Newbie Help

Status
Not open for further replies.

rebelson82

Newbie
Joined
Mar 18, 2022
Messages
1
Hello everyone!

I am located in NYC and would like to get my feet wet in joining the radio community.

Please cut me some slack if my questions seem silly, as I am here to learn from high seniority members. Can anyone recommend a good UHF radio that'll be a good choice for listening to local law enforcement and the Fire Department? I (think) I have seen handheld radios that can operate on both UHF and VHF, but please correct me if I'm wrong. With that being said, If this setup is possible, which radios should I be looking at? The reason being Is that I would also like to listen to local RR frequencies.

Would the Motorola MOTOTRBO Xpr7550e be a good choice? From what I have read, programming a radio such as the one I mentioned requires software and a large amount of knowledge to input the radio frequencies that I desire. If this is indeed the case, are there shops that I can send the radio to with a list of frequencies that I can request to be input?

I appreciate everyone's help, and I apologize for the many questions I asked.

Thank you!
 
Last edited:

62Truck

Ordinary Subscriber
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Aug 13, 2005
Messages
1,971
Location
Uranus
Welcome,

There are radios that are capable of UHF and VHF in one radio. These radios can be very cheap (Baofeng), or very expensive (Motorola), and you get what you pay for.

NYPD is going to be transitioning to P25 with full time encryption in the near future, so just keep that in mind.

The local RR frequencies are on VHF.

There maybe some shops that are able to program what you want, it is important to make sure all TX features on the radio are turned off, and the cost can add up depending on how many channels you want programmed.

For someone just starting out, I would stick to a scanner at first. The BC125AT would be a solid and cheaper choice for what your trying to accomplish.
 

stevez97

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Aug 17, 2004
Messages
196
Location
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Just to elaborate, in case you are not aware, "transitioning to P25 with full-time encryption" basically means you will not be able to acquire a radio that will be able to receive the law enforcement transmissions you are seeking to listen to. Now the big question might be the definition of "in the near future." I've seen such "near future" predictions range from weeks to years. <grin> Just wanted to provide this clarification before you invest any BIG dollars into a capable radio. Lastly, agree the BC125AT would a great choice to monitor what you are seeking (at least for now.) I own one and it's a very capable radio.
 

Solidjake

Member
Joined
Nov 25, 2009
Messages
88
Location
NYC
The BC125AT is a great choice. My first scanner for NYC was a BC95XLT which served me well. I also had a bank setup for NY state police for when I would go to Nassau/Suffolk
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top