New Scanner?

[Justin3321]

So as you all know tax return is coming up and I want to get my first scanner. I probably won't be able to spend up to no more than $150 on one though and the kind of scanner I'm looking for is just one where I can pick up my local police and fire department. Any suggestions?

 

[ampulman]

Post your town, city, county, state!!

 

[Justin3321]

I'm from Chesterton, Indiana (Porter County)

 

[safetyobc]

On that budget I would go with the PSR-310 (handheld) or PSR-410 (mobile).

Not sure how much digital is in your area, but just be aware you will only get analog signals with this scanner.

Some of this system is digital.

However, just from glancing at your county and neighboring counties, there are tons of analog channels to listen to.

 

[detroit780]

Indiana Police

I'm from Chesterton, Indiana (Porter County)

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Porter County, Indiana (IN) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference

Other than State police you should be ok with an analog scanner.

 

[buddrousa]

So far your county looks good for a mid range scanner you can listen to most in your county except
this one Indiana Project Hoosier SAFE-T as it is a digital p25 system.
a good choice is the radioshack pro-107 handheld for 129.99 if you can find one.
a good choice is the GRE PSR410 base mobile for 149.99 when they get more in stock.

 

[jackj]

I think that I would put that $150.00 in the bank and plan on adding $5.00 a week to it. You will have just over $400 after a yr and you could get a very nice digital scanner for about $350. According to other posters, an analog scanner will work for you on most systems right now. But that will change in the near future. I think you will be happier with a digital scanner, it will work well on analog systems and be ready when your local PD and FD make the change over to digital.

 

[KC5EIB]

On that budget I would go with the PSR-310 (handheld) or PSR-410 (mobile).

Not sure how much digital is in your area, but just be aware you will only get analog signals with this scanner.

Some of this system is digital.

However, just from glancing at your county and neighboring counties, there are tons of analog channels to listen to.

Since this is a RADIO SHACK forum, I would go with a Pro-107 or Pro-164. Since there are some digital channels on the system, The Pro-18 or Pro-106 might be the better options though more expensive.

 

[RadioDaze]

I think that I would put that $150.00 in the bank and plan on adding $5.00 a week to it. You will have just over $400 after a yr and you could get a very nice digital scanner for about $350. According to other posters, an analog scanner will work for you on most systems right now.

Another way would be to use a little money up front,say $40 or $50, for a used, old-school handheld scanner and program in the local basic freqs. That will whet your appetite, and you can continue to save for a better scanner as jackj suggests. There are probably plenty of forum members who have an older scanner in that price range, or even less, that they could part with. You could probably get by with a scanner that has 30 to 50 memories.