In car Scanner for under 250?

[littlehandegan]

I will hopefully be receiving a police scanner for Christmas, Im very new to this. I was wondering if you guys could give me some opinions on what scanner is worth a hoot for under $250. I will be using it in Charleston, SC, and mostly Mount pleasant, SC (do i need trunking?)

Also how hard is set up? I see some sites offer pre programming (is it worth it????)



Thanks guys!!!

 

[SAR923]

Bad news. Charleston city and county are all switching over to digital trunked systems. Some services are still on analog trunked sytems but it looks like the move is being made to switch to digital pretty quickly since rebanding. There are still some conventional frequencies in use but most of the action will be on digital trunk systems. The best thing to do is post this in the South Carolina forum and ask the locals how fast all thisi going to happen and if they are also going to use enctyprion. About the cheapest digital scanner is a Radio Shack Pro 96, which can be found at e-bay for between $300 to $350. If Charleston is also going to enctyption, there's no scanner you can buy that will decode the transmissions.

 

[hoser147]

Welcome to RR.As Jim mentioned if the systems are going digital, you might as well put a little xtra cabbage out and get a digital. The 96 is the handheld and the 2096 is the base/mobile, and I believe both are on a clearance sale at radio Shack, so it should drop the prices on the used market also. Then you wont have to worry about upgrading for some time.

 

[AlphaDelta10]

DON'T GET A RADIO SHACK PRO-96! That scanner works HORRIBLY with the new digital system. The closest thing I can find that works half way decent with the new digital system is the Uniden BCD396T and even that comes in choppy. The only way I can get it to sound almost flawless is to put the scanner on top of a flat surface that is high up, ex. the refrigerator, and it sounds great. The problem with the system around here I found out is the CQPSK modulation. I've heard from others on here that has all about to do with location. I personally have never tried the firmware updates you can download online but that probably would also help (having in on top of the fridge is good enough for me). It does suck because Mount Pleasant Police just went digital within the last week and a half to two weeks. I myself wish I had gotten into scanning when everything was on the old county system and even a cheap $100 scanner could pick up all the good stuff like the Sheriff's Office, North Charleston, CC EMS, etc... but now (almost) everyone's going digital and that requires big bucks to listen to. Just follow my advice. If you are going to get a digital scanner, DON'T LET IT BE A RADIO SHACK PRO-96. I had to find out the hard way!

 

[AVL]

thats a good piece of advise but in my area of cape may nj only 2 poklice systems have gone to apco 25 the rest are all analog so im not getting a digital scanner untill i have to .. i would like to get nj stste police better then i do on the trunked system they have now.. years ago you could get them on a 150 to 400 mhz now its all on 800 mhz dual id trunk.. some run on edacs others on motorola .. i do like the bc 896 D .. i can always run a base system on my discone attenna .. you say you have to put the scanner on the fridge.. whay not run a rooftop attenna

 

[SCPD]

DON'T GET A RADIO SHACK PRO-96! That scanner works HORRIBLY with the new digital system. The closest thing I can find that works half way decent with the new digital system is the Uniden BCD396T and even that comes in choppy. The only way I can get it to sound almost flawless is to put the scanner on top of a flat surface that is high up, ex. the refrigerator, and it sounds great. The problem with the system around here I found out is the CQPSK modulation. I've heard from others on here that has all about to do with location. I personally have never tried the firmware updates you can download online but that probably would also help (having in on top of the fridge is good enough for me). It does suck because Mount Pleasant Police just went digital within the last week and a half to two weeks. I myself wish I had gotten into scanning when everything was on the old county system and even a cheap $100 scanner could pick up all the good stuff like the Sheriff's Office, North Charleston, CC EMS, etc... but now (almost) everyone's going digital and that requires big bucks to listen to. Just follow my advice. If you are going to get a digital scanner, DON'T LET IT BE A RADIO SHACK PRO-96. I had to find out the hard way!

GO rant somewhere else??

 

[AlphaDelta10]

Rant? What ranting?
I'm just telling the original poster the Radio Shack Pro-96 doesn't work worth a damn around here.
I ended up selling it to a guy online who later told me it worked fine with digital in his area. The analog on it worked great and I LOVE my Radio Shack Pro-95, so it's nothing against Radio Shack products. I was just stating the system here doesn't work well with it.

Regarding the fridge/antenna question, I'm lacking expertise in the antenna department so the fridge has to be the best area, at least for right now until I figure antennas out. Plus, I like being able to take the BCD396T from one room to the next. If I ever go toward the BCD996T, which is the base equivalent, I might look into the antenna option but that isn't looking too well right now. I don't want to spend a bunch of money on scanners and then they become useless due to encryption. I'm still scared ever since I saw an "ENC" pop up a little while ago on a Radio Maintenance channel!

 

[littlehandegan]

Alpha Delta, any word on going encrypted? (Anyone know???)

Im still hunting for a good scanner, anyone have any tips?


Thanks

 

[qball]

Alpha Delta, any word on going encrypted? (Anyone know???)

Im still hunting for a good scanner, anyone have any tips?


Thanks

I like the BCD396T from Uniden. The Pro96 is okay, but nothing special. You can plan to spend about $500 to be able to monitor the Charleston County system.

As for encryption, there may be special teams (SWAT, narcotics) that use encryption, but I don't see everyone on the system employing encryption. It's just too expensive at almost $800 extra per radio. I have heard from no one in Charleston that all-encrypted communications are on the horizon.

 

[littlehandegan]

I like the pro 96 but I want more of a base sort deal, to mount in the car.....

http://www.digitalfotoclub.com/sc/from-froogle.asp?id=964739577&rf=froogle&dfdate=12_10_2008
Just trying to keep it relatively inexpensive,

Thanks for being patient and yalls imput!

 

[jeffmulter]

Digital Foto Club is TOO expensive on the BCT15 scanner. There are numerous online dealers with good reputations selling the same scanner for $230 or less ...

www.usascan.com
www.grove-ent.com
www.scannermaster.com

The above is is just a sampling of vendors. There is also free software out there, if you really want to save.

 

[DELCOLHFC]

I like the pro 96 but I want more of a base sort deal, to mount in the car.....

http://www.digitalfotoclub.com/sc/from-froogle.asp?id=964739577&rf=froogle&dfdate=12_10_2008
Just trying to keep it relatively inexpensive,

Thanks for being patient and yalls imput!

If you do like the Pro-96 then look at the Pro-2096, it's the same exact radio guts in a Base/Mobile format. And the same price. I have no info as to the performance on your local system but a post in the South Carolina forums asking for other's opinions on it's performance may be of some help. I currently have 2 96's and 2 2096's and they work perfectly for all the systems in my area.
Oops! I just realized this was the SC forum, though I was in the RadioShack one, maybe start a new thread asking how the 96/2096 performs for folks in your area. You really can't beat the price for a digital scanner.......if it works on your local system.

 

[WGONE968]

If you are planning on scanning and staying in the Chas Area, then it might be a wise decision to save money and buy the digital scanner. In Mt. Pleasant the police and fire dept have moved to the county digital system. Along with just about everybody else. (NCPD, Chas Sheriff, EMS,ect).
Right now the only analog systems are the Palmetto 800 in the tri-county area, and the Chas City Police and Fire Dept on their own system. It is only a matter of time before they all switch to digital.
As far as a scanner, I agree with an earlier post that on the Chas County Digital System the Pro-96 has a hard time decoding it. The PSR 500 does a better job, in my opinion, but. it still is lacking in perfect comms for this system. The PRO 2096 is the base unit for the Pro 96 and the PSR 600 the same for the PSR 500. The Cheapest I have seen on the web for the PSR's have been 449.00.
Hope this helps. I should add that I do not have any of the Uniden Digital Scanners so I am unable to comment on them. But reading posts in the SC Forum it would appear that all the digital scanners are having a "rough go" at the Chas Digital System.
Hope this helps
Wally

 

[WGONE968]

Whoops to earlier reply
The Radioshack PRO 106 and the base unit PRO 197 are on sale for 399.99. They are the PSR 500 and 600 sold by Radioshack. Although the downside is a programing cable does not come with either one of them.
If you buy any of the digital scanners, make sure you get the programing software. Makes programing much easier. The Radioshack and PSR are simple with Starrsoft programing software.
Thanks
Wally

 

[KQ4KK]

RS scanners onsale DEC 18th

PRO-106: $299.99 Handheld Digital Scanner, follow-on to the PRO-96

PRO-197: $299.99 Mobile/Base Digital Scanner, follow-on to the PRO-2096

"Pricing effective 12/18 to 12/24, in store or web orders", so maybe that's why they're not showing up on the RS web site right now.

From the radioreference.com web site post by DonS

 

[littlehandegan]

Any updates on this?

Any one in Charleston, MT.P area had any luck with scanners?

thanks

 

[littlehandegan]

bump, anyone?

 

[scanchs]

I'm running the latest generation Uniden digital scanners with current firmware updates, and the new Palmetto Project 25 digital system comes in extremely well on these scanners. I monitor from North Charleston and Summerville most of the time. YMMV

 

[littlehandegan]

Gonna bump this to the top.

I will be monitoring Charleston, refering to the DT area and Mount Pleasant. I want an in car base or handheld. What antenae is most popular?

At this point Im willing to spend up to 500-1000 to have a oerfect signal in this area. I dont want to get a scanner and it not be good.

Any advice or info is greatly apreciated and invited!

 

[Caesar]

pro-197 and just the window mount 800mhz scanner antenna and you are set, quick and easy, i prefer the BCD996T but if you have not dealt with one yet it may be to complex for programming for you...

even with the pro-197 get the usb program cable and Don's software at Software for RadioShack PRO-series (PRO-92, 93, 95, 96, 97, 99, 163, 164, 106, 197) and GRE PSR-series (PSR-500, 600, 300, 400) scanners

Gonna bump this to the top.

I will be monitoring Charleston, refering to the DT area and Mount Pleasant. I want an in car base or handheld. What antenae is most popular?

At this point Im willing to spend up to 500-1000 to have a oerfect signal in this area. I dont want to get a scanner and it not be good.

Any advice or info is greatly apreciated and invited!