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

I havent had the Home Patrol 2 only for a few days and was surprised as the size and weight of it - a little bigger than I thought (thickness) and has a little heft. But, after installing the supplied rechargeable batteries, it didnt take very long even without reading the manual to set it up. As soon as it powers up, there are a series of questions that are quick and easy - the easiest is to input your zip code and it will load all of the surrounding channels automatically. I have an external antenna on my vehicle since Im always running to shoot video of fire scenes and it seems to work well with that (they include the adapter to connect to a typical BNC plug). Essentially, its giving me everything I was looking for. One problem that Ive already encountered was a ROM memory issue which a Google search turned up others with the same problem. Youll get an error message on a white screen and it locks up. I removed the batteries, then removed the micro sd card for a few minutes. After re-installing everything, the scanner came right back up and has been working fine. Not something youd expect from a scanner in this price range but something that Ill keep an eye on.

Why in the world would you spend $450 for a scanner that wont even allow you to put in your own channels manually - something a $20 one can do. Loved the zip code thing. I tried to check out the Extreme upgrade, if thats what I need to accomplish this manual entry feature, but the link is always broken on the Uniden site. Not to mention most of the links for help and support are also broken. I wish I had sent it back. It was a Christmas Present for my husband, and he hates it.

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.

Its easier to set up, using a zip code, rather than programming it myself, but it does require some patience, because it is not EASY to use. I found it was more than just powering it up, and entering my zip code, to be able to use it. There are several steps that must be followed, using a windows computer, before it will work correctly on trunked radio networks.

Expensive ... maybe ... but you do get your monies worth. I have had this radio for about 2 years now and have showed it to many people in my area who tell me they wish they could listen to police channels again. They tell me that the police now encrypt everything and you cant listen to them anymore. Well imagine their surprise when I say Oh really? and turn on my HP2! Yes LEO folks do encrypt some channels and this unit will not of course decrypt them. What it will do is digital trunking and do it well with very easy programming. I enjoyed adding the Extreme Upgrade software upgrade that because I am a ham radio operator I found easy to use and worth it. I would suggest that before anyone buys the Extreme Upgrade they review some Youtube videos showing you what it does because not everyone would need it or perhaps even understand what it does. One thing that EVERYONE should have is the Sentinel program software that is free and requires no additional cable or hardware. That software makes creating favorite lists easy and will even let you modify the Alpha names of the frequencies you have in your favorites list. If you have any doubts about performance you can find plenty of HP2 owners who have put videos on Youtube.

After several failures with other scanners, I struck gold! This Home Patrol is great. Easy to set up and scanning in minutes, without the complicated internet carp. Enter zip code and screen out unwanted freqs. I get all the nearby agencies I want clearly. Battery life is good so far, and with a mobile (after market) antenna I get even more range. Well worth it.

Well im guessing my city has their channels scrambled, I could get it but everything was scrambled so you couldnt understand what was said! I only want to give one star as I tried to get in touch with the company who makes them with their phone number and you cant talk to a human! Of course im sure theyll blame it on COVID!! So I couldnt fix the problem with the scanner so all I could do was return it and call it a day! Just wanted to thank the company for all the headaches of trying to figure out what was wrong by my self because theyre never around to help you solve any problems that might call me up!

This is a really great scanner. Favorites lists are easy to create. I still havent figured out how to program Custom Service types. I hope this is not a part of the Upgrade feature. If any knows let me know. The receiver is extremely sensitive. I find using the Attenuate feature helps a lot in the Los Angeles Area. The record feature works great. Even though the scanner has a complete database in it. I still refer back to Radio Reference to help choose the correct group of frequencies for any service desired when creating favorite lists. I have not purchased the Upgrade feature. For now I do not need it. It was definitely a huge upgrade from my last scanner.

After using this scanner for a few weeks, I have mixed feelings about it. It does not do a limit search out of the box, this feature costs an additional sixty dollars to unlock via the Uniden web site with the extreme upgrade. I have a hard time calling the device a scanner without this feature. I tried to make an account to purchase the upgrade with two email addresses and neither received a confirmation email, so I emailed support. A few days later they emailed me back saying to log in using a password they supplied. It was a small hassle that got resolved. The scanner was causing a power surge on the USB 3 port of a powerful desktop computer until I got the firmware updated. My unit DOES charge batteries while powered on, possibly due to the firmware update I performed. I let it charge my batteries one time only however. It never stopped charging and the batteries where HOT! when I removed them and confirmed they where full on a LaCrosse battery charger. It does not seem to scan all the ham bands, but only selects ten frequencies to listen to in my area. It picks up nothing on 443.8625, which is a very busy frequency in my area I listen to on an analog scanner. Pros: It seems pretty sensitive to UHF. It decodes trunked systems. Adding a GPS unit removes need to reprogram while traveling. Cons: Can not do limit search out of the box. Can not save your own frequencies out of the box. Pausing on a channel mutes the sound momentarily even if keystroke sounds are disabled. Using unit to charge batteries seems unsafe. Cannot listen to at least one frequency I have found. Doesnt seem to listen to all the ham bands.

Fantastic. First impression was when I opened the smaller than expected box. There were two complex cardboard shapes with everything slipped into carefully designed spaces inside the folds. (I am impressed when someone takes the time to design a simple thing like packaging. I believe this indicates an overall high level of quality that permeates down to the internals of the product.) I installed the four rechargeable AA batteries and found it to be pre-charged to a useable level. I fiddled for a while then plugged it into a USB charger overnight. (The red CHARGE light never did turn green, but the onscreen battery indicator was a solid green.) I got out the quick start guide and dove in. I plugged the included USB cable in my PC and selected NO on the Start Charging screen. This is clever: if you choose YES it accepts a charge current off the USB cable, as one might expect. If you select NO, the PC sees a flash drive with a SETUP folder! I went through the setup process and watched it load the scanners interactive software onto my PC, which downloaded the latest firmware and national+state frequency database. I read up on the use of this software and then loaded the profile from the scanner. I reset my location (zip code) and the services I wanted it to scan. I tweaked the volume, squelch, etc. and saved the profile back to the scanner. (All this can be done on-screen, but its much easier with the PC software.) I held down the power switch for a second or two and it came to life. Im too new at this product to judge yet, but I spent some time fiddling with the attenuation and range controls to get it to find what I wanted to listen to. Ive been learning the HOLD and AVOID functions by trial and error. Im going to read the owners manual (also loaded onto my PC) soon, but Im having too much fun for now. Overall, this is a really sophisticated scanner that comes with local PC software support, which uses an Internet connection to keep the frequency database up to date for me. Ive had scanners before. The early ones required me to use a book to keep my frequencies up to date. Later many of the radio systems went to trunk and digital modes that my little scanner couldnt handle. When the police and news helicopters were nearby over some incident, it was nearly impossible to find out what was happening. That scanner, as nice as it was, sat in a drawer for many years. This one, however, looks like it will prove to be a lot more interesting and informative. And when we go to the local small airport restaurant for lunch, we will be able to monitor aircraft and tower conversations while we watch the takeoffs and landings. The old scanner didnt support that mode.