Equipment Comparison

[icehckylvr]

I have an old Radio Shack Pro-96 that seems to be going dead and I have been doing research for a new scanner. I am looking at 4 models and am unsure as to which to purchase. The ones I am considering are the RS Pro-106, GRE PSR-500, Uniden BCD396xl, or the Uniden HomePatrol. Can anyone give me any feedback as to which they prefer, why they prefer that particular model, and any other information that might be useful for me to make a decision.

Thanks
Ron

 

[methusaleh]

What do you mean by "seems to be going dead"? Perhaps it would be most cost-effective to repair the 96, if it still suits your needs.

 

[trap5858]

The pro 106 and PSR 500 are essentially the same radio. They are very good. The Uniden 396 is also a good radio, I have no working knowledge of the Home Patrol. As the other reply indicated, maybe having the 96 looked at is the way to go.

I own both a pro 106 and 396XT- each one has certain features I like. Both are programmable from the computer for ease. Both have steep learning curves. Both do the same thing. If you are going to be carrying the scanner and want it concealed- then the 396 is the radio of choice.

Hope this helps

 

[icehckylvr]

What I mean by 'seems to be going dead' is that it scans the v-folders I have it set for here in Sacramento, but it will not pick up anything. It just keeps scanning continuously. I have checked the freqs to make sure they haven't changed and they have not. I have also checked all my settings to ensure that I did not actually hit a button to change something.

 

[icehckylvr]

Even tried the rebanding process with Win96 and still nothing.

 

[methusaleh]

Perhaps you are the victim of the notorious internal antenna connection separation. Happened to me with both the 96 and 106. I believe there are instructions on opening the radio and checking the connection, somewhere on RR. I figured it out myself but it is a process that must be done carefully and with much attention to detail, or you can do a lot of damage.