new scanner help

[cino]

I have had my AOR 1000 for many many years and it is time to get a new unit.

Can you buy a scanner these days thats not locked or that can be opened easliy. I like the fact my aor is .5-1300 with nothing blocked. I dont want to spend a fortune but would like a nice unit that I could program with a pc instead of manually entering all those freqs I am getting old and its hard to program with the keypad on the front
Thanks in advance

 

[KE4ZNR]

I have had my AOR 1000 for many many years and it is time to get a new unit.

Can you buy a scanner these days thats not locked or that can be opened easliy. I like the fact my aor is .5-1300 with nothing blocked. I dont want to spend a fortune but would like a nice unit that I could program with a pc instead of manually entering all those freqs I am getting old and its hard to program with the keypad on the front
Thanks in advance

If by "not locked" you mean Full 800Mhz Cellphone AMPS coverage then NO...it has been a law for years now that scanners must have that range blocked out with no way to re-enable the range....I don't understand peoples facination with Full Coverage scanners...most cellphone activity is digital and little is left in the 800Mhz AMPS range....there are other things to monitor on a scanner/receiver that are 100 times better than cellphones....you can find used full coverage scanners on the secondary market but again waste of money....to answer your other question most scanners these days comes with some type of PC interface which makes either Programming or remote scanner control via computer possible....
For more info on why monitoring cellphones is illegial do a google search for "Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986"...
Marshall KE4ZNR

 

[cino]

thanks for the fast response

I dont listen to cell phones I thought it was novel in the begining but got very old and boring fast.
so one of the newer scanners will provide all the police fire and rescue channels that are in use??
I thought that the highway patrol used 800mhz range but I may be mistaken

any recomendations?
tia

sorry Asheville, NC

 

[loumaag]

Well knowing where you are and what you want to listen to would be helpful.

 

[cino]

let me try to clarify

no interest in cell phones at all not sure where the cell phone issue came into play.

I am located in Asheville, NC
i want to monitor
city, county and state police
fire and rescue
parkway/forest service
and a few small towns near by
I want a scanner that i can program with a pc
I want a scanner that is not expensive 100ish 200ish

what would you recommend
TIA

 

[loumaag]

Assuming you are interested in Buncombe County look this page of the database over. NC does have the VIPER System, which I don't not know much about. You should look over that stuff and decide if you need to have Digital capability (which comes at a premium price) or can get away without digital. However after this I am going to let KE4ZNR take over because he is from NC and can certainly help you more than me.

 

[cino]

wow

I guess alot has changed in 15years very nice page.....
thanks

 

[loumaag]

Well, I moved this to the NC forum where you will get more local help. I also split off the off topic posts to there own thread in the Uniden forum so this would not just get hijacked.

 

[cino]

thanks

 

[KE4ZNR]

Cino-

Considering Asheville is moving to a digital trunked system format you will need to consider purchasing a digital capable scanner such as the Radio Shack Pro96 or Uniden BCD396T...you can use an analog trunktracking scanner for the moment but long term need to consider a digital capable scanner...
Hope this helps!
Marshall KE4ZNR