joshua86
Member
I currently have a few radio shack scanners but they just dont have the range I am looking for. Can anyone suggest a fairly cheap Uniden with legitemate range?
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Firstly, welcome to the forums. Secondly, the question you ask is very ambiguous in it's nature. You didn't mention what frequency ranges you are interested in monitoring - VHF, UHF, 800 MHz? You didn't mention what types of services you wish to monitor. Are you talking analog or digital, conventional or trunked? What models of RS scanners do you have? Handheld or base/mobile? What type of antenna will you be using - the built in ones or an external one mounted on your house or vehicle? When you say range, exactly what are you asking - range in distance or range in frequencies? For the most part, RS, Uniden and GRE scanners of similar model characteristics will perform in a similar manner, though there will be some differences. As you can see, there are many variables to what you have asked, and the more information you can provide up front will help those here to better assist you.
puzzleriddle
Member
what is meant by legitimate range????
joshua86
Member
Thanks for respdonding, KT4HX. I am looking for VHF Lo through 870 MHz, analog, conventional and trunked. I listen to public safety and some air craft. By range I mean distance and signal quality. I use the built in antena. I am looking for a handheld scanner and I currently have RS- Pro 23, 63, 107 and 2038
Welcome to the forum. Couple of questions for you:
1. What kind of "range"? Are you referring to the range of frequencies it will receive, or the distance it's picking up signals from?
2. What do you consider legitimate?
3. You want handheld, base, or mobile?
thomasfd13
Member
I have done a little price shopping for a new scanner recently. If you want one that scans pretty much everything up to 1.2GHz; look to pay around $250 for one. As far as Uniden goes; you pay for the name. I love my Uniden hand held that I've had for over 10 years and have to use electrical tape to hold the power adapter in place. Prices for a good Uniden varies for what you want and who you go to. For the most part a Radio Shack will do just as good and have the same features for about $50-100 less. PM me if you want some more input on it and I'll also go back and look through some of the online stores for prices.
I am not certain you will get any better range per se with a Uniden versus a Radio Shack. One of the limitations is the antenna, especially with a handheld. Trying to use one antenna to receive the entire frequency range of a scanner is a compromise at best. No one antenna can give you optimum performance at all frequencies. You can of course use an external antenna mounted at home or on your vehicle to give you some increased range. Sometimes though, doing that can overload a handheld with too much signal causing de-sensitization and loss of reception (try using the attenuator on your scanner in that case).
If you want to try a Uniden for analog conventional and trunked, you could try the BC246XT (or it's predecessor BC246T). It is a reasonably priced handheld that many people like. In reading through the forums you will see there seems to be two camps as far as scanners - those that favor Uniden and those that favor GRE/Radio Shack. I've used both, and in the broader sense I find they perform similarily. They each have specific attributes that make them unique from the other.
I am sure there will be no shortage of input to your questions, and there are many, many knowledgeable people on this site willing to share their expertise.
Drafin
Member
I could be wrong but if "range" is your problem and you are not getting it with your Radio Shack models (which overall tend to be just a tiny bit more sensitive) then you are not going to find the Uniden's to be any better.
Your best purchase would be an antenna, but "range" is a bit of a subjective term.
If you are looking to get signals from further away then an external antenna would be my suggestion.
I concur with KT4HX. Uniden and GRE/Radio Shack perform similarly in most situations as far as range is concerned.
Draf
Your best purchase would be an antenna, but "range" is a bit of a subjective term.
If you are looking to get signals from further away then an external antenna would be my suggestion.
I concur with KT4HX. Uniden and GRE/Radio Shack perform similarly in most situations as far as range is concerned.
Draf
W8RMH
Feed Provider Since 2012
I have had Radio Shack and Uniden. The Uniden has clearer reception and better receive range.
Here is a good handheld and reasonably priced.
NEW UNIDEN TRUCKTRACKER ANALOG SCANNER W MEM BC346XT - eBay (item 400135092824 end time Aug-08-10 02:01:11 PDT)
Here is a good handheld and reasonably priced.
NEW UNIDEN TRUCKTRACKER ANALOG SCANNER W MEM BC346XT - eBay (item 400135092824 end time Aug-08-10 02:01:11 PDT)
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joshua86
Member
Will this scanner get LTR trunking?
Where would the world be without Google?
bc346xt ltr - Google Search
And to follow up from some previous posts... If you can't receive a system on your GRE, you aren't going to get it good enough to follow by just replacing with a Uniden.
Drafin
Member
It's alright rdale if people are more comfortable buying and finding out for themselves what numerous others have posted in many places on RR they can do it. It's fairly well documented about sensitivities.
Draf
Draf
WA1ATA
Member
I have had a Radio Shack 200 channel non-trunking handheld PRO82 and a Uniden BC72XLT with similar band coverage. While the Radio Shack PRO 82 had decent sensitivity, it also had very low image rejection. I couldn't use it to monitor VHF Marine Channel 16 (156.8MHz) without picking up a lot of interference from a local air traffic control frequency, 135.4MHz..
The Uniden BC72XLT has the same level of sensitivity, better image rejection, and also has the close call feature of automatically detecting very strong local carriers. The pricing was nearly identical.
Charlie
The Uniden BC72XLT has the same level of sensitivity, better image rejection, and also has the close call feature of automatically detecting very strong local carriers. The pricing was nearly identical.
Charlie
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