Preferred Railway Frequency Scanner

[1-up]

Have a friend (non-ham) who has had a UNIDEN
scanner for many years; BC 220XLT.

It is dying. Specifically battery concerns.
The numbers have disappeared from many
of the buttons, and the display is dull.

He had looked at one of the newer Uniden
scanners and was disappointed in their
tendency to go hunting for frequencies on their own.
He had borrowed it, and returned it. (BC95XLT)

This person has no computer nor amateur license.
Here in Canada Radio Shack doesn't exist and he has
no desire to go to the USA.

Any suggestions; again he is strictly a railway listener,
So, any suggestions as to a scanner?

Have suggested mail order from the USA
due to a greater selection; however I tend
to not be too sure these days either.
I use a Vaseu FX-170, more for durability and a lower
price than Uniden products

1-up

 

[Grog]

If all he wants is VHF RR then I think the VX170 might do well too unless there are rules in Canada about non-hams owning ham radios.

If he wants a scanner, then it really matters what else he might want to listen to to choose what scanner to buy. I'm curious what he means about "tendency to go hunting for frequencies on their own" with your BC95XLT.

 

[1-up]

Unwanted preprogrammed frequencies in Uniden scanners

I'm curious what he means about "tendency to go hunting for frequencies on their own" with your BC95XLT.

Let me be more specific.

he has programmed the various railway frequencies he likes to listen to.
I might add here in Southern Ontario there are far more frequencies
for railways than might be imagined, and too most of these frequencies are in use,
but records normally show only two or three for CN, CP and VIA/GO Transit.

That noted my friend will be listening say to CN Channel one at 161.415, when it will break off
and go searching for a frequency which has no relation to railways, say a fire department frequency in
Paris Ontario near Brantford.

I have looked at the scanner myself and have tried to defeat the stupidity of the device.
It is almost if this scanner and I might add other similar Uniden product are programmed
by a computer which tells us "this is what you'll listen to " and nothing else.

Also this scanner has NASCAR frequencies and we in Canada in many cases
could care less about NASCAR.

How does one remove all of these superfluous frequencies? is there a way to modify the
system so these unwanted garbage frequencies don't ever appear?

I admit the Yaseu VX-170 may well be the preferred route, for him.
There may be some question as to using a VHF amateur radio
for railway frequency listening, particularly by a non-amateur however so
far the question has not been raised.

 

[burner50]

You should program all of the channels you want to listen to, and lock out all the rest. I believe you are using a search function.

 

[DPD1]

As long as you don't transmit, there's no reason you can't get a ham radio just to listen to. I'm not sure what's up with the scanner. Sounds like you have it set on some sort of auto mode or something. The freqs you want need to be programed into memories. If you use the pre-programed band scan, it's going to get a bunch of stuff you don't want.

Dave
www.DPDProductions.com
Antennas & Accessories for the RF Professional & Radio Hobbyist

 

[N8IAA]

Re-initialize the scanner by pressing HOLD, 2, 9 and turning on the scanner. This will clear all of the unwanted frequencies. Then program in the railroad freqs again. Do not turn on the Close Call. This is what is interrupting the other frequency. Or, just turn off the Close Call. It is in the manual.
Larry

 

[N8IAA]

As long as you don't transmit, there's no reason you can't get a ham radio just to listen to. I'm not sure what's up with the scanner. Sounds like you have it set on some sort of auto mode or something. The freqs you want need to be programed into memories. If you use the pre-programed band scan, it's going to get a bunch of stuff you don't want.

Dave
www.DPDProductions.com
Antennas & Accessories for the RF Professional & Radio Hobbyist

Dave, remember, they are in Canada. Not the USA. Different rules with regard to radios there.
Larry

 

[Grog]

Dave, remember, they are in Canada. Not the USA. Different rules with regard to radios there.
Larry

If you know the rules for Canada, feel free to post them in relation to this thread. I'm sure we would know for sure for future reference.

 

[N9JIG]

Unless the radio has been modified for out of band transmit then the VX-170 would be receive only on the 160 MHz. rail channels, thus would be fine for a railfan receiver.

While the VX-170 might work well, there are some limitations to it, including the battery. While the battery that comes with it might last all day in the field, especially being receive only, when it does die you can't just swap out standard AA cells like most scanners produced today. Either carry an extra battery pack or make sure he has a mobile charger. Might get tough if you are camping.

In addition, the VX-170 is VHF only, scanners these days also cover several other bands. Some railroads use UHF for some operations, such as EOT's and remote links. Some industrial roads use UHF as well. If he decides to listen to local public safety or business services then a scanner might be more appropriate.

Ease of use is a two edged sword. Some people feel a scanner is easier to use than a ham transceiver, that one you guys are going to duke out yourselves. Personally I think scanners are easier to figure out.

Legalities in Canada may be different, but here in the US it is legal for a non-ham to own and operate a ham rig as long as he is not transmitting. For your friend I would make sure that the radio does not transmit out of band so he doesn't accidentally transmit. Several times I felt the heat of a radio on my belt and discovered that my jacket or seatbelt had depressed the PTT.

 

[Grog]

While the VX-170 might work well, there are some limitations to it, including the battery. While the battery that comes with it might last all day in the field, especially being receive only, when it does die you can't just swap out standard AA cells like most scanners produced today. Either carry an extra battery pack or make sure he has a mobile charger. Might get tough if you are camping.

There is a AA case available for less than $20 that works very well.

 

[SCPD]

I have a 95XLT and your friend's scanner, as the previous poster said, sounds like it has the close call feature turned on. This can be deactivated by punching a couple of butons on the keypad. As for NASCAR, it's just a marketing gimmick. Any new scanner has the ability to pick up NASCAR frequencies. Uniden is just marketing this scanner as NASCAR to capitalize on the current craze for the sport. You can wipe out or overwrite ANY of the pre-programmed frequencies and program in as little as you want or as much as you want up to 200 channels. I picked one up a week ago and the documentation is not too great but with the help of searching past threads on this site, I have mine now set up exactly how I want it and it has been awesome. I even ordered the Uniden programming software and USB cable to make it even easier.

 

[lars128]

I suggest keeping sticking with the scanner route and getting an inexpensive 400 MHz scanner. I lean towards GRE products for rail scanning because they 1)have a reputation of being a little more sensitive than Unidens and 2)have a reputation for better audio. The combination works well for me as much of my time railfanning is out in the sticks. I like to keep things cheap and simple as railfanning is generally hard on scanners. I've dropped, dirtied, and gotten my scanner wet enough times to know that I would never risk using an expensive scanner.

A GRE PSR 100 or Radio Shack Pro 82 are great for rail scanning. You could get the 82 pretty cheap on ebay or search for a 79 or 89 as well. I have an 89 and I find that it receives well and is the sturdiest of the three scanners I own. Since your friend is doing rail scanning only, get him an antenna tuned to 160 MHz. Nothing will perform better than something made for what you're listening to. I suggest something like the Smiley 5/8 wave duck or 1/2 wave slim duck.

www.smileyantenna.com

The only major downside to these scanners right now is that they do not support the 7.5 kHz spacing that will occur on the railroad band in the narrowbanding process. I don't see this as a huge issue as most railroads will not be suddenly changing their road channels or any other "main" channels. However they may appear as maintenance channels or on shortlines, etc. If you really want to drop the cash I think you have to go for something like the Pro 164. However, I wouldn't worry about it as by the time narrowbanding will be of any consequence, you'll probably be in the market for another scanner.

 

[LordJ]

I have to agree with bkrell. I think it's just a matter of not understanding how to use the radio properly. I think once you figure out how to use that 95 correctly, you will find it's a fine radio for your needs...

 

[imcleish]

Look for a good used one, I have an old uniden SC200 that uses the 4AA pack, love it because I don't care if it gets dropped and broken.

The newer Unidens are also great, and have all he needs. It would seem as others have mentioned, it needs to have the current programming cleared and just what he want entered.

Have helped many a train fan having scanner troubles get there scanner working again while trackside.

 

[Astro25]

I wouldn't highly recommend a scanner if you'll be railfanning out in the field, along the right-of-way, etc. Most scanners are built cheaply and if you drop them, especially in a Railroad environment, it's gonna crack or break (even with a soft case on it). A VX-170 or VX-150 (both are great radios for railfanning) are better at withstanding damage like the occasional drop.

You can also search eBay for those railroad Motorola MT1000s. They are 99ch radios and come pre-programmed with all 99 AAR frequencies. There are railroads out there, even Class 1's, that still use these in service.

Just some food for thought...

 

[kb2vxa]

Just to add my 2c worth, a ham rig has no advantage over a scanner when receiving out of band. The front end is "optimized" for the ham bands naturally so sensitivity falls off a bit elsewhere. Also it lacks features found in scanners because that's not what it's made for so whatever your choice you'd be better off with a scanner overall. A commercial unit with the transmit function disabled has it's own advantages but it too lacks the functionality of a scanner and of course there is the matter of price. The bottom line here is your choice depends on your need as with anything else.

Then you can always "refurbish" the oldie so if it gets broken you have incentive to upgrade or you can always hasten the process, better than a penny. (;->)

 

[Grog]

Just to add my 2c worth, a ham rig has no advantage over a scanner when receiving out of band. The front end is "optimized" for the ham bands naturally so sensitivity falls off a bit elsewhere.

Many modern ham-band HTs are very close to their commercial counterparts so I would disagree greatly that an amateur band HT that is RXing 13mhz outside of it's TX window will not be better than a scanner that has a HUGE band coverage.

 

[1-up]

In short, I reprogrammed his 95 XLT.
The instructions are vague, however his close-call wasn't so much turned on,
rather it had not been turned off.

Bottom line the 95XLT does work, especially connected to my 65 foot tall outdoor antenna.
He did purchase the VX-170 and I think his problem is not so much the programming,
rather figuring out how to best program. The manual is not clear.

He asked me to see if there was anything "wrong" with the VX-170.

Nothing I could find. Suspect as time goes along, such devices
as radio frequency scanners are going to be more complicated,
just by dint of what they are required to receive.

And if the instruction booklets are not reviewed beforehand
for clarity many more will discard their scanners in frustration.
Not everybody has a computer nor wants to have a computer.
And most of the newer scanners almost demand a
Microsoft based computer to enable programming.

Which can be a real pain for those of us tied to the Apple
operating system.