ham radio for scanneing ?

skeeter1301 · #1 (**permalink**) 10-20-2009, 10:17 PM

hi , i am thinking of purchaseing a YAESU VX-177 for railroad scanner use and possibly future amature radio..
how (i only listen to railroad 8 freq's) would this radio work compared to hand held scanner ?
the antenna company i got my antenna from recomended this and another hand held ham radio.

JASII · #2 (**permalink**) 10-20-2009, 10:55 PM

That is a good choice. I could list the pluses and minuses of each, but the bottom line is it is a viable option.

AlabamaRS · #3 (**permalink**) 10-20-2009, 10:57 PM

not if won't do trunking

gewecke · #4 (**permalink**) 10-20-2009, 11:05 PM

I have a buddy who swears by his VX 150 for railfanning. I'm not a big rail fan but my VX 5 works well for that too.
N9ZAS

N8IAA · #5 (**permalink**) 10-20-2009, 11:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skeeter1301

hi , i am thinking of purchaseing a YAESU VX-177 for railroad scanner use and possibly future amature radio..
how (i only listen to railroad 8 freq's) would this radio work compared to hand held scanner ?
the antenna company i got my antenna from recomended this and another hand held ham radio.

skeeter1301, VX-177 is a UHF- 440-450Mhz radio. Railroad is in the 160Mhz range of the spectrum. You will need a VX-150, 250, or, 270. The VX-170 (now discontinued) was an outstanding receiver for the railroad bands. I know. I used to have one.
Just thought ya'll ought to know

Larry

Damn, haven't been in Cresson for many years. My wife has family back there.

FLRAILMAN · #6 (**permalink**) 10-21-2009, 03:59 AM

Why don't you either get a dedicated 100 channel land mobile commercial radio tuned to the railroad band and have the entire AAR railroad VHF bandplan programed into it? It would be ultra sensitive, very selective & no birdies, it would be pricey though or get one the new Uniden, Radio Shack or GRE scanners that will do much more then the amatuer & commercial radios put together. Don't forget, a great number of railroads are transitioning some if not most or all of their communications sytems to other bands & with a decent scanner you can follow these railroad communications systems without reinvesting more money to compensate for obsolete scanning equipment. I listen to just about anything that transmits however for my railroad monitoring I use a Uniden BC785 XLT scanner & two Vetex-Standard VX-4000 commercial radios (One for VHF & one for UHF freqs.) for my QTH & I use an Alinco DJX-10T & a Vertex-Standard VX-500 when I'm on the move, you don't have to get that radical but find a middle ground somewhere that satifies your listening needs & your wallet. Listen to everyones advice & opinions, digest them, do some research & make a wise choice, after all it's your money, good luck & take care.

(PS) I'm not familiar with Cresson however I used to stay in Willow Grove, just north of Philly in the summertime when I was younger, I am familar with Cambria County so you should be listening to more then 8 railroad channels.

FLRAILMAN

skeeter1301 · #7 (**permalink**) 10-21-2009, 11:46 AM

hey FLRAILMAN , thanks for the response..i do have a uniden portable already ..but i wanted to get further reception so bought a gre base scanner but am not happy with it my portable is better with railroad antenna
would like to get into amature radio hobby also so i figured i'd kill 2 birds with 1 stone..lol

skeeter1301 · #8 (**permalink**) 10-21-2009, 11:50 AM

hey N8IAA , thanks for response...i appreciate your info..i am looken at the YAESU FT-270R instead of the VX-170 OR VX-177..
ya cresson is the best for railfanning get people from all over the world here stay at the b & b in town

skeeter1301 · #9 (**permalink**) 10-21-2009, 11:51 AM

hey gewecke , thanks for respone

skeeter1301 · #10 (**permalink**) 10-21-2009, 11:53 AM

hey JASII , thanks for your response...ya probly get the YAESU FT-270R

kc2rgw · #11 (**permalink**) 10-21-2009, 12:34 PM

If you like scanning, I would recommend the VX-7R or VX8R if you can afford them.

They have a dual VFO so you can scan on one and set the other one up for a repeater at the same time.

I don't know the speed of the VX17x series, but it's pretty decent on my VX7R. For plain analog scanning I use mine for that often and it works well.

The free VX Commander software is a must too, easier than punching through the menus by hand.

WisconsinRailfan · #12 (**permalink**) 10-21-2009, 06:15 PM

My VX-170 is excellent on the railroad bands, I brought both the VX-170 and my Pro97 trackside (both have same Diamond Antenna), the VX-170 really out performed the Pro97. The new version of the VX-170 (YAESU FT-270R) is only about $120 shipped from HRO.

chrismol1 · #13 (**permalink**) 10-21-2009, 09:51 PM

I've seen some 99 channel MT1000's on ebay that are programmed with all ARR frequencies. might be worth taking a look at

FLRAILMAN · #14 (**permalink**) 10-21-2009, 09:54 PM

Hey WisconsinRailfan, do you go over to Universal Electronics & play with their toys?

FLRAILMAN

KC9NCF · #15 (**permalink**) 10-21-2009, 10:50 PM

FLARAILMAN is correct about getting a commercial rig for your railfanning / listening enjoyment. Other than that, I am with a couple others here who said to use a Yaesu VX-170! I have one, and use it both for amateur activity and rail listening. Unless you have 400.00 to 600.00 to blow, I'd not go the route of using one of those "all the bells and whistles" scanners you were advised about, unless you want the digital capabilities and all of that. You said you had an interest in amateur radio, so pursue that because let me tell you it's a ton of fun!

skeeter1301 · #16 (**permalink**) 10-22-2009, 09:13 AM

hey wisconsinrailfan..thanks for response...ya gonna probly get the FT-270R i have the diamond antenna already it works great on my uniden