Uniden BCD396XT Handheld TrunkTracker IV Digital Police Scanner

I've owned scanners since the mid-'70s and this little beast is the finest one I've ever owned, hands down. It has more features than I'll ever use (or comprehend), but it's tidy, compact form factor, superlative audio, and superb built quality puts it in a class all its own.

If you decide to get one, please do yourself a huge favor and get a decent USB programming cable...yes, a serial cable comes packed with the rest of the goodies, but how many people have access to serial ports on their computers these days? Don't toss the serial cable, with the optional GPS rig and a null modem, you can enjoy GPS-enabled scanning wherever you go!

And there are several excellent programming programs available; I use Freescan which makes programming ridiculously easy, especially if you subscribe to a site like radioreference...programming digital modes is a cake walk.

Yes, I am delighted with my 396XT and have become a 'true believer' .

Thanks for reading!

de KC5JLA

Great Scanner you will need the following to program without frustration.

This is my first scanner and after 1 day I had all the counties in my state programmed. I went with police, sheriff, Fish and game, and state patrol only.

1. Order the car charger, also you will need a 9 pin male adapter with a usb port. The scanner comes with a 9 pin female adapter.

2. Order ARC-XT Basic Software. This is the software that makes programming much easier. It also has an online manual you can click for reference.

3. Equally important under the internet tab you will see the radioreference icon. Click that and order a 6 month subscription for roughly $9.00 create your user name and password and they also accept paypal. This internet site will work inconjunction with your ARC-XT software and allow you to click on your state or where ever your located and you simply scroll through the couinties, then click import, followed by copy to clip board, next you click the upper send icon which is a radio icon. This automatically sends all frequencies and names of the department to your scanner.

4. Lastly, and i blew this the first time dont forget to hit the save icon, and save as profile(i used my first name) this way all your county, state, federal, ect frequencies will be saved on the left side of your profile. At any time you can upload them all, or make changes to them. If you close the window after spending a good hour or two selecting all the frequencies from various counties they will not be saved. So dont make the mistake I did save save save your profile.

If you still have trouble look up scannermasters.com online, they have a live help chat, a remote access to your computer app, and if you prefer you can send your radio in and have them program it.

Buy Uniden BCD396XT Handheld TrunkTracker IV Digital Police Scanner Now

I bought the analog version last year this time, and enjoyed it for a month before I returned it. It was too much money for what it did. This year, I tried again, but stepped up to the digital version. This scanner picks up everything in my area (except my encrypted county). Once I added an external antenna, things came in loud and clear. It takes a LOT of practice. it is very complicated and your knowledge of radios will have to increase. After over a month, I am still practicing daily.

Anyway, its very well organized, picks up the signals well, and is easy on the batteries. Does exactly what its supposed to. Haven't found any bugs either. Finally, this year they have an actual manual. The website that tried to be a manual is horrible.

This scanner has helped me navigate traffic on the interstates many times. I won't send this one back. Eventhough I think its overpriced, I'll be keeping it.

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!!PROS/CONS/TIPS below review!!

I've had the Uniden BCD396XT for a month or so and am still discovering new features daily. If you're anything like me, I had no understanding about scanners when I purchased this except that I knew I wanted a scanner that could scan analog, digital, and trunking systems. When I first turned it on and began playing with it I was a little overwhelmed by its lack of good documentation. I halfway expected a $400+ device to just start picking up stuff in my town out of the box but it turned out I just didn't understand the basics of how scanners worked. Now that I've had some time to play with it, I'm quite satisfied with its feature set and capabilities.

PROS:

Scans pretty much any non-encrypted source including CB/FM/AM/Trunking systems (digital and analog)

Portable (I can take it in my car, leave it on my desk, or carry it with me)

Advanced programming features (hook it up to your PC with FreeScan and program stuff quickly)

Battery life is good (I can leave it on for about 8 hours before the low battery warning comes on)

Comes with a set of rechargeable batteries (simply plug it in to charge them)

CONS:

Expensive!!

Average antenna (portable antennas like this don't pick up as much. However can be hooked up to a better one easily)

Steep learning curve (be ready to do some reading and keyboard smashing from getting frustrated)

TIPS/RESOURCES:

Get a USB -> Serial adapter like the Trendnet RS-232 (This will make your life much more enjoyable when programming from the PC)

Download FreeScan by SixSpot Software (free free free is good!)

Google "easier to read 396xt scanner manual" by marksscanners (puts things into simpler terms than the Uniden manual)

Check out radioreference.com for a free collection of frequencies for different agencies/public services in your areas (you can use the copy/paste function of FreeScan to import these into the app)

Set the Squelch low (noob mistake on my part. I had Squelch set too high and it was filtering out everything. I accidentally bumped it down and all of a sudden I heard things going on).

Feel free to email/reply to me if you are having issues :)

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Great scanner for conventional and trunk systems. Love the digital readout better

than any scanner out there, very nice and large typeface.

If you've experience with programming software in the past should be no problem to use.

However with all things new, if you have not, there is a learning curve.

Beware, that if you are planning to use it for the newer P25 Simulcast systems the

audio and receives are very choppy and inaudible. Check the internet and radioreference.com

a lot of discussion on this subject and how scanner mfrs have not entirely solved this

problem. Listening to the Oakland Police and Fire P25 simulcast systems have been horrible.

Upgraded to the latest firmware, not much improvement.

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