Can I pick up normal Wake Co. "stuff" with this?

[thudded]

I just bought a Uniden Bearcat BCT8 Scanner for my husband, and he told me it is no good because it won't work here for Wake/Chatham counties. (We live just west of Cary in Chatham Co.).

Should I return this scanner or is it upgradeable at all?

Thanks for anyone who may respond to this "stupid" newbie question.

 

[KE4ZNR]

I just bought a Uniden Bearcat BCT8 Scanner for my husband, and he told me it is no good because it won't work here for Wake/Chatham counties. (We live just west of Cary in Chatham Co.).

Should I return this scanner or is it upgradeable at all?

Thanks for anyone who may respond to this "stupid" newbie question.

Welcome to Radioreference.com!
In this case your husband is right. Most Wake County communications are in a digital format and the BCT8 is an analog only (non-digital) scanner.
A digital capable scanner that can monitor Wake County can cost anywhere from $300 to $500. Yes, it is pretty pricey but just remember that means that he gets to equal or top that cost with a gift back to you

In all seriousness here is a Radioreference.com Wiki link to a list of digital capable scanners:
Categoryigital Scanners - The RadioReference Wiki
There are 2 main companies that make scanners: GRE and Uniden. GRE sells scanners under its own name as well as letting Radio Shack "rebadge" GRE scanners under the Radio Shack name.
The age old argument over who is better GRE or Uniden is kind of like Coke vs Pepsi: whatever you like better is the radio for you.
I personally have radios from both companies in my collection however I have more Unidens than GRE at the present time. And I can promise that the latest batch of Unidens (BCD396XT Handheld and BCD996XT Base/Mobile) work great monitoring Wake County communications.
Feel free to let us know if you have further questions!
Happy Monitoring!
Marshall KE4ZNR

 

[KE4ZNR]

Oh and the only stupid question is the one that is not asked
Thanks again for joining Radioreference.com!
Marshall KE4ZNR

 

[thudded]

thank you

Dear Marshall

Thank you so much for your detailed response. I do hope I can send back my scanner and get a different one. I certainly appreciate the list of potential scanners that would work for this area. I'll be going through that list this weekend.

Thanks again,
analog Cindy

 

[thudded]

We took your advice and purchased the Uniden BCD396xt. Now we have lots of reading to do. The Viper worked right away, but now we need to figure out how to use it!

 

[KE4ZNR]

We took your advice and purchased the Uniden BCD396xt. Now we have lots of reading to do. The Viper worked right away, but now we need to figure out how to use it!

Feel free to drop me an email if you have questions. I know it is intimidating at first but once you get the hang of it you will love it.
Also: I have starter Freescan files in this sticky thread.
Happy Monitoring
Marshall KE4ZNR