Thanks for your answser.
When you say "listen to everything right now" is there are there any known plans to switch to different technology that this scanner won't be able to pick up?
As for difficulty to program, would it be wiser to save up my money and buy something like the PSR-800?
I don't want to spend $300 on a discontinued sale item today when $450 spent next year on the newest model would make far more sense.
Thanks again.
There is a lot of speculation that a good many of the GTA's radio services are going to upgrade to P25 technology. I have seen reports of this for Halton and Hamilton and many here have said that Toronto and Peel are going to upgrade.
Does this mean that you will not be able to scan anything right now?
-Right now almost every regional/county/city system save Durham is scannable. I am not sure if all or any of the above mentioned regions are going to encrypt their new systems. There is a lot of speculation here but there is hardly ever any documented proof that "System A is going to be encrypted" while "System B will have encrytion on Police but not fire" etc.
Those who are in the know, are telling. Opinions here are like blankholes, everyone has one and most, stink, lol.
I also do not know anything about the scanner that is on sale here. It looks like a good price for a good unit. The PSR800 looks to be GRE's answer to the scanner that I currently use, the Uniden Home Patrol 1. If you want a scanner that all you have to do is pick a system and load it in then the PSR800 looks to be a great scanner. If you want to find new, other systems then you might want to get the scanner that is on sale that you mentioned. I am always low on funds but if I had $ I would enhance my radio collection and buy a scanner like the one mentioned here so I could search and find new systems and the like (i.e. in the DB I found the Henderson Hospital system just by searching for Control channels with my older Uniden 396T, the PSR800 and Uniden Home Patrol are pretty much dependent on the data base and that can be a drag),
All of the scanners these days require programming but there are always programs and files being shared here, pretty much everyone here likes to help out.
So, in the long run, it is up to you. Right now you can listen to about all of the Toronto cities towers and be in the know, and you can listen to the provincial , police, Regional EMS (outside T.O.) Transportantion (MTO) as well as the Peel, York, some Durham, Halton and other cities systems but who knows about tomorrow.
Also, keep some funds for an antenna. The ones that come with your scanner are usually crap. And speak to TorontoKris on here; he has good prices and good scanners and goes beyond and above when dealing with customers. He was once nice enough to lend me a scanner when I had to sell my other one to buy my new Home Patrol.
Hope this helps,
Eric
