Suggested Scanners for Live Audio Providers

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Humancell

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Sep 25, 2010
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First off, it is great to see such a great site, and project, dedicated to feeds! What a great idea, and community.

Now that I have found it, I want to add my local county and city feeds to the network. I'm really curious about suggestions on the "best" scanners to use to provide live feeds. I was just shopping for new equipment ... what should I buy to be able to best share my audio?

I'm located in Wasatch County, Utah: Wasatch County, Utah (UT) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference
There is also Summit County nearby: Summit County, Utah (UT) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference
Here in Utah they are using UCAN: Utah Communications Agency Network (UCAN) Trunking System, Various, Multi-State - Scanner Frequencies

1. What are the details I should consider in purchasing a new scanner that is going to target the organizations in these areas? Are there "rules" that people go by that since the agencies are using system {x} you need to have a scanner with feature {y}?

2. Are there any scanners that provide multiple audio outputs so that I can create several feeds with one scanner? I'm wanting to maybe create multiple separate feeds.

3. If I have to buy multiple scanners to create multiple feeds, what is the least expense/quality scanner that would work?

4. Can I actually have multiple feeds being generated on one PC?

I'm starting my reading and education to come back up to speed on scanners ... I haven't played with things for ~20 years. I want to find where to get advice on how to purchase equipment that will work for me, and also provide a good source for feeds for the community!
 

Astrak

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Feb 17, 2005
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Mesa, AZ
From the DB links you provided, if you just want to scan your county and Summit county and cheap scanner would work search eBay for Uniden scanners or Radioshack PRO scanners. You don't need any type of trunk tracking for those two counties. If you want to also monitor UCAN you'll need a scanner capable of trunk tracking. You can cross reference scanners in the wiki to find out what they are capable of. Main Page - The RadioReference Wiki You'll want something with a headphone or audio out. You can run multiple feeds into one computer using USB 2.0 Mic Speaker 5.1 Audio Sound Card ADAPTER #9516 - eBay (item 160407170630 end time Oct-20-10 00:39:39 PDT) no scanners are capable of scanning multiple things at once.
 

gmclam

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Fair Oaks, CA
I have found issues using hand-helds with only a headphone jack as the audio source. I recommend using a base model with an External Speaker jack instead (or line output).

The problem is that the headphone jacks on most of the scanners I've looked at do not provide a direct ground for one side of the audio. They use a couple of resistors so that a user can plug in either a mono or stereo headphone and have both ears working.

Models I am using include: PSR-400, PSR-600 (digital), PRO-433.
 

bballjh

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Nov 21, 2007
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Olympia, WA
The Icom IC-R20 is capable of monitoring two frequencies:

ScannerMaster.com said:
2 for 1, Dualwatch receive
Until the IC-R20, the capability of monitoring two frequencies required two radios. Whether you need to monitor local public safety, air traffic control, or at the track listening to two drivers, even the play by play from both the local TV and radio station is possible!
See specifications for actual frequency ranges for Dual-watch receive.

Icom IC-R20 Receiver - Consumer Version
 

Rleshane

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Sep 12, 2010
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Fitchburg, MA
In my case, I don't need trunking, but desired a scanner that could handle PL tones. If you find yourself in the same boat, I can recommend GRE PSR-200U 200-Channel Base Station Analog Scanner : Scanners | RadioShack.com I purchased one for my feed, and plan to buy 3 more for additional feeds. Although the description doesn't tell you it handles PL/DPL (CTCSS/DCS), it in fact does. It's the cheapest scanner I could find that does, and it works just fine. An ideal feed scanner IMHO if you don't need trunking.
 
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