I live in Adams County, Colorado.
I have an old Radioshack PRO-30 scanner that is showing its age and acting up and not holding charges nor charging the batteries properly anymore. I need to replace it, because there also seems to be a bad connection that has developed inside where the antenna plug meets the rest of the electronics.
Have had this scanner since the late 1970s and it has served me very well although being analog, I can no longer receive most of the police and fire departments in my area. It has been very easy to use and program whatever frequencies I wish that it can handle.
What recommendations do some of you experiences users have for a replacement portable scanner?
I mostly use my scanner for "train chasing" which frequently means trips out of the Denver Metro area and as far as the West Coast, down to New Mexico or Arizona as well as points east to Chicago. So far it appears that the railroads namely Union Pacific and BNSF still use analog transmissions, but if the local police and fire departments are on digital transmissions (which I believe they are based on research on the internet), then I guess I am looking for a scanner that can handle both analog and digital transmissions.
I would like to avoid, if possible, difficult and hard to understand frequency programming scanners which I understand many are nowadays.
My old scanner holds 16 frequencies in its memory, so I had to enter new frequencies frequently when I changed from railroad frequencies to police and vice-versa. With the memory that I see many of the newer scanners, have it looks like I will have enough to enter all the frequencies I want once (probably less than 50) and then just scan and listen after they have been programmed in.
Where else besides Radio Shack can I perhaps find a scanner in person? I like to see what I am getting rather than ordering over the internet. I see that Best Buy only has one listed on their internet site and it is not available in stores.
Thanks for any suggestions and recommendations. I would also appreciate knowing what accessories might be needed for best operation of whatever scanners you suggest, i.e. different antenna instead of the stock antenna for reception, etc.
I have an old Radioshack PRO-30 scanner that is showing its age and acting up and not holding charges nor charging the batteries properly anymore. I need to replace it, because there also seems to be a bad connection that has developed inside where the antenna plug meets the rest of the electronics.
Have had this scanner since the late 1970s and it has served me very well although being analog, I can no longer receive most of the police and fire departments in my area. It has been very easy to use and program whatever frequencies I wish that it can handle.
What recommendations do some of you experiences users have for a replacement portable scanner?
I mostly use my scanner for "train chasing" which frequently means trips out of the Denver Metro area and as far as the West Coast, down to New Mexico or Arizona as well as points east to Chicago. So far it appears that the railroads namely Union Pacific and BNSF still use analog transmissions, but if the local police and fire departments are on digital transmissions (which I believe they are based on research on the internet), then I guess I am looking for a scanner that can handle both analog and digital transmissions.
I would like to avoid, if possible, difficult and hard to understand frequency programming scanners which I understand many are nowadays.
My old scanner holds 16 frequencies in its memory, so I had to enter new frequencies frequently when I changed from railroad frequencies to police and vice-versa. With the memory that I see many of the newer scanners, have it looks like I will have enough to enter all the frequencies I want once (probably less than 50) and then just scan and listen after they have been programmed in.
Where else besides Radio Shack can I perhaps find a scanner in person? I like to see what I am getting rather than ordering over the internet. I see that Best Buy only has one listed on their internet site and it is not available in stores.
Thanks for any suggestions and recommendations. I would also appreciate knowing what accessories might be needed for best operation of whatever scanners you suggest, i.e. different antenna instead of the stock antenna for reception, etc.
The pro-197 is cost effective,and easy to use after reading the instructions.
