Newbie Please Help

[mwhenerey]

Hello, Im trying to get some info on different scanners that would allow me to listen to Charleston County Sheriffs Office, Berkeley County Sheriffs Office, Hanahan PD, South Carolina Highway Patrol and a few others.Dont want to spend a fortune but would like something realiable. I live in Hanahan,SC and mainly listened to Berk. County until they went 800 now i cant get anything.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[brian]

Any analog trunktracking scanner should suit you just fine. The Uniden BC246T and Radio Shack PRO-97 are good current models most people like. They have a very comparable feature set, and are priced comparably. The BC246T has a different memory system (called "dynamic") that a lot of people like, but the learning curve may be slightly steeper for a newbie or someone who's used to 10 banks of 50 channels.

You can also consider purchasing an older scanner (like a PRO-95 or a BC250D w/o the digital card) but be aware that there is a nationwide change in 800MHz frequency assignments coming soon (called "rebanding" - you can read about it in various other threads on this site). This change may cause older scanners to not track 800MHz Motorola trunked systems correctly. The BC246T and PRO-97 are expected to work fine after rebanding, though no one knows for sure. So you could save some money now, but wind up disappointed in a year or two.

If you want to future-proof yourself a little, and be able to monitor agencies such as Georgetown PD, Columbia PD, and other digital users, you'll want to step up to a digital scanner, such as the BCD396T or PRO-96. You'll be able to hear more (currently outside your immediate area) but you'll also spend at least twice as much money. Be aware that new users to the Palmetto 800 system (that's what Berkeley Co., Dorchester Co., and Orangeburg Co. currently use) will likely be digital. That could include someone like Colleton Co. in the near future.

Hope that helps.

Brian

 

[mwhenerey]

brian

Thanks alot for your help I beleive im going to go with a digital. bc796d or if you know of any other models comparible to it. Charleston County is expecting to go digital in October 05 and Berkeley County is talking about it in the near future. Again i appreciate all your help and look forward to talking to you again. one other thing how hard is it to program these scanners. I have a friend at motorola who im sure can get it done also spoke with a gentleman at scanner masters who gave me a quote of about $250.00 to get it programmed.Do you have any suggestions as to the best place to purchase a digital, shopped around on the net and the BC796D seems to be going for @ $530.00 found a BC78D for $329.00 without the card, Card is $99.00 Just unsure what to purchase and from who.

 

[brian]

Everybody has their favorite place to order radios. I've ordered from Grove Enterprises and AES in the past with good results. Scanner Master is a sponser of this site, so it's a good bet too. There are many others.

Most folks find that obtaining programming software for scanners now-adays is the most convenient way to program ever-more-complicated radios. Programming frequencies, tones, alpha-tags, talkgroups, etc. can be a daunting task just using the keypad. Most people like the Butel software for Uniden models and Starrsoft software for the PRO line. Remember that you'll have to purchase the appropriate cable for the PRO scanners separately.

Programming Motorola radios is much different than programming a scanner, so your friend may or may not do a very good job programming your scanner. It'll be up to you to make a list of what you want to listen to, and by the time you do that, programming the radio with the software won't be that much more difficult.

You mentioned the BC785D with digital card. Keep in mind that the BC785D will not be "upgradeable" to support rebanding when it occurs. Currently the only mobile scanner models that will support rebanding are the BC796D and PRO-2096 (both digital).

Also, I'd be pretty surprised if the agencies you mentioned "go digital" as quickly as they say. Typically that's not how it works, but there are, of course, exceptions.

Brian