Va Beach Laptops in patrol cars Pro-96 Question

[PC_Medic]

With most PD's now having laptop PC's mounted in their patrol cars is there still any action to listen to on scanners?
I am in Va. Beach (near Chesapeake border) and don't want to shell out $500 for a Pro-96 if all I can hear will be the McD's or Wendy's drive-up !

Also, will the pro-96 get good reception from the military bases and military air?

Thanks
PC Medic

 

[northzone]

Also, will the pro-96 get good reception from the military bases and military air?
Thanks
PC Medic

No, it does not trunk 380 to 400mhz where most military bases will be moving to (many already have). It does not do military air (you can make it do milair with software but it is poor).

 

[LEH]

There is still a lot of activity on the scanners. Not all units (bike's and foot patrols) have them. Also, voice is still more expediant than the display screen in many cases. Would you want to try to type your location in a high speed chase through traffic?

Many areas are moving to encryption, but most have not gone to it full time. I doubt if it will happen any time in the too near future.

The PRO-96 has some nice features, but there are others that do more. GRE (who made the 96 for Radio Shack) is coming out with a new scanner next month. Same price range as the 96. There is a thread for this scanner in the GRE section of the forums (http://www.radioreference.com/forums/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=77870). Uniden has a couple of scanners available. As you live in or near Chesapeake, you will need a digital scanner so that does limit what you can get and how much you will wind up paying.

If you can wait another month, hold off and see what is said about the new GRE scanners. Just make sure you get some kind of software to program what ever scanner you buy. It will save you a lot of time and effort.

 

[tommyandamanda21]

I'm here in the blackwater section of va beach, the best i got is the pro 97, picks up great pd, fd, and ems....

also i got the 433 and its real good too since i finally got someone here to help mre set up the trunking....


but either one is good, while va beach is still in analog i would think. chesapeake is in digital so i don't know if the will pick up digital when va beach ends up with it.

so my pick the pro 97 or the 433....

i got 2 97 and 1 433...

Tommy

With most PD's now having laptop PC's mounted in their patrol cars is there still any action to listen to on scanners?
I am in Va. Beach (near Chesapeake border) and don't want to shell out $500 for a Pro-96 if all I can hear will be the McD's or Wendy's drive-up !

Also, will the pro-96 get good reception from the military bases and military air?

Thanks
PC Medic

 

[LEH]

Let's ask another question here. How do you plan to use the scanner? Will you carry it around in your vehicle or will it sit at home on a table top?

One of the major disadvantages to RS scanners (and many earlier Uniden scanners) is they only allowed you to program ten banks. You may have 1000 channels, but you could only track ten trunked systems*. The newer Uniden (and the new GRE's coming out next month) allow for dynamic allocation, you can have more than ten trunked systems.

Right now there are not that many digital systems in the area. On the southside, it is Chesapeake and the two Navy bases (on 400 MHz systems right now). VSP is slowly putting out their digital replacement STARS system (actually, STARS is SUPPOSED to be all state agencies, but there are some problems with the system, see the thread on STARS problems).

All in all, I'd say you really need to be looking for a digital scanner, especially if the scanner will be mobile. Living close to Chesapeake, I'd seriously consider digital.

So as the PRO-96/2096 (handheld/tabletop) does not cover MIL-AIR, you need to start looking at Uniden or the new GRE.

Tough decision, but there is enough experience on this board to help you make the right one. Above all just don't go jump into something. Think it through, ask questions. When you are getting ready to spend a couple of hundred dollars or more, there are no stupid questions.

Non digital scanners are less expensive, but then you cannot monitor digital systems (don't mix digital with encrypted, York County is digital with encryption). So sit down and set your priorities. What do you want to listen to the most. Are they digital or analog. What are your secondary systems. Then shop around to find a scanner that will fill your needs. No one scanner is perfect, find the one that best fits your needs. I don't listen to MIL-AIR, so for me the 96 would be okay for you, it would probably be a no go.

*The reason you can't have more than ten trunked systems in the earlier trunked scanners is they will lock onto the trunked system control channel. First come first served.

 

[PC_Medic]

Thanks to all for the responses.

While MilAir would be nice it is a secondary interest and law Enforcement, Fire, etc would be primary use. For this sounds like the Pro-96 may be suitable, though if I can hold out (I'm not the most patient person :0) ) I may wait to see what GRE has to offer. One plus would be that it will from what I see support 380MHz Trunk Scanning which according to 'nirthzone' will be needed for local military bases.

LEH ... you mention "PRO-96/2096 (handheld/tabletop) does not cover MIL-AIR, you need to start looking at Uniden or the new GRE." Does Uniden or GRE offer a model that has the features of the Pro-96 + MilAir support?

 

[LEH]

Both the new GRE (PSR-500) and the Uniden (BCT-396) have MIL-AIR and are digital as well. Both run around $500 depending on where you buy it.

Both have a form of dynamic channel allocation (more than ten banks). There are discussion forums on both radios elsewhere in the forums.

 

[gcgrotz]

Quoting LEH:

"No one scanner is perfect, find the one that best fits your needs. "

That's why most of us have 3 or 5 or a dozen scanners, right?

One comment on the '396: yes it does Mil-Air but it is limited for 2 reasons, it is not quite as easy to go to a specific programmed channel and entering a new freq when you hear a plane moving there is not so fast and easy. Two very important things for active mil-air monitoring. The '396 is best at scanning a bank and not a lot of manually moving around. The GRE scanners (I use a Pro 97 for air and mil) allow you to quickly punch in a freq and go. You might want to consider waiting for the new one from GRE, assuming it operates they way their others do.

 

[LEH]

Ouch, now I'll have you know I resemble that remark. As I am also a pack rat, so I have

Na, I can't count that high. . Let's just say I still have a four channel hand held VHF crystal controlled scanner, the first Bearcat progammable (all 16 channels of it), my Regency 5500, a PRO 43, an ICOM R-1 (the tiny little thing) and several others.