ICOM verses Uniden: Take 2

[Trifit65]

Members,

By purchasing UNIDEN, I will be giving up the ICOM functionality for receiving extended frequencies up to 3GHz. ICOM scanners can recieve from 1Mhz to 3 GHz, but UNIDEN only goes up to about 1300MHz.

My question is: Am I really missing out on anything within those high GHz frequencies? Is anyone actually transmitting in those frequencies? Is there much action there?

Perhaps if I DID purchase the ICOM capability to scan into GHz frequencies, there would not be much to listen to there anyone ...

I'm trying to figure which to buy ... ICOM or Uniden ... and what's the most interesting feature... the Unidens APCO, or the ICOMs extended high frequencies?

Thanks

Tom C

 

[K2KOH]

There's some amateur activity on 2.4 GHz, depending on where you are, and in the 1.4 GHz area, radio telescopes abound listening for ET. I don't think you're missing much in that area.

 

[Trifit65]

Thanks fellows. I very much appreciated your incites. I've decided on the Uniden BC396 verses the ICOM R20. In Los Angeles, the APCO police scans would be cool, and the R20 wouldn't provide that. Most of you seem to feel the higher frequency bands supported by the R20 may not be so interesting.

Thanks!

Tom C

 

[Hamradiostuffing]

No you are not missing anything

No you are not really missing anything. The only thin g you may hear is cordless telephones. Even there is not very much. Frankly the R20 in my opinion is over priced for what you get. You can buy a Uniden or radio Shack scanner that is APCO 25 for about 199.00. How can you compare.

 

[SCPD]

199.00 for a bc296d? i dont think so!
199.00 for a pro 96? i dont think so!

if you need apco p25 scanner, there are only three players
uniden
radio shack (gre)
aor (non trunking so far)

yes, icom has coverage up to 3 ghz
yes, aor has coverage up to 3 ghz ( a tcxo as well)
do they do trunking? no
do they have fast scanning speed? no
the aor has selectivity-

i guess the rest is up to the person that is buying the radio and what functions he (or she) needs. where i live, we LOTS of trunking. only the uniden is going to do well (rs radios have no ltr)

bill simpson
n1jbs