Buying a scanner

ferrellssam · Jul 6, 2009

Suggestions for portable scanner

I need some help deciding which scanner would be best for my listening area.....I live in Nash Co., which has not gone to 800 mhz yet, but am close enough to Wake and Johnston Co. where I feel like I would be able to monitor their radio traffic.....both of those systems have switched over to 800 mhz digital....anybody have any suggestions......I also have friends in Harnett Co. and would like to be able to monitor their traffic when I go in that direction.....

KE4ZNR · Jul 6, 2009

ferrellssam said:
I need some help deciding which scanner would be best for my listening area.....I live in Nash Co., which has not gone to 800 mhz yet, but am close enough to Wake and Johnston Co. where I feel like I would be able to monitor their radio traffic.....both of those systems have switched over to 800 mhz digital....anybody have any suggestions......I also have friends in Harnett Co. and would like to be able to monitor their traffic when I go in that direction.....

If you want the capability to be able to monitor Wake County you have a few options...since you said portable I am going to go with Handhelds: Uniden BCD396xt, Uniden BCD396t, Radio Shack PRO106 (GRE RSR-500).
The above are digital capable scanners which is a must to monitor Wake County. My recommendation is if you can afford a digital scanner like one of the above go ahead and put a little extra investment in one as more and more counties are using digital modulation.
Marshall KE4ZNR

BCasto · Jul 10, 2009

Uniden 396T vs 396XT

Marshall and others, I would love to purchase the new 396XT/996XT but the price tag requires a bit of analysis. I am not sure the difference the 396XT/996XT would make vs. the older models here in Wake County. Today I can't enter all the TG IDs in the Viper bank and that is truly annoying. But other than that, what are the compelling differences that would push a Wake Co VIPER scanner hobiest like me to purchase the new systems?

KE4ZNR · Jul 10, 2009

BCasto said:
Marshall and others, I would love to purchase the new 396XT/996XT but the price tag requires a bit of analysis. I am not sure the difference the 396XT/996XT would make vs. the older models here in Wake County. Today I can't enter all the TG IDs in the Viper bank and that is truly annoying. But other than that, what are the compelling differences that would push a Wake Co VIPER scanner hobiest like me to purchase the new systems?

Hey Brian! Hope all is well.
For me some of the reasons to pick the XT's over the older models include:
--Multi-Site trunking (makes sharing IDs alot easier over many sites)
--More reliable p25 decoding. (The digital talkgroups sound as good as digital can).
--VHF/UHF sensitivity is better than the older models.
--Ability to designate a channel/TGID as either analog, digital or both. This helps with picking up the beginning of p25 conversations.
--Ability to Use NACs. (helps on the conventional p25).
--CC Data output through serial port. You can use the XT tethered to a laptop running TRUNK88 and see all the activity off of a site. Call it discriminator tap without voiding your warranty.

Of course the fact I have 25,000 channels means that I rarely have to program anything else in.
This is just some of the great things that the XT has over the previous models.
Hope this helps!
Marshall KE4ZNR

BCasto · Jul 13, 2009

Marshall, as always I appreciate your quick and thoughtful response. Yes, all is going well. My personal business is growing, albeit slowly due to this anemic economy. Hope you are thriving.

BC

ferrellssam · Feb 2, 2016

New to Uniden

I am new to the Uniden brand of scanners and am looking into buying either Uniden or Radio Shack portable scanner to use in the Wake/Johnston/Harnett/Durham County areas as well as VIPER for NCSHP and other agencies....also looking budget wise at something around $300....any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as my family has always used the Radio Shack brand and I don't want to get stuck with a radio that I can't upgrade as necessary....

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SCPD · Feb 2, 2016

Sound like you need at least a P-25 Phase 1 scanner ..

You can hunt around for deals .. as you should be able to do it. There are a lot of different models to choose from. I would look at Whistler as well as Uniden so you have more options.

ferrellssam · Feb 2, 2016

What about firmware updates between Whistler, Uniden, and Radio Shack??

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Voyager · Feb 2, 2016

RS has always been behind on updates compared to GRE/Whistler.

Between Uniden and Whistler, you should talk to other users in your area to find out which brands work best on your local systems.

ferrellssam · Feb 3, 2016

I am in the market for a scanner and want one that will last for several years to come....family has always owned RS scanners, but with their closing, don't know if firmware updates will be available down the road....if I go with RS, I am looking at buying a PRO-651...what is comparable from Uniden? Since Uniden seems to not be going anywhere anytime soon.

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N8IAA · Feb 3, 2016

ferrellssam said:
I am in the market for a scanner and want one that will last for several years to come....family has always owned RS scanners, but with their closing, don't know if firmware updates will be available down the road....if I go with RS, I am looking at buying a PRO-651...what is comparable from Uniden? Since Uniden seems to not be going anywhere anytime soon.

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My suggestion is to ask the mods to move your thread to the NC state forum. Where you will receive better info. Click on the red triangle above your location and ask them to move your post.
In this forum, you'll get responses from many who don't live in your area, with varying reports of what is a good scanner.
Since I do travel to NC, I use a Pro-106 and occasionally a 396XT. The 106 works quite well on VIPER and local analog conventional. The 106 is similar to the 651.
Larry

ferrellssam · Feb 3, 2016

I don't see a red triangle anywhere

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Spitfire8520 · Feb 3, 2016

You could also consider something from Whistler as well. They actually manufacture the current RadioShack scanners much like GRE manufactured RadioShack's scanners before them. Every single scanner that RadioShack sells today is sold by Whistler under a different model. Unlike RadioShack, they actually provide support for their products.

The

is located at the top right of your original post, right above your Join Date:. I have actually also directly linked the button it in this reply.

mikewazowski · Feb 4, 2016

I've merged your various threads together and have moved the resultant thread.

QDP2012 · Feb 4, 2016

ferrellssam said:
I am in the market for a scanner and want one that will last for several years to come....family has always owned RS scanners, but with their closing, don't know if firmware updates will be available down the road....if I go with RS, I am looking at buying a PRO-651...what is comparable from Uniden? Since Uniden seems to not be going anywhere anytime soon.

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In case it matters, a different thread indicates that the Pro 651/652 are on sale right now at Radio Shack.

Hope this helps,

swilkos · Feb 8, 2016

Not to dry up my "supply", but keep an eye out on Amazon Warehouse Deals. I picked up a Uniden BCD436HP for nearly $100 off the price of a "New" unit on Amazon. Couldn't find a single thing wrong with the unit despite the claim of "minor scratches"..

Am planning to pick up my replacement for my mobile scanner from the same location. There may be better deals out there, but it's the best I've found so far.

Buying a scanner

ferrellssam

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KE4ZNR

Radio Geek

BCasto

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KE4ZNR

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BCasto

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ferrellssam

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SCPD

QRT

ferrellssam

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Voyager

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ferrellssam

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N8IAA

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ferrellssam

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Spitfire8520

I might be completely clueless! =)

mikewazowski

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QDP2012

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swilkos

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