Scanner Comparison for Aviation Use Only

[eagleswings01]

Hi Everyone,

I have been reading about scanners for quite a while and have really enjoyed the wealth of knowledge on this forum. There are several scanners I have read reviews on, but I would sincerely appreciate your advice.

My only interest is aviation - general and military. I live in Colorado Springs so there is a lot of both types of traffic in the area. My budget is staying under $200 out the door. I completely understand that this isn't going to get me the best radio - this is just something I want to do for fun with my kids.

Here are the radios I am looking at:

#1. RadioShack 200-Channel VHF/AIR/WX/UHF Handheld Scanner (RadioShack® 200-Channel VHF/AIR/WX/UHF Handheld Scanner - RadioShack.com) - $99

#2 GRE PSR-100 (GRE® PSR-100 200-Channel Handheld Analog Scanner - RadioShack.com) - $99

#3. RadioShack Pro 107 (RadioShack® PRO-107 Handheld iScan Trunking Scanner - RadioShack.com) - $159.99

#4. RadioShack Pro 164 (PRO-164 1000-Channel Handheld Scanner - RadioShack.com) - $169.99

#5. GRE PSR 700 (Amazon.com: GRE PSR-700 Ezscan Radio Scanner w/ Built-In Frequency Database on a 2Gb Hd Mem Crd: Kitchen & Dining) - $179.99


I believe I read that the PSR 100 would cover both civilian and military aircraft, and if that's the case then I would be very happy with that model and price. However, if I am missing something important could you please let me know?

Thank you very much for any assistance. I realize there are a lot of new user threads started and I have read many of them. Hopefully I have provided enough details to help you with your advice on these radios.

Best wishes,
Mike

 

[W8RMH]

Forget #1 and #2, they don't receive the 225-380 MHz military air band. Any of the others should work fine.
The GRE PSR-310 has a good milair range. http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/PSR-310

Pro-404 - The RadioReference Wiki
PSR-100 - The RadioReference Wiki

 

[bgav]

If you aren't limited to a handheld, I'd recommend picking up a used BC780XLT. It is touted by many as one of the best CIV/MIL Air scanners of all time.

 

[eagleswings01]

Forget #1 and #2, they don't receive the 225-380 MHz military air band. Any of the others should work fine.

Pro-404 - The RadioReference Wiki
PSR-100 - The RadioReference Wiki

Hello OH1063,

Thank you very much for your reply and advice! I guess I didn't read closely enough on their available frequencies.

The Pro-107 and the PSR-700 seem to be very similar. Frankly, they look like a toy so from that aspect I wasn't keen on them. However, I would be more concerned with how well they work.

The Pro-164 seems to be a very nice radio, especially for $169. I have a $10 coupon from them so I might strongly consider that one.

Do you have any recommendations one way or the other on those three? They are all roughly the same price, so I guess the deciding factor would be quality and features.

Thank you very much for your help,
Michael

 

[eagleswings01]

Hello bgav,

Thank you for your advice and suggestion on the scanner. Because I would like to take the scanner to regional air shows, I would like to stick with a hand held model.

Best Wishes,
Mike

 

[KB4REA]

Wirelessly posted (BB Bold 9780: Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9780; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.8+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0.0.570 Mobile Safari/534.8+)

I highly recommend the PSR-310 & PSR-410 for your budget & purpose. The 310 is a handheld & the 410 is a mobile/base unit & both can be purchased for $165 OTD. Now the 310 comes with an AC adapter in the box unlike RS models & can be used as a base without blowing through batteries. So good value there on top of its portability. I use the 410 for civil air mostly using a BNC right angle adapter & the RS center-loaded telescopic antenna which if you bought these too, you would still be under $200. I'm listening to it now receiving 3 Jax center freqs both controller & aircraft. Great hobby to share with your kids!

 

[eagleswings01]

Hello Brewkelyn,

Thank you very much for your advice! With your suggestion and OH1063's above, that makes two recommendations for the PSR-310.

I saw that a place called SonicElctronix has this scanner for $159.99 with free shipping and no tax. I hadn't heard of them before, but the online reviews of the company seem to be very good!

GRE PSR-310 (PSR310) Multi-System Handheld Analog Trunking Scanner

Thanks again for all of your help! I will be reading a few more reviews on the PSR 310 this evening.
Mike

 

[b7spectra]

Check out the RS Pro-43.

 

[eagleswings01]

Hi Everyone,

I contacted GRE and spoke to a very helpful fellow there. He said that the PSR 100 would actually work well for Civilian and some Military band as well, but OH1063 - you said that it wouldn't.

Is the Military band 380-420, or 225-400? If it's the first range, then it looks like the PSR 100 would work. But if it's more in the second range, then I looks like I would miss quite a bit.

Last question - would the 3 year Squaretrade warranty be a good idea for the radio, or is that more of a gimmick? They claim a 5 day service guarantee on parts and labor, but I'm thinking this radio should last a whole lot longer than three years without issues.

Thank you again for all of your help!
Michael

 

[KB4REA]

Is the Military band 380-420, or 225-400? If it's the first range, then it looks like the PSR 100 would work. But if it's more in the second range, then I looks like I would miss quite a bit.

Michael,

You definitely want a scanner that covers the whole military band, 225-400mhz. As an example, the Blue Angels' solo pilots use 237.8000. Real fun listening to jet teams perform at airshows!

Members here have purchased from sonicelectronix and they seem to be reputable. Back in December they had the 310 priced at $155 so what I did was I called Scannermaster and they matched that price according to their Low price guarantee policy. Now, they still will charge you for shipping but Dec was free shipping so that was my total cost. I mention this because they are most definitely a reputable dealer and so that extra assurance might be worth to you the extra $10 charge for shipping, I dunno. I know I felt better buying from them.

Warranty? Personally, I've never given it a second thought to buy extra warranty for a radio. You do hear some crazy stuff happening to people's radios here on the boards but I've never had to get any of mine repaired. Maybe others can chime in about that, but I'd pass.

BTW, the posts in this thread have kinda popped out of nowhere and out of sync. so I'm just seeing now what you and some others have posted. It's just weird.

 

[KC4RAF]

+1 with Brewkelyn for full

Mil coverage. As for your question about extended warranty coverage, no. Generally the radio will quit working within the one year mark, if it fails soon. Google about extended warranties and you'll see it a money maker for the dealers.

 

[eorange]

There's not much mil air in the 380-400 MHz range. 225-379.975 MHz is where the military aviation action is.

Beware of buying a radio just because it covers that range. Look on here for experienced aviation listeners who have the radio and know what to report as a good radio.

For example, my GRE PSR-500 covers the mil air range, but it's dismal. Slow to catch the signal, not as sensitive as other radios, and the audio always sounds muddy. That's not to say the PSR-500 isn't good - it's just the mil air coverage isn't.

From my personal experience, these are the good ones:
Uniden BC-780 (still the best, but it's a base)
Uniden BR-330T (used for many years as handheld for mil air)
Yaesu VR-500 (ditto, but slow to scan - 12 channels/sec)
Icom R-6 (turning out to be a great airband performer, but not a beginners radio - no numeric keypad, 6 char alpha tags)

I don't own and never used a PRO-43, but that's universally recognized as a great performer too.

Hope this helps.

 

[eagleswings01]

Brewkelyn - I've wondered about the posts as well. It says that as a newcomer my first three posts are held for moderation, but even though I have more than three it still seems to not post them right away.

That makes sense about covering the whole military band. It's funny you mentioned the Blue Angels - we want to go see them fly at the Lincoln (NE) air show in September! Years ago I had a cheap (about $20) Radio Shack scanner and I was able to hear the Thunderbirds during their air show at Cheyenne Frontier Days. That was fun!

I appreciate you mentioning the warranty and the possibility of purchasing from Scannermaster vs. Sonicelectronix. I'm 99% sold on the PSR 310 but I have just a couple last thoughts that I'll reply to eorange with in just a minute.

rafdav - Thank you very much for also addressing my warranty question! I'll leave it alone and save the $20.

Take care,
Michael

 

[eagleswings01]

Hi eorange,

I really need a handheld to make this fun with my kids (I also plan to take them plane spotting), so I tried looking up the Uniden BR-330T but nothing comes up, not even on eBay. Has it been re-released as a different model?

I found the Icom R6 for $185 here (http://www.gigaparts.com/store.php?action=profile&sku=ZIC-R6) but do you recommend that I stay away from that as a first radio? If it's something that requires a little extra to effort to learn so that I get a better radio, then I can do that. The only thing I can't do right now is raise my budget over $200!

Thanks again,
Michael

 

[eorange]

Unfortunately the BR330T has been discontinued as of a few years ago (sorry, should have mentioned that).

The R6 will do the job, but try to save that as your last resort. Again, sounds like you could learn it, but knowing you'll have the kids crowding around...it's small. The display only shows a six character alpha tag, and that means your tags will be something like DENAPR (short for "Denver Approach", for example). Probably not the best show for multiple people, and especially little ones.

If you can get solid civilian and military airband performance recommendations for the PSR-310, from people on here, then I'd say go with that.

I have no experience with the PSR-310, so I don't know how it performs on airband. But I do have the PSR-500, so I have the same display, alpha tagging, and general form factor. And having a keypad is nice for someone starting out.

 

[KB4REA]

Brewkelyn - I've wondered about the posts as well. It says that as a newcomer my first three posts are held for moderation, but even though I have more than three it still seems to not post them right away.

Ah ok, that makes sense then.

It's funny you mentioned the Blue Angels - we want to go see them fly at the Lincoln (NE) air show in September!

Just saw the homepage for that show, looks like it'll be a good one with lots of performers. Great time of year too! We have our shows here in N. Florida the last week of Oct./first week of Nov. and it can still be pretty hot during the day but generally cooler. Let me know if you need any help getting a database together for the Blue Angels or any other performer.

I'm 99% sold on the PSR 310...

I'm sure you won't be disappointed. :wink: Although there's always the danger of hyping something up too much but let's just say this unit should fit your stated needs just fine.

 

[eagleswings01]

Okay..I ordered the PSR-310!

I purchased it from SonicElectronix and got VERY good service from a fellow named Ricky (Direct line 610-670-2535). He had answered my first call and didn't put me under any pressure to buy anything, plus he was very polite and patient with me.

The total was $159.99 out the door with free shipping, and I already have an email confirmation of my order. Ricky did say that their Oklahoma warehouse would be sending the radio, and because of that it might not ship out until Monday. It was nice of him to warn me ahead of time.

Thanks so much to everyone who helped me with all of the suggestions and advice! I'll let everyone know what I think once it arrives sometime next week.

Take care,
Mike

 

[N8IAA]

Don't forget that the milair range is 118-137 AM, 137-143.975 AM and FM , 225-380MHz AM, FM, WFM, and USB (upper singleside band). The 310 is an excellent choice. Just recently got a 410 for milair. Only have six scanlists filled for now. Oh, don't forget 30MHz, 50MHz and 70MHz
Larry

 

[eagleswings01]

Hi N8IAA,

Thanks so much for the information! I am definitely looking forward to getting it, learning more, and having fun!

Mike

 

[NR8O]

If you're just going to use it for aviation you could pick up a Radio Shack pro-97 on eBay for $50-60 bucks... But I'm cheap like that. :lol: