[Scan-DC] UHF Mil Question..

[Larry Van Horn, N5FPW]

> Just my thought before the 396 gets axed.

Absolutely Rick. I could not have said it better.

Mike, to be blunt,"for the most part, the folks that I have found that have 
problems with dynamic memory are those that "refuse" to read the manual, do 
some research on their own, ask some basic questions, read the articles on 
this that have been published (Paul Opitz did an excellent one in PopComm 
recently), etc. For most, they turn the radio on and if it doesn't operate 
the way their old Uniden did in 15 minutes it is back in the box and on its 
way back to the dealer. I know this first hand. In "every case" I had to 
deal with those that had problems, when I asked if they had read the manual, 
they would say, "no I do not have time," or I could not understand the 
manual, or why don't you program the radio for me, etc.

I was one of the alpha/beta testers for the 246/396/330, and remember the 
first day I got the 246. It took about an hour of disbelieve to reprogram my 
head and get it reoriented to a new way of thinking. Once that was done, I 
would not purchase "any" scanner now that operates with banks and not 
dynamic memory. Once you understand the advantages that dynamic memory has 
over the much older bank scanning technology, and you work with a variety of 
systems, bands and listening taste you will never look at that old 
technology again.

I can tell you all that thousands of hours of testing, manual review, 
software testing, etc have gone into these products by Uniden and their 
stable of very talented testers. The manuals are some of the best written. 
Sorry, but I do not have much sympathy for anyone who doesn't spend some 
time learning their radios.

If all you ever listen to is your local TRS or PS agency, and that is all 
you will ever program in your scanner, then the older bank technology of the 
radio shack scanners will probably work.

But if you are a "real scanner junkie," you monitor a wide variety of the 
spectrum, travel alot, are willing to read the manual and learn some new 
tricks, then the new technology will be just your ticket. If you can figure 
out how to use a computer, you can use this new scanner technology from 
Uniden.

Mike wrote:
> I wouldn't recommend the BCD396, quite frankly, if you're new to scanning;

If your a newbee to scanning and you never used bank technology before, then 
there should not be a confusion factor. I think you were a bit harsh on the 
new Uniden's Mike. Must be a RS man. ;-) I would recommend any of the 
Uniden's for a newbee who has never used a scanner before.

Have fun all and good hunting,

Larry Van Horn, N5FPW



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rick" <kr3lc at verizon.net>
To: <scan-dc at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Tuesday, April 04, 2006 11:23 PM
Subject: Re: [Scan-DC] UHF Mil Question..


> WRT to the BCD396T I sort of think the dynamic memory works well and maybe 
> for some old schoolers it was difficult to understand but I found it quite 
> easy actually and I have owned scanners since a 4 channel Fanon Courier 
> scanner was state of the art.  Perhaps for a newcomer to the hobby it will 
> be no more difficult than the old bank and channel system since a newcomer 
> would not know any other way.  Just my thought before the 396 gets axed.
>
> Rick
>
> Date: Sat, 1 Apr 2006 14:41:39 -0800 (PST)
> From: "" <ka3jjz at NETSCAPE.COM>
> Subject: Re: [Scan-DC] UHF Mil Question..
> To: <scan-dc at mailman.qth.net>
> Message-ID: <20060401144139.51FF77F2 at resin07.mta.everyone.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
>
> These aren't stupid questions, but they are interesting...
>
> --- dehmmy at gmail.com wrote:
> Question 1:
>  Is there any way for me to build a simple to moderately difficult
> kit that will upconvert my VHF frequencies to UHF milband? OR, is it
> more efficient/cost effective to  splurge on a UHF capable scanner as
> I don't have a whole lot to spend. My feeling is the latter however I
> would like to hear your input.
> ================================
> To be perfectly honest, I haven't seen any such kits in quite some time 
> (that doesn't mean they don't exist, of course). I would check Hamtronics 
> or Ramsey ... however, such kits are generally not for the beginner, and 
> depending on how they're constructed, may need additional instruments for 
> alignment and measurement purposes.
> Therefore, yes, a dedicated UHF milair scanner is probably the best way to 
> go.
> ================================
> Question 2:
>
> If I were to get a milcom capable scanner, what do you all recommend
> as far as sensitivity and resistance to outside RFI etc etc.
>
> I would also like to be able to receive APCO-25 as well living in DC
> everything seems to be digital and such!
> ================================
> A more difficult question, since you didn't mention a price range. P25 
> capable scanners are, unfortunately,
> quite pricey - I'd wait for something to show up on the RadioReference 
> boards, Strong Signals, ect. or perhaps await a clearance sale. I would 
> certainly want to avoid a BC250D or BC785D as they will not be supported 
> by Uniden when rebanding takes place.
> Also neither the PRO96 nor the PRO2096 does well in the milair band, when 
> opened up using the Win96 software. They simply weren't originally made to 
> work in this band, so their sensitivity here is questionable at best. Some 
> folks find it's acceptable, others not.
> The BC296 and BC796 are P25 and milair capable, however, as mentioned 
> before they're pricey. If you find one at a reasonable price - maybe about 
> USD400 or lower - it's worth taking a good hard look at it. Both seem to 
> perform pretty well as milair scanners as well as P25 decoding.
>
> I wouldn't recommend the BCD396, quite frankly, if you're new to scanning; 
> I've seen a plethoria of folks who buy this scanner and get lost - and 
> frustrated - very quickly. The way the scanner allocates channels out of a 
> common pool (the so-called Dynamic Memory Architecture) is somewhat 
> difficult to understand, and with all
> the other bells and whistles, I have a feeling newcomers get overwhelmed. 
> Of course, it too is quite pricey.
>
> However, if you're willing to do without P25, the Military Monitoring Wiki 
> at RadioReference (there's a link to it on our Intro page) has NUMEROUS 
> scanners that can do the job. The PRO-2006 and Uniden BC780 are both very 
> highly regarded as milair machines, and you can find these at a price much 
> less than a new P25 scanner. The newer BC898 should also be a good milair 
> scanner; however, I understand the owner's manual is horrific; it misses 
> all sorts of details. There are many others; I'd use that Wiki as a 
> starting point. There are reviews and user comments posted in each 
> category. Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the PRO-97 and the 
> PRO-2055, as both seem to also be good milair machines, and they too cost 
> a whole lot less than a P25 scanner.
> Keep in mind that GRE/Radio Shack scanners cannot be computer controlled; 
> they support up/downloading only (the PRO-2052 is a Uniden product in GRE 
> clothing, and is controllable. However, it cannot hear the 138-144 LMR 
> band in AM mode without a modification, and you would miss a great deal of 
> the ANG units if this were the way you went). AOR also produces scanners 
> that are milair capable, but from everything I've read, aren't the best 
> when thinking about spurs and overloading.  Icom radios tend to scan 
> rather slowly, so that may also be a concern. Your best bet, clearly, is a 
> Uniden product, or perhaps one of the PRO-20xx models equipped with an 
> outboard circuit so they can be connected to a PC (such as a Opto456 
> board).
> Lots to think about here.   73s Mike
>
>
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