Popcanman55 said:
Hello guys new to scanning. My father is a Sgt with the Detroit police and my mother wants a new scanner. We had one years and years ago but nothing for the last 15yrs. I need something reasonably priced and absoltely idiot proof easy to use. I now detroit uses the motorola xts5000 radios. Its easy to listen to that when he's home but other than that she wants a scanner. We have a radioshack pro89 scanner what a POS. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Unfortunately, as far as "reasonably priced" goes, Detroit operates on the Project 25
MPSCS system. That means fully digital.
To monitor that, you'd need one of the newer digital scanners. The first digitals out, such as the BC250D or BC895D (with a digital card in them) would not work.
Check the for sale forums here, & also monitor Ebay for a palatable deal on one of the following:
Uniden: BCD396T or BC296D (handhelds); BCD996T or BC796D (base/mobile). The 296 & 796 are both discontinued, but still available from a few dealers, and as noted pop up on Ebay or the for-sale forum here occasiionally. Mew prices on the 396 & 996 start just over $500 from online retailers. Used, in good condition, especially on the older models, may save $100 or more.
Radio Shack: Pro-96 (hand held) or Pro-2096 (base/mobile). Current models. "New" list price, I believe, is $499.00, but the last few months, they have been on sale several times, at prices varying from $399 to $449. Not sure what the current price is (if there is a 'sale' on). These also show up in the for sale forum, & on Ebay discounted from their list prices.