The BC-396 Arrives

Last week I ordered a Uniden BC-396. Over the weekend, I created a programming file using Butel's ARC 396 software so that I would have something ready to put in the radio once it arrived. This afternoon the radio arrived. The first thing I thought when I pulled the radio out of the box was "this thing is tiny!" It is amazing that a scanner this capable comes in a package this small. It is, at most, 2/3 the size of my trusty old BC-250 (see photo below, BC-250 on the left and BC-396 on the right).



If you are thinking about programming this radio by hand, DON'T. This is a radio best programmed by computer. It would probably take you the better part of a month to program it by hand, wearing down several finger tips in the process.


After putting some AA batteries in (try that with earlier Uniden trunktracking scanners), I uploaded the ARC 396 program and started scanning. I immediately noticed that unlike the 250, the 396 does not display both talkgroup/frequency and the alphanumeric tag, just the alphanumeric tag. This is a minor annoyance, but a workaround using system/group arrangement and alphanumeric tags remedied the situation. In the process, I also learned a great deal about the radio.


Amazingly, after programming in all of what I had in the 250 plus a few new conventional and trunking systems into the 396, I am only utilizing approximately 20% of it's memory.



I tried to get a general feeling for the radio today, I'll be seeing what it can do on the various bands over the next few days and I'll post another report on the performance.


Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net