San Diego Scanner?

[zohar]

Hello,
I am looking to buy an easy radio scanner to listen to my local police, fire, ems and possibly our local airport. I know nothing about radios or scanners so a simple one would be great but I don't mind learning how to use it with all the codes etc. I read this wiki page and would like some guidance from this forum first.
http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Scanner_decision
I would like to spend under $150 and would want it new to buy online. I would like a portable one with a headset jack so I can listen while walking home.
I live in south carlsbad which is a little north of san diego and would like to listen to my local carlsbad police and fire and surrounding neighborhoods would be good to. I would also like to listen to the San Diego Fire Department but I don't know the range of what I can listen to with the scanner as I know little about them.
So is there any scanner that is working for my price range ? thanks, if you need more info from me just be kind and ask

Edit:
I would also like to add I would like to buy it off scannermaster.com .
Do I need an antenna or software or anything? Thanks.

 

[brandon]

Your going to need a digital scanner to hear most San Diego County law agencies such as Carlsbad PD. $150 is going to be tough for a digital scanner, but can be done if you check the used market (RadioReference classifieds, eBay, and Craigslist). In San Diego I mostly use a Pro-96 or PSR-500 and they both work very well. The PSR-500 is a good choice for future compatibility. Uniden is also releasing some new digital scanners and the BCD396T is the current model (for handheld usage) works well.

Now if you just want to monitor Carlsbad Fire and San Diego PD/Fire (city) then you can get by with a cheaper analog trunking scanner for the time being. Any trunking scanner will work for San Diego city and analog RCS talkgroups except the Pro-92.

 

[Mike_G_D]

San Diego County scanning

Zohar,

I will second everything Brandon said. I live in north Carlsbad and routinely monitor pretty much everything I can within range of me and my somewhat limited antenna situation (HOA's, nuff said!).

Anyway, I will add that Radio Shack has a very good sale going on now until the 25th wherein their premium digital scanners are on sale for $200 off (regularly about $500, on sale for about $300) and you can get an additional $20 off online using a coupon code - check out the Radio Shack forum on RR and look for the "36 Hour Sale" thread. Unfortunately that still puts them about $150 over your budget but they ARE great deals if you can stretch it at all! However, one other possibility is the older PRO-96 is going on clearance and is currently on sale for about $200 from what I have been reading. You may have to check out several Radio Shack stores to find one but that's a good deal for your first time scanner and is only about $50 over your stated budget?!

Just food for thought. As Brandon said, most of the San Diego county fire traffic is analog and you can use any decent trunk tracking scanner to track and follow that traffic. There are some digital fire talk groups but they are infrequently used tactical channels - though I have been hearing more traffic on them recently. Also, be aware that the San Diego RCS will eventually become all digital; however, I do not know the actual time frame when this will occur (probably not within the next few years, but I don't really know).

If you can afford to at all it is a good idea to spend more to get yourself set for future changes - it may hurt now but will pay off in the long run! At least look for those Pro-96's on clearance! Additionally, you should make sure whatever you get will handle the re-banding changes in the 800MHz spectrum. The Pro-96 can be specially programmed to handle this when it finally becomes a reality here and the newer PRO-106 (equivalent to the GRE PSR500) and the PRO-197 (equivalent to the GRE PSR600) scanners can all handle re-banding also. Read through the Radio Shack, GRE, and Uniden forums and familiarize yourself with all of these nuances - that will aid you significantly!

Good luck and welcome to RR and the scanning hobby!

-Mike

 

[radioray1000]

if you need someone to program it for you and show you a few things let me know. I would like to be paid for this service though. I have a pro 106 but it cost $500 and it does everything you could need it to. rguernon@yahoo.com

 

[Mike_G_D]

if you need someone to program it for you and show you a few things let me know. I would like to be paid for this service though. I have a pro 106 but it cost $500 and it does everything you could need it to. rguernon@yahoo.com

Don't know if you noticed but this thread's almost a year and a half old. The OP has likely made up his mind and solved his programming issues by now; but, who knows...

-Mike

 

[radioray1000]

no i didn't wasn't even paying attention thanks