Features:

  • Follows communications on apco 25, Phase 1, Phase 2, x2-tdma, Motorola, edacs & ltr trunked systems
  • Advanced dynamic memory system
  • Close call RF capture Technology instantly tunes to signals from nearby transmitters
  • Gps Compatibility; 100 Quick Key System Access
  • 25,000 dynamically allocated channels.Continuous Band Coverage – 25MHz to 1.3GHz Excluding UHF TV and Cellular
The programming is NOT something for "new" users to attempt.

While the unit works very well, with band searches finding almost everything; transferring what it finds to memory functions is rather more complicated than earlier scanners. It is well worth it to have it programmed by a service that does this in most cases, especially with the "trunked" systems; unless the system users themselves will supply the information to you. Finding ALL the information yourself can be time consuming. Personally, I politely ASK for the needed information from municipalities, in writing, and supply easily filled out forms FOR the information; and I find that some are helpful while others give you a bunch of BS, assuming you know nothing about FCC rules and regulations and/or the fact that licenses are required for their communications equipment; (which makes the needed information readily available to them, IF they would supply it on the provided forms.)

Better late than never...

If you're located in a region where Phase 2 P25 or X2-TDMA is being used then it's a worthy upgrade -- even from the older XT series of scanners. It's virtually identical to the BCD996XT. The only noticeable change besides the product label is the USB mini port. The older, proprietary port was fine but the connectors did damage quite easily. The change to USB is welcome. Be sure you upgrade your BCD996P2 to the latest firmware for the best performance.

Tech's Dream Digital Base Scanner, But Very Advanced with Steep Learning Curve

This scanner is capable of receiving the majority of everything (not encrypted) in the Police/Fire/Public Service/Military Air/Gov/Misc bands in either analog or digital modes. It receives APCO P-25 digital (both Phase I & II) signals great for me with a stock antenna but I am in a good location to receive two actual P-25 trunk radio "system site" towers with good signal levels. With digital 800 Mhz signals though, you may need less antenna. About 6.5 inches in length is a good 800 Mhz antenna. With an attic mount ST-2 antenna on a tv antenna booster, I can receive analog signals 60 plus miles away cleanly but that's flat terrain to the top of the Willis Tower. If you have marginal (P-25) 800 Mhz signal levels you won't get many signal bars lit up, it won't trunk track right and you may see talkgroups show up on the display but no audio is heard/garbled/breaks up because it can't decode the digital modulation, or it just might be encrypted. When you get trunking lock on a control channel in APCO P-25 mode, the actual frequency will show up (small) on the display, otherwise you just get "NFM" on the display which means you're not tracking the system and it will not work. But once you get lock on a control channel, if it all works correctly, it grabs talkgroups at will and you will have to label them or sort out what you wish to really listen to as there will be plenty of (channels=talkgroups) at busy times. With digital trunking systems, it depends on the tower near you having the talkgroup channels you want to hear available on that tower. As far as digital trunking signals go with any digital scanner, all bets are off. The signals fade out at times, some of these RF tower signals get more/less power alloted to them on each tower. In order to fully monitor one P-25 system, the scanner may have to "listen to" 6 or more towers (in one system) that are all directions from you with varying RF power levels on each frequency, in order to properly receive ALL of your chosen channel (talkgroups) in that Police system you want to hear. If this seems too complicated, well it is. There is a Computer Control channel on P25 digital trunking systems that tells the police system computer what frequency to use or "hop to" (each split second) and you may get that individual frequency's (talkgroup) good/bad/gone off various towers (and all at nearly the same time yet!) This is called simulcasting distortion and makes listening to any APCO P-25 digital Police trunking radio system extremely hard for any new digital scanner. And the nasty winds, rain, leaf foliage too all mess havoc with these signals. No getting around this. You may be in a good/bad location, it all depends. You may have missed details in your programming, yes I did too many times. Could be your location, your antenna, your programming, proximity to too many other "site" towers, winds, (high winds or hot/humid air seem nasty on narrow P-25 signals), or the big TV/Radio/Cell Towers nearby with mega kw watts etc. It is a huge complicated mess even for an expert radio engineer to deal with. A lot of it is...trial and error with P-25 digital. Does it track control signal? No. Move antenna/radio a few inches, try again. But the BCD996P2 (once setup right) excels at receiving everything great! This scanner works Great for me in my location even on the factory antenna. And the bandscope mode is fabulous too. I love it. It is up to you to sort out the critical-channel-programming first before you use it. Study the Radio Reference website, it might take time. I would advise to use a computer to program this scanner, otherwise you'll just pull your hair out. You can't program this scanner by using zip codes like some others. Freescan (sixspotsoftware) is a great Free program to use, I use it, others exist too. You can plug the scanner into your PC via the included USB cable. My Win 7 PCs found it right away (You setup Control Scanner, Set com port to auto find in Freescan and it should find your scanner on a com port. Then you upload your channels/lineups to the scanner) But first you need to find the frequencies in the Radio Reference website. Freescan also has a Cut 'N' Paste frequency import method which works fine as you select from database info. An outside scanner antenna used with at least an RG-6 cable is optimal for the best reception with this extended coverage scanner to hear everything. I also use a cheap (75 ohm) TV antenna signal booster with 18 db gain, on 50ft RG-6 and a 4 port ant splitter. I have a lot of RF signal levels (using bandscope mode) but no overload that I can see or hear. But for local signals (20 miles or less) you probably will do just as well with the back of set stock antenna, for both analog channels and digital systems. For 800 Mhz specific signals, use a 800 Mhz antenna like a Remtronix. The scanner can be used in the car, it comes with 2 DC power cords, one with a lighter plug, it has a nice bracket and includes the AC adapter. This unit is the base model of the portable BCD325P2 hand held scanner. They are the same to operate/use and program. This 996P2 model has a bottom fire speaker with a "deep bass audio sound" on digital systems and it sounds like a loudness circuit in a stereo, compared to my RS-652 desktop scanner which has a tinnier sound. You can choose one of 7 colors for the display and it has many signal adjustments for each channel/system, which is why you need patience. You can upgrade this scanner now to receive ProVoice, Mototrbo and DMR but Uniden charges an extra fee for each one. I do not have these upgrades and may not get. These new digital scanners are frustration devices to many people. For the expert, yes, this scanner is marvelous, you can "hear" everything except Encrypted signals. Be sure you have days/weeks of time and patience to spend with this thing first though. The learning curve is very steep. It is not plug it in, put in a few channels and listen like in the old days. Every channel has about a dozen parameters to setup first, a P-25 digital system may have 2 dozen parameters to setup first, then one dozen items per channel on top of this. This scanner does Not use an SD memory card to store channels/data to. These can be problematic and cause odd errors of all kinds. But the BCD996P2 scanner is a techs dream to use (once programmed properly) and a upgraded cousin to my all time favorite pal the Uniden BCD396XT portable scanner. But this scanner is still quite a challenge for anyone to setup/operate/use. Five stars because it is simply a phenomenal scanner (with exceptional abilities) targeted to mostly expert scanner junkies.

Go ahead and get this one. It’s great

The BCD996P2 Arrived this morning. It’s a breeze to program with the computer. If you’re a bit of a scanner geek you won’t have much trouble. As for people who don’t program their own scanners or are just starting out and in too much of a hurry to learn the scanner you probably will get frustrated. I really like the quality of the audio coming from this radio. It’s very easy on the ears. I’ve been listening to p25 phase 2 out of three counties all day in my living room with just the stock antenna. The radio has a ton of features and anybody who likes tinkering and experimenting with radios will never get bored of this scanner.

It's like a digital BCT15X with more options

Upgraded from a BCT15X so I could pickup digital trunking systems. The scanner is setup the same as the BCT15X. Using software like FreeScan in conjunction with the frequency and channel lists on Radio Reference made this easy and quick to program.

Works great. I replaced an analog version of this scanner ...

Works great. I replaced an analog version of this scanner since our county upgraded their system. It is easy to program if one uses software called "Free Scan" and a web site called Radio Reference". They can be linked together to make programming a breeze. I was able to get my scanner up and running within minutes using those.

Awesome scanner, hearing more than ever.

I wanted a scanner to be able to pick up local police and fire broadcasts, and I got one that does that plus so much more. Very easy to program using FreeScan software, and I typically keep it mounted in my vehicle or bring it in some nights to listen. No reception problems and clear transmission have been great, and I'm getting 3 counties in from the stock antenna on P25 phase 1. Highly recommended if it works in your area, and for most it should. I've listened to CB, Railroad, FRS/GMRS, Air Traffic, and so much more. Close Call is nice but I haven't used it a ton as of yet since it seems to pick up smart meter transmits all over my area.

An Excellent Uniden Scanner with good reception quality and speed.

This Uniden BC radio is what I expected as having owned many Uniden radios, too many to remember over the years. Now to add my observation regard this radio. First it is very easy to program with a computer. The necessary driver was easy to setup The manual was helpful when used a good loading program. Everything was easy considering I'm scanning a large EDAC system that due to the size I wouldn't want to load manually, took an easy 3 days Easy to use and program. recommend 100%.

Great

I'm really enjoying this scanner. I have it setup as a base unit. Most of the services in my area have gone digital, but not all. The seamless scanning between trunked systems and conventional systems with this scanner is exceptional. By far my favorite feature is the display alert. Programmed frequencies can be setup to change the display color when the channel is active. Very useful if the volume is low, and if you're annoyed by priority cutouts. I upgraded from a BC365CRS. I also own a BC355N for mobile use.

It's not that hard if you own and operate a PC. If you don't, get the more expensive Home Patrol line of these scanners.

Haven't bought a new scanner for since the analog days (Over 20 years ago). I'm super happy with this scanner. With the old analog scanners, you bought a frequency book and spent hours working the keys plugging in all the frequencies. That wasn't very easy. Although trunking systems are more complex, using RadioReference.com and Freescan software make it much easier to program these scanners. If you don't own and operate a PC and think you can program these scanners through the buttons on the front, I say good luck and God bless. I did a little reading, and actually downloaded the Freescan software and programmed my channels before the scanner arrived. You have to get comfortable with the Uniden way of creating "Systems", then "Sites" and finally "Talkgroups". Multi-site trunking scanning: read about it, learn it, it's not that friggin hard. When my scanner arrived, I unboxed it, installed the driver on the PC and loaded my data; within 15 minutes and I was up and running.

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