Question about using Commercial Radios to monitor

[alefty84]

Ive been on and off monitoring locla PD and FD since about 2000, My first scanner was a Pro 92...I noticed though or maybe it was in my head, when I had an HT1000 that it seemed to receive transmissions better than my handheld scanners. I currently have an FT60-r to monitor, but am looking as possibly buying an HT1000, especially with FDNY in UHF, I really have no need to monitor VHF....Id like peoples thoughts or suggestions on this.

Does it provide better receiving of transmissions, or is it all in my head?

[tommyscan]

no its not in your head! monitoring on a programmed portable will usually provide less interference and richer audio than a scanner receiver. At least it does for me as well.

[alefty84]

haha thats what I figured, but me asking, helps me justify spending the money on it.

[N2PYS]

Alefty64 if i was you i would buy a baofeng UV 5RA 2013 model dual band programable radio on amazon with either the diamond or comet replacement antenna from universal radio .

the dado with all the bell and whistles and very hot receiver will set you back 45,88 the antenna is 24.95 and you can receive and transmit on FMRS GMRS UHF VHF MARINA BAND AIRBAND it receives fm stereo from 65-108 it comes with a drop in smart charger and a 12 hour battery plus an ear mic hand strap basic antenna i am a ham for 21 years and i own 2 of them, i love them for the price you can not find a better radio after having them a month i decided i would pay 300$ for one knowing how good they are. and how inexpensive parts are a replacement 12 hour battery 13$ speaker mic 15$ battery replacement to run of 12 volt 13$ this thing will really grow on you and its small little radio.look it up on Amazon before you shell out a wad on an ht1000.

Peace

[KC2OBW]

Nothing wrong with using a commercial radio to monitor I do it all the time. Just make sure on the channels that you are not authorized to transmit on you select Receive only or don't programming the TX freq (depending on radio) HT1000's are nice radios and in the RSS under the channel info there is a spot to select receive only. I wouldn't pay any more then 150 bucks on a HT1000, make sure its a DN revision though.

[alefty84]

Thanks for the replies. Yeah, I had an HT1000 back a few years ago, loved it for monitoring. I have a guy selling me one for $100 DN revision programming and everything for free. First thing requested was to make sure theyre all receive only, thats the last thing I need any issues with lol.

Also another question, because when I had my last HT i was kinda young, The ABC toggle on top, what are those actually for?

[innokuous1]

I've seen the BAOFENG radio advertised with a UHF split of 400-480 MHz and also 400-512 MHz.

Does anyone know from experience which is correct?

[alefty84]

Originally Posted by N2PYS

Alefty64 if i was you i would buy a baofeng UV 5RA 2013 model dual band programable radio on amazon with either the diamond or comet replacement antenna from universal radio .

the dado with all the bell and whistles and very hot receiver will set you back 45,88 the antenna is 24.95 and you can receive and transmit on FMRS GMRS UHF VHF MARINA BAND AIRBAND it receives fm stereo from 65-108 it comes with a drop in smart charger and a 12 hour battery plus an ear mic hand strap basic antenna i am a ham for 21 years and i own 2 of them, i love them for the price you can not find a better radio after having them a month i decided i would pay 300$ for one knowing how good they are. and how inexpensive parts are a replacement 12 hour battery 13$ speaker mic 15$ battery replacement to run of 12 volt 13$ this thing will really grow on you and its small little radio.look it up on Amazon before you shell out a wad on an ht1000.

Peace

That radio looks awesome, but I need for the radio to receive atleast to 482, so I could monitor FDNY's new UHF frequencies

[KC2OBW]

Originally Posted by alefty84

Thanks for the replies. Yeah, I had an HT1000 back a few years ago, loved it for monitoring. I have a guy selling me one for $100 DN revision programming and everything for free. First thing requested was to make sure theyre all receive only, thats the last thing I need any issues with lol.

Also another question, because when I had my last HT i was kinda young, The ABC toggle on top, what are those actually for?

ABC switch will do things like scan talk around and a few other things.


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[alefty84]

In the end, I wound up going with an MTS2000. 48 channels covers most of the NYPD precinct layout plus all 5 FDNY frequencies for the boroughs. As well as Newark PD. Im content with that.

[KC2OBW]

The MTS2000 is a great radio also. Did you make sure the model you bought will do the splinter frequencies? I know some of the older model MTS2000's didn't. And the ones that didnt required a firmware upgrade


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[alefty84]

Originally Posted by KC2OBW

The MTS2000 is a great radio also. Did you make sure the model you bought will do the splinter frequencies? I know some of the older model MTS2000's didn't. And the ones that didnt required a firmware upgrade


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It should be, I asked multiple times before purchasing, if it was able to be programmed with the new FDNY frequencies, and he specified yes.

[KC2OBW]

Did he say what version of firmware is in the radio?


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[alefty84]

Originally Posted by KC2OBW

Did he say what version of firmware is in the radio?


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Stupid me, didnt even think about asking about that.

[KC2OBW]

So every one knows. MTS2000's with firmware 2.11 or newer are fully narrowband capable any firmware older they will only support the 12.5 spacing and not the 6.25. They'll all donate 2.5 kilohertz deviation.


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[N2PYS]

the Baofeng is 400 to 480 at least on the 5 ra the 2013 model