Uniden HomePatrol-2 Color Touchscreen Simple Program Digital Scanner, TrunkTracker V and S,A,M,E, Emergency/Weather Alert, APCO P25 Phase 1 and 2! Covers USA and Canada, Quick Record and Playback

The listing on Amazon says just put in your zip code and its ready to go. That is so misleading, and when I tried to comment on Amazon where it asks to let them know if the description is wrong, the send link wont send. Also the description does not say for PCs, you will need additional support for MACs. You dont have a clue until you are told it will take nearly $300 to program it! Since we are a MAC household, we have no ability to do so, and the Sentinel software that will supposedly help says they have no intention of making a MAC-compatible software. I planned on taking this with me when I go camping but right now, it would just be useless dead weight to carry. STOP saying how easy it is to use and NOT informing people right up front that it is a PC product and how expensive it will be to get it programmed. My ancient Radio Shack scanner works better than this.

I love this thing! After I had help setting it up, but after that I listen to local police,fire,and EMS. The channels come in clear and the display is easy to recognise which emergency frequency you are on. I would recommend a battery charger to charge the batteries.

I had been wondering why a trio of emergency vehicles would rush past my house about once or twice per week lately. Watched this thing forever on my watch list, realized it just isnt going to go down in price much, so I bought it. Functions as promised, you can dial in your local channels and fine tune down to a smaller list. Before you buy, check the scanner guides for your local system. I did, saw nothing in Atlanta is Encrypted except Homicide and Detectives in Atlanta. I was still worried it wouldnt work, but it did just fine, right out of the box. The charging is funky and can seem problematic, as others have commented. One important key is to get a definite high capacity USB cable, because this unit can tell the difference and wont charge well on an older/cheaper cable. Experimentation will be required. I was so confused at one point, I requested a replacement, which Amazon promptly sent. Then I decided my original worked just fine, so I sent the replacement back and kept the original unit. Touch screen and graphics could be better, but not an issue in using it. I have mine tuned to my local precinct, which is only a mile away. I pick that up, as well as counties north and south of me. With the aftermarket antenna, Im pulling in way more than I can ever listen to. Discovered the emergency activity around my house was a interdepartmental drug task force. They send the cop in for the drug bust and have fire truck and EMS standing buy for gunshot wounds, I guess! They must have got those folks, because the activity dropped way off. Show it to your friends, just leave it on so they hear it when they come in. They will be amazed.

This scanner works perfectly with our police stations new digital format. The touchscreen is very easy to use and navigate. The sound and radio display is excellent! I had some difficulty in entering the zip code and receiving any transmittion. The set up wasnt as easy as I thought it would be. I took it to a local ham radio operator and he had it working in 5 minutes. Not sure what I was doing wrong, but that was my only area I had issues with. I thought it was open box, put in zip code and your good to go. Not quite that easy. I researched lots of scanners and so glad I went with this model now that I had someone program it for me. The one negative is it does not come with a charger and need to order that separately.

Ive owned several Uniden scanners over the years and currently own the Uniden 436HP and the classic BR330T. I recently started looking into putting a scanner into my truck that I could also easily swap between vehicles. That immediately disqualified Unidens standard mobile offerings. Sure, I could have mounted one of my handhelds but reading those screens while driving is next to impossible. This is where the Homepatrol 2 fits in. Besides having a very readable screen, it can easily be moved between vehicles and home when needed when you have the appropriate mounts. I was already familiar with Unidens home patrol concept. Its a small learning curve but when it clicks, it all makes sense. In short, the HomePatrol 2 (HP2) has a massive data base of frequencies available to you via an included microsd card. How you organize those frequencies for your listening purposes can be accomplished in two ways. You can either just put in your zipcode and choose what service types youd like to hear (police, ems, fire...) or you can use Unidens Sentinel software to organize the frequencies into favorites lists which is like a new way of setting up banks. Ive created several lists for my home area but will sometimes use the zip code method if Im visiting a new place. This is very handy as in the old days Id either have to program the scanner before I left for a trip or Id just use the search function to find something to listen to. Now, theres no guessing no matter where I go which is great. Admittedly, as someone who has been scanning for 30 years, I do feel like I am somehow cheating thanks to how easy it is to set up the HP2 but I think I will get over it :) As far as hardware goes, this is a solid feeling unit. Its a little heavier than I expected it to be and thats fine because this is not something you would likely be carrying around like a handheld. The speaker sounds good (not tinny). The touch screen is responsive and accurate. The scan rate is zippy. I ran it next to my 436 and they were pretty much on par with one another. The screen is one of the selling points of this scanner for me. Its easy to ready and provides a lot of data. If youre considering this scanner and want to future-proof yourself against the eventual expansion of some agencies to P25 Phase 2 systems, Id recommend this unit. If youre not concerned or know that what you listen to does not require that system capability, go with the HP1 (previous model.)

Not all the hype comes true as easily as claimed. Data base a good start, but not an end all. Have yet to see what it will do mobile with GPS and data base. I am still having a hard time understanding what service type to turn on to get the stations I want. Just about anything in amateur radio has to be manually put in, no GPS data base for local ham repeaters when traveling.

The device made it to me on time and working. It has a slight crack in the casing, near the charge light, that makes me hope its innards are fine. I plugged it into my laptop and updated it and it seems okay. Still learning it...

these work great for someone that cant program them. i had to add a preamp to it so i could get all the local sight towers to come in to work. once set up it does nice, i program and fine tune my scanners, but for someone who doesnt understand how or know what to put in these work good, data base in already on them, put a zip in and range and go, there is a lot of unused stuff but you can trim it down once get the hang of it. using the software it makes it so much better, or even some better software program it right from the beginning, clean, and it will pick up half way decent. i like it. battery will last about 8 hours, so i keep mine plugged in to usb power. it runs 24/7 no problem. if i could have the screen turn off and keep scanning the battery would last longer.

This scanner is great. Very easy user interface with colored touch screen. It literally took me less than 5min to set it up and start listening. Im new to scanners and this is the 4th one Ive tried. The previous ones were all too complicated to setup & get working and even once I did get them set up, I couldnt pick-up the channels I wanted because the scanner didnt support it. The HomePatrol 2 picks up EVERYTHING. The antenna could be better but depending on where you are at you can get a wide variety of channels. I think this is 1 of the best scanners out there right now unless youre a pro and like to have full control over your scanner and do a manual setup. I prefer to let the technology do the work for me. Ha!

The audio is extremely clear when you pick up a transmission. I can receive 1,2 ,3 towns over and FDNY which is 35 miles away, BUT I cant pick up the town I live in (2.6 square miles) or the town to the west. Not worth the money.