Just some questions and help Deciding

[Newguy65]

I am very new to this and hope somebody can help me. I am in the market for a scanner to listen to. My son and grandson are both in the Colorado Springs Fire dept. and I am only interested in listening to there calls and not police, railroad, weather and stuff like that. I am getting up there in age and don’t care about stuff like that. Just my boys. Anyway, here are my questions. I can’t decide between the desktop Radio shack model PRO-197 or the handheld PRO-106. Here is what I wan to do.

What I need
I will use in my house 60% off the time, however would like to take to daughters or my office sometimes, maybe car .
Again 99% sure I am only going to listen to Colorado Springs Fire Department.
Loud speaker, old man and can’t hear as well…….
I live about ten miles outside of the city so I need good reception.

Questions
Does the Pro106 handheld have the range as a desktop 197?
If I go with the handheld would it work better with a different antenna?
Does the hand held have a wall plug also for in the house?
Is the desktop able to be in the truck with me via DC plug?
Do I need anything other than the scanner?
Could an old man program them?


Any other pros and cons that you may have. I have tried the staff at the store but I get the deer in the headlight look when I get specific.

Thanks for the help.

 

[trap5858]

The Pro 106 would be my first choice. Having a handheld even if you are at home most of the time gives you the versatility to move easily from room to room if the action gets hot or if you went somewhere away from home.

Also a scanner like the 106 does it all! There is a learning curve but once you program it, you can just sit back and enjoy it. I am sure that your son and grandson would know someone in their department who could help you program it. There is excellent software out there for programming.

The 106 has the same guts as the base model. The base model has a larger speaker and larger display but otherwise the same.

Good luck, I am sure you will enjoy the radio and might venture into other public safety monitoring

 

[Nasby]

For sure go with the handheld. The versatility of a handheld far outweighs any adavantage the base unit might offer. I have both the base and the handheld scanners you are looking at. They are great scanners.

There is no difference in reception/sensitivity between the two scanners.
The 197 is louder due to its bigger speaker but the 106 is plenty loud too!
You can easily buy a cigarette lighter power adapter as well as a wall charger and rechargeable batteries for the 106 (I would choose Nimh batteries for longer life).
As far as an antenna, a good magnet mount antenna on your vehicle will do wonders in pulling in those weaker signals. If your local fire agency uses a trunked 800 mhz system, then I would suggest the radio shack 800 mhz rubber duckie replacement antenna. It is an awesome antenna that gives excellent results on not only the 800 mhz spectrum, but VHF frequencies too. It will blow away the stock rubber duckie antenna that comes with the PRO-106.
Also, I strongly suggest that you purchase the software programing tools (cable, CD driver, etc.) along with programming software. The programming cable and CD are available at Radio Shack. But you will need to purchase the software separately. There are software programs that can be downloaded from Radioreference for a free 30 day trial. Just check in the software forum. Programming these scanners would be a nightmare without the software.
More often than not, the Radio Shcak workers don't know a whole lot about these things. You are much better off just asking questions here.
Good luck with your purchase!!

 

[Newguy65]

Thanks and more questions

Thank you both on the response. Software? The scanner I am going to get is $425.00. It does not progaram with out extra software? How hard is that to do? I talked with my son last night and he for some reason does not want me to get this. He said most of the family members listen on the internet for free???? He did not know how but he said lots are doing it and scanners are over priced and you can't hear as much activity with them. Would this be true? I would hate to spend over $400.00 and then purchase software and still not hear all the activity. Sorry for all the questions.

 

[RadioDaze]

Read this before buying

You should be aware that the Pro-106 is made by GRE. GRE sells the same radio, except for some minor cosmetic differences, as the PSR-500.

The difference is that the PSR-500 comes WITH an AC adapter and a programming cable. Scanner Master (a sponsor of ours) sells it for the same price as the Radio Shack version. Please check it out here before you commit to a purchase with RS.
GRE PSR-500 Police Scanner Radio

The only down side is that you'll have to order it and then wait for it, and pay shipping. But no sales tax!

 

[Nasby]

Guess you will just have to decide for yourself if you want to invest in the hobby or not. I find the software very easy to use.
There is free, "live audio" that will broadcast live scanner action over the internet. Of course you will have no control over what you listen to and may not even know what agency you are receiving.

 

[Newguy65]

found this in the Live audio section

found this in your live audio section.

El Paso County, Colorado (CO) Live Police, Fire, and EMS Scanners on RadioReference.com

I tried it and it does work well. It has all the colorado springs fire on it that I have been looking for. Why do people buy scanners if this is free. Do they expire or somthing?

 

[dbsar]

Newguy65, the free live audio is a great way to start out. It may be all you need and you can always upgrade to the paid service. You can even get those types of feeds on some cellphones so it's like having a scanner. After you get into it for awhile, you may decide you want a scanner too. Have fun.

 

[Taubin]

found this in your live audio section.

El Paso County, Colorado (CO) Live Police, Fire, and EMS Scanners on RadioReference.com

I tried it and it does work well. It has all the colorado springs fire on it that I have been looking for. Why do people buy scanners if this is free. Do they expire or somthing?

The biggest reason I got a scanner, is because there are some things I like to listen to that aren't streaming. Such as the Miramar air traffic and ground ops, etc...

Once you get a scanner, and see what it's like, you'll get hooked quick, it's allot of fun!