My favorite police scanner has hit a new(ish) low price of $393 on Amazon. I’ve been using this model for about a year and just bought another for my office. If you’re interested in learning why sirens are going off all over town or why the traffic was brutal on the ride home – this is the device for you.
I also like the handheld Uniden BCD 436HP, which I’ve written about here.
The Uniden HomePatrol 2 features TrunkTracker V technology which follows communications on APCO 25, Phase 1, Phase 2, x2-tdma, Motorola, edacs & ltr trunked systems. Download the free programming HomePatrol Sentinel software to create favorite frequency lists, update the frequency database and device firmware.
From the Amazon product listing:
Simply enter your zip code or city, and your HOMEPATROL-2 selects the channels in use in your area. Follows communications on APCO 25 Phase 1, Phase 2, X2-TDMA, Motorola, EDACS and LTR trunked systems. Receives conventional and the following types of trunked channels: •Motorola Type I •Motorola Type II •Motorola Type IIi Hybrid •Motorola Type II Smartnet •Motorola Type II Smartzone •Motorola Type II Smartzone Omnilink •Motorola Type II VOC •LTR Standard •Project 25 Standard •Motorola X2-TDMA •P25 Phase I and Phase II •EDACS Standard (Wide) •EDACS Narrowband (Narrow) •EDACS Networked (Wide/Narrow) •EDACS ESK On the following frequencies: (25-512 MHz) (758-960 MHz) (excluding cellular telephone bands)
If you’ve intimidated by the complex-to-program police scanners of yesteryear, this is the device you may be looking for. You can key in your frequencies as easily as typing a zip code which tells the device to scan everything in your surrounding area.
Or, create groups of frequencies and limit scanning to around your town or region. You can even lock on the scanning for your area so you only hear fire or police or public works.
The unit comes with an AC adapter as well as rechargeable AA batteries and a desktop stand. I found the setup to be quite easy and at night when you listen to it, use the auto-off timer so the scanner doesn’t keep playing long after you fall asleep.
Uniden HomePatrol 2 Pre-Programmed Scanner
