i need some insight on what would be a good mobile scanner to monitor long island and nyc with?
Put aside the fact that mobile scanning is a violation of the NYSVTL, we'll move forward "assuming" you want to use a radio as a portable or desktop
Before I would suggest going with any type of radio, I usually ask my customers what type of scanning they are interested in. Do they just want to monitor NYPD or FDNY etc, or are they looking at listening to anything and everything out there. I also ask if they prefer a handheld and what their budget is. With that info, I can usually suggest 2 or 3 radios that would suit them best.
Assuming you're looking for the top of the line, you're going to be looking into a digital scanner. HOWEVER, there isn't too much digital out here yet and i usually suggest to my Nassau and Suffolk County customers that they save their money and buy a digital scanner down the road. Nassau Police are on a new P25 system, but they are encrypted. NYPD is working on a a P25 system, but it is yet to be populated. Suffolk County has a small number of digital talk groups on their trunk system. If you are interested in listening to Federal, USCG, or Westchester County Police, and systems in Jersey, I would also suggest to you to save your money and stick with analog for now.
If you are looking to scan a small footprint, then going into Radio Shack and picking up a PRO-163 or PRO-164 would be a good option. Those radio are cheap, easy to use, and only hold 1,000 channels. However, that is simply not enough for someone who is looking to cover a larger footprint.
A good upgrade to that is the Uniden BCT15X, BC346XT, or GRE PSR-310 or 410. The Uniden and GRE models have a lot more memory and will give you greater flexibility.
The Digital radios build on the radios listed above, with the exception of the PRO-106 and PRO-197 from Radio Shack. Those are great radios with a ton of memory. They are basically the same as the GRE-500 and 600.
There are also scanners on the market that interface right with the RR Database so there is no programming on your end to deal with.
If you are interested, I do have a chart on my website for scanners I suggest for scanning in the NY Area. It is at
http://www.monitorlongisland.com/scanners
I also offer radio programming if you decide to pickup a new radio and find that it is a little difficult to setup. Long gone are the days of hitting a frequency and pressing enter to store it in memory.
Good luck on your new scanner purchase.
73
Phil