Please Help a Confused Newbie Decide

Status
Not open for further replies.

gordiebill

Member
Joined
Aug 25, 2011
Messages
27
Location
Ontario Canada
Greetings all!

I want to get back into scanning after a 30 year absence and I'm confused as to what receiver to get. My last scanner had 12 crystals in it,

I want a handheld unit and have narrowed it down to 3 (I think). They are the Uniden BCD396XT, GRE PSR500, and the GRE PSR800.

I live in southwestern Ontario Canada and would like to listen to Emergency Services in Chatham-Kent, London, Windsor and Detroit Michigan. Also would like to use the scanner at the NASCAR races. I know that some police agencies in my area are encrypted and that I will not be able to receive those.

I would REALLY appreciate input as to what would work best for me.

Thanks in advance;
Gord
 

puzzleriddle

Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2010
Messages
2,293
Location
bham, Bama
yac an't "go wrong with any of the 3 you mentioned :) I have the PSr500 it's a GREAT scanner.. also check into RS models they are GRE made clones with Radio shack name on em
 

ScanWI

MN & WI DB Admin
Database Admin
Joined
Feb 6, 2009
Messages
918
Location
Wisconsin
I have found that the GRE-500/PRO-106 is a great radio I like a little more then the 396xt because the audio quality on digital channels and the way it is programed. I have not had any experience with the PSR-800/PRO-18 but I do know you are going to be alittle more limited.
 

W6KRU

Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2008
Messages
3,408
Location
Oceanside, CA
I have found that the GRE-500/PRO-106 is a great radio I like a little more then the 396xt because the audio quality on digital channels and the way it is programed. I have not had any experience with the PSR-800/PRO-18 but I do know you are going to be alittle more limited.


I agree on the decoding comment.. I have a PSR-500 and a 396XT. On the stuff in my area, the digital decode of the PSR-500 is superior. The programming is a toss up.
 

satosi

Member
Joined
Aug 24, 2011
Messages
56
Location
Southern Ohio
I have a PRO-197 which is basically a PSR-600. It has good digital support and was easy to program, at least for me. I like the object-oriented data structure more than the traditional scanner memory. The major problem is that it tends to overload very easily if there is a really close signal, or multiple strong signals. You can reduce this somewhat using the attenuator but given all the repeaters near me I still run into some trouble.
 

nanZor

Active Member
Joined
May 28, 2009
Messages
2,807
If you don't mind a bit of a "brick" in size, I'd probably go with the PSR-500.

The reason for this is that while all three will serve well as a general purpose scanner, the PSR-500 has "v-scanners". In other words, the v-scanner feature makes it very easy to turn it from a general-purpose scanner into a "nascar-dedicated" scanner, and then back again to general purpose when you return home with only a few button presses.

Of course you can set up the 396 for nascar too, but not in such a dedicated fashion as you could with the 500's v-scanner feature. I'd also run whatever you choose with a very short stubby antenna at the track.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Ghawkman56

Member
Joined
Aug 3, 2011
Messages
110
Location
South Bend, IN
Gord,
Regardless which scanner you select, my advice when it comes to programming, be patient! With trunking the whole programming world has changed since your last scanner. However, this is an incredible forum. I just manually programmed my PSR600l The help you will obtain from this group is fantastic.
 

gordiebill

Member
Joined
Aug 25, 2011
Messages
27
Location
Ontario Canada
Thanks everyone for your help. Your comments ARE appreciated. I still haven't decided on a model yet, but maybe after my vacation I will make a purchase of some sort.

Happy listening;
Gord

Ontario Canada
 

gewecke

Completely Banned for the Greater Good
Banned
Joined
Jan 29, 2006
Messages
7,452
Location
Illinois
A pro-106 with a uhf stubby and the ATT turned on will work great for NASCAR- Fyi. :wink:

73,
n9zas
 

Drafin

Member
Joined
Jul 16, 2003
Messages
659
Location
Charleston, SC
The BCD396XT and GRE PSR500 are a little more advanced but will allow for more flexibility in how you scan what you scan.


The GRE PSR800 is more geared for "plug and play" scanning and will be as simple as downloading new updates when they become available to the radio reference database.

For Nascar scanning i would think that the 396 and the 500 would fit the bill more easily, although the 800 will allow you to enter frequencies, manually the 500 and the 396 would be a little easier. This of course assumes that you won't be programming the any of them before you get to the track. If you program them from home then using a computer then any of the models should work equally well.

In short I don;t think you can go wrong with any of the three scanner s you mentioned , it just depends on whats more important to you, on the fly programming and control (500 and 396) or ease of updating without having to worry about the programming at the cost of a tiny bit of versatility (800).

Draf
 

CoolCat

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jan 8, 2011
Messages
516
Location
207
If you don't mind a bit of a "brick" in size, I'd probably go with the PSR-500.

The reason for this is that while all three will serve well as a general purpose scanner, the PSR-500 has "v-scanners". In other words, the v-scanner feature makes it very easy to turn it from a general-purpose scanner into a "nascar-dedicated" scanner, and then back again to general purpose when you return home with only a few button presses.

Of course you can set up the 396 for nascar too, but not in such a dedicated fashion as you could with the 500's v-scanner feature. I'd also run whatever you choose with a very short stubby antenna at the track.

The startup key feature on Uniden XT scanners will do the same thing. You can assign all your Nascar systems/groups to the same startup key. All you have to do is hold that key for a couple seconds while powering on the scanner.

GRE's V-scanner funcion is a nice feature, but I think the 1800 object limit severely cripples what would IMO otherwise be a fantastic memory system. The PSR-500/Pro-106 has a very impressive amount of memory (35,000+ objects), but it is equally divided into 21 seperate V-Scanners, each with a maximum of 1800 objects. If they ever produce a new (non-EZ Scan) model that allows for a dynamic/flexible amount of objects within each V-scanner (limited only by total scanner memory), then the OOM architecture would be equal (or even superior) to Uniden's DMA architecture; but for now the flexibility of DMA is superior to OOM.

:)
 

aar9sm

Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2006
Messages
109
If you listen to Uhf or Vhf primarily then I would go with the 396xt. When using my 396 and my bct15 (yes i know ths is a analog scanner) finding and listening to Vhf signals with different types of antennas including outdoor antennas the above scanners hear things the 106 does not even break the squelch even if the squelch is turned all the way down.
Now on Uhf the 396. And the 106 seem pretty deaf especially with distant stations the Bct15 on Uhf does much better.

Now when it comes to 700/800/900 digital decoding the 106 shines and seems to pick up distant signal very well. If you listen to Civillian or Mil-Air I think the 396 and the Bct15 win hands down. Again this is my personal opinion based on my results. Your results may differ. Also if you are not going to listen to digital there many options for quality handhelds. Also check radioshack often they have hd a lot of sells on the 106 and the 197 I picked mine up last year new for $249.00,which is and excellent price for a digital scanner.

Mike
 

Nap

Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2011
Messages
142
Location
Ontario
How does that thread help the OP decide which scanner model to purchase? :confused:

Well it might help him decide that he doesn't really want a digital one.

I was looking for a scanner a couple of weeks ago with the main application being to monitor truckers CB radio (if you spend lots of time driving on highway 401 - the busiest in North America - you'll know why). I could afford a digital one however I found that thread before ordering and decided that analog is good enough for me.

I am happy to have found that information before ordering. I definitely don't want to get into the position to have to explain to police why I have an unlicensed digital scanner in my car.

Nap.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top