UNIDEN 325P2 (UBCD325P2) REVIEW

 Hello and Welcome Back... I Finally managed to get my hands on a Uniden 325P2 Radio Scanner and have been playing with it for a week or so.. Here is My Thoughts.

 

If this radio looks familiar, that's because its built using the same casing as Uniden UBC93XLT, Is this a good thing? Lets Find Out..

So, i'm guessing someone from Uniden seen that they had excess casings of an old scanner and decided to breath new life into the budget scanner market.. and so the 325P2 was born..

And it kinda works, almost..

Inside it has the same menu system as the 396T/XT which makes this radio compatible with Freescan software.. But that's where the resemblance to the 396XT ends. I was hoping that the 325P2 was a 396XT with added features but, sadly no.

For those who don't know, the 396XT has to one of the best scanners ever invented. The sensitivity of the 396XT is legendary, excellent for Airband, Military Scanning and just about anything you can throw at it so when i seen that the 325P2 had the same menu system, I remained hopeful that it had the same sensitivity as its little brother (396xt) Buuuut... Sadly no.

(a Uniden 235P2 in the Wild) (Above)

Firstly the 325P2 seems deaf.. Using the supplied antenna, i was surprised how it seemed to hardly pick anything up... Was it in the programming?

I switched to 2 different programming software to see if something was not right, I started with Freescan then went to Proscan (Proscan has better settings esp with DMR)

But nothing seemed to work so then i thought 'Antenna'

I hooked the radio up to my outdoor antnna and it started to receive better. I also noticed that the firmware was was behind (Use UBC VUP3 to update firmware) so i updated the firmware.. Not sure if its just me but i thought this update only made it more deaf..

Using the outdoor antenna seemed to be overkill so i looked at handheld antennas but was limited as the 325P2 uses a BNC connection and most of my handheld antennas are SMA.

I run a Diamond SRH771 on my 436PT and absolutely love it, its has to be my fav antenna but what to do with my 325P2?

So i decided to buy a BNC to SMA Female adapter so i could mate the Diamond antenna to the adapter and try that..annnnd.. IT WORKED

The 325PT burst into life, It was like a new radio.. It kinda looked funny with the adapter and a gap where the antenna connected so i got a couple of little washers to fill in the gap and some heat shrink and DONE.. now not only does it receive excellent, it looks good too.. Win Win

GOOD POINTS

Large Screen and Well Lit

DMR (Digital Mobile Radio) Compatable

NXDN Compatable

Phase 1 & 2 P25

Good Size (Fits Well Into Hand)

BAD POINTS

No Backlit Keypad

Seems Deaf without a Decent Antenna

2 Battery's Only (Battery's tend to die quickly when using P25 /DMR)

Limited in Programming = Limit of 255 sites in PSN/GRN

Limited in Programming = limit to 20 groups for each bank

Limited in Programming = Limit to 500 TGIDs in Trunked P25 Sites Only

 

(Only 2 battery's for this radio, 3 would have been better) (Above) Recommend Enloop Pro 4300mha batterys

CONCLUSION

Should You Buy One Of These Radio's?

YES

Once you get a decent antenna (something with a bit of gain), some good battery's and programmed properly, its an excellent little radio.. The screen is easy to read, i wear reading glasses and even without my glasses, i can still see the screen.. The backlight is also excellent, i just wish it followed down to the keypad..

Sensitivity could be better, something as good as the 396xt would be the best and having 3 batterys for when the going get tough decoding P25 or DMR

MY SCORE = 7/10 

I Offer full radio Programming For The 325P2 to breath life into your radio (Link) = http://scanradionsw.blogspot.com/2021/11/radio-programming-services-available.html

LINKS

https://www.strictlyham.com.au/browse-by-type/antennas/handheld/handheld-antennas/diamond-srh-771  (Diamond SRH771 Antenna)

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