do nothing else and you are up and running. The sound is great and clear too! The only con (and not a big con) is I wish for the price they would send a quality antenna with it. Dont get me wrong, the antenna that comes with it is fine but there are better antennas that will give you much better range. On the fence? Dont be.. Do it! Do it now! You know you want it.. Why wait lol. All kidding aside, I would buy again. Its a great scanner!!!

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

Date of manufacturer was 2013, guess they did not move off the shelves. Did not operate on power up, could not find any stations at all. Figured due to date of manufacture, it was obvious to me that it was out of date because the local police and fire frequencies were not correct. Tried to do database update, but the new database required a firmware update before it would load the DB. Did the FW and then the DB and all was well. Set my zip code and we were off to the races. As for the remote SW for my iOS iPad. It works but they really put no effort into doing a great remote app. As for the Sentinal SW for the PC, it uses dated methods of organizing the various functions. This app is in search of a well organized GUI..... Electricly it is a very good scanner, good sensitivity but could use bit more selectivity. Only negative is that when using an external speaker, the plug for external speaker does not turn off the internal speaker. This causes audio level problems and reduces the ability to control the audio in graceful way. Once you get past the growing pains it is a fine performing scanner, but I can’t justify 5 stars.

12/15/17 Update I’ve owned the Uniden BCD536HP for almost 3 years, purchased the DMR upgrade and enjoying it ever since. I did have the RTC issue and finally decided to send it in for repair about a week ago; I’m surprised they accepted it after so long. Thank you, Uniden! I picked up a Whistler TRX-2 about 2 weeks ago and can say the BCD536HP was the better choice thus far. Once I get my BCD536HP back then I’ll have time to use them simultaneously more. BCD536HP • Screen is larger and displays more details about target; has 32 larger font characters across another 4 for HOLD status. • Boots up much faster than the TRX-2, even with the RTC error asking me to reset the clock and letting it time out. Starts scanning 16 seconds after turning knob to power on after RTC repair. • Speaker is louder; listening to people I talk with locally on Ham bands and has natural sounding audio. • GPS scanning capability for those interested although I haven’t purchased or used the unit. • Support for third-party software like ARC536. • It’s about $10 cheaper; HRO has it for an additional $5 less today. • The Sentinel programming software is basic and not as polished as Whistler’s; need to manually find updates to it on their website. TRX-2 • The Digital Trunking Scanner Programming System is more polished than Uniden’s and makes it easier to upgrade all components from a single interface. • The ability to store different configurations via V-scanner is a nice function. • The NXDN system upgrade was offered for free. • Speaker isnt as loud and listening to people I talk with locally on Ham bands, sounds hollow. • Feels like a tin can and the detachable head (something I dont care for) feels light and cheap; even the mount is thin. • Screen is small and belongs on a handheld, not mobile/desktop scanner; has 16 characters across with smaller font. • The supplied Whistler USB cable is way too short unless youre using a notebook on the same desk as the scanner. • Only two of five white keys have lights and all other keys dont appear to have any lights behind them. • Noticed backlighting display flickering and reported by others as well. • Scanning shows top level lists instead of actual targets names. • Paging system intermod on 2m Ham and 150-160MHz bands but not present on BCD536HP, receivers, SDRs or Ham gear. • Too easy to accidentally edit config since clicking on something will automatically save config. • Copying initial Library was extremely slow and stuck at 42%; clicking in the window appeared to wake it up as it looked like it was freezing. The same cable used with the BCD536HP updates the database much faster. • Starts scanning 3 minutes and 7 seconds after holding button (for about 3 seconds) to power on. • Every time you go into the Menu and back out, the lists reload again and you have to wait! • No third-party software support.

This was supposed to be the greatest ever. Ive had to have two people help me with this. Apparently, all we can do is select my county and I only can get a 30 mile radius reception. It downloads the common frequencies and so far we have not figured out if we can add other ones. It doesnt look like it. I was hoping to have the record function up and working. I first took it to a technician, and he got it sort of configured and set it to record. When it was unplugged and brought to my home everything was lost, I had to get someone else come and configure it again. And we didnt get the record feature operational. Im afraid to do anything to it for fear of losing where it is set to listen to the things I can. I should have bought a much less expensive unit that I could program myself.

Uniden has always made great products and this scanner is no different. Be prepared for a bit of a learning curve. I found some helpful videos on YouTube. Once you get it down though it works great! But its definitely more complicated initially than the traditional scanners. The speaker is on the bottom of the unit so you have to use the mounting stand (reversed) in order to hear it. While its not terrible I would have rather had the speaker on the side or top. I am considering an external speaker.