Handheld vs. mobile

[kjfswkr]

Hi all,
I have often wondered if a handheld is as good as a mobile scanner? You know what I mean about size differences, etc. I want to get a trunking scanner and am leaning towards a handheld so it would be more versatile.

Thanks,

Kevin

 

[vanderneut]

In my humble opinion, it all matters on where and when you scan. I had the same debate when I was deciding which to buy. I went with the handheld because I only have a 20 minute commute to work and I spend more time on my mountain bike than in my car. If you take a lot of roadtrips, it might be worth it to mount one in your car. I take my handheld (PRO-96) in my car and it works fine. When my trip is complete, I can grab the handheld and take it with me. I had a mount in the past and I really don't see any noticeable difference in performance between the two. As far as features, the PRO-96 and it's base version the 2096 have identical features. Good reception really comes down to antenna choice and whatever you plug into a base unit can also be plugged into a handheld. The only disadvantage to using my handheld in the car is that it isn't secured to anything so it can fly around if things get hectic. But, I only don't drive all that much. If I were a trucker or drove alot I would definitely get a mount, until then, the handheld works great in the car.

 

[jpm]

On the otherside the BCD396D is a great scanner. The size is compact unlike the brick sizes that the BC250D, BC296D, and the pro96 are and t sounds great. I myself have three base/mobile for my home monitoring. The other feature on the BCD396T is the ability to change batteries on the fly unlike the two Uiden handhelds where one had to charge the battery packs they had. I love this scanner and can't wait for the base model to come out.

 

[kb5udf]

Base or HT

From my perspective if you are going to have one or the other, I would favor
a handheld if you primarily monitor 800mhz systems.

My rationale being that reasonably effective antenna systems are available for handhelds.
As your listening habits go down in frequency from 800mhz, IMHO, it's more difficult to get equivalent performance in antennas for handhelds. Also, if you go with an 800mhz mobile, unless high quality coax is used, any gain can easily go out the window as coax loss.

If you do go with a handheld scanner and intend to use it with a base/mobile antenna, I'd want to check out for myself how well it handles intermod and other interference. Plenty of scanners and ham gear that do just fine with stock antennas do poorly when hooked up to a 6db gain VHF antenna for example. Although the issue of increased interference/receiver desense in my experience seems to be less of a problem as frequency increases for many handhelds.

 

[Al42]

I have often wondered if a handheld is as good as a mobile scanner?

With most scanners that come in both base and mobile versions, the only differences are those required by the differences - antenna jack, serial connection, power supply. In some cases, the mobile version has the same board as the portable version, just in a larger box.

 

[kjfswkr]

Thanks all. Question on the handheld versions, do they have the ability for direct DC in such as a car connection? Also, do they make a mount sort of like a convert a com?

Thanks,

Kevin

 

[vanderneut]

Again, I can only speak for the PRO 96 side of the fence. The 96 will run off of a cigarette lighter adapter. You can also put rechargeables in it and use it that way. As for a mount, there is not an application specific mount for the 96 but I got mine jammed into a cell phone holder. It's a little ghetto but it keeps it from sliding around the dash.

 

[rhutch]

For my 296 I have a cable for the outlet in the car (doesn't even come with a cigarette lighter anymore) I don't think there is one for the 396 yet (at least from Uniden it is a 6V job but I'm sure you can find a universal from RS). As for mounts I use mounts from Pro Fit international, they stick to the dash and can be removed without damaging the dash (for the 296 there is a slot that accepts the belt clip and for the 396 it uses the standard Nokia (cell phone) button type mount.

www.pro-fit-intl.com

 

[jpm]

I always carry a spare set of freshly recharged batteries if I feel the current set is about to die. To tell you the truth I don't think I'll buy the cigarette lighter adaptor if the BCD396T scanner has one in the future, really no need for it. In fact how would plugging the scanner in the cigarette lighter if the battery was dead affect the cycle you just started and plugging back in to start another one five ten minutes later.

 

[rhutch]

I agree I have a few sets of spare NiMH batteries and I just swap them out. The battery life easily gets me through a full day in the vehicle. As for the charing issue I beleive it is just a timing circuit and NiMH batteries dont have the problem that NiCd do so it really dosen't hurt them stoping a charge short and then charging them again. The only funny thing with NiMH batteries is that it takes them a few charges to get their full capacity.

I do love the Profit mounts for the 396 though, government doesn't like us messing up the leased vehicles and these can easily be removed with a blow dryer with out leaving any marks or adhesive residue and the mount on the 396 is exactly the same as the Nokia mount that they are made for. I've seen what can happen with loose items in a vehicle in a crash so its nice to have everything secure.

 

[Al42]

In fact how would plugging the scanner in the cigarette lighter if the battery was dead affect the cycle you just started and plugging back in to start another one five ten minutes later.

You'd turn the switch to Alkaline and power the scanner from the car. I do it all the time. In fact, I don't charge the batteries in the scanner - I have a charger that I use for that. Better to blow up a $15 charger than a $500 scanner.

 

[rhutch]

Good point, I never thought of that myself (even that it is so obvious), I'll start doing that if and when I get my scanner back from its problem plagued journey.

 

[DPD1]

Hi all,
I have often wondered if a handheld is as good as a mobile scanner? You know what I mean about size differences, etc. I want to get a trunking scanner and am leaning towards a handheld so it would be more versatile.

If you take away the issue of audio (which can be fixed by using external equipment), the only real limitation to a handheld, is the ability to handle stronger signals that come from a larger external antenna. Some handhelds can handle it, others can't, and the mixing and intermod problems get to be too much. But other then that, I think most handhelds can work in a base/mobile type application.

Dave
-DPD Productions - Custom Scanner, MURS, & Ham Antennas-
http://eje.railfan.net/dpdp/

 

[xusmarine1979]

I take my Pro-96 on trips and just have that coax with the suction cups and put my rubber duckie on the outside of the car, and for power I have the DC power supply. It works great, plus you can take the 96 wherever.

 

[xusmarine1979]

O, and audio wise I have the Shack's ampified speaker under the seat. I think it's 10watts and sounds awesome.