Pro18

Status
Not open for further replies.

kmurphy41

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jul 3, 2004
Messages
59
Location
Los Angeles, CA
What happened with the pro18 ? Was it that bad? You can get them cheap now. I've seen them going for around 250.00. Thinking of getting one. What do you think?

Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Tapatalk 4
 

Nasby

Member
Joined
Apr 4, 2004
Messages
2,631
Location
Ohio
A good scanner and a GREAT value when Radio Shack marked them down to $169.00.

Heck of a deal for a digital scanner. I think they are all gone from the RS inventory by now.
 

JustLou

Member
Joined
Jan 29, 2011
Messages
625
Location
NY/NJ
I have nothing negative to say about my Pro-18. What it can do, it does well. It has much better sensitivity than my Uniden Home Patrol.
 

kmurphy41

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jul 3, 2004
Messages
59
Location
Los Angeles, CA
I've heard bad reviews regarding the battery. Hows the pro18 with battery consumption?

Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Tapatalk 4
 

JustLou

Member
Joined
Jan 29, 2011
Messages
625
Location
NY/NJ
I've heard bad reviews regarding the battery. Hows the pro18 with battery consumption?

Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Tapatalk 4


I use Sanyo Eneloops in mine, and don't have any battery issues. I've used mine several hours straight, and have never had the batteries go dead. LED settings, and I assume how much digital decoding it does will probably affect battery life the most.
 

Jakemcgraw

Member
Joined
Feb 6, 2008
Messages
269
Location
Dalmatia, PA.
I have the newer type Duracell 2400 mah precharged ones, and get just a little past 12 hrs continuous run time,,,Thats with the LCD backlight setting on number 4 , and the keypad light off.
 

DJ11DLN

Member
Joined
Mar 23, 2013
Messages
2,068
Location
Mudhole, IN
What happened with the pro18 ? Was it that bad? You can get them cheap now. I've seen them going for around 250.00. Thinking of getting one. What do you think?

Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Tapatalk 4

I really love my Pro-18. Yes, they are hard on batteries...but consider what the unit is doing when you are listening to digital trunked systems. Lots of processing power being expended. Also, the backlights really sap the batteries; best to turn them off completely whenever possible. This alone increases battery life by 1/3 to 1/2. Even if I didn't have mine plugged into external power most of the time, I wouldn't consider it a deal-breaker...you will see posts over in the Uniden area about similar issues with many of their hand-held scanners. You just need a second set of good NiMH batteries and an external charger if you are going to be portable with it a lot.

As for being "cheap," they were built for RatShack by GRE, and when GRE went out of business, they started drying up. RatShack made a decision to purge them from inventory, reducing the price (from $500-ish) first to $200 and then to $158, IIRC. They are not bad scanners or subpar in any way, and with Whistler having picked up the GRE line and promising to have scanners retailing in a couple of months, the Pro-18 really can't be considered a complete orphan. I'd love to find another one, but hereabouts they're pretty much snapped up.:( I would not hesitate to get one if I were you.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top