Coverage testing with a scanner?

[Thunderknight]

Are there any hardware / software combinations that allow one to measure and log signal strength + location (from a GPS, presumably attached to a laptop) using an off the shelf scanner? I am well aware of the specialized solutions, such as devices from BVS, however they are quite a bit more expensive than a scanner.

While I realize that a dedicated commercial device would be more accurate (and is calibrated), I believe the scanner solution is sufficent for non-commerical (ham mostly) use.

It would need to support at least analog, P25 would be nice as well.

I'm almost positive there are scanners (and maybe ham transceivers) that output the received signal strength (RSSI), but are there any inexpensive software packages that will log that data + GPS?

Mapping of that data could then be done with one of the open source GIS packages.

Thanks

 

[k9rzz]

If you hear the neighboring town's police transmitter then you know the coords, and depending on your scanner, you could wire up a signal strength device. What service are you monitoring that carries GPS?