Im new and currently listen to police scanner info on this site. Im thinking about purchasing a bearcat 2096 digital scanner is that hard to operate and will i hear anymore with that than i hear right now on this site? Thanks for info, Andy
Welcome to RR. You should know that it is against policy to post the same question on different forums. Answers normally come quickly, but you have to be patient. To answer your question, all of today's digital scanners are considered somewhat difficult to program for a beginner IMHO. You can learn to do it, but you must be willing to read a lot about it. You can start by checking all the links in blue here:
Pro-2096 - The RadioReference Wiki It is recommended that you get
Programming_Software to help you not only understand how to program, but understand the numerous features of your radio.
I see you are considering a reburb unit. That will save you money, and is a good option. However, I am not a Radio Shack fan. In general, they are customer unfriendly, and very slow to incorporate firmware fixes and improvements. Uniden and GRE make radios for them, and the are both good about firmware updates, but RS delays firmware updates from both. GRE is the most aggressive and slightly better on customer relations.
You can get reburb units from
Uniden. Not sure about GRE. The Uniden BC996XT is not currently on the refurb list, but you can sign up for an email alert when one come along. However, I suspect the 2096 is still going to be cheaper, and is a good radio.