What should I get?

Ok, I'll readily admit I know many things about many things, but never went into the scanner world. Tonight, my son and I tried to follow a vehicle to see where it was going and it got away. Which led to....'let's get a handheld scanner'.

Went to amazon (of course), and there are so many options. What should one get? Whats important? What won't be outdated next month?

Thanks,
Bill

What area of the country will you be listening to? This will help to identify what type of radio systems are used in your area and which scanners will work for you.

Shawn

You "tried to follow a vehicle to see where it was going and it got away."

Scanning and listening to public safety comms can be fun, but getting into the habit of following suspects or responding to runs can be very dangerous and even unlawful.

Get a scanner, relax at home, and keep you and your family safe.

{advice from a former law enforcement officer, firefighter, and medic)

Oops sorry. Southern Maine.

Thanks,
Bill

Weird-- followed a vehical too see where It was going". lol wow. You don't need a scanner. Watch television, lol. bye.

LOL Missouri, big surprise.....

And you know many things, about many things. LOL. Can your explain that?

soldsoul4foos said:

Ok, I'll readily admit I know many things about many things, but never went into the scanner world. Tonight, my son and I tried to follow a vehicle to see where it was going and it got away. Which led to....'let's get a handheld scanner'.

Went to amazon (of course), and there are so many options. What should one get? Whats important? What won't be outdated next month?

Thanks,
Bill

Click to expand...

What kind of vehicle were you and your son following to need a scanner? Are you referring to an emergency vehicle? Trust me....that's not going to be applauded on here. That can be considered interference and can get you and your son into trouble. Get a scanner and listen at home. Which scanner you need depends a lot on the type of radio system you want to monitor. Let us know your city, town or county and state and we can give you some options. But no more following emergency vehicles.

Two topics here:

1. The scanner you might need would very much be governed by your area of interest and your geographical area. You might get by with an older, analog scanner or you might need to go all out and get a scanner capable of listening to digital, P25 phase 2 transmissions. If you happen to live in an area whose public service departments use encryption well, you're just plain out of luck.

2. Following a vehicle? That is a no no and could get you in plenty of trouble - both the physical and legal kind. Unless you have official business at a scene - stay away!

On the other hand,using a scanner to avoid trouble can be really handy, I've circumvented traffic accidents and even a halted freeway due to a jumper on an overpass.

soldsoul4foos said:

Oops sorry. Southern Maine.

Thanks,
Bill

Click to expand...

Here is the link to Maine. Maine Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference You will have to click on the individual county you are interested in monitoring and see what type of systems they use (EDACS, P25 phase 1 or phase 2, etc.) After that, you will have to see which scanner supports the systems you wish to monitor. Once you know which type of systems you are interested in monitoring let us know and we can probably suggest numerous scanners that would work for you.

Shawn