Hi from Eastbourne, England! :)

Hello all, I came across the forum via a Google search for a scanner I'm interested in.

As you can see from my username I have an amateur radio callsign and enjoy contesting, DX'ing and chatting on-air... other interests (apart from radio) are NASCAR (yes, a fan in England!) and music.

My first interests in radio were SW and MW/AM and I spent a lot of time listening to far-off broadcast stations before hearing about amateur radio. I've been M3ENF since August 2003 and operate with a Yaesu FT-950 and long-wire. I also have a RadioShack DX-384 but sadly doesn't cover airband...

My interests in airband bring me to this forum as I'm looking to buy a scanner that will cover civil and military frequencies here in England... I have a shortlist of the following:

GRE PSR 295
Alinco DJ-X3
UBC 92XLT
UBC 72XLT

Those are in my price range but I think only the PSR 295 does mil frequencies... my *wish list* has Yaesu VR-5000 or UBC 3500XLT but too expensive right now.

I'm located down in Eastbourne in the south-east corner of England.

Any advice/thoughts/comments on my short list of scanners would be greatly appreciated!

the Uniden UBC are very good for airband scanning, you wont go wrong there, and btw welcome to RR
I am sure the more experienced airbanders will point you in the right direction

Welcome!

There are quite a few airband enthusiasts here, and also be sure to visit the regional UK Radio Discussion forum here on RR.

TammieM3ENF said:

Those are in my price range but I think only the PSR 295 does mil frequencies... my *wish list* has Yaesu VR-5000 or UBC 3500XLT but too expensive right now.

Click to expand...

The UBC 295 does do mil-air, but like most GRE's I've met, is not the most sensitive in that band. Also be aware that the manual lists about 9 birdies in the VHF airband, and about 13 birdies in the UHF milair band. That may not be a problem if you lock them out, but check with the UK discussion group to see if any of those birdies might be a problem in your area.

Although I prefer Uniden scanners for better sensitivity in milair, and also the tendency to use more bandpass filters, given your short list, I'd opt for the 295 anyway especially because of the enhanced features like PL, DCS, alpha-tags (!!) etc. The 295 uses triple-conversion, so that is a plus too.

At the very least, plan on swapping out the oem duck with something like a Watson W-901 or Maldol AL-500H antennas dedicated to airband. A telescopic will do fine if you only monitor vhf or uhf during one session. Also, depending on your location, the less sensitive 295 in the milair band may not really be an issue - it all depends.

If you have a chance, see if you can actually listen to one in action. There are a lot of fake speaker holes, and what appears to be a very tiny speaker. Audio fidelity might be a make-or-break issue with you.

I haven't seen too many glowing reviews of the VR-5000. The UBC 3500XLT is something I'd love to get hold of. I've seen a nice review of it here:

http://www.ukmidlandscanner.co.uk/uni3500.htm

But for some budget airband scanning, I'd still be tempted with the 295.

Thanks to both of you for your replies

I *may* have found a UBC 3500 XLT second-hand at a very good price so I'm investigating that one as well as comparing it to the PSR 295...

Extra antenna is a must I think... I'll have to see what I've got already that might do... or check out Maplin as they seem to have a few fairly cheap. My SW receiver doesn't even have an antenna at the moment, oops. Luckily my FT-950 covers SW so I can just use the HF antenna.

Hi.
the only thing i can say from nw kent is look at our rr feed & connect, via internet phones or laptop / pc.
the first rr feed from the uk.

regards,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,john.
one of the mad men on radio.