Uniden HomePatrol-2 Color Touchscreen Simple Program Digital Scanner, TrunkTracker V and S,A,M,E, Emergency/Weather Alert, APCO P25 Phase 1 and 2! Covers USA and Canada, Quick Record and Playback

This scanner is fabulous. I love not having to enter all the system info. I can just let it scan. It even works well with my Mac using Parallels desktop for Windows. Syncing isa very easy. The only things I wish it had were easier way to manage favorite lists from the scanner itself and the ability to set priority channels. I miss not having it switch to a priority channel when theres activity.

I have owned many scanner radios over the years, including Regency crystal type. I have a 396xt which has been THE scanner to receive most digital signals, in my county. Cincinnati Police are partially encrypted so most reception is Hamilton County Sheriff as well as surrounding counties. This is the scanner to own, for the majority of users. As to install, it literally took me 1 minute to getup and running. At this time, im going with the factory firmware and not connected to a laptop. The display is superb, finish and build quality very good, and the reception of digital signals very clear. The one thing I miss is the loss of search function. You cant set a lower and upper scan range looking for new frequencies. The signal strength meter is way to small in the upper right corner. Setup is very easy. Punch in your zip code.. The scanner will load all local frequencies from a 4 gig micro sd card, located under the right side batteries. 2300 Mahr nimh AA batteries are included. After loading your frequencies, you then can go into the meny and adjust distance from transmitters to your home and pick what type of freq. to load. When doing setup just go past the page asking for user info, either attach USB to computer to download Sentinel off Unidens web site. I did not use Sentinel. A better choice would be Scancat. Sentinel will not run properly in XPpro, especially if you have a lot of drivers loading. I strongly suggest you install into Win 7-8.1. I have seen issues involving corruption of the sd card, especially if nimh batteries are nit loaded. An AC failure seems to corrupt some cards. Honestly,the radio is fine with original firmware. So, if you have no laptop handy, use as is. The clarity of digital signals is better then on my 396. Now the bad- get an extendable whip antenna and toss the rubber duckie. Universal has a fine antenna with the correct sma connector and swivel. Consider getting a Uniden extension speaker, especially in autos. The gps option automatically changes freq. depending on location. Be gentle installing the two connectors to the radio. Jacks have been reported to fail when excessive presure is applied. The gps uses a very clunky interface needing a separate power connection. I would recommend not leaving scanner on dashboard in summer. I have not encountered any software bugs with original firmware. The ver. 2 has a charge indicator on the front panel. The scanner is currently overpriced. If you dont need it now, wait until the prices come down. For the average listener, the zip code feature issuperb. I had to pay to program previous Unidns. They were terrible even using scanning software. I wouldve given five stars, except for the price. ADVOCATE USE REPORT- after living with the HPII, I become more impressed everyday. The scanner was so easy to setup. No computer required. Tone quality superb even on APCO 25 phase one. The scanner also decode phase 2 being used in some large cities. This is first trunk tracking HP. Graphics in color are EXCELLENT. Sensitivity excellent. Setup SUPERB. If you use matching speaker, sound is fantastic. You can alter to exact mile away from transmitter that you will receive. Start with zip code. Then go into menu and fine tune distance. All the negative issues concerning jacks failing is not really correct, at least on my sample. You do not have to immediately use a computer. You dont have to enter your info. Bypass these screens and enjoy. I was particulary impressed by clear reception from other counties. I do recommend you dump the rubber duckie. Universal sells a superb telescopic whip that cones with a swivel sma plug. You can use and charge, if you AC adapter is rated 1 amp @5v. Next use test will be new uniden trunking five handheld.

I had this up and running within 20 minutes of opening the box. Simple to use and picked up all of the frequencies in my area and began scanning by just hooking it up to my computer (cord was included) downloaded all of the updates and it worked. I took it to a neighborhood watch meeting, set it on the table, turned it on and everyone there was very very impressed. I recommend it!

Well im guessing my city has their channels scrambled, I could get it but everything was scrambled so you couldnt understand what was said! I only want to give one star as I tried to get in touch with the company who makes them with their phone number and you cant talk to a human! Of course im sure theyll blame it on COVID!! So I couldnt fix the problem with the scanner so all I could do was return it and call it a day! Just wanted to thank the company for all the headaches of trying to figure out what was wrong by my self because theyre never around to help you solve any problems that might call me up!

I received this and set it up and it worked perfectly for about 2 weeks. Then it stopped working completely. I contacted them and set up a return and replacement. I am waiting on the replacement to show up. If it works and does not go dead on me, I would give this a 5 star rating. Till I can see the results of the replacement, I cant. For the time it did work, it worked really well. Tracked all my local agencies as well as civil and military air in the area. It also tracked all the train traffic in my area. Easy to set up and get running. Dissapointed with the replacement as it was missing the stand and was an apparent return, not a new unit. Was programed for wisconsin, not from a virgin state. Lowered my rating on this seller.

I got this because my local police recently upgraded their radio system to an unencrypted Project 25 Phase 1 system. This raised my awareness to how many local systems are now digital, and I was looking for a quick solution. The HomePatrol 2 is a nice solution. It was very easy to get going using the ZIP code location setting. The connection with the RadioReference.com database works nicely--it automatically pulled up a LOT of frequencies, and the ability to select by service is very handy. It takes some getting used to if youre an old-school scannerist like me because Im so used to doing all the work! Be aware that, for amateur radio use, this receiver will only decode AM or FM signals in the VHF and UHF amateur bands. If you need something for HF amateur work, this is NOT the unit for you, but it WILL automatically load local repeater frequencies for you. Im not keen on the landscape device format, but the color touch screen and included desk stand are very nice. I also like the ability to pause reception by System, Department or Channel with a single touch. This is great for limiting the scanned channels on-the-fly, but you can also set up favorites for doing this more permanently, The right-angle antenna is a slight annoyance, especially being SMA, but the included SMA-BNC adapter will allow you to connect your favorite scanning antenna. In that case, youll need a right-angle BNC elbow (NOT included) if you want to use a vertical antenna directly on the unit. Although this unit is pretty nice, I decided to return it and get the Uniden BCD436HP instead, which is very similar in functionality to the HP-2, but in a more conventional handheld format with a few extra features (and slightly less expensive). I still recommend the HomePatrol-2 as a great general modern scanner with plenty of capabilities, especially if you like a desktop format (and it can be mounted mobile as well).

I really wanted to love this scanner......in fact based on other reviews I was fully looking forward to giving the product 5 stars.......First off, it IS and excellent scanner!!! Probably the best and quickest set up out of the box I have ever owned....That being said, the actual operation of the machine is rather lame......Great sound, range, reception.....BUT for some reason it will not remain operational while charging via computer......It is a bit tiring to leave the unit on for several hours only to have the batteries deplete and have to shut the unit completely down to re- charge It will NOT charge while in operation (via usb/computer)......There is an after market AC power source available which I intend to try....but it is odd that Uniden does not provide one.......This is a great little scanner!!! Too bad the ergonomics of its operation get in the way of its possible 5 star rating!!!

Not all the hype comes true as easily as claimed. Data base a good start, but not an end all. Have yet to see what it will do mobile with GPS and data base. I am still having a hard time understanding what service type to turn on to get the stations I want. Just about anything in amateur radio has to be manually put in, no GPS data base for local ham repeaters when traveling.

This is an excellent starter scanner. Very easy to use. However, while the specs say it can read a 64GB microSD card, this would be difficult without some computer knowledge and additional software. This device can only read microSD cards formatted in FAT32. Windows 11 restricts FAT32 format to 32GB memory or smaller. Anything larger than 32GB Windows 11 will format in exFAT, which cannot be read by HomePatrol. AND this needs a telescopic antenna, if you want to receive the lower frequencies with clarity. The battery management or charging system is very rudimentary/basic. It is not capable of charging based upon the state of charge of the batteries. Also lithium rechargeable batteries cannot be used.

Easy to use. Much better than a cell phone appams it is about 20 seconds faster than a delayed cell phone scanner app. I was hesitant to spend this much money on something like this knowing that a cell phone as an app that can do the same thing, not true whatsoever this thing is great, it’s faster than a cell phone and when you’re on a cell phone you’re only picking up one channel the scans them all this is a definite must buy I absolutely love it