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

Awsome system. Works great.

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.

Bought this to listen to local police/fire, as my old Bearcat scanner seemed like it was a thing of the past and I was intrigued with the HomePatrol product line and its user friendliness. Took it out of the box, plugged it into my PC for quick freq updates via Sentinel, punched in my ZIP code and I was up and running in no time. Getting analog 800MHz trunked traffic from my local PD well along with some P25 Phase I. The P25 Phase I I could only get with help of a cheap Tram 1094 external antenna which I mount outside. P25 Phase II TDMA (which is used by one local precinct in my area) is still a challenge as I believe this unit does not handle it well - I can pick this traffic up but not well and antenna has to be in a very specific spot (believe this is due to Simulcast Distortion Going to try a directional antenna eventually to handle that. Overall the P25 Phase II TDMA is a small subset of what I want to listen to so Im ok for now. I love the touch screen display on this thing and how it displays channel/precinct info on the screen in laymans terms. Works well mobile in the car as well even with the stock antenna. The USB charging interface is a great idea as I can use same charger I use for my phone. Note that others have complained about not being able to charge and listen at the same time - all you need to fix this is a $10 USB charger that is capable of the higher 2.1 Amp capacity instead of the lower 0.5 Amp - these 2.1 Amp chargers can be found for less than $10 from Anker, etc. Bought it refurbished here and saved a good chunk of money , the unit works just fine. It did have to run to Wal Mart to get some rechargeable AA batteries but otherwise all is good.

Following the start-up instructions, I had to find an old PC to plug into for what was supposedly a DB update. (We purged PCs from our home a few years ago.) Never got that to work. But it turns out the existing flash/ROM installed DB was just fine. The catch is, as a default it wants to scan EVERYTHING. So if you enter your ZIP code, it will give you ALL the frequencies you could possibly want... the entire state, your county, and your locals. With all that scanning, youll get nothing. So a quick trick is to use the FAVORITES option (easy to find and setup). Quick lookup online for your local and of-interest frequencies, manually enter them as favorites, and it finds the matching names in its database. Then youll have a nice, short list, of frequencies that you care about, and it will cycle through them quickly. And NOW youll enjoy all the features too. Very happy with this device. Sound quality is excellent. I wish the stand would lock in place though. Its a flimsy gravity-based shelf-type holder, entirely inappropriate for a $400+ device.

I bought this scanner used in ‘good condition’. Actually arrived in like new condition and saved a couple of hundred bucks. Works perfectly. Type in your zip code and you are scanning. No programming required. Tons of features. The best scanner I have ever used. I have other uniden scanners that are 25 + years old. I hope this one is as durable.

UPDATE February 2020: Tried to get it to work after we moved from NC back to Florida. It scans the Ocala area data base, but only brings in a couple of weather channels. Only transmit static on all 100+ stations in the area. Too much money to spend for a device that lasts only 3 years. ORIGINAL REVIEW: I received and set up my Uniden HP-2 scanner yesterday. Let me tell you, after trying out a couple of scanners 15 -20 years ago, this one is so easy by comparison. You just put in the zip code, or the name of your town, or your coordinates, and any stations within 10 or 20 miles will be scanned. Then you can easily weed out the less useful ones. I got this model to use as an appliance, not a as a hobby. I will use it as an info gathering tool so I can know what is going on around me in the event of a local or regional disaster, be it an ice storm or forest fire (the most likely disasters in this area) or something worse. I wont be spending weeks and months honing my skills on it. I got it so I can make it useful in the least amount of time. Its perfect for that.

Very easy to set up, battery life is great just needs a better antenna if you live in the country.

This Uniden Scanner works very well with the right antenna. Do not expect big results with the antenna that comes with the unit. Programming could not be easier. Simply enter t=your zip code and you are good to go. If you find frequencies that are being tuned in that are not interesting to you, you can use the avoid option that is pretty straight forward. I bought a Comet accessory antenna that works very well. I pick up surrounding towns as well as my State Police. I am very happy with this scanner. Remember, its great with the right antenna!

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.

This Uniden Scanner works very well with the right antenna. Do not expect big results with the antenna that comes with the unit. Programming could not be easier. Simply enter t=your zip code and you are good to go. If you find frequencies that are being tuned in that are not interesting to you, you can use the avoid option that is pretty straight forward. I bought a Comet accessory antenna that works very well. I pick up surrounding towns as well as my State Police. I am very happy with this scanner. Remember, its great with the right antenna!