First Scanner

[nsheepdog]

I am interested in getting a hand-held scanner. I am leaning heavily toward Uniden. What are some minimum requirements I should be looking for? I will likely try and find a used hand-held.

How important is it to have a scanner? I've got by fine without one. What is the motivation for people to spend hundreds of dollars on a scanner such as the Uniden BCD396XT (APCO 25) compatible?

 

[jdude]

I was just talking to another INGO'er today about this. He has some knowledge about this type of thing and i was looking for some info about the new 800 megahertz system the are implementing in our area. I don't want to buy something that will be almost useless in the future so I am also interested in more info on this.

 

[tom1025]

I just down loaded a free app to my Droid X. You can listen to scanners all over the country. Its called scanner radio.

 

[canav844]

I am interested in getting a hand-held scanner. I am leaning heavily toward Uniden. What are some minimum requirements I should be looking for? I will likely try and find a used hand-held.

How important is it to have a scanner? I've got by fine without one. What is the motivation for people to spend hundreds of dollars on a scanner such as the Uniden BCD396XT (APCO 25) compatible?

I do it because I enjoy listening in on the world around me, largely entertainment, though I have used it to avoid areas where accidents tie up the roads (very helpful in bad weather, go where the plows have been and the fire department is not) it's also useful to find new frequencies, being a ham that's half the fun of making a contact when I'm traveling, figuring out where other folks are in the radio spectrum.

In Indiana if your county is on the Indiana SAFE-T, or you want to listen to the MArion county system (formely MECA, but they renamed it recently) you'll be needing the P25 (APCO Project 25 it's all the same) capability to listen to most of it, however I've got a few older scanners picking up the analog side of the SAFE-T system, they don't get LE traffic but they grab fire, air, FRS/GMRS, CB and the majority of business radios without any hesitation. It's really law enforcment and some fire that makes me bust out the P25 scanner.

If you go a traditional scanner route, and it's got P25, save yourself some headaches and get programming software and 6 months subscription to the RadioReference database, download and update that way.

You can also go with a little more consumer friendly model like the HomePatrol from Uniden or the GRE PSE-800, those interface more like a GPs or media player than a scanner, so it's easier for you to find what you're looking for.

Before you dive in, I'd suggest listening online to the radioreference or liveATC feeds, to get a feel for the kind of stuff that you'll hear, if it sparks some interest then by all means give it a shot. LE is good to listen to later on a Friday or Saturday, they always seem to have a few chemically influenced individuals to respond to.

 

[ralphb72]

I go with Radio Shack scanners, just because I can get them locally and I like to support my local radio shack store. Many of the area agencies are going to the digital systems. In order to hear them, you pretty much have to get a digital trunking scanner. Not just a scanner that is digital, but one that will pick up digital radio systems. For that you need the high end scanners: RadioShack® PRO-106 39,000-Channel Digital Handheld Scanner - RadioShack.com is the one I have, It's on sale for $330 right now.

I bought an analog trunking scanner 4 years ago for half of that, but then our Police and Sheriff departments here in town switched to the digital system so I had to turn around and buy a new one last year. The Fire department is still analog for now but I have heard them on the digital system testing radios. Most of the Ham traffic is analog, but even Richmond Power and Light is digital now, but as far as I know there isn't a scanner that can pick them up (Icom Digital IDAS IDAS General Information - Features - Icom America )

I have the cable and software for the Pro-106 and a lot of people in our Ham radio club have them so the program file I use was partially already set up, I just massaged the data a little to change it the way I wanted it.

Motivation: I work at the power company, many times the Fire department is sent out for downed and sparking lines before we have even been notified about them. I also like to know what is going on around town.

 

[Sailor]

The new GRE PSR-800 is getting good reviews. GRE PSR-800 Product Reviews

 

[nmcampbe]

I have a unident bc246T and it is a good little scanner with the trunk tracker capability. If I was to do it all over again, I would go with one of the radio shack scanners probably the pro 106, seems like you get more features at a lower price and it is hard to find anybody dissappointed with them. The cell phone app is great as long as your cell phone is working when things go down.

 

[nsheepdog]

I listened to RadioReference for my county Sheriff and fire. The audio quality isn't great. how is the audio quality listening via internet compare to a hand held device? I'm gonna keep listening online for a while and see if I continue to find it interesting or not.

Thanks for distinguishing between digital trunking and just digital!

Which should I buy first a scanner or a CB radio for my vehicle (after getting technician license)?

 

[canav844]

Depends if you're going to listen or talk, a scanner you'll need an amateur license to have in the car, unless you meet one of the other nine exemptions, but a good CB setup can be had for just under $100 and will not require licensing of any sort, a good mobile VHF amateur station can be had for about $200 and you're crossing into $1k for an amateur HF station.

CB is an excellent way to cut your teeth getting into radio, but it can just as easily make your ears bleed and if you've got young ones, teach them all kinds of new words they shouldn't say in school.

Trunking, is basically bouncing between channels, and digital trunking is just how that bouncing is accomplished, digital voice actually changing the radio signal to transmitting ones and zeros instead of modulating the radio wave. Online feeds are definitely compressed and reduced in quality (they take that digital radio signal, have the scanner make it into an analog headphone signal, then re compress it to digital signal transmit it over the internet where your speakers make it analog sound waves again; so it's like getting a third level copy of a VHS from the time the person speaks until it gets to your ears); but it varies between antenna, scanner, computer and internet connection as to how close they actually get to putting out something matching the quality of the radio signal, I'll see if I can find one that's a good sample to give you a clear idea of how they sound. I've got to warn you though, it probably sounds great compared to a weak AM or SSB signal on CB or HAM HF bands.

 

[printcraft]

Depends if you're going to listen or talk, a scanner you'll need an amateur license to have in the car, ........s.

Yeah, I was thinking having a mobile in a car was illegal in Indiana.... which everywhere else besides new york and dc are legal.