Please recommend me 2 scanners

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UFEMTFF

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I am going to be purchasing two scanners - one for my house and one for the car. I would like a mobile/base for the house and a handheld for the car (that I'll have permenantly connected to the vehicle's power, as well as antenna and external powered speaker).

Both have to be compatible with the rebanding (come on, I'm spending the money now, I don't want it to be obsolete), APCO 25, text tags and preferably, computer controlled and programable.

Is the 996 going to cause the BC796D going to be obsolete soon? Also, I'm thinking 296 or 396 for the handheld.

Thanks for the info.
 

garys

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A lot depends on what you want to listen to and how much you have to spend. I've used both the 296 and the 396 as mobiles, and they aren't that convenient to use. I'd actually give a slight edget to the 296 in that regard. The 396 requires a lot of FUNC + operations and it can be a problem while you're driving.

The 796 isn't obselete, it's just last generation technology. I have one in my house as a supplement to my BCT15. Again, it depends on what you plan to listen to. I generally have a portable as my newest scanner, followed by the mobile, and then the house. My reason is that I like to take a scanner with me when I travel. If I have the latest technology, chances are better it will work pretty much everywhere I go. I do a lot of regional travel in my truck, so the same logic applies. Since I know what type of systems are local to me, I can buy a less capable scanner to listen.

If money is not object and you want P25, I'd say buy two 996Ts. Of course for most of us money is an object. <G>

Gary
 

hiegtx

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Both the 296 & the 796 have been discontinued. They are still available from some dealers with leftover stock, but not at that much of a discount. The 296 was replaced by the BCD396T, & the 796 by the BCD996T.

All four scanners are in the group that Uniden intends to support with a firmware update download, once actual rebanding has taken place & there are some live systems on the air. The standard disclaimer applies. That being the assumption that a firmware flash will update the scanners for the rebanded systems & whatever changes were made. That's likely, but no one knows for sure, until some reconfigured TRS's are up & running. See the rebanding information in the Wiki. If you're having a sleepless night, read the Rebanding thread.

All four scanners have text tags, are computer programmable & controllable, & handle APCO-25 transmissions.

If you don't have more than ten trunk systems and/or sites in your listening area, a good deal on a clean used 296 or 796 would save you some money. If you are buying new, or want the added flexibilty of dynamic memory (you'll like it once you get past the initial learning curve), get the 396 or 996. The 396 & 996 have additional features that the 296/796 do not have, plus a much larger channel capacity.

In the Radio Shack line, the Pro-96 (handheld) & -2096 (base mobile) both do APCO-25 & text tags. They can be programmed, but not controlled, by computer. Both will likely survive rebanding by loading a custom table via software. If it takes a firmware flash of some kind instead, that would require sending it in. Radio Shack scanners are not field updateable in the same manner as the newer Unidens. The one exception was an update to the 96's digital decoder (early models only, I believe).
 

STiMULi

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kyguy said:
996 for the house & a 996 for the auto !!! cant be beat !!!
just my .02
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