Does anyone know if this radio shack brand is a good one and where can I find the local frequencies for my area? ( Victorville Ca ) for police and Fire and EMT? ). IM new at this and tried to do a serch and couldnt find anything thats up to date. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
rayg, first off welcome.
Your question falls a little short of the mark, but not by much. The PRO-97 is a very good scanner, but the real question you should ask is 'is this a good scanner
for my area?'. It sounds like nit picking but it isn't. You see many areas are moving to a digital platform that the 97 cannot copy.
That being said, you can find out about frequencies in your area by using our online database. Under the 'RadioReference' title in the blue toolbar on the left, you will see
Database. Click on the pulldown, then you will see a map of the US. Use the various pulldowns to get to the state and county where Victorville resides.
Examine these frequencies carefully, along with any of the trunked systems that are listed at the bottom. Do not concern yourself about 'trunking' at the moment; there is, however, something to examine on each of these links. If the system voice says 'Analog and APCO-25 Common Air Interface', then some of the users of this system are using a digital platform (which the 97 cannot copy), and some are analog (which the 97 will copy). If however, the system voice says 'APCO-25 Common Air Interface Exclusive' then the 97 cannot copy this system at all, as all the users are on a digital platform.
If any of the frequencies on that first page says 'P-25', that is also an indication of a digital platform that the 97 cannot handle.
This is highly oversimplified, but it goes to your question about the 97 being a good scanner - remember, I mentioned that it really needs to be qualified more specifically. I will leave that judgment to our California members.
Additional information can be found in our collaboration area. This is a member-supported area of our wiki that often has additional information about an area that the database is not set up to handle. Specifically, for California (note: anything in blue is a link)
California(US) - The RadioReference Wiki
You will note that there are a number of mailing lists for scanning in California, quite apart from our state by state forums (and yes, we have one for California).
Take the time to wander through this site. Don't fall into the trap of just looking at new posts- as I mentioned earlier, we have state by state forums, and a forum devoted just to RS scanners, among a great many others. Like any new hobby, there's lots to learn - take your time and ask questions. Questions about the 97 should go to the RS forum, California related stuff in the California forums.
Get something cold to drink, sit back and start reading. Welcome! 73 Mike