New Worst Scanner Pick?

[scannersnstuff]

I am compelled to mention another "brick.", the SDS 100. I regret buying this bloated radio that is as slow as a snail on Librium. Yes, it locks on a channel like a pit bull. My 436 does a much better job regarding scan speed. Yes, I have made the necessary adjustments to enhance SDS 100 performance. I hate the SDS 100.

WOW !

 

[k7ng]

w2lpa, you want my Pro-51 for real, pm me.

 

[StoliRaz]

Yes, that beep tone was just awful.

Same with the BCT-7. I picked one up cheap a few years ago, to keep under my front seat. I figured it was a cheap weather radio and I could listen to local analog traffic on it since there's still plenty around me. The damned thing beeped so much that I got rid of it. I at least sold it for a profit anyways. Disappointed because it was tiny, lightweight and had a nice green back light to it. Replaced it with a 246T

 

[StoliRaz]

I don't know that I can specifically name a particular "worst" scanner ever, but I kind of chuckle at the TRX-x and the Pro-197 mentions.

I have a TRX-2 at home that works just fine on the MPSCS system, smack dab in the middle of a simulcast tower county, it doesn't miss a single transmission. I have 3 WS-1080 (a-la GRE PSR-800's) in use between Macomb county and Washtenaw county, both simulcast counties. Work great. I have 2 Pro-197's in service, one works fantastic, one does not.

The difference for the 197's where one works, one does not? Antennas. I've combed the threads here, followed the insights of many well regarding folks here as SME's and put a ton of energy into the antenna systems that these radios all operate on. I guess I just chuckle when radios get dinged for the dreaded simulcast demon as being the worst ever.

I don't follow what you're saying here about 197's and antennas. Are you saying bad antenna connection on the radio or just it makes a big difference what antenna you choose?

 

[KE4ZNR]

For me hands down it was the Uniden 350A....this miserable bastard.


There was no direct entry of frequencies....you had to use those triangle up and down buttons to slew through an entire band to get to the freq you want to program in. God help you if your frequency was 460.xxx as you had to wait forever for that part of the frequency range to come around in search mode. Oh and your programmable memory slots shared spaces with the programmed search ranges. So if you only wanted to scan the 20 memory slots in the "Police Bank" you had to lockout all 700+ other pre-programmed frequencies that were part of the search range. And if you lost power for more than 20 milliseconds the hunk o' crap scanner would reset which meant programming all over again and once again locking out frequencies.
I bought mine at a local Service Merchandise (remember them?) and hated it from the beginning.

 

[Omega-TI]

For me hands down it was the Uniden 350A....this miserable bastard.

There was no direct entry of frequencies....you had to use those triangle up and down buttons to slew through an entire band to get to the freq you want to program in. God help you if your frequency was 460.xxx as you had to wait forever for that part of the frequency range to come around in search mode. Oh and your programmable memory slots shared spaces with the programmed search ranges. So if you only wanted to scan the 20 memory slots in the "Police Bank" you had to lockout all 700+ other pre-programmed frequencies that were part of the search range. And if you lost power for more than 20 milliseconds the hunk o' crap scanner would reset which meant programming all over again and once again locking out frequencies.
I bought mine at a local Service Merchandise (remember them?) and hated it from the beginning.

You have a talent for descriptive prose! I laughed my azz off this morning reading that. Great way to wake up. Thanks for the funny and entertaining post.

 

[palmerjrusa]

I would have to say the AOR 8200. Think it was the 1st version I bought in 96. It picked up fine, just needed a degree in computer science to program it. It was a serious PITA to program. I sold it within a few months and bought a RS Pro 29, which I just got fixed this year. Working great.

The AR8200 is not user friendly, that's for sure...

 

[scannersnstuff]

Not really a scanner per se. But for the price, I think it does ok.

A lot of the amateur radio's actually do better sensitivity wise. Maybe not all the bell's and whistle's as a scanner,but make great single channel "sentinels".

 

[scannersnstuff]

A lot of the amateur radio's actually do better sensitivity wise. Maybe not all the bell's and whistle's as a scanner,but make great single channel "sentinels".

My Yaesu vx-6r was a prime example. Even does milair.

 

[Omega-TI]

A lot of the amateur radio's actually do better sensitivity wise. Maybe not all the bell's and whistle's as a scanner,but make great single channel "sentinels".

My Yaesu vx-6r was a prime example. Even does milair.

Yup! I still use my old Kenwood TH-79AD dual band HT to monitor a couple of frequencies in the airband.

 

[bearcatrp]

My Yaesu vx-6r was a prime example. Even does milair.

My VX7R works great scanning frequencies. Hooked it up to my discone and was overloaded bad.

 

[n0xvz]

For me hands down it was the Uniden 350A....this miserable bastard.

I still have mine...plus one I inherited. I use them to monitor the local ham repeaters during weather events. I have better options, but they are up to the task. Plus, after programming them once, I don't have to program them again.

 

[bob550]

For me hands down it was the Uniden 350A....this miserable bastard.

I owned the RadioShack version of this paperweight many years ago. Needless to say, it wasn't my primary scanner. Or secondary. Or tertiary. Or quaternary. Or quinary. Or.......