New to digital. Help finding radio.

[cnmsales]

I would LOVE to buy the Pro-106 but man oh man 400 bucks is just to much money. Are there any other scanners out there that can do the P25 and Motorola analog that is cheaper then this. Im wanting a hand held. I know the Pro-96 but i see it gets mixed reviews. Would you say they pro-96 should work fairly well? I currently have a pro-2051. My site of intrest is Approx 50 miles away.

 

[ab8sn]

Digital Scanners

I would LOVE to buy the Pro-106 but man oh man 400 bucks is just to much money. Are there any other scanners out there that can do the P25 and Motorola analog that is cheaper then this. Im wanting a hand held. I know the Pro-96 but i see it gets mixed reviews. Would you say they pro-96 should work fairly well? I currently have a pro-2051. My site of intrest is Approx 50 miles away.

I have both the Pro 96 and 106 and I love them both. As far as I can tell, other than some minor upgrades in the Pro 106, the Pro 96 does just as well. The Pro 96 is a good radio, but another good choice might be the BCD396t. Also checking around for some used digital scanners that are in good condition will save you some money as well.

Hope this helps

Chad

 

[ka3jjz]

50 miles away on 800 mhz is not likely without a good Yagi and maybe a preamp, depending on the terrain. Almost certainly the antenna will need to be outdoors, and up in the air, to even have a chance.

No matter what radio you buy, this will also be a consideration 73 Mike

 

[cnmsales]

Hey, I was planning on getting the 800MHZ duckie antenna to improve reception. I currently have the telescope antenna and can pick up TG when in the third floor of my house. From what I understand and have read putting the duckie on should improve things greatly?

 

[sjlamb]

Hey, I was planning on getting the 800MHZ duckie antenna to improve reception. I currently have the telescope antenna and can pick up TG when in the third floor of my house. From what I understand and have read putting the duckie on should improve things greatly?

A band specific 800 mHz duckie can certainly improve reception and listening range on 800 mHz freqs but, as Mike has already pointed out; the likelihood of reliably and consistently receiving 800 mHz trunked freqs from 50 miles out is very unlikely without a properly installed quality rooftop antenna system (most likely a high gain yagi directional antenna as noted). In a nutshell, and generally speaking, 800 mHz radio systems are not designed to "reach out" 50 miles. Typical coverage is more in the 20-25 mile range.