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.

Good scanner but as with any radio Id suggest to use an external speaker for better sound quality. I just received it so Im still learning how to use it. But so far its a good scanner. The one thing they should add to it is an ignition wire for it for when installed in car since they say not to wire it to your vehicles ignition since I could corrupt the SD card when it shuts off if you dont shut off manually first.

I bought it from the Amazon Warehouse to save $90. i was a little worried, but it arrived in pristine condition. Re-boxed, not the original Uniden box, but who cares. All the accessories were there. Turn it on, set the date and time, set the Zip Code, and start scanning. Easy peasy. If you have a Ph.D. in Technology, you can probably figure out how to use and enable the gazillion other features. For the rest of us, one day at a time. Really good scanner, and hundreds less than the Uniden SDS-200.. 1-19-23 Updated Review Very good scanner. I did realize that the volume/on/off knob is fairly fragile. I find myself turning the scanner on and off very carefully so it wont break. I could see that happening easily.

I like this police scanner. I can get calls from many miles away and close to my home. Its nice to hear all the calls and sometimes hear the outcomes of calls. It has good sound but we wanted more so we added a speaker for better sound and quality to hear in other rooms of the house too. It is hard to get the programming just the way you want it, but with persistence it is workable. It came tightly wrapped and in perfect condition. We have been listening to this radio for up to a year now and no problems. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to hear the calls digitally.

This is truly a fantastic scanner! As others have said, it does have a very steep learning curve but the good news is that it is usable out of the box. Simply enter your zip code and it will find many frequencies used in your area. Obviously, this is only the tip of the iceberg as to what is possible with this unit. Once you become more familiar with how many of the digital systems operate, this scanner will make it possible for you to monitor them. There are also optional, pay to unlock features availiable. Both Provoice and Dmr are systems that you can monitor once unlocked. Using the Sentinel software, included, this scanner is easier to program and both the firmware and databases can be updated. This unit features included Wi-Fi, works great and includes a dongle you just plug into the back. There are tons of menues and this scanner is very customizable. This unit includes a usb cable to connect to a computer. The manual isnt the best but I hear there are better ones out there. YouTube also has many videos on how to operate and program. This scanner with its rich set of features shouldnt be outdated for several years at least. Again, expect to spend some time learning how the new digital systems work and you will be rewarded with a scanner that has all the bells and whistles.

Great radio, Ive got another one of these purchase about a year ago and the best of the best, covers everything you need to cover and the ability to program via a zip code is incredible, gone are the days of punching in hundred of freqs manually like in the old days! The only issue? Amazon needs to learn how to ship things!!!! You pay $450 bucks for a radio, and you expect the product box to come INSIDE a box right? Wrong. Amazon ships these in ONLY the the box the scanner comes in and drops it on your doorstep. Luckily I was home when they rang the bell, picked up the box and said WHOA! I called over the driver and showed him an empty box except for the accessories and manual, he called his office, I gave him back the box and I had to reach out for a refund. Sad...

Like most people haven’t listened to my old scanner for 25 years. Bought this about 2 months ago and inputted the daylight savings time frame, the date and time zone and zip code that I’m located in and that was it. I live in Weirton,WV and also down in a valley and I have it sitting by my chair on the end table with the antenna the came with it and it picks up around 50 mile radius I’m guessing, I think it’s incredible the range it gets with this antenna. Someday I will sit down and figure out the downloading off the internet, but really as far as I can see within a few hours it had picked every emergency system up. Seems like an excellent quality radio if you ask me, I’m no expert though.

The BCD536HP has all the the makings of the top of the line scanner...except inexplicably Uniden fell asleep at the wheel. The units build quality is top of the line...sturdy and rich feeling. The advertised features...who could ask for more?! The problem is they dont deliver on some of the features (at least not as of yet...as I am hoping a few firmware updates down the road they will). No App and no Analyze Mode feature even though those are two of the selling points . Worst of all if you buy this unit and are not located near the hub of what you are trying to receive...you absolutely will need to buy a better antenna. This is unforgivable. How is it possible that my 1980 Bearcat 210 can pull in clear stations that just show up as noisy scratchy inaudible transmissions on the 536???! Not sure if this is a bad antenna or worse poor sensitivity internal to the scanner. Either way...think external antenna unless your transmission source is close by. One would think that shelling $600 for this would get you a decent antenna. I want to love this unit...it has the makings of a great scanner...I just cant understand why Uniden skimped on the antenna / reception sensitivity and did not deliver a product that has the advertised features working ...unbelievable! For now I just like it and hope that firmware updates will deliver what was promised and then may be I will love this after all.

This is the 1st scanner I have had in several years and the advancements are outstanding. Once I figured out how to use the software for programming, I simply set up a favorite with only the agencies that I wanted to listen to. I pick up all the surrounding counties, State Police, DOT, Game & Fish, EMS. It is pricey, but well worth the money for anyone that likes to keep up with what is going on with first responders.

First a word of caution: Please be aware that many of the reviews on this page are not for the BCD536HP. Many are for older models of Uniden scanners that have very little in common with the BCD536HP. Why these reviews are here I do not know, but they are. Now for my review. This is a great scanner, easily the best Ive ever owned, and I have owned quite a few dating all the way back to the 1970s. That being said, I will also say its easily the most maligned piece of electronic equipment Ive ever heard of, and that reputation is not entirely unwarranted. This scanner debuted in early 2014 with early adopters finding a number of problems, including defective headphone jacks, and problems with SD cards becoming corrupted. Uniden made good on the headphone jack issue and repaired or replaced the affected units that were returned. The SD card issue seems to be hit or miss, but many who have had the problem have reported that replacing the SD card that came with the scanner with a new one has helped or eliminated the problem entirely. More recently some users have reported that the LCD backlight has dimmed over time. This is worrying, and I find myself trying to use the radio with the backlight either off, or set to its dimmest setting in order to preserve the life of the backlight. Again, this may be an issue that affects some units and not others, but I don’t want to find out the hard way. Another worrying issue is the clock battery. Some have reported their clock battery going dead after a period of months and have been unable to recharge it, or get it to hold a charge. If the clock battery is dead, the radio will require you to enter the date and time each time you turn it on, so while this doesn’t kill the radio it will suck some of the fun out of it. And then of course it took Uniden a year to finally release the Siren app for iPhone, something that was touted as a major new feature when the radio was released. OK, so all that stuff sounds bad, and it is, but I still think this is a great radio. The Siren app is out now and mostly works, at least within your home WIFI network. The headphone jack on my radio is fine. I’ve re-programmed the radio multiple times and had no card failures (I’m using a 32GB card I bought new, keeping the supplied card as a backup.) My clock works fine. The Uniden Sentinel software that comes free is bare-bones but usable. It updates the radio’s firmware easily. The radio scans quickly, it’s UHF and VHF sensitivity is better than I expected it would be based on user comments I’d read. The radio looks and sounds great! It does not look like the “Pinto” of police scanners, which let’s face it, it kind of is. it looks more like a BMW. Very nice fit and finish, very nice design. The feel to the controls is nice & solid, and the very nice display offers more characters to use for your Alpha Tags than ever before. It’s really a wonderful, even refined, radio. I would easily give it 5 stars if it weren’t for all the design and quality control issues that have plagued it, at least did in the past. Now I will say I think a lot of folks will be disappointed in the “Home Patrol” aspect of this radio. Yes it’s touted as a major feature, and yes you can enter your Zip Code and be scanning your local police and fire in minutes. But what I’ve found is it tends to load up a lot of stuff you will not enjoy listening to, which forces the scanner to work its way through a lot of unnecessary channels, slowing the scan cycle way down. Yes, you can hit “Avoid” on stuff, and yes you can select only the types of communications you’re interested in. All that will help, but scanners work best when you PROGRAM THEM. When YOU put in exactly what YOU want to listen to. So my advice is to take the time to learn how to program the radio properly with Sentinel, or with the Butel software (a subscription at radio reference will help if you use Butel). You will enjoy your radio infinitley more when its set up properly. If this is your first scanner, and you live in an area with complex communications systems, you should expect that learning how to program it is going to take some time and effort. It will be time well spent though, and there’s lots of resources online to help. The Marks Easier To Read manual online is a good place to start. Also RadioReference.com is a huge compendium of help and information and informative users. Hope that helps.

This scanner took some time getting set up and programmed but man was it worth it!! Acutal call: Dispatch to officer, we have a caller on the line needing assistance with two drunk ninjas throwing beer cans at his car. Officer to dispatch, Im finishing up a call nearby and Ill be on my way. Dispatch to officer, caller has updated they are now in bandanas and playing with themselves. Officer to dispatch, send me the address and mark me in route to the drunken ninjas. Dispatch to officer, caller states they are now in a helmet and snorkels.