Could a cheaper scanner be all you need?

[w0fg]

In this area you can still receive 90% of the available public safety traffic with a Bearcat BCT-8 VHF. 99% of the scanners I sold in 17 years of retail were of the $79-$99 variety. Anything over 10-12 VHF channels is overkill unless you're into aviation.

 

[CanWoodsman]

Anything over 10-12 VHF channels is overkill unless you're into aviation.

I can't even cover my area fire dept's with 10-12 channels let alone any police or ambulance on top of that. Throw in my local airport & the number goes up even more.

 

[w0fg]

I realize my community isn't typical, but was just showing there are still rural areas where such is the case. Obviously, a metro area is going to be a totally different bundle of snakes, as is more specialized listening. While I can get by with 10 VHF PS frequencies, I have 100 active aviation frequencies programmed in my own scanners, but most of my customers didn't care about anything other than the local FD, ambulance, and the S/O (PD's been encrypted for years.) For them the cheapest, most basic model never required that more than the first bank be programmed.