Scanner Setups

[Scanfreq928]

I was hoping to get some suggestions on how to setup my scanners. I have a Pro-2042, Pro-2040 and a Pro-2066. I was thinking of using my Pro 2066 to monitor all trunked stuff but I am wondering the best way to set up my other two radios. The 2042 has 10 banks each with 100 channels and the 2040 has 10 banks each with 10 channels. I primarlly listen to Police,Fire and EMS comms but I would also like to put in some other stuff such as air and stuff like that. Any input as to other peoples setups and any ideas of how to setup mine so that there is some form of organization would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks
Matt

 

[N7OLQ]

I've tried many things over the years and no matter what, I always get into a situation I'm not prepared for. I have about 7 active scanners at my desk (Mostly BC780's, 785's). I usually program 2 with my local stuff (my town & county). The others I program for events further away (but I have a local bank in each). When something big happens, I usually put 3 or 4 of the scanners in manual mode locked onto a freq or talkgroup being used. So one will have highway patrol another will have lifeflight, another will have whatever fire dept is in use, and another for county of city PD. The other scanners will be scanning for other agencies that might be involved and one unit will be scanning for events not related at all, just in case something even bigger goes down.

So my philosophy is 'manual mode' thinking. I want to be able to lock each radio on a separate channel so I don't miss anything.

As a side note, I think the ultimate dream scanner will someday have the ability to network with multiple scanners so that if one is stopped on a channel, the others would automatically skip that channel. No sense in having 5 scanners all playing the same audio while you miss the other action. I wish I were smart enough to figure out how to do it. The networking features would be almost unlimited (especially with a computer in the mix).
Uniden? You listening?

 

[JoeyC]

Very interesting idea, networking the scanners, I like that.

One thing I would like to see incorporated into a scanner of the future, is programmable macros. This would be a benefit for jumping to a specific talkgroup in a trunking system with the touch of a button or two. This would be helpful in situations where you are monitoring more than one trunked system with or without conventional freqs mixed into the scan.