any Grand County, CO folks I could speak with?

[ten4goodbuddycmon]

Hi--This website looks like the place where I can get some help! I'm a newbie to digital scanners. Years ago, (many years ago), I used a CB radio, and also, I used to listen on an analog scanner from Radio Shack. Now, my old analog scanner only (infrequently) picks up one side of our local dispatcher's comments!

I'd like to speak with a savvy local about which scanner might be best for me in this area (Grand County, CO), and also for when I'm driving to Denver and back, etc. I'm thinking about a base/mobile, rather than a handheld (to get more volume).

Thanks in advance for any replies, advice, etc.!

Carol

 

[russellmaher]

Try this...

Colorado Radio Discussion Forum


Hi Carol: May I suggest that you click on the link above and post your questions on there to get responses from members in the area that you're in. It may be more effective on that forum. Hope this helps.


Russell

 

[ten4goodbuddycmon]

Thank you Russell! I thought I wasn't allowed to post on 2 forums, though.

Will it be OK to post on the Colorado Radio Discussion Forum, after I initially posted here, on this forum?

Carol

 

[Spitfire8520]

Welcome to the forums! I don't think too many people from Colorado lurk around these parts of the forums, but I'll try to help you out a little bit. I have included a list of digital scanners that are on the market with links to their respective wiki page that will provide a general description of the scanner. Be advised that anything under Older Model cannot pick up certain frequency bands (specifically 700 MHz) that is necessary to pick up radio traffic seamlessly. A majority of public safety in the Denver area are on State of Colorado DTRS with exceptions such as Denver Public Safety, City of Aurora, and Arvada / Westminster Public Safety on analog trunked radio systems and Boulder County on VHF. I'm not entirely sure of what Grand County uses. The database says they are on DTRS, but there's also quite a few VHF frequencies listed.

I think (not sure) that generally most people in Colorado use the RadioShack and GRE line of product (essentially the same product) due to the higher quality of digital decoding. There might be a few that are selling used for a good price. However, getting a new RS/GRE scanner is almost no longer an option due to issues with manufacturing and price gouging, so you may want to also keep Uniden in mind. This doesn't mean a new RS/GRE scanner is out of the question though.

If you really want to hunt down someone who lives in your area, you might want to check around the Colorado forums that Russell has linked above. I hope I was able to give you a sufficient introduction and wish you luck on finding what suits you most.

Current Model:
GRE PSR-500 (Handheld)
GRE PSR-600 (Base/Mobile)
GRE PSR-800 (Handheld)
RadioShack Pro-106 (Handheld)
RadioShack Pro-197 (Base/Mobile)
Uniden BCD396XT (Handheld)
Uniden BCD996XT (Base/Mobile)
Uniden HomePatrol-1 (Base/Mobile)

Discontinued:
RadioShack Pro-18 (Handheld)
Uniden BCD396T (Handheld)
Uniden BCD996T (Base/Mobile)

Older Model (Lacking 700 MHz):
RadioShack Pro-96 (Handheld)
RadioShack Pro-2096 (Base/Mobile)
Uniden BC296D (Handheld)
Uniden BC796D (Base/Mobile)

 

[WayneH]

Will it be OK to post on the Colorado Radio Discussion Forum, after I initially posted here, on this forum?

Hi Carol and welcome to the forums. Yes, we allow new members to start new threads in forums that have been recommended to them permitted they start here first.

We do not like to move threads, and rarely do, from this forum since many new members can be confused by the action. So we recommend veteran members make recommendations as to a better forum to get help in.

 

[ten4goodbuddycmon]

Thank you Russell, Spitfire, and Wayne!

Thank you all for your kind welcome, and good advice!

Russell, --Thank you! I will follow your advice, and after
I read the links that Spitfire recommended, I will probably post
on the Colorado Radio Discussion Forum.

Spitfire,--Thank you for your links! I will read them all.
I had a chance on Wed., to visit with a radio-savvy person
in my area, and from some of what I learned from him,
and from our local RadioShack manager, I'm slowing down,
and I see that I need to read more, and I will need to ask
questions here, before deciding on which digital scanner to buy.

Wayne-- Thank you for clarifying that I can post (when ready) on
the Colorado Radio Discussion Forum!

---------------------------

My local radio-savvy resource guy told me he used to own a handheld
HomePatrol digital scanner, but that the volume was not as loud
(I need loud) as a recent RadioShack handheld digital scanner, that
our local RadioShack manager has set up, that she said she
turned down in volume (not as loud as it could be).

He liked the ease of automatic programming, by putting a zip code
into the HomePatrol, but, my local Radio Shack manager can help me
a lot with programming, so I don't think that programming would be
an issue.

Meanwhile, until I decide--I bought a 36 inch analog/digital
mag mount scanner antenna (for top dead center of my car, for
"ground plane") from my local RadioShack, to work with my old analog
RadioShack PRO-2018 200 channel desktop scanner.

I programmed almost all of the Grand County frequencies into it, that
I saw on this website, plus I found a few more new analog frequencies,
by "searching", using the FD/PD (Fire Dep't/Police Dep't) button.

EMS/Emergency Medical Service, and SAR/Search & Rescue, and Fire,
all use analog (VHF/Very High Frequency) here, but the Sheriff's Dep't
uses digital.

I used to be a CB'er, back in the 1970's (hence my "handle"), but with
all that's happening these days, my interest in scanning got renewed.

Thanks again to all!
Carol

 

[gr8rcall]

Colorado Radio Discussion Forum


Hi Carol: May I suggest that you click on the link above and post your questions on there to get responses from members in the area that you're in. It may be more effective on that forum. Hope this helps.


Russell

Link does not seem to be working....here's another one:
Colorado Radio Discussion Forum - The RadioReference.com Forums

Also, I wasn't aware that we are allowed to direct new members to other forums, as long as they post in the New User Forum first!
Thanks for clarifying that WayneH!

 

[Spitfire8520]

If you will be doing in-depth research of your next scanner, you might want to look up some of Mark's Easier to Read manuals. I find that the first few sections give a terrific overview of the features found on each scanner and the entire manual gets you an idea of how they operate.

Current Model:
Easier to Read Pro-106/197/PSR500/600 Digital Scanner Manual
Easier to Read BCD396XT Digital Scanner Manual
Easier to Read BCD996XT Digital Scanner Manual
Easier to Read HomePatrol Scanner Manual

Discontinued:
Easier to Read BCD396T/UBCD396T Digital Scanner Manual
Easier to Read BCD996T/UBCD996T Digital Scanner Manual