Advice On New Scanner

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bjblackout

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I am currently in the market for a digital scanner. Just wanted some help on what to spend my money on and the reasons why you suggest the scanner you do.

I live in Harford County, Md and want to be able to pick up the Harford County Sheriffs department, the Baltimore City Police, and the Maryland Sate Police. I was looking last nigh at the Radio Shack Pro 96 but was wondering if this is the scanner for me?? I also like the name Bearcat but not sure what scanner they offer would meet my ever so simple needs. I want a mobile hand held scanner so I hope this helps in the recommendation process. One thing I noticed with the Pro 96 is that it looks like you need to buy additional ting to sync it with your PC for programming. Is this correct and if so how difficult is programming. I currently have a Bearcat SC150 and it is virtually useless.

Please everyone steer me in the right direction for the needs I have. If you suggest a scanner please tell me why you lean toward that specific scanner. So glad I found tis site so I can be an informed shopper when buying my next scanner. Thank you in advance for your time!!
 

TinEar

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I assume you went to one of the dealer sites suggested in your "Newbie Question" thread and checked them out. If you want a handheld, there isn't much question - go with the new (Bearcat) Uniden 396T. It's a little more expensive than a 296 or the PRO-96 from Radio Shack but it has all the bells and whistles for now and into the future. If you don't want to spend that much money, go with the Uniden 296. And if you still don't want to spend that much money, on that last thread, troymail mentioned he had a used 296 for sale if you want to go that way. There will be some debate among users between the Uniden 296 and PRO-96 from Radio Shack but there always is. Those are your only choices - it's one of those three models for a handheld that will work digital....unless, as was suggested, the older Uniden 250 with digital card but that won't be able to be updated when rebanding takes place. However, it's cheap for now if you wanted to crawl into the game and then update later.

Alan
 
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Dank

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digital handheld

A good source of info would the forums for both Uniden and RS scanners. You can read about issues / advantages that each has from those currently using them. One thisng to consider is what type of scanning do you want to do. From what I have heard the BC396 lacks in the Military airband 200-400 AM. If this isn't of interest to you and you don't mind the price consider this radio. I personally have a 296, which I like fine. I purchased the ARC software from Butel to program it using my laptop. This is a breeze to do and much easier than by jnd and more flexible than with the Uniden software. Another option to consider is the BC 250 combo if you can find it. Basically the same radio as the 296, but doesn't follow the 9600 baud rate currently used by only a handful of systems in the USA. The digital decoder card comes in the box (hence the name combo) and easily installs in the BCD250 just above the battery pack. I have seen these BC 250 combo units significantly cheaper than the BC296's.

Good luck.
Dan
 

ka3jjz

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I would avoid the 250 and 785's from Uniden like the plague. You can read about the upcoming 'rebanding' in the various forums; to highly oversimplify, public service, utility and Nextel - all that currently share space in the 800 mhz spectrum - are being shuffled so that they exist in their own sections of the band (right now, they're mixed in together, and that has caused major problems in metro areas). When this happens, scanners that currently trunktrack Motorola systems will no longer work. Uniden has said that they will not support the 250 and 785 when this happens.
A word to the wise is sufficient....73s Mike
 

Al42

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Long Island, NY, USA
Once you add batteries, Power supply/charger, computer cable and software (Uniden supplies all of them, even though you have to download the software) to the price of the Pro-96 you're over the price of the BCD396T, and you get a belt clip that works as long as you don't move a muscle. The 396 is also reflashable by the user - the Pro-96 has to go back to Ft. Worth for firmware upgrades.

It's your choice.
 
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