Digital vs. Conventional

[police340]

Hello, I am thinking of buying a scanner that would cover rhode island, connecticut, ma, NY and NH which are pretty much the areas I travel in. I live in Newport, RI. I am debating on which type to get, digital or conventional. Although I have used a basic scanner before I am rather new to this.

Thanks,
Bill

 

[GM]

Get yourself a digital trunking scanner that is capable of rebanding. There are threads in the wiki on rebanding and various models that are digital/trunking capable.

 

[raisindot]

I live outside of Boston, and just bought a GRE PSR500, which does digital. There isn't a great amount of digital around the area right now, but I do pick up digital from Boston University, the VA in Boston, and a few other places. Use the database to see if there are any P25 systems in Rhode Island. Heck, it's such a small state you're bound to pick up any one of them from where you are!

Suzie

 

[kb2vxa]

Considering in such a wide area there are so many types of systems in use you'd need one with AP25 digital and trunking capabilities and plenty of memory slots so go for the gold and you won't be left wanting. I suggest you refrain from asking "which one is best" since all you get are personal opinions with such a broad question. You're better off asking which are worst to remove the lemons from the basket and choosing from what is left based on your personal needs and not somebody else's.

To figure that one out we have a very good database here for you to look up the agencies you expect to monitor. Since you say you're rather new to this you have a bit of work cut out for you so the logical approach is in order, do your own homework first and if you run into trouble then ask the teacher(s) and not the other way round. That way you'll avoid confusion stemming from conflicting answers and the occasional argument over which is right and which is wrong, a common phenomenon on any message board. In other words you need to start with knowing an apple from an orange in order to sort them.

Good luck Bill, you've joined an interesting hobby with interesting people and I leave it to you to find out what I mean by "interesting". I'll bet you'll discover quick enough the first time someone mentions my name. (;->)

 

[loumaag]

... digital or conventional...

Just to help you keep things in order, remember the following:

Digital vs Analog
Conventional vs Trunking​

A communication can be digital and conventional, for example LAPD. Take a look at the scanner decision article in the RR Wiki.