Amazon has one of my favorite portable police scanners – the Uniden BCD436HP – for an all-time low price. If you have nightmares of owning an older model police scanner and struggling to find the right frequencies, you’ll be happy to know the days of manually programming these receivers are over.
The BCD 436HP connects automatically through Uniden’s Sentinel Software to the online site Radioreference which maintains an updated list of local frequencies. No more manually programming scanners! The latest frequencies synchronize automatically to your scanner.
Another option for listening to police and public service is via one of the numerous mobile apps available online. These apps are great for listening for large metropolitan areas however I’ve found many didn’t include reliable fees of public service agencies in my area.
The Uniden Sentinel Software lets you create lists of favorite police and public service agencies and then upload them to the scanner. The device runs on 3 AA batteries (rechargeables provided). The cable you use for charging (included) also doubles as the synchronization cable. There’s nothing more to buy as the Uniden Sentinel software is also free online. I’ve been able to listen to all the digital signals (aka APCO Phase II) in my local area.
Uniden also offers a tabletop model – Uniden BCD 536HP. This is functionally equivalent but priced slightly higher. Both the portable and tabletop use the same Sentinel programming software and the same power/sync cable.
If you like to stay on top of what’s happening in your town but have avoided these scanners in the past due to complexity, this is a good time to take another look and save some money in the process.
