Question on AR8200MKIIIB

[TVisitor]

Hi all,

I've been thinking about purchasing a new scanner (I have a Radio Shack Pro-2042 at the moment), and would like to get a portable one so that I can use it outside, etc.

I have heard great things about the 8200, but there are a few things I'm not sure about with it. Forgive me if these questions seem silly, I'm kind of a newbie when it comes to scanners.

1. Can it follow Trunked signals?

2. Can it receive/decode Analog & Digital transmissions (I saw a mention in another thread, nothing to do with AOR, that one user told another that their scanner, while it could follow the trunks, was not capable of decoding digital transmissions so they would be unable to follow the broadcast unless they purchased a scanner that was capable of it).

3. Part of my motivating factor for this scanner... Might be able to get it on the cheap from a friend in the UK who bought one on impulse and hardly uses it. I realize that some freq's are blocked here that aren't in the UK (though I have no interest in tuning into my neighbor talking on their cell about their grocery list, LOL), but are there any freq's blocked on UK scanners that I should be able to get here, or any other technical reason I could not use a UK version of the scanner here in the USA?

I guess that last one is just a general question, I hope you don't mind I throw it in even though I'm posting on the AOR forum... I can post this question in a more applicable forum if someone feels it's necessary

Thanks for the help... Nice to meet all of you.

 

[MarkWestin]

Hello,

Only the USA model is the AR8200MK3B, All other countries have the AR8200MK3U (unblocked).

These radios are wideband radios that can scan, not scanners.

1. No, no AOR scanner can trunk track.

2.a It can receive any analog signal, including trunk signals (but not in trunk mode).
2.b No AOR radio can receive APCO25 Digital signals, unless an optional decoder is used. The AR8600 MK2 can use an optional internal APCO25 decoder board, (but this board can't trunktrack). Other models can use an optional external AOR APCO25 decoder, but none of the AOR handheld radios are able to decode APCO25 or other digital signals, or use an external decoder, unless the owner figures out how to modify the radio to work with it.

3. Many people have bought one of these wide band receivers, because they are the "top end", but they have a steep learning curve, and aren't as easy to operate as a scanner is.
There are no frequencies blocked on the non-USA models, but the band plans may be different. (a different bandplan may be loaded into the scanner)

All this being said, I really like my AR8200MK3 and won't be selling it any time soon.

Mark

 

[TVisitor]

Thanks Mark. You've piqued my curisoty - you said it's a wideband receiver that can scan, but it's not a scanner.

Just what is a scanner, then? My assumption (bad, apparently) was a receiver that could run through a set of frequences and stop on some type of activity that it detected. Apparently I have more to learn.

If it can't do trunk nor digital, another scanner might be better suited to my listening desires (Perhaps a RS Pro-96). Any suggestions would be welcome.

 

[ka3jjz]

Take a look at the databases here for your city and state; that will help you make a decision as to what to get. Keep in mind your interests and what you would like to do with the radio you buy; for example, will you need to do logging, or any kind of recording while scanning? If so, a Radio Shack scanner won't work for you. Does the database show anything mentioning APCO 25 or refers to digital in any way? Then you must have a scanner that can decode the digital transmissions and make them understandable. Currently there are several such scanners on the market, all quite pricey.

We have extensive Wiki pages on all of the current digital-capable models; pick one (such as the PRO-96 as you mentioned) in the Radio Shack wiki page, and compare it to your interests and what you see in the databases.

The next step is up to you. Do your homework ahead of time so you are not disappointed later. 73s Mike

 

[TVisitor]

Hi Mike,

Good points. I posted a message in general scanning detailing a few of my interests. I'll continue to read the pages and check out the Wiki's and learn some more. However, I think I'll go back and ammend my post in light of some things you mentioned.

 

[morfis]

3. Part of my motivating factor for this scanner... Might be able to get it on the cheap from a friend in the UK who bought one on impulse and hardly uses it. I realize that some freq's are blocked here that aren't in the UK, but are there any freq's blocked on UK scanners that I should be able to get here, or any other technical reason I could not use a UK version of the scanner here in the USA?

Other parts fully answered by others.
There are NO freqs blocked on scanners by legal requirement in the UK
As stated in another reply the bandplan for the UK model is not the same as that for the USA model. You can upload a copy of the USA bandplan to a UK model if you have the cable/interface and software avaialble. It is also possible to modify the bandplan manually if you want to. Operation of the UK and USA versions is identical.

 

[DaveIN]

The reason I got rid of my AOR8200 was because of all the cards you need to do things that many general coverage "scanners" have. Actually I relaced it with the Icom R20 receiver and have all the features munus a direct output of the baseband audio.

 

[maalox]

The reason I got rid of my AOR8200 was because of all the cards you need to do things that many general coverage "scanners" have. Actually I relaced it with the Icom R20 receiver and have all the features munus a direct output of the baseband audio.

hi it would be nice if the icom r20 had trunking.

 

[TVisitor]

What's the difference between a general purpose scanner, and a "receiver that scans"...?

 

[DaveIN]

Usually price tag, but the specifications are "usually" better on a communications receiver, than a scanner. The Uniden BR330T is a good example of a wide band general coverage scanner that works really well and has fairly good receiver qualities. Communications receivers do not usually have a fast channel per second scan rate, compared to a scanner.

 

[wesct]

What's the difference between a general purpose scanner, and a "receiver that scans"...?

if you go to www.aorusa.com , you will see there are more features than what
uniden has put into their radios.
1. multimode receiver: am, wfm, nfm, snfm usb, lsb
2. tcxo: most hand helds dont have this
3. a ferrite bar that is external to the radio
4. higher upper frequency range

uniden has a technology called "auto resort" to make their radios scan faster. That original idea came from an engineer from Regency. They called it "turbo scan".
AOR doesnt seem to have this in their radios, but the factory programming is in frequency order from the lowest to the highest to make it scan faster.

The BR330t is the first scanner in the uniden line that has broken the " below 25 mhz barrier".

wesct