New to scanning- Please Help!

[novnet2005]

Hello fellow scanners:

I will be purchasing my first scanner very soon. I need your help in deciding what I should buy. I live in Novato California, in Marin County. I understand that the agencies in my area are using trunked systems.
Can anybody suggest a decent hand-held scanner? I really don't know what to purchase. I am hoping not to spend a lot of money. I don't need anything fancy, I just want it to get the job done.
Any advice that you can send my way will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
Brian Woodson

 

[pfish]

Well, if your going to want to listen to police.. then you will need a scanner that can do APCO-25 Digital. Your city police department along with Marin County SO both operate on the Marin County SO trunked system, and all of their talkgroups are digital. The best two models on the market right now that do APCO-25 are the Radioshack PRO-96 ($500) and the Uniden BCD-396T ($530).

If you are not interested in police, then pretty much any scanner will do.

 

[RiP-HS-]

Personally I have always liked Radio Shack Scanners. After being out of the hobby for about 7-8 years, I'm starting to dabble back into it. For my Birthday on the 28th I received a PRO-96. I used it for one night and decided to trade it in on a PRO-2096.
From the little bit of playing around with them - I like them both!

The only problem is the programming. You have to be of near Genius IQ to effectivly program these things! There is software that helps but there is still a learning curve.

If I were in your position, I'd go to Radio Shack and look around. Try and set a price range for yourself and look at the ones that fit your budget. I'm fairly confident that if you have a slight interest in monitoring - once you actually get into it you'll be hooked and wish you'd have dropped the few extra bucks to get a quality reveiver.

Good Luck

 

[brucewarming]

Keep an eye out for the sales at the Shack. The PRO-96 and 2096 will probley be $399 for the most part. Working with the newer trunking and APCO digital is a little more challenging and getting a PC interface cable and WIN 96 make it very fun. I like to have the software up on the computer as I listen to the scanner and make changes as I see things change. I can't say enough of the great ease of programming and adding text tags with the WIN 96.

 

[eyes00only]

Once again I have to point out that Radio Shack does not make scanners. They sell scanners made by Uniden or GRE.

Jerry

 

[RolnCode3]

Once again I have to point out that Radio Shack does not make scanners. They sell scanners made by Uniden or GRE.

Jerry

For purposes of walking into a store or ordering online, the big RS has 'em. Why confuse a new person who's asking a legitimate question? Who gives a ^&*% who makes the stupid things (for the purposes of this thread).

The 396T, Pro-96/2096, or the upcoming BCD996T are going to be the best choices for Marin and by default, the MERA system. You'll have no choice but to get the highest end, most-featured scanners if you want to listen to all the agencies in Marin (Novato PD, San Rafael PD, Mill Valley, SO, etc...). I believe the Fire Depts. are all on MERA (checking the database would confirm/deny that) as well...so if you're into public safety monitoring, it'll all be digital.

 

[brucewarming]

There is a fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."

 

[eyes00only]

For purposes of walking into a store or ordering online, the big RS has 'em. Why confuse a new person who's asking a legitimate question? Who gives a ^&*% who makes the stupid things (for the purposes of this thread).

.

Scenario / Two years ago Gomer buys a Pro 94 at RADIO SHACK and loves it, then a year ago he buys a Pro 95 at RADIO SHACK and hates it. These two PRO scanners are MADE by two different companies. I apologize to RolnCode3 if I insulted his intelligence.

Jerry

 

[RolnCode3]

Scenario / Two years ago Gomer buys a Pro 94 at RADIO SHACK and loves it, then a year ago he buys a Pro 95 at RADIO SHACK and hates it. These two PRO scanners are MADE by two different companies. I apologize to RolnCode3 if I insulted his intelligence.

Jerry

And nothing has been added to the thread.

 

[RiP-HS-]

Where do you get the Pro 2096 or the Pro 2004/5/6 or the Pro 96?
Radio Shack - Therefore Radio Shack Scanners - As far as Retail goes,
you can't buy them anywhere else - Hence Radio Shack Scanners.

Loosen up man!

 

[VintageJon]

Pro 96 and Pro 93 here. (Bet you could buy a 93 cheap now!)

96 is very good for APCO-25. Using the 93 for Aircraft Band and Ham Weather Emergency, it's good for that too. (Monitoring Austin Tx...)

If you get a Pro-96 for APCO-25 get the 800MHZ upgrade antenna if you want mobile/hand-held. Not as good as an external antenna, but better than the stock one.

73's,
Jon

 

[lowboy654]

If you go to e-bay you can find the pro-96 and the pro-2096 for around $378