KG4LJF said:
I'll agree, GRE scanners, don't have features of the Unidens. But let's look at the reasons you BUY a scanner. I buy a scanner to hear stuff, and I like every ounce of gain I can squeeze out of one.
Yeah, Uniden's features ARE nice. But, when it comes to scanning, I like performance. I like to scan, to listen, not punch buttons and play with goodies.
It's like the analogy I made earlier, in a different post. Uniden and GRE are like a Bentley and a Corvette. The Bentley is nice, and has many features, but, to some people, doing 140 is much more important.
This may be true in a two brand world.
I have Yupiteru radios which blow the doors off GRE radio all day long. If the gre is a corvette then the yupiteru radios are Aston martins.
I also buy radios in order to monitor what is going on around me. When it comes to the gain added by using a GRE radio I can easily over come this by the use of a fine antenna 40 or so foot above the ground. I can hear just about anything I want to with my 396 and this discone. I also like having features.
I also own a couple of AOR-8000's which in terms of sheer receiver performance are really damn good. Yupiteru radios are better built than just about all of these radios.
I have got to say that my 396 has held up as well as several of my "commercial" radios.
This is not a radio pissing match.
All of these radios have their own highlights, one may be great on 800mhz but crappy on 144 MHz.
The point is that none are perfect. I have found that generally there is a trade off for every "db" of sensitivity you are more likely to suffer intermod. Now the GRE radios may be sensitive but I have never suffered from any intermod issues with my 396. Can you say that about your pro 96?
As I look at the feature set of the new GRE radios I already know I would be disappointed.
I am looking for a digital radio with dual receivers I also want it to be able to record MP3 files in the radio of what it is hearing, Allowing for time shifting of the action.
Can you imaging a radio that you can leave on while you are at work and you leave it scanning your favorites. if there is some action while you are at work you will be able to monitor everything as it happened 6 or 8 hours later.
This would be fantastic, and is very doable, I would also like the radio to be able to record the action on one frequency while I monitor another. Imagine this feature put to use on a trunked system monitoring and recording separate talk groups.
Look Guys this is the 21st century and we need 21st century features. We need them attached to 21st century radios that hear like crazy.
BTW When it comes down to the sheer gain a radio has, I can monitor many things from my qth, For example I can hear the Disney 900 MHz system from 35 miles away with a simple tuned antenna.
This is as much the result of good engineering on the part of the technicians who built the system as it does with the ability for my radio to hear the system.
My other point is this If I put my mind to it I could figure out a way to monitor some San Diego systems. But why? I wouldn't. I don't need to hear stuff from 150 mile away, that is gain really get you. An antenna will get you the same thing for the most part.
My overall point is that there is more to scanners than pure gain.
Yaesumofo
