Uniden Public Safety Receiver (HOMEPATROL) Review

Can this be a dream I thought to myself when looking at the Uniden Public Safety Receiver (HOMEPATROL) online. Is this true for the price they are selling it providing you with all these features and a touch screen. Well, must say I was impressed and thought what an amazing breakthrough for a digital scanner at an affordable price.

That is when I decided to buy myself one as I work as a Video Grapher in different markets for years now and have used variety scanners throughout my life.

The Uniden Homepatrol beats them all

I could not wait for the Uniden Homepatrol to arrive and like a boy with a new toy, even if I had used many of them. However, this one seems special for the price and surprised once I opened the box receiving the receiver with antenna, AC adapter, a car charger, USB cable, four by AA rechargeable batteries, SD card, and a table stand to use while home.

The great thing about this home patrol system is that taking out of the box and setting it on my desk at home, I could immediately set it up via adding my city, zip code, GPS (that I found needed a proper connection), and area (the home patrol automatically connects to the signal of the area.)

Comes with everything

At the price I paid for it, the Uniden Public Safety Receiver (HOMEPATROL) comes with everything from preloaded frequencies, the software, and a stand that is great when I am using it at home and not in my vehicle, it has a touch screen that works great for me.

The touch screen is brilliantly designed and easy to navigate and you can set brightness, contrast, auto dims it, and power save to your liking. It comes with the preloaded frequencies provided on a 2gig SD micro card and Uniden updates the list on a regular basis by plugging the receiver into my PC and hitting the update with the provided software.

It comes with all the great features from Squelch, range, inputting frequencies, attenuation, GPS connection, favorites, and even recording is all there.  It also comes equipped with a standard headset jack to connect to headphones while listening to transmissions.

You can set up the Uniden Homepatrol to listen to various stations from the fire, transportation, rail, police, and more.

The nitty-gritty of the Uniden Homepatrol

I am very impressed with the Uniden Homepatrol system, however do have some problems when it came to setting up my favorites in the receiver and was time consuming to make an entire list and found it better to make the list in the software provided while working on my PC. The software is easy to use and navigate, but lacks instructions on how to use. However, once I figured it out it worked well and much easier using the software than the receiver itself did.

The touch screen is great and shows you departments, frequencies, and more. The once touch lock feature is great, but the only problem is the skip of channels that requires a three touch process on the tiny bar provided on the right side that is a bit of a pain. The squelch is great and overall it is a great scanner and Uniden is working on the small problems it has now.

Key Features

• The Uniden Homepatrol system is easy to set up by using your GPS coordinates, zip code, areas and more
• It comes with pre-loaded frequency settings
• It has a touch screen display providing you with loads of information to easily access you use the most
• You can set up your favorites list by using the receiver or software provided
• It comes with recording and playback
• With the quick hold option, it allows you to tap on the channel name and lock and hold on any system, channel, or department
• The unit is battery operated and great if the power goes out

Uniden Public Safety Receiver (HOMEPATROL)

Customer Reviews

I found many customer reviews readily available on Amazon with more than 200 users who have bought the Uniden Homepatrol receiver. Most customers are pleased with the unit and love the fact that it picks up digital and analog. Others advised that the scanner is simple to use and great to update via the free software provided.

Another user advised that the home patrol system is a solid performer and has great sensitivity and selectivity. As he has listened to APCO-25 digital systems and the sound, quality is excellent.

Pros and Cons of Uniden Public Safety Receiver (HOMEPATROL)

Pros

• The receiver works out of the box with no problems
• The preloaded frequencies are great and there is no need for you to program them in
• The touch screen is brilliant and makes using the home patrol system easy
• The audio is great while used at home
• It comes with some great advanced features

Cons

Now, you do not have a mounting bracket available to use in your vehicle, but Uniden is working on it. There are some minor glitches that Uniden is busy sorting out.

Final Word

The Uniden Public Safety Receiver (HOMEPATROL) made for the advanced user and at ease with programming in trunked radio systems, attenuations, modes and more. The home patrols geared towards the novice user who enjoys working with scanners and a breeze to use. I have enjoyed using the ability of recording while unattended and replaying it while relaxing in my office at home to hear all the interesting transmissions taking place. I have used it while traveling and sleeping over in hotels and replaying all the overnight happenings in the town that is unfamiliar to me and provides me with informative information especially where crimes concerned.