How Long Do Handheld Scanner Last??

[cbehr91]

If we're talking base units, too, I have a Bearcat 220 from 1979 still going strong as well.

 

[Driverj30t9]

I have enloops that are mmm maybe 5 years old, and they don't last as well as they use to. Sometimes they'll be freshly charged and I'll pop them into my scanners and the scanner will die right away.

I must be kinda hard on my scanners because my Whistler TRX-1 is scanning but not picking up a thing anymore. It's not even stopping on frequencies and showing it on the display. I forgot I had the scanner on and transmitted on a cb. That might have something to do with it.

My Whistler WS1040 keeps hanging on a local station. I need to try to attenuate that frequency, see if that helps or not.

I stopped at a thrift store just two days ago looking for cheap adapters. Most if not all usb ends wouldn't fit my TRX-1 but there were some with barrel ends that could fit my 1040. Or I could try fitting some new ones on.

 

[TailGator911]

I have an old Bearcat 200XLT out in the barn and have had it since 1990s and I fired it up last spring when cleaning out the storage boxes and it still worked like a champ.

 

[pinballwiz86]

I'll bet that I've owned over 50 scanners over the past 35 years. Only two scanners have developed problems such that I got rid of them. I used to have a Uniden Bearcat 800XLT desktop scanner which was bad to overheat, and when I sold it (1999 or 2000) the display was going very dim. The other was a Radio Shack Pro-96 what started going deaf on 800 MHz about twelve years after I'd bought it.

Currently my oldest scanner is a Uniden 142XLT ten channel base scanner manufactured in 1990. It still works great; I've modded it with a discriminator tap and and it's what I was using for monitoring DMR and NXDN frequencies (connected with a computer running DSD+) until those modes became available on the most recent scanners.

Great Scot! Some of you guys have scanners older than I am. Haha.

 

[KB4MSZ]

Be careful with a longer antenna. It can put stress on the connector and cause failure of the solder joint inside the radio.

This sucks. I spent hours getting the BNC soldered to the 102" whip.

 

[ladn]

This sucks. I spent hours getting the BNC soldered to the 102" whip.

Use bigger torch!

 

[RogerH11]

I guess I have 2 questions. My first is that I have a old Radioshack Pro-64 that must be at least 15 years old. The ac adapter broke so I just use 6 re-chargable batteries. I listen to it quite a bit. Am I just lucky to have mine last this long? Granted, I never take it outside my home. Also, would getting a telescopic antenna help to replace my "rubber ducky" one give clearer reception? I live in Chicago and mainly just listen to their 15 zones. It is very, very busy. Thank you for any responses.

Getting a better antenna is rarely a bad idea unless you live in a city and a better antenna may cause more interference depending on the selectivity of your particular model which varied widely back then. GRE were always better than Uniden back in the RAT Shack days. I think the PRO 64 to me looks like a GRE model so go for it! I reread your post and the 6AA confirms it to me being GRE as Uniden never had a 6 cell FWIK. Rubber Ducks back then were often awful.

 

[robertwbob]

I prefer an adapter with a jumper wire to an external antenna,lots less stress onn the bnc connecter.
Im still using the first rs pro 2046 our now gone rs dealer got in as a display.
A rs pro 95,its been a problem child.probably why it was gave to me.a pro 94 thats proving to be the best recieve of any i ever owned but bad internal speaker,and a bc 245xlt.i had a bearcat from the 70s that had that oval speaker.lightning ran in on it

 

[darkness975]

Be careful with a longer antenna. It can put stress on the connector and cause failure of the solder joint inside the radio.

I have a Comet BNC-W100RX on my BCD325P2. When home I do keep it mostly (but not 100%) extended due to my location and what not. When I move it around I am careful with it (i.e. not holding it by the Antenna, being gentle when transporting it, etc).
When I take the unit in the car, I mostly close the antenna so that it is not overly tall when the car moves it around a bit. I keep the scanner in the cup holder to minimize it being jostled around and I don't leave it in the baking or freezing car for extended periods of time.

 

[HighDesertRadio]

I have my realistic Pro 2021 from the 1980s still works great never had any problems with it. I listen to it daily.

 

[IC-R20]

Be careful with a longer antenna. It can put stress on the connector and cause failure of the solder joint inside the radio.

Depends on the design of the radio. The connector is actually fused into the body of the radio in some way or another pretty solidly even on plastic radios so long as you don't put something ridiculous on you'll be fine. Even still it's one of the easiest things to repair since it's just basic soldering. I've swapped SMAs to BNC the same way before.

 

[IC-R20]

I have my realistic Pro 2021 from the 1980s still works great never had any problems with it. I listen to it daily.

Right on, I have a Pro-22 with a big collection of crystals I've accumulated for it some of which I've regrinded with this little kit I have. I have all the good frequencies I want now.

I really love how compact and slim this radio is, really solid build, looks great (like a commercial HT almost) and works great clipped inside my pocket thanks to the top controls for a little "spy radio" type stealth listening hehe

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

Be careful with a longer antenna. It can put stress on the connector and cause failure of the solder joint inside the radio.

Yes, retract or remove it when not in use so in the event the radio tips over no damage will be done to connector nor antenna

 

[stingray327]

I guess I have 2 questions. My first is that I have a old Radioshack Pro-64 that must be at least 15 years old. The ac adapter broke so I just use 6 re-chargable batteries. I listen to it quite a bit. Am I just lucky to have mine last this long? Granted, I never take it outside my home. Also, would getting a telescopic antenna help to replace my "rubber ducky" one give clearer reception? I live in Chicago and mainly just listen to their 15 zones. It is very, very busy. Thank you for any responses.

I have two Pro-93 hand held scanners that I got in the 90's. One still works. The other has a problem with the power supply. In both cases I use special battery rechargeable packs that I got many years ago. It's some kind of adaptive kit. The scanners are in storage now since I got newer scanners to keep up with the times. Both of my Pro-2006 base stations work fine of course they are always at home and I bought these at the same time I got the Pro-93 scanners.

 

[gmclam]

I still have every scanner I've ever owned, and they all work. I've certainly had to repair a few keypads and connections between BNC & circuit boards though. Issues that diminish their lives include: (over)charging batteries in the unit, using the antenna as a handle, dropping them, and extreme use (although that would wear out a base model just the same).

 

[IC-R20]

I still have every scanner I've ever owned, and they all work. I've certainly had to repair a few keypads and connections between BNC & circuit boards though. Issues that diminish their lives include: (over)charging batteries in the unit, using the antenna as a handle, dropping them, and extreme use (although that would wear out a base model just the same).

How about recapping? Are they all still using the original capacitors too?

 

[gmclam]

How about recapping? Are they all still using the original capacitors too?

When it comes to capacitors, yes they are original. Funny you should ask because I have some fairly new electronics (TV tuner, DVR) that were built in China and failed because of capacitors. I replaced all of the caps in those units and they are back up.

But when it comes to scanners; other than the fact I replaced the scanning circuitry in the PRO-77 & PRO-10 models with microcontrollers (back in ~1985), they are running on original components. You might wonder what I do with them; for example I am using a tapped PRO-95 to feed Unitrunker. I was using one of the PRO-77s to feed RR before Broadcastify came into existence. Lots of little things like that. Heavy listening at home is PSR-400 & PSR-600; mobile is PSR-310 & PSR-500.

 

[Starion]

The buttons on my Pro-64 don't work any more. I forgot when I bought it. I just want to program some analog fire dispatch, marine, railroad and aircraft frequencies into it.

 

[robertwbob]

The buttons on my Pro-64 don't work any more. I forgot when I bought it. I just want to program some analog fire dispatch, marine, railroad and aircraft frequencies into it.

did you lock it up? I think you can download a manual? Ive taken them apart and sprayed contac cleaner on the contac pads.

 

[Ed6698]

Thanks everyone. I was considering getting a new model but think I will stick with this one and try a new antenna maybe to pick up East Chicago, Gary IN, Hammond IN area.

I don't think a Pro-64 will work to listen to those areas in Indiana, Lake County Indiana is on a P25 Phase II system, most everything is now on it, if you are wanting to listen to public safety.