Uniden Home Patrol Scanner

[John Hudson]

Just saw the ad for a new Uniden scanner in the latest issue of PopSci, and if it delivers what is advertised it will be a real bomb shell among potential must-have chase hardware. Although I understand that many veterans like to be in the loop and able to tweak their scanners to their liking, I still think this looks like a very hot radio.

Uniden Home Patrol

It has the ability to interface with a GPS, and update its own frequency banks on the fly depending on where you are on the road. A real plus for chasers like me who aren't necessarily familiar with the best frequencies to monitor outside of my home base. I think that feature alone will be enough to have me pulling out the plastic.

John

 

[rdale]

It's a great scanner, especially for travel. If you are an "experienced" listener and only want to use it at home - there are likely better choices. But if you travel and want to hear local police / fire / Skywarn nets, hook this up to a GPS and you'll love it.

 

[Jarrod Barnett]

Looks very cool. Thanks for bringing this up.

After a quick Google.... I dont really see myself dropping $500 on it though right now if ever. At least thats what this place is advertising them at http://hamstation.com/shopping/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=234&products_id=3267

 

[Jesse Risley]

Looks very cool. Thanks for bringing this up.

After a quick Google.... I dont really see myself dropping $500 on it though right now if ever. At least thats what this place is advertising them at http://hamstation.com/shopping/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=234&products_id=3267

The higher price is more likely due to the inclusion of APCO 25 digital reception, as digital scanners are inherently more expensive due to the patent licensing costs related to digital compression technology. This will essentially always make them at least a price tier above the better trunked, non-digital scanners on the market.

 

[rdale]

Exactly. If this scanner doesn't hear it - you aren't going to hear it on a scanner. I suppose it's possible they'll come out with an analog-only later, but given the number of agencies going to digital it probably wouldn't help much when traveling.

 

[Jason Foster]

I think someone else post about this scanner on another forum, and my response (and this is just me) is if it makes me money, then it's worth it. I find these days it's easier to keep things simple and earn more. If the scanner got me to a scene I can film, or a heads up on a story to cover, etc. than I can make a little money from it. But at this point not sure I need it to do that.

 

[Paul Racine]

I went and looked at the demo page for this and typed a ZIP code in which I am familiar with the agencies and frequencies/talkgroups in the St Paul/MPLS area here as its where I worked 911 for many years. It appears that there is very little that comes in the unit for talkgroups, etc. Since there is a programming function and software to do so I assume that one would still have to program it to get the groups they are looking for. Seems like a good idea but seems too basic for the digital side of things. You can do the same kind of thing by using the Closecall/gps functions on the likes of the 396/996 units. I still think getting the right scanner for where you are going to be and having the software(almost always free) and such to program on the fly is easier. I have different pre-programmed data sets for when I chase depending on where I am going in the US. Just my 2¢ worth.

 

[rdale]

Paul - the online demo DB isn't perfect. The unit will have any MPLS talkgroup that is known, let me know your zip code and I'll give you the list.

This does not compare to closecall/GPS on the 396/996 at all. To do that you have to program in all the frequencies. That could number in the thousands for a long trip, and miss one CC setting and it'll be quiet. HP1 removes the need to do ANY programming, it's all in the DB already. You can update the DB if new talkgroups or frequencies come alive. But otherwise it's self contained.

 

[Karen St John]

The October Popular Communications has a full review of the HP1. I'm intrigued, but my other scanners are thinking that it is a bit of a scalawag.

 

[rdale]

I would never have bought it on my own, but I do use it when traveling. WAY too easy to ignore finding the right systems to add.

 

[Paul Racine]

rdale- That is good to know. I entered the ZIP code of 55111 which is the MSP airport because that is where I worked 911 as well as Bloomington MN. The only groups that showed up on the list were the Fire pagers and the school district. There was nothing listed for any of the EMS/PD so I just figured it was just basic in its default programming. If it truly does have much more programmed, I would definitely be much more intrigued to purchase this item. I guess over the years and my being the ADHD type I have taken quite a lot of time (probably too much) to program my scanner and have different data sets ready to load up when on the go. I really would like to see what this unit can do.

 

[rdale]

Paul - it actually connects to the RadioReference database. So any talkgroup there, http://radioreference.com and click Databases, will be in HP-1.

This is really marketed towards people who always wanted to know what the sirens were doing, but don't know what things like "APCO P25" or "EDACS" mean let alone how to program the scanner. It's also for people who travel and don't want to try entering 30 systems on the way and trying to figure out which to do.

In this if you are located in one spot, you set your location and set a range of how far you'd like it to search in miles as a radius. Then you tell it what services you want to hear, and which ones you don't (fire / EMS / Law / ham radio / EMA / etc.)

Same thing when traveling. You can hook it up to a GPS and automate the entire process, or as you are traveling just hit the "auto-locate" button and it listens to the local transmissions and determines your location that way.

 

[Karen St John]

Paul - it actually connects to the RadioReference database. So any talkgroup there, http://radioreference.com and click Databases, will be in HP-1.

This is really marketed towards people who always wanted to know what the sirens were doing, but don't know what things like "APCO P25" or "EDACS" mean let alone how to program the scanner. It's also for people who travel and don't want to try entering 30 systems on the way and trying to figure out which to do.

In this if you are located in one spot, you set your location and set a range of how far you'd like it to search in miles as a radius. Then you tell it what services you want to hear, and which ones you don't (fire / EMS / Law / ham radio / EMA / etc.)

Same thing when traveling. You can hook it up to a GPS and automate the entire process, or as you are traveling just hit the "auto-locate" button and it listens to the local transmissions and determines your location that way.

Even though I can program my other 2 scanners for EDACS & al , I still think this is awesome! Just because I can, doesn't mean I always want to! The article in PopComm says Uniden will soon be offering software to let you program the HP1 for frequencies/stations not currently in their database.

Besides you can never have too many scanners.

 

[rdale]

The software that comes with it is VERY basic. But just like Freescan, the protocol is available to programmers at large and I know there are more programs in the works.

 

[Paul Racine]

I have been doing a bit more research into this item. I actually like it more and more. I usually only chase closer to home MN, WI, IA but this year was my first trip to the plains. I have my scanner programmed for everything I usually chase in as areas. This would be great especially when going to areas that are mainly analog, or increasing my chase area and less pre-planning on programming the scanner.