Need Help Picking a Scanner

[UAL747DEN]

Hello I am in need of your expert advise on choosing the best scanner for my needs!

I have owned a scanner since I was very young and used it to monitor Loveland PD and FD. When they switched to 800MHz digital I lost my capability to do that and gave up with the idea that there was just no way to monitor them other than using the Internet browser anymore.
Now that I have found this site I realize that I might be able to monitor yet again and am so very excited!!!!! I have done a lot of reading and found the frequency and talk group information, but I have so far been unable to find anything that tells me if I can for sure use a scanner to monitor Loveland or not?

If this is possible will you please tell me exactly what feature I need to look for to make this scanning possible? I would also like your opinions on what scanner would be best for me. By that I mean what scanner would offer the features I need to listen to Loveland and would be a good quality unit.

Thank you in advance for all of your help and I hope that what I am looking for is out there so that I can go pick it up tomorrow! (Depending on if this snow closes the stores or not!)

 

[Spud]

Available scanners

Hello I am in need of your expert advise on choosing the best scanner for my needs!

I have owned a scanner since I was very young and used it to monitor Loveland PD and FD. When they switched to 800MHz digital I lost my capability to do that and gave up with the idea that there was just no way to monitor them other than using the Internet browser anymore.
Now that I have found this site I realize that I might be able to monitor yet again and am so very excited!!!!! I have done a lot of reading and found the frequency and talk group information, but I have so far been unable to find anything that tells me if I can for sure use a scanner to monitor Loveland or not?

If this is possible will you please tell me exactly what feature I need to look for to make this scanning possible? I would also like your opinions on what scanner would be best for me. By that I mean what scanner would offer the features I need to listen to Loveland and would be a good quality unit.

Thank you in advance for all of your help and I hope that what I am looking for is out there so that I can go pick it up tomorrow! (Depending on if this snow closes the stores or not!)

There are currently two manufacturers that have products capable of monitoring the statewide DTRS system that many public service agencies in Colorado are using.

Uniden makes a BCD396T handheld and a BCD996 "mobile" scanner that will work.
Radio Shack carries a Pro-96 handheld and a Pro-2096 "mobile" scanner that will work.

The prices on all of them are right around $500 normally. Radio Shack has theirs on sale for $400 (shown currently on their website).
RS also carries the Uniden BCD996 but they have it priced at over $700. (Guess they are trying to move people toward their scanners that are actually manufactured by GRE).

The advantages for Uniden:
Handheld is slightly better built and more compact.
It receives and tracks digital systems in both 700 and 800 MHz bands. (The Radio Shack scanners will not track the 700 MHz band systems).
Includes software, battery pack and charger.

The advantages for Radio Shack:
Handheld has much better sensitivity (useful if you are in trying to monitor weak signals)
Can be used with Win96 (an excellent programming software) and Pro96win (a very useful program for capturing digital info from the APCO25 digital sites.
Uses standard AA batteries (2500 mAh rechargables last a really long time and regular AA can be used if you do not have access to recharging).
Decoded digital voice sounds better than the Uniden. (Neither are going to sound as good as analog voice systems).

The sites in the Ft Collins / Loveland area are 800 MHz and according to a "Transition Authority" website, may move down 15 Mhz in the future but will not move to the 700 MHz band. The best "site" to monitor up here for the entire area is the Horsetooth Mountain site since the statewide APCO25 is a "simulcast" system.

I had both handheld products and later sold the Uniden since, for my needs, the Radio Shack was a better choice. I live in west Ft. Collins and wanted to monitor some of the Denver metro stuff from the Lookout Mountain site as well as the City of Denver system from Mt. Morrison.
I use an outdoor 4 element beam pointed south with a 10 db homemade preamp at the antenna to listen to Denver as well as other sites even further south.

There are other advantages and disadvantages to each of the manufacturer's products. I can tell that you are anxious to get a digital scanner and begin monitoring again but I would advise you to do more investigation and base you decision on your intended use and which manufacturer's product would best fill your needs.

Keep watching this thread over the next few days as more of the regular users will undoubtedly add opinions to this that may provide information that you will find useful in your search for answers.

73,

The spud.

 

[scanlist]

FYI Loveland Fire dispatch is still simulcast on 154.010 so you are not completely out of the loop. Fire ground ops on "TalkGroup 2" are also simulcast. Any operations above talkgroup 2 are not simulcast (Typically medical only calls).

Right now the radioshack PRO-96 and 2096 are on sale for $399 and Unidens are over $500.

It's not real clear if the sites in your area will be adding 700 MHz in the near future though long term I would think that it will happen. This makes it tough if one is leaning toward the current radioshack models that are not capable of tracking 700 MHz.

Phil.

 

[captaincraig44]

The advantages for Uniden:
Handheld is slightly better built and more compact.
It receives and tracks digital systems in both 700 and 800 MHz bands. (The Radio Shack scanners will not track the 700 MHz band systems).
Includes software, battery pack and charger.

Just for clarification, the 396 uses standard AA batteries. Uniden finally went away from the battery pack idea. It uses 3 vs. 4 for the PRO-96.

If Loveland PD and FD are all you are looking to monitor, it's a complete toss-up between the two manufacturers. If you think you'll want to listen to more distant agencies (VHF, UHF or 7/800 MHz), then the RS models might be better. If you might be traveling a lot or might have more than 10 systems you might want to listen to, the Uniden 396 would suit you better. Make a list of the positives and negatives of the RS vs. Uniden models and weigh the results. As was mentioned, all are around $500, so cost won't really factor in, minus a sale at RS or a deal on ebay or Craigslist.

If you need more info, email me. I use the 396, but in the interest of keeping as many people in the hobby as possible, I'd be glad to discuss the pros and cons of both manufacturers with you. I have by the way owned both the PRO-96 and the Uniden 396, at the same time for a period, so I do have experience with both.

 

[jimmnn]

Hey Spud great reply think you covered it well.

Also for the new member remember you can monitor Loveland on-line as well if that helps.

Jim<

 

[cstockmyer]

Can someone tell me the difference between Unidens Dynamic Memory Management, and Radio Smacks Channel memory is? Bill(Scan-Denver) and I where talking about it awhile ago and he gave me the basic idea, I was just wondering if someone could make it crystal clear for me.

 

[scanlist]

Dynamic memory= Cram as many systems/channels as you can until you run out of memory.

Bank memory=Limits you to 10 systems/banks with lots of empty space in between.

Dynamic is a way more efficient use of memory capacity.

Phil.

 

[cstockmyer]

Dynamic memory= Cram as many systems/channels as you can until you run out of memory.

Bank memory=Limits you to 10 systems/banks with lots of empty space in between.

Dynamic is a way more efficient use of memory capacity.

Phil.

Ok Thanks Phil!

 

[firescannerbob]

Dynamic memory= Cram as many systems/channels as you can until you run out of memory.

Bank memory=Limits you to 10 systems/banks with lots of empty space in between.

Dynamic is a way more efficient use of memory capacity.

Phil.

As a follow-up question...
Can you make up banks "on the fly"? in other words, I have my banks set up by jurisidiction or service...law enforcement in one bank, fire in another, county in another, city in yet another. If I understand what you've written, they're all lumped into one big "bank". How do you separate things?
Or maybe something is missing in the explanation... I agree that it's more efficient use of memory, but it sounds pretty poor in regards to organization.
If not, I'd prefer to keep the "banks".

 

[BobWeb]

As a follow-up question...
Can you make up banks "on the fly"? in other words, I have my banks set up by jurisidiction or service...law enforcement in one bank, fire in another, county in another, city in yet another. If I understand what you've written, they're all lumped into one big "bank". How do you separate things?
Or maybe something is missing in the explanation... I agree that it's more efficient use of memory, but it sounds pretty poor in regards to organization.
If not, I'd prefer to keep the "banks".

They are not all lumped into one. It is very easy to create systems, and then sub-banks of those systems, allowing you to turn both the systems and sub-banks on/off as you desire. Basically, you can have up to 99 systems to turn on and off, and then 0-9 banks within those systems to turn on or off. I love the V-folder feature on the 96 since you can reset your config at any time; nice if you are monitoring a specific call and want to lock out all others and then be able to quickly return to your base config, but I'd take Uniden's dynamic memory over it any day if I had to choose. Being optimistic, I'd really like to have both, not that that is going to happen.

 

[firescannerbob]

Thanks Bob, that makes more sense.
I also love the V-scanner feature in the Pro-96 (and actually use it), but I think a lot of Pro-96 users either don't know about it, or don't use it.