NEWBIE. What scanner?

[n8s]

I know this is probably an annoying question that is asked too often, but I need help picking out a scanner. As a child, my grandpa was a fireman up and I used to listen to fire and police channels on a very old scanner (used crystals). Now, several years later, I'd like to buy a scanner to listen with. As I begin my search, I'm shocked at the details required to make an informed purchase. I NEED HELP.

Here are my requirements.

Portable.
Probably alphanumeric?!
I'd like to listen to all of the usual frequencies as well as some fun ones. My biggest wish would be air traffic control and even the International Space Station (I read it was possible).

Do I need a digital? Trunking?

PLEASE help.

 

[gmclam]

I need help picking out a scanner.

Go here (Category:Radio Models - The RadioReference Wiki) and you'll find info on just about any scanner out there.

As I begin my search, I'm shocked at the details required to make an informed purchase. I NEED HELP.

The 2-way radio industry is definitely going through some major changes. Computers often control how radios work and now voice has been digitized too. There is a lot to know compared to the old crystal days.

Here are my requirements.
Portable.
Probably alphanumeric?!
I'd like to listen to all of the usual frequencies as well as some fun ones. My biggest wish would be air traffic control and even the International Space Station (I read it was possible).

Do I need a digital? Trunking?

Air traffic control does not take much of a scanner. Things have not changed there for many years. They use the same frequencies (108-137 MHz) and are AM. No digital or trunking. Now military air is another thing.

I'd personally go with a PSR-500 portable digital trunking scanner. But be warned of 'sticker shock'. Here's a link to information on it (PSR-500 - The RadioReference Wiki).

Good luck

 

[n5usr]

To add to what gmclam said: (Hope I don't overload you here, I tend to be verbose... )

For your "favorite" items (aircraft and ISS) just about any 'ol scanner will work. They are "conventional" transmissions on single frequencies in analog voice. Same for almost all amateur radio traffic (there are a couple of D-Star digital repeaters, but no scanner will do those yet and it isn't a very popular mode yet anyway), weather spotters, some smaller towns PD/FD.

If you want to listen to your local (Edmond) PD/FD, though, you will need an "analog trunk-tracker" scanner. That's the next step up, and not too pricey. Edmond ,many of the smaller communities along the east side of OKC, and Norman have moved to the statewide Dept of Public Safety trunking system. This is where you will also find the OHP.

But at "some point" in the future (no one really knows when) some or all of those agencies may start moving to P25 digital - the current system supports that too - in which case you would need a "digital trunk-tracker" scanner. That would be the GRE PSR-500 gmclam mentioned, there are a couple other brands out there too. There is a small amount of digital stuff in the metro area right now, mostly Tinker I think. I have several digital scanners, and have yet to try listening to any digital! It's up to you if it is worth the cost. It may be many years before the P25 switch happens to anything you're interested in.

Now, at least for me personally, there are other reasons for the pricier digital scanners. The primary reason I bought a Radio Shack PRO-197 (same thing as a GRE PSR-600) and a PRO-106 (same as PSR-500) because I like how they handle programming. Older scanners used "banks of frequencies" which was quite limiting (a single bank may have 100-200 slots in it, but you only want five or six frequencies in that bank - the others are wasted) and worse, for trunked systems they had a limited amount of room for talkgroup IDs. The Oklahoma state system has a huge number of talkgroups, meaning a LOT had to be left out. With the PSR-500 or 600, I could dump every single talkgroup on the system in, with plenty of room to spare.


After all that, summarizing my personal recommendation: If you have the money and are willing to spend it, get a GRE PSR-500 (or Radio Shack PRO-106, same thing). If you don't want to lay down that kind of cash, but want to be able to listen to the local PD/FD and such, you can get a PSR-300 (or Radio Shack PRO-164). Both of those do alpha-tags so you don't have to memorize what the frequencies are. It is *possible* to program them by hand, but I'd REALLY suggest you get the software to do it from a computer. Makes life a LOT simpler!

I have both of the above scanners, and they are both great. The other major company is Uniden, and there are Uniden fans that I'm sure will chime in too at some point but I've never used them myself.

And finally, if you don't care about the police and such, just want the basics, you can probably find someone who has an old scanner laying around that would work just fine for your needs! RS does have some simpler scanners, but I've not used them so can't comment on them.

 

[n8s]

Wow. GREAT help. Definite shock on the price! Anything closer to the $300 mark? I'm drawn to the size of the iCom IC-R5, but it does not have trunk-tracking (to my knowledge). Any options at this price and size?

 

[Sparky_one]

Ramsey sells an air band monitor that utilizes a passive receive circuit. They claim you can use it on an a commercial flight and not turn it off. Its a neat idea but I'm not going to be the guinea pig to see if you can keep from getting fine. N5USR gave you some fantastic ideas. As for myself, I go for more is better approach. I actually have two scanners to handle the trunking as each one does a different trunk. You have to get used to overlapping calls. Then I have some older scanners that handle the analogue and some 800 conventional channels. My burden is I have two vehicles I rotate to drive. I just permanently mounted the radios that transmit as they are to much trouble to rotate. I have this stack of zip tied scanners I move from vehicle to vehicle. Its quite a chore to find the correct antenna as I have some nice high gain antennas tuned to 800 for the trunking scanners and a broadband antenna for the analog. This configuration came in real handy on April 9th, 2009. I drove out to the fire sites with an OHP buddy and we staged at a friend's home while wetting down his roof and lawn. The fire was south and west. He was amazed from the coverage of my configuration. In his patrol car he has speakers mounted like surround sound. So if a call come from the door its dispatch, if it comes from the back its on VHF direct, etc, etc. I don't do that in my cars. I have all the speakers in one place.
April 9th was the biggest pileup I've heard in 30 years of scanner ownership. It even out did the Murrah event. April 9th was so messed up that at one juncture fire units were asking for coordination and the dispatcher said, "Find a house that is one fire and put it out, that's your coordination".

 

[n5usr]

Wow. GREAT help. Definite shock on the price! Anything closer to the $300 mark? I'm drawn to the size of the iCom IC-R5, but it does not have trunk-tracking (to my knowledge). Any options at this price and size?

The PRO-164 will handle the state system just fine, but won't do digital. Memory's a bit limited on the trunkgroups, but still doable. RS is selling them for $170 right now, regularly $200. This is the same radio as the GRE PSR-300.

 

[radioblake]

Purcell PD, Purcell FD, Lindsay PD and Mcclain County sherif has gone TRBO Which can
not be heard by any scanner.

 

[Chaos703]

Don't forget eBay. I've found some great prices on scanners there.