I've not used a scanner in MANY years. Three weeks ago I purchased a SDS100 and have been learning how to use it. I've been reading on RR about trunking, simulcast and all the terminology. I'm finally getting the scanner programmed the way I want it to be with my favourites lists. But I have a question. For those of you who own multiple scanners that you use regularly, why do you own more than one? I'm interested in knowing your reasons. Do you own one for digital scanning and another for conventional, etc., etc. I am scanning SE rural Ohio when I'm at my house and SW Ohio when I'm at my apartment in Cincinnati. I'm also interested in Air, Military, Military Air, etc. I assume if I try to scan too much with one scanner I will miss things I'd be interested in hearing. Thanks in advance.
Multiple scanners
- Thread starter NikonFE2
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I have one scanner mounted in my car- it stays there. I have another handheld that is programmed with the exact same systems that I keep in the house and also take when I travel. On a daily basis I scan the local law enforcement, fire and EMS dispatch frequencies. There are lots of times when that is so mundane that I want to listen to something else so I just activate another system and scan it for a while. Having too much active in the scanner does lead to missed calls. You can always set a priority channel if there is something important to you. Experiment- that is part of the fun of this hobby.
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Have a read through a recent similar thread here:
Multiple Radios
I am new to scanning and was reading through the forums. One gentleman was describing his radio room and mentioned having as many as 5 scanners. Other than the obvious analog / digital divide why is more than one needed with all the storage the newer ones have. Thank you for educating me.
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I have 4 tabletop scanners / receivers for everyday use...
The first one is for analog and the second is for digital monitoring.
The third one is only for monitoring a few TETRA traffic channels.
Last one is for searching after new frequencies in my local area.
..and a few handhelds laying silent in a box. They can be useful sometimes.
The first one is for analog and the second is for digital monitoring.
The third one is only for monitoring a few TETRA traffic channels.
Last one is for searching after new frequencies in my local area.
..and a few handhelds laying silent in a box. They can be useful sometimes.
I am a fulltime Firefighter 62 with no children or grandchildren I have been in the scanner hobby dating back to the mid 70's I run a rack with 16 Uniden scanners have a 4 scanner rack 2 996p2's 536 and a TRX-2 that I cane take with me to work plus my 2 325p2's a 436 2 SDS100's RS PRO668 and a TRX-1 and that leaves me with a RS PRO-197 that I use to run PRO96 on. Each of my rack scanners runs an Agency or County for the Counties touching my County. All Unidens are running on PROSCAN logging data and recording audio.
forums.radioreference.com
buddrousa Shack
I've been monitoring/scanning for almost 50 years. I soon learned that as radio systems progressed & grew, that I had to "divide & conquer" to avoid missing the action.
I live in the Seattle-Tacoma metro area so there's always something going on. There are two major military bases that I can receive & some in-the-clear (at times) fed activity & milair, as well. I use my 396xt & 325p2 for the 2 counties & a 125at for milair. I also picked up a few older scanners at pawn shops which I use to monitor 3 adjacent counties (all still analog) along with RR, marine & some local private security agencies. I still see the need for a few more radios, though.
On a side note, I also monitor HF and since I went on "preventive quarantine) in early March, I visually monitor mil & other flights with adsb, particularly the hot spots like the Caribbean & MENA.
And there's still more out there I'd like to get into
I live in the Seattle-Tacoma metro area so there's always something going on. There are two major military bases that I can receive & some in-the-clear (at times) fed activity & milair, as well. I use my 396xt & 325p2 for the 2 counties & a 125at for milair. I also picked up a few older scanners at pawn shops which I use to monitor 3 adjacent counties (all still analog) along with RR, marine & some local private security agencies. I still see the need for a few more radios, though.
On a side note, I also monitor HF and since I went on "preventive quarantine) in early March, I visually monitor mil & other flights with adsb, particularly the hot spots like the Caribbean & MENA.
And there's still more out there I'd like to get into
I will occasionally fire up a second scanner to monitor little-used but potentially interesting frequencies, while my primary scanner monitors the active Public Safety agencies. My brain can't handle multiple active scanners simultaneously.
Exactly: I'm using my SDS-100 to monitor the PASTARnet system. The SDS-200 for some DMR and P25 users, and a BCD536HP for the local analog public safety departments.
Wow! My brain just melted. LOLI am a fulltime Firefighter 62 with no children or grandchildren I have been in the scanner hobby dating back to the mid 70's I run a rack with 16 Uniden scanners have a 4 scanner rack 2 996p2's 536 and a TRX-2 that I cane take with me to work plus my 2 325p2's a 436 2 SDS100's RS PRO668 and a TRX-1 and that leaves me with a RS PRO-197 that I use to run PRO96 on. Each of my rack scanners runs an Agency or County for the Counties touching my County. All Unidens are running on PROSCAN logging data and recording audio.
buddrousa Shack
Hi
I have 14 scanners/radios going at a time in my computer room and ill go over why so you can see how I do it.
Scanner 1 (Whistler TRX-2) is set up to scan the state wide trunk system with ID Search, I can listen to everything going on and find new talk groups
Scanner 2 (BCD996P2) is listening to the local state police troop for calls in my area
Scanner 3 (BCD536HP) is listening to the next closest state police troop
Scanner 4 (BCD996XT) is scanning local Fire & EMS
Scanner 5 (BCD996XT) is scanning local PD
Scanner 6 (BCD996P2) is scanning Fire & EMS within 50 miles
Scanner 7 (BCD996XT) is scanning Fire & EMS for the entire state
Scanner 8 (BC785D) is listening to my city's PD only
Scanner 9 (Motorola Astro Spectra VHF) is scanning just Fire in 2nd busiest city near me
Scanner 10 (Motorola Astro Spectra 800 mhz) Is scanning Fire in the 1st busiest city near me
Scanner 11 (BCT15X) Is scanning local Fire & EMS and steams online to brodcastify
Scanner 12 (Motorola Astro Spectra 800 mhz) Scanning 2 local PDs on 800mhz
Scanner 13 (Motorola Astro Spectra UHF) Scanning the 2 FD & EMS services I work for
Scanner 14 (BCD996P2) Scans what ever
I use it to run Unitrunker/Pro96/Trunker software for decoding trunk systemsOther scanners
1 scanner in basement (BC796D) just scanning the 2 FD & EMS services I work for
1 scanner in shed (BC898T) just scanning the 2 FD & EMS services I work for
1 scanner in my jeep (BCD996XT)
1 scanner in my truck (BCD996P2)
1 BCD325P2 Handheld
1 XPR4550 UHF Mobile
1 XPR7550 Portable
3 XTS2500 Portables (1-VHF 1-UHF 1-700/800)
1 Unication G3 VHF/UHF
1 Unication G1 UHF
I love using the astro spectras for conventional digital simulcast listening, I got 3 of them off E-Bay for $25 each and they work great, Even XTL2500 & XTL5000s are now going for around $150 or less and handle simulcast very well.
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I have two scanners, the Uniden BCD436HP and the Uniden SDS 100. I have the same 63 favorites lists on both of them. One or two favorite lists are for Police and Fire but I do not listen to those for the most part unless something is happening on my city block. There are hundreds of Police and Fire Frequencies in New York City and I do not find them interesting. Most of my favorite lists are more local. Things like stores. Malls, Public Safety, Rail, and Hospitals. I find those more interesting and found them using the Close Call feature on the scanners. Most of the time I will only have one scanner on monitoring a favorite list or just scanning exploring what I may find. I have the DMR, NXDN, and ProVoice upgrade on both of them. It is amazing what you can hear. I enjoy the hunt and trying to determine who they are. With patients you can determine who is talking on a given frequency. I sometimes have both scanners on if I want to keep an ear on two different frequencies and don't want to chance not hearing one.
Many here are reading the first post and are in a questioning holding pattern... wait what ?? Too many scanners???? Welcome to the hobby Nikonfe2.
I have a combination of multiple scanners in my shack coupled with two Kenwood mobiles - one VHF and one UHF. The scanners are programmed as follows:
BC895 - Aviation
BC396XT - Local Highway Patrol Post
BC996P2 - Opelika Fire & Police Trunked System
BC996P2 - Statewide Medical Air Dispatch
BC996XT - Local County Fire, Police & EMS
BC785D - Neighboring Counties Law enforcement
Regency Touch M100 - Auburn City Police
Kenwood TK-7180 - Auburn Fire Division
Kenwood TK-8180 - GMRS, Adjoining County's Fire
It's a reality when you monitor multiple agencies simultaneously that there is a lot of traffic at the same instant. Having multiple scanners/radios helps you avoid missing traffic. My shack is shown below.
Metrofire31
Auburn-Opelika, AL
BC895 - Aviation
BC396XT - Local Highway Patrol Post
BC996P2 - Opelika Fire & Police Trunked System
BC996P2 - Statewide Medical Air Dispatch
BC996XT - Local County Fire, Police & EMS
BC785D - Neighboring Counties Law enforcement
Regency Touch M100 - Auburn City Police
Kenwood TK-7180 - Auburn Fire Division
Kenwood TK-8180 - GMRS, Adjoining County's Fire
It's a reality when you monitor multiple agencies simultaneously that there is a lot of traffic at the same instant. Having multiple scanners/radios helps you avoid missing traffic. My shack is shown below.
Metrofire31
Auburn-Opelika, AL
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Yes I had a M100 and a M400 in the past I also see 2 more Uniden 700 series you know 780 785 796
Ubbe
Member
My reason for using multiple scanners are mainly an interest for the technology, as long as a scanner doesn't cost a fortune.
Different scanners have different reception and features and will work better or worse with some systems or frequencies. It's easier to catch rare transmissions when several scanners are at work at the same time, either scanning a smaller part on each scanner or if all have almost the same scanlist they will at least be at different channels in the scan cycle. You can also have antennas made for different frequency bands connected to different scanners.
/Ubbe
Different scanners have different reception and features and will work better or worse with some systems or frequencies. It's easier to catch rare transmissions when several scanners are at work at the same time, either scanning a smaller part on each scanner or if all have almost the same scanlist they will at least be at different channels in the scan cycle. You can also have antennas made for different frequency bands connected to different scanners.
/Ubbe
More scanners = being able to hear more.
My SDS100 monitors my county's Phase 2 simulcast system, plus area DMR trunked systems. My HP-2 (and now BCD996XT) monitors the state SAFE-T system and my BCT15X monitors amateur radio freqs (and sometimes gmrs/murs/frs) and various VHF / UHF municipal systems / freqs. The rest are usually doing system searches or searching within a small slice of frequency range.
My SDS100 monitors my county's Phase 2 simulcast system, plus area DMR trunked systems. My HP-2 (and now BCD996XT) monitors the state SAFE-T system and my BCT15X monitors amateur radio freqs (and sometimes gmrs/murs/frs) and various VHF / UHF municipal systems / freqs. The rest are usually doing system searches or searching within a small slice of frequency range.
I have multiples to listen to different things. The two in my car are split between LE on one and FIRE/EMS on the other, but they are programmed identical so I can switch things around as needed. At bedside I have 2 programmed similarly and also a cheap analog for air/Milair/ham listening.
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