I have always been involved with scanners, ever since I was a kid... chasing fire engines on my bycicle at the age of 9 or 10 was so much fun back then. My very first scanner was a bearcat 4 crystal rig that monitored my local police and fire frequencies. My next 3 or 4 scanners were usually the cost effective models available through RadioShack. I consider myself well experienced with scanners, because I lived through the evolution of these fantastic little receiving devices through-out many years.
As of today, the current market place includes some of the worlds finest scanning radios. Scanner models are represented by a handfull of manufacturers, and many models are jam packed with wonderful features. Scanner enthusiasts can now purchase scanners that have capabilities that were only pipedreams a few short years ago. The newer scanners have offered us APCO P25 capabilities, Trunked systems, Digital... the list goes on and on.
This year is no different. 2009 started with a BANG. The economy is slow, but that doesn't really seem to stop the scanner enthusiast who wish to upgrade thier monitoring shack with the most up to date toys. Scanner sales still climb, especially with the introduction of the GRE manufactured RadioShack Pro-106 Hand-Held Digital Scanners. A few years back, I had been monitoring with a Pro-2006 Base Scanner which was well modified... I thought it was great to cut one leg of diode D503 to open up a whole new world of receiving capabilities. Modifications were great, and it helped us get more out of our scanners. Later, I aquired a Bearcat/Uniden UBC3300XLT (the Euro version of the BC250D continuous band coverage w/ no gaps) Hand-Held Scanner. This was a powerhouse, with its trunktracker III, EDACS, Motorola, E.F. Johnson capabilities, CTCSS, and of course, it's optional BCi 25D APCO P-25 Digital Card which I just had to have. The UBC3300XLT served me well, until my County Sheriff went Digital, on an 800 mhz trunked system, and was only able to be monitored in 9600 baud. Around this time, scanners such as the Pro-96 and 396 were just coming into sight. Technology was really entering the scanner industry, keeping up with the modern two-way communications radios.
I soon found myself in desperate need for an upgrade, or should I say that I now required a more modern, updated scanner. I began my investigation and compared model to model for specific options, and features. I fell in love with a small hand-full, some only having one or two minor drawbacks, and some which I felt had everything I wanted, but were way to pricey. I learned alot about the RadioShack Pro-106 Hand-Held towards the end of 2008. I compared the prices of the 106, the GRE-PSR500, and others and after learning that the BIG 3 (scanners that were on my wish list) were about to cost me around 500.00 dollars, I opted to hold off on my purchase. The features list were shared quite well amongst the BIG 3 that were on my list. Low and behold, The BIG SALE came into view, and I was able to purchase the scanner of my dreams for a price that my wife even enjoyed. I purchased the RadioShack Pro-106 scanner. It had everything I could ever want. Features like V folders, Objects, programmable LED and alarms, Zeromatic, Skywarn, NOAA SAME, Signal Stalker II, CTCSS and DCS, NAC decoder, Digital AGC, supertrack, audio boost, etc...
The new Pro-106 has a learning curve. One that is best learned by experimintation, programming software, and of course, reading the owners manual. This RadioShack scanner is truly everything I had ever hoped for in a scanner, and I honestly feel the need to appluad RadioShack for having GRE make the Pro-106 model. I now consider myself upgraded to the newest wave of scanning radios available today. The Pro-106 really shines on 800 mhz when you swap out the rubber duckie stock antenna for a band specific 800 mhz tuned antenna. Better yet, I chose to use my Hand-Held 106 as a Base, and attatched LMR-400 coax and a discone outdoors on a mast. I receive signals from close to 70 miles away. In fact, lastnite I purchased my first yagi for 800 mhz, and I shall begin to experiment with a whole new antenna system to include a switch box to enable an array of antennas. The possibilities are endless with this scanner from RadioShack.
I am overwhelmed by the RR website members who have nothing to say but positive remarks regarding this new 106. I have read countless stories of how many members were able to find one for the low price of around 300.00 dollars during some short, but previous sales. Whether or not it was a RadioShack ploy to close out thier 2008 books, it worked for many, and it was a good deal... again, more BANG for the buck. That being said, I am back to being a fan of RadioShack, not just for the price I paid, but more so for the fact that they are able to offer an extremely good quality, feature packed, scanner, to so many of us in need. The economy might be bad, but scanner times are good. I do believe that there is a perfect scanner out there for everybody. It doesn't have to be the Pro-106, however it was for, and I also believe that manufacturers will come down in price a bit this year due to the economy. For whatever its worth, if you do own a RadioShack Pro-106 Scanner, and want to show your pride in its ownership, I invite you to join a little social group that I started right here on RadioReference. The group is one month old, and has approx 25 members in it. Its a public group, and I encourage owners of the 106 to join. Its just a fun little place where we can hang our hat. The RR page covering social groups is a fun little area, no matter what scanner you own, no matter what radio rig you enjoy, you will probably find a group that you will like, or, just start your own little group. The sky is the limit. Happy Monitoring !! Thank you RadioShack, and thank you RadioReference and its members.
here is a link to the social group right here on RR http://www.radioreference.com/forums/group.php?groupid=33
As of today, the current market place includes some of the worlds finest scanning radios. Scanner models are represented by a handfull of manufacturers, and many models are jam packed with wonderful features. Scanner enthusiasts can now purchase scanners that have capabilities that were only pipedreams a few short years ago. The newer scanners have offered us APCO P25 capabilities, Trunked systems, Digital... the list goes on and on.
This year is no different. 2009 started with a BANG. The economy is slow, but that doesn't really seem to stop the scanner enthusiast who wish to upgrade thier monitoring shack with the most up to date toys. Scanner sales still climb, especially with the introduction of the GRE manufactured RadioShack Pro-106 Hand-Held Digital Scanners. A few years back, I had been monitoring with a Pro-2006 Base Scanner which was well modified... I thought it was great to cut one leg of diode D503 to open up a whole new world of receiving capabilities. Modifications were great, and it helped us get more out of our scanners. Later, I aquired a Bearcat/Uniden UBC3300XLT (the Euro version of the BC250D continuous band coverage w/ no gaps) Hand-Held Scanner. This was a powerhouse, with its trunktracker III, EDACS, Motorola, E.F. Johnson capabilities, CTCSS, and of course, it's optional BCi 25D APCO P-25 Digital Card which I just had to have. The UBC3300XLT served me well, until my County Sheriff went Digital, on an 800 mhz trunked system, and was only able to be monitored in 9600 baud. Around this time, scanners such as the Pro-96 and 396 were just coming into sight. Technology was really entering the scanner industry, keeping up with the modern two-way communications radios.
I soon found myself in desperate need for an upgrade, or should I say that I now required a more modern, updated scanner. I began my investigation and compared model to model for specific options, and features. I fell in love with a small hand-full, some only having one or two minor drawbacks, and some which I felt had everything I wanted, but were way to pricey. I learned alot about the RadioShack Pro-106 Hand-Held towards the end of 2008. I compared the prices of the 106, the GRE-PSR500, and others and after learning that the BIG 3 (scanners that were on my wish list) were about to cost me around 500.00 dollars, I opted to hold off on my purchase. The features list were shared quite well amongst the BIG 3 that were on my list. Low and behold, The BIG SALE came into view, and I was able to purchase the scanner of my dreams for a price that my wife even enjoyed. I purchased the RadioShack Pro-106 scanner. It had everything I could ever want. Features like V folders, Objects, programmable LED and alarms, Zeromatic, Skywarn, NOAA SAME, Signal Stalker II, CTCSS and DCS, NAC decoder, Digital AGC, supertrack, audio boost, etc...
The new Pro-106 has a learning curve. One that is best learned by experimintation, programming software, and of course, reading the owners manual. This RadioShack scanner is truly everything I had ever hoped for in a scanner, and I honestly feel the need to appluad RadioShack for having GRE make the Pro-106 model. I now consider myself upgraded to the newest wave of scanning radios available today. The Pro-106 really shines on 800 mhz when you swap out the rubber duckie stock antenna for a band specific 800 mhz tuned antenna. Better yet, I chose to use my Hand-Held 106 as a Base, and attatched LMR-400 coax and a discone outdoors on a mast. I receive signals from close to 70 miles away. In fact, lastnite I purchased my first yagi for 800 mhz, and I shall begin to experiment with a whole new antenna system to include a switch box to enable an array of antennas. The possibilities are endless with this scanner from RadioShack.
I am overwhelmed by the RR website members who have nothing to say but positive remarks regarding this new 106. I have read countless stories of how many members were able to find one for the low price of around 300.00 dollars during some short, but previous sales. Whether or not it was a RadioShack ploy to close out thier 2008 books, it worked for many, and it was a good deal... again, more BANG for the buck. That being said, I am back to being a fan of RadioShack, not just for the price I paid, but more so for the fact that they are able to offer an extremely good quality, feature packed, scanner, to so many of us in need. The economy might be bad, but scanner times are good. I do believe that there is a perfect scanner out there for everybody. It doesn't have to be the Pro-106, however it was for, and I also believe that manufacturers will come down in price a bit this year due to the economy. For whatever its worth, if you do own a RadioShack Pro-106 Scanner, and want to show your pride in its ownership, I invite you to join a little social group that I started right here on RadioReference. The group is one month old, and has approx 25 members in it. Its a public group, and I encourage owners of the 106 to join. Its just a fun little place where we can hang our hat. The RR page covering social groups is a fun little area, no matter what scanner you own, no matter what radio rig you enjoy, you will probably find a group that you will like, or, just start your own little group. The sky is the limit. Happy Monitoring !! Thank you RadioShack, and thank you RadioReference and its members.
here is a link to the social group right here on RR http://www.radioreference.com/forums/group.php?groupid=33
