Oh Man! Did I Make a Mistake?

[KT4HX]

I have to admit, I fell right into this one without looking. Just took delivery of a new 898T, and I just assumed (yeah I know what they say about that!), that it had alpha-tags. Big mistake. I'm so used to scanners having that, I guess it never dawned on me that Uniden would put a new one out without that capability! Can I live without that? I just don't know. Otherwise I like the scanner. I just have a hard time dealing with seeing IDs pop up in AFS format for my local EDACS and not SO PATROL-1, etc. I will give it a chance, but not sure I can live with this! :shock:

 

[mciupa]

I'm sure you will "memorize" the important TG's in no time.

Did you read the news update about ProVoice in the Database for
your county?

 

[KT4HX]

Well, usually when I'm listening I don't look at them that closely. I can recognize the groups as far as police, fire, ems by whats happening and the dispatchers voice anyway. I just like to complain! lol But where I will miss it more is when I program in surround counties conventional. I like to lump 3 or 4 in one bank, then rely on texttags to tell me which it is. Oh well, I will work around it. I do like having the bigger unit as opposed to my 780XLT.

Yes, in re to the Pro Voice. I actually found that listing on the Supervisor's Board webpage and posted something on the forum about it. Not sure if the update to the RR DB was based on my comments or someone else just submitted it. Nonetheless, I have a lot of conventional stuff around me too, and as it stands ProVoice may be a far fetched dream for scanning for some time to come. Plus I've no idea how long it will be before its fully implemented.

In the meantime, I will enjoy my 898T in the house, my 780 in the truck, and the Pro-96 on my way thru the digital fields of the DC metro area!

 

[fmon]

This is unusual for Uniden, DCS/CTCSS Rapid Decode - Detects and displays the subaudible tone so you can quickly determine the system settings.

 

[ka2mek]

KT4HX
Aside from the shortcommings,how do you like it?How is the sensitivity?How is the audio?Have you run it via computer controll yet?I am ordering one to toy around with and as I dont need alpha tags it will be fine without them.
73
Robert-KA2MEK

 

[KT4HX]

Hi Robert. Well I haven't done anything to indepth with it, but I find the audio a little bassy, and have to turn it up a little for me. Of course, I'm a little hard of hearing too! Other than that the sensitivity seems good, and it does pick up the CTCSS codes quickly. The bigger size is also nice. I am seriously re-thinking my purchase though, but hate to pay the 15% restock fee. You wanna buy a brand new one from me - only had it since the 6th?? I think that if text tags isn't important to the user, its a fine scanner in my view.....Alan/KT4HX

 

[doctordave]

Hey - on the subject of the 898t that you bought .....does it truly have the capability of appropriate steps for monitoring the new VHF Splinter frequencies? I imagine that it does - but want to confirm. Also - can you simultaneously monitor trunked and conventional frequencies?

Thanks much.

Dave

 

[KT4HX]

Actually I never got around to checking the steps per se. However, it will monitor trunked and conventional together. I sent it back to the dealer today to trade on a BC796D, so I can't tell you too much about it overall. As you saw I got hung up on the no texttags, and I will get more use out of the 796D anyway as a mobile. However, if texttags aren't important, it is a nice scanner for a base station setup.