Radio Shack Pro 2006...still any good for railroad analog?

[licensetokill]

Hello, and this is my first post for some time.
I'm re entering the hobby of railroad monitoring since retirement is looming.
I have an old Radio Shack Pro 2006, in fact I own several, that I used to use in my railroad scanner bank back in the '90's.

Question...are these older analog scanners still usable in todays climate/radio atmosphere? Railroad radio around here, with an outdoor antenna, is still analog as I can tell (CSX,Norfolk Southern), I don't need trunking and lots of fancy electronics to get in the way. i've been looking at latest generation scanners and wow, what a difference from the old days. Guess I'm just a "classic"; the kids have to show me how to program my cell phone.

Thanks,

Pat in maryland

 

[N5TWB]

You'll be OK until the RR in your area decides to go NXDN digital. It usually starts in the yard operations. Read some more posts with NXDN in the title to get a better sense of the tech. Most of us are still hoping for some scanner manufacturer to get that technology but there's nothing yet.

 

[hpycmpr]

And then there is the problem of narrow band channels. The 2006, or any of the older radios, won't do well when a new channel appears 12.5 kHz away.
The clock is ticking.

Steve

 

[mrkelso]

Still a great scanner. I got one running right next to me.

 

[Eng3ineer]

As others have said they will still work fine until the RR start moving over to narrow band channels or NXDN digital.

Not sure if your looking to upgrade but if you are might look into the Kenwood TM281a radio. I purchased one after reading post here and other forums and as soon as I had it hooked up and running it made me wonder why didn't do it sooner. It's a ham radio that can receive the RR channels and have to say works whole alot better on receiving and doesn't have the front end over load. Plus it can be programmed for narrow band channels. I purchased my last two from here great bunch guys and girls and very helpful. Kenwood TM-281A 144 MHz Mobile with Free Shipping - Main Trading Company

Check out my shack photo's for my set-up