new with a question

tcr03 · #1 (**permalink**) 06-24-2009, 01:59 PM

ok i live in st. charles mo and am looking to get a portable police scanner so i can listen in on all the action.

i was looking at the uniden bc246t and was wonding if i would be happy with that one.

im very new to scanners and have been looking around alittle, but there is so much to know. digital, non digital, and trunking.

what do you think would suit my needs living where i live.

thanks in advance
matt

N0TDL · #2 (**permalink**) 06-26-2009, 07:55 PM

I think you would be happy with that , are you close to Saint Louis ? If so you might want a Digital Scanner , if you look in the data base here for your area , you should see the type of systems and freqs for your area

fmon · #3 (**permalink**) 06-26-2009, 08:53 PM

All Police talkgroups in St Charles are digital.

w8jjr · #4 (**permalink**) 06-26-2009, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tcr03

ok i live in st. charles mo and am looking to get a portable police scanner so i can listen in on all the action.

i was looking at the uniden bc246t and was wonding if i would be happy with that one.

im very new to scanners and have been looking around alittle, but there is so much to know. digital, non digital, and trunking.

what do you think would suit my needs living where i live.

thanks in advance
matt

You will need digital

shaft · #5 (**permalink**) 06-27-2009, 01:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tcr03

ok i live in st. charles mo and am looking to get a portable police scanner so i can listen in on all the action.

i was looking at the uniden bc246t and was wonding if i would be happy with that one.

im very new to scanners and have been looking around alittle, but there is so much to know. digital, non digital, and trunking.

what do you think would suit my needs living where i live.

thanks in advance
matt

You are going to be better off with a digital scanner as others have stated. St. Charles City and the Sheriffs office are both digital. There are rumors of a county wide digital system in the works, but not sure if/when it will be on line.

Either a Uniden 396, GRE PSR-500 or the Radio Shack Pro-106 will be your options. All three have their pros and cons, and I personally dont think any of them are better than the other. I have the 396 and it performs very well monitoring the St. Charles area digital systems.

tcr03 · #6 (**permalink**) 06-27-2009, 01:46 PM

that just figures. i really didnt want to have to spend the money for a digital, but what are ya gonna do.

shaft · #7 (**permalink**) 06-27-2009, 03:28 PM

Keep an eye on the forums here, ebay and craigslist. You can pick up a decent digital for under 300 bucks. I forgot to mention the Radio Shack Pro-96. That actually wouldnt be a bad rig to pick up used. Look hard enough and you can pick it up for $200 to $230 (used).

It is a chunk of change to drop down, but you will certainly get your monies worth out of it.

mo1dmat · #8 (**permalink**) 06-28-2009, 10:35 AM

If I were you, as others have noted, a Pro-96 would be a good one for the price.
I'd also suggest the programming software and cable, as well as the RadioReference premium, unless you just want to tinker and do it manually.

I use a Pro-96, and have St. Charles CIty programmed into it. I used it to monitor St. Charles when I worked out of EMS station at Elm and Hawthorn by IGA. Works great. Right now I have it set up as a base unit and stream audio through it. Not getting St. Charles well as I'm on a temp antenna, which doesn't get them always. In the mean time until you get a radio, you can monitor online free. St. Charles County, Missouri (MO) Live Police, Fire, and EMS Scanners on RadioReference.com

If you have any questions, plenty of people out there to help you get going. Good luck. Jeff

nascarfan999 · #9 (**permalink**) 07-25-2009, 09:37 PM

I completely feel for your budget concerns and offer this solution to you. I also live in St. Charles and I've found I am almost as well off using a non digital scanner (I have a Radio Shack PRO-2052 and a Radioshack PRO 97) to listen to most of the area and using the online feeds mentioned before to monitor STC County. I believe STC City has also been added to one or more of the feeds, but it seems like the amount and coverage of the feeds has changed several times lately and I've failed to keep up with the changes. If this route sounds like it fits you, you can find a new scanner for under $200 and presumably could find a used one much cheaper (although I have not checked around for a used one). If you get lucky and find a used digital for the price range mentioned previously, you may want to jump on it, but otherwise, a cheap analog and the online feeds may satisfy your scanning desires for the short term.

Also, once you get an idea of what type of scanner you want, you can go to the scanners and receivers forums to get more information about specific scanners (plus I'm sure people in here will give you some feedback if needed as well).