Hello,
First off I wanted to say that it looks like you have an excellent website here. The wiki was very informative and answered many of my questions and the community on the forums seems very helpful.
For the longest time I have wanted to get into the hobby of scanning. Many of my friends have scanners and I have had a lot of fun using those. However, now I would like to purchase my own scanner which I can use when and how I please. I have done a lot of research on my own and learned a great deal about types of scanners, trunking, communications systems and more. Nevertheless, I felt that asking for advice from those more experienced than I would be a good idea.
I want the scanner that I buy to be one that is high quality and (most importantly) highly capable. It should support practically everything that modern scanners support. I realize that this will cost a lot of money but I have saved money exactly for this reason.
My search for this type of scanner has lead me to quite a few models. I first looked at the Icom IC-R20. What impresed me most about this scanner was its frequency coverage (up to 3GHz). However, I was not able to find any mention of even basic trunking support (not to mention things like APCO 25). Am I missing something or is Icom not providing these features at all? I then looked into Uniden. I was impressed with the TrunkTracker (IV) technology. The BC796D seemed to fit the bill nicely though I couldn't really see what differentiates it from the BCD996T (other than GPS). The BCD396T also seemed interesting. Note that I am open to both handheld and tabletop model suggestions.
Essentially, I want the scanner with the largest frequency coverage, most trunk tracking (and other) features, as well as quality and reliability. I realize that with scanning, as with everything else, there is no silver bullet. I don't mean to be vague by saying that I want a scanner with a lot of "features", I simply want some advice on a general scanner that will not leave me wishing for more once I gain expertise and experience in this field. Do the scanners that I mentioned above fit that description or should I look elsewhere?
Thanks in advance.
First off I wanted to say that it looks like you have an excellent website here. The wiki was very informative and answered many of my questions and the community on the forums seems very helpful.
For the longest time I have wanted to get into the hobby of scanning. Many of my friends have scanners and I have had a lot of fun using those. However, now I would like to purchase my own scanner which I can use when and how I please. I have done a lot of research on my own and learned a great deal about types of scanners, trunking, communications systems and more. Nevertheless, I felt that asking for advice from those more experienced than I would be a good idea.
I want the scanner that I buy to be one that is high quality and (most importantly) highly capable. It should support practically everything that modern scanners support. I realize that this will cost a lot of money but I have saved money exactly for this reason.
My search for this type of scanner has lead me to quite a few models. I first looked at the Icom IC-R20. What impresed me most about this scanner was its frequency coverage (up to 3GHz). However, I was not able to find any mention of even basic trunking support (not to mention things like APCO 25). Am I missing something or is Icom not providing these features at all? I then looked into Uniden. I was impressed with the TrunkTracker (IV) technology. The BC796D seemed to fit the bill nicely though I couldn't really see what differentiates it from the BCD996T (other than GPS). The BCD396T also seemed interesting. Note that I am open to both handheld and tabletop model suggestions.
Essentially, I want the scanner with the largest frequency coverage, most trunk tracking (and other) features, as well as quality and reliability. I realize that with scanning, as with everything else, there is no silver bullet. I don't mean to be vague by saying that I want a scanner with a lot of "features", I simply want some advice on a general scanner that will not leave me wishing for more once I gain expertise and experience in this field. Do the scanners that I mentioned above fit that description or should I look elsewhere?
Thanks in advance.
