Favorite and Least Favorite Scanners?

[cherubim]

Favorites: Uniden UBC200XLT, UBC9000XLT, BC785D, UBC396XT, RS PRO-96, GRE PSR-500 and Whistler TRX1 & 2

Least favorite scanners: Trident TRX-100, Alinco DJ-X2000 (bad performance), RS PRO-99 (awful), Uniden BC2500XLT (terrible), AOR-8200 Mark I (poor shielding and low sensitivity)

 

[KE4ZNR]

I have said this before...the absolute worst was the Uniden BC350A.
It was a nightmare to program and heard images all across the spectrum.
Just a horrible scanner in every way possible.

 

[es93546]

I have said this before...the absolute worst was the Uniden BC350A.
It was a nightmare to program and heard images all across the spectrum.
Just a horrible scanner in every way possible.

Mine burned with smoke coming out of it. I returned it and the second one did the same. The offered me a 300 in exchange and it worked well until the display dimmed. No one could fix it, although it lasted about 10 years. I'm now using scanners that are 17 years old and have them on about 12-14 hours a day.

 

[kodachrome]

Worst scanner: TRX-1 (or -2). Horrible things.

Dem be fightin' words among some peeps, ya know...

Actually I agree. I have a TRX-1 here I'd love to get rid of but it's almost not worth the effort to post a for sale ad, that's how much I hate this thing. Had the TRX-2 also and was happy to get rid of it.

Best: 996XT

 

[gmclam]

Dem be fightin' words among some peeps, ya know...

Actually I agree. I have a TRX-1 here I'd love to get rid of but it's almost not worth the effort to post a for sale ad, that's how much I hate this thing. Had the TRX-2 also and was happy to get rid of it.

Best: 996XT

I was so upset about the TRX-1 that I wrote a review and shared with all (including Whistler). They actually made changes to their software afterwards, but you can fix many of the issues in the software (or firmware).

 

[ratboy]

My favorite of all time is the BC9000XLT. I live about 30 miles east of Manhattan NY on the south shore of Long Island. I never used anything other antenna besides the stock antenna and i was able to listen to the NYPD , FDNY etc from all the boroughs (except Staten Island which I never programmed in) with booming sound and to the east I could hear all the way out from the Hamptons. I could even pick up the south east area of Connecticut. It was easy and fun to program , amazing booming , crystal clear audio. I sold it on eBay to help pay for the HP 1 when it came out. I regret selling it but back then I wanted the HP 1 asap.

IMHO, the Pro-2006 was the best scanner of all time. Other than a little bit slow scan speed, it was about as perfect as a 1988(?) scanner could be.

The 9000XLT is one of my most hated scanners! It scanned fast, but that was all that was good about it. The thing ran hot and I had to add heat sinks to the many regulators inside it, and it did last a long time, but it was a mess. It had almost zero FM "capture effect", so when the bands were open, two signals would "fight it out" making not much more than a whining/growling noise. Aircraft was marginal, the tower could only be heard about 40% of the time, it was clearly heard 100% of the time on all my other radios, even the worst of them.

The most annoying thing it did was the local bus company could be heard over almost the entire UHF band. On the stock antenna, it was bad, but even on an 800 MHZ antenna, it wasn't much better. When I sold it off, I was beyond happy

 

[Don57]

I never had any of the issues you mentioned. Imo it was as close to perfect as you get. With the stock antenna It picked up just about everything I wanted to listen to within about a 50 mile radius , pd , fire , cb , rr’s , bus & cab co’s , security , schools , dpw’s etc etc. The audio was booming and crystal clear. I can honestly say there is not a single thing I can complain about with it.

 

[EAFrizzle]

Absolute worst for me: PRO-94. What a  dog brucellosis-ridden, gut-shot feral hog.

Its hard to name one favorite, but the one with the most miles on it is a PRO-2026 that was in my truck for over a decade, and serves as a railroad scanner today. My PRO-2042 sees a lot of service scanning MilAir and VHF today.

Out of the new scanners I've bought, my favorite is the BCD325P2. With ProScan, it just takes a few minutes to load it up with whatever I'm going to be scanning that day. I get 5-6 hours from a set of Ni-MH AAs, so I don't need to lug a bunch around (although I do because I lug around multiple radios when I'm out listening).


Favorite form factor? The good ol' kitchen counter scanners. My BC365CRS runs almost continuously, and helped me find some unlisted business freqs. My old BC855XLT still works great, and is a veteran of many hunting and fishing trips around Texas. After a long day on the water or in the woods, it's a nice activity to go along with good food and old Bourbon.

 

[kc2asb]

Favorite - Realistic PRO-2006 - the best scanner ever made, IMHO. Mine is 34 years old and still going The Uniden BC-780XLT is another favorite, almost a PRO-2006 with trunking ability

Least favorite -Uniden BC-890XLT - gets overloaded and desenses on a modest external antenna and is unusable on UHF. Perhaps its extreme sensitivity would be an asset in a rural area. I did find it good on VHF-Lo, however, on an outdoor antenna.

 

[Ensnared]

The best analog scanner I owned was one of the originals, Bearcat IV. The best digital scanner I ever owned is the SDS 100. Now, the worst scanner I ever owned was the notorious foot-warmer, the Bearcat 250. I loved the radio features, but the heat generated off of that puppy was like listening to a space heater with a speaker.

 

[kc2asb]

The best analog scanner I owned was one of the originals, Bearcat IV. The best digital scanner I ever owned is the SDS 100. Now, the worst scanner I ever owned was the notorious foot-warmer, the Bearcat 250. I loved the radio features, but the heat generated off of that puppy was like listening to a space heater with a speaker.

I have used a Bearcat III - those old Electra crystal sets are solid performers if you can find a working one used.

The Bearcat 250 was very advanced for its time. I bought a used one at a hamfest over 25 years ago. Worked very well for a few years, but the audio started getting less and less audible and it eventually stopped accepting frequencies. The Bearcat 220 was another model that seemed to run very hot.