advice needed please

[cino]

My old AOR1000 has a short and i am tired of the hums and whistles from it. I am starting to look for a replacment that will last a few years. I live in the asheville area and like to monitor buncombe county, eoc, asheville city, shp and a few smaller towns close by. I want another handheld. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I just have not been keeping up with the technology nor do I know how fast its changeing to make a good decision.
TIA

 

[C138NC]

My old AOR1000 has a short and i am tired of the hums and whistles from it. I am starting to look for a replacment that will last a few years. I live in the asheville area and like to monitor buncombe county, eoc, asheville city, shp and a few smaller towns close by. I want another handheld. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I just have not been keeping up with the technology nor do I know how fast its changeing to make a good decision.
TIA

for a handheld, maybe a Pro 96 DTR Scanner, or anything better that will pick up on the states 800mhz VIPER System and still some VHF/UHF systems.

 

[trumpetman]

Well here's the break down:

Buncombe EOC & the rest of the local small towns will be just fine with a plain analog scanner.

Asheville City is currently on a Moto Type II trunked system, with all channels being analog, BUT, at some point in the future APD will be switching to digital and AFD will possibly follow.

Most VIPER traffic in the Asheville area is SHP, which will be exclusivly digital in the very near future. Bear in mind that SHP is still simulcasting the dispatch side on low band if that's enough for you (I never could get the mobiles before VIPER anyways). Other traffic includes digital VMN channels for patient reports to the hospital and local mutual aid channels; I'm sure MAMA will be onboard before too long as well.
I'm not too terribly sure which route the county will take with the med reports, ie stick to MED 5 for calls to Mission or jump on board with the VIPER Med Net.

That being said, I would recommend a digital scanner, but you could go a short time without it and not miss out on much. I have a BCD396XT and personally I love it. I would gladly help you get it setup and working for the Asheville area if you do go that right. I'm sure the previously mentioned PRO-96 would work just as well, but I'm not as experienced with that scanner. The same holds true for the GRE PSR500 / PRO-106.

Hope this helps, if not, keep asking questions and we'll get you on the right track.

Regards,

 

[Drafin]

I too would suggest a GRE PSR500, PRO-106, or a BCD396XT.

More and more things that are currently analog are going digital. The major differences between the GRE PSR500/Radio Shack PRO106 and the Shack Pro 96 is:

- 10 more V Folders in PSR500 than the Pro 96. (Handy to have if you travel at all)
- 5000 channels (500 in each Vfolder) for the 96 vs. 37,800 (1800 per Vfolder) for the PSR500
- Lots of extra trunking systems are tracked on the PSR500 but not on the Pro96.
- I-Calls/Private Calls support for the PSR buyt not the Pro96
- Unit ID on the Psr but not the Pro 96

If the budget allows I'd go with the PSR500/Radio Shack PRO106 or the BCD396XT and be set for quite some time to come.

Draf

 

[cino]

Thanks for the responses. I have a guy trying to sell me a 106. I think he wants a bit to much for a used item though. I think ill keep looking around and see what I can find.



edit i meant a pro-164

 

[Drafin]

Thanks for the responses. I have a guy trying to sell me a 106. I think he wants a bit to much for a used item though. I think ill keep looking around and see what I can find.



edit i meant a pro-164

The 164 is a fine scanner, just be aware that it does not do digital. It would keep you from hearing NCSHP and most if not all of Buncome County communications.

If you are doing research on the Pro-164 is essentially the same radio as the PSR-300 if I am not mistaken.

Draf