Seeking advice for scanner shopping for my brother.

[Smaug]

I'm newish to this forum, but not new to radio. I'm a licensed ham, so I know a thing or two. But about scanners? Not so much.

Here's what I'm looking for, for my brother:

• Handheld
• < $50
• Used-but-not-abused is fine
• Telescopic antenna option, for best reception. BNC antenna mount is strongly preferred for this reason.
• Would be nice if it also picked up broadcast bands, but not strictly required
• He likes to listen to hams, so 144-148 MHz is required and so is 440-450. 220 would be good too, as there are a couple 1.25m repeaters in our area.
• He lives in Homewood, IL, 60430. Not sure what the police and fire depts are using there. If they're something that requires fancy trunking or digital or decoding I'll probably have to take a pass due to price.
• He'll mostly use it to listen to whatever's local while he smokes outside.
• He's kind of lazy, so easy-to-program is preferred. (though I can help if needed)

If you guys could recommend specific models that can be had in this price range, that's great. If you can recommend models to stay AWAY from, that's good too. Or if you can just recommend specific features to look for, that's of course helpful too.

I was just thinking of perusing ebay, pawn shops, or some other used sales sources and finding something that will at least cover the VHF and UHF ham bands as a start, but I thought I'd check in with the experts first.

 

[joeuser]

I'm newish to this forum, but not new to radio. I'm a licensed ham, so I know a thing or two. But about scanners? Not so much.

Here's what I'm looking for, for my brother:

• Handheld
• < $50
• Used-but-not-abused is fine
• Telescopic antenna option, for best reception. BNC antenna mount is strongly preferred for this reason.
• Would be nice if it also picked up broadcast bands, but not strictly required
• He likes to listen to hams, so 144-148 MHz is required and so is 440-450. 220 would be good too, as there are a couple 1.25m repeaters in our area.
• He lives in Homewood, IL, 60430. Not sure what the police and fire depts are using there. If they're something that requires fancy trunking or digital or decoding I'll probably have to take a pass due to price.
• He'll mostly use it to listen to whatever's local while he smokes outside.
• He's kind of lazy, so easy-to-program is preferred. (though I can help if needed)

If you guys could recommend specific models that can be had in this price range, that's great. If you can recommend models to stay AWAY from, that's good too. Or if you can just recommend specific features to look for, that's of course helpful too.

I was just thinking of perusing ebay, pawn shops, or some other used sales sources and finding something that will at least cover the VHF and UHF ham bands as a start, but I thought I'd check in with the experts first.

I thought I could help until I read ' < $50 '
That's a serious limitation. Your best bet may be eBay, limit the results buy price (which unless they offer free shipping will be another issue) & then whatever results come back see if they fit the bill.
Good luck!

 

[westernme963]

Forget about digital because it won't be had for anywhere near that price. Scour fleabay for a cheap portable. An old analog one should be easy to find. Any scanner is better than no scanner.

Heres one for under $35

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=161449854938&alt=web

 

[Smaug]

'Trunking' just means that Tx and Rx for a given conversation are on different frequencies, right?

I did a feebay search earlier for Buy it Now handheld scanners for < $50. Found a few that look newer than the one pictured, probably with more memories, faster scanning, etc. Admittedly, they're $40-50, instead of $20, like the one you pictured.

Is it worth the extra money to buy a newer one that is probably faster?

What is better on old scanners? Maybe just the speakers, or is there are things that are better on the old ones?

BNC doesn't seem to be too tough to find; it seems to be the norm, right?

That's great, as it opens things up for mag mount car antennas, big telescopics, etc.

 

[N8IAA]

'Trunking' just means that Tx and Rx for a given conversation are on different frequencies, right?
Cook county is trunked and digital. They are on the statewide system.

I did a feebay search earlier for Buy it Now handheld scanners for < $50. Found a few that look newer than the one pictured, probably with more memories, faster scanning, etc. Admittedly, they're $40-50, instead of $20, like the one you pictured.
I would stay away from fleabay. That $30 scanner is over twenty years old and looks like it got run over.

Is it worth the extra money to buy a newer one that is probably faster?
Yes. Most definitely. Just for the fact that it will work.

What is better on old scanners? Maybe just the speakers, or is there are things that are better on the old ones?
Not much is better on older scanners, unless you know exactly what you are looking for.

BNC doesn't seem to be too tough to find; it seems to be the norm, right?
Most new scanners, as well as older, have BNC antenna connectors. Some of the Unidens have SMA screw on connectors.

That's great, as it opens things up for mag mount car antennas, big telescopics, etc.

I'm going to suggest that you look at the For Sale forum here on RR and see what is available.
Larry

 

[Smaug]

I'm going to suggest that you look at the For Sale forum here on RR and see what is available.
Larry

Good call, I'll do that. I think I'd prefer to deal with an aficionado who really knows if something is working right than a pawnbroker. Let me see what I can find there.

If anyone reading this has something they'd be willing to part with that might fit my bill, feel free to drop me a PM.

 

[Smaug]

I just looked at the Classifieds here. Nothing as cheap as I'm looking for, except a set of 3.

What do you guys think of the Radio Shack Pro-83 (same as Uniden BC92XLT) vs. Radio Shack Pro-94?

Seems like the Pro-83 is a newer, smaller design, but the Pro-94 does trunking.

I guess trunking makes the 94 much more desirable? But the Pro-83 has higher ratings on eham.net...

 

[Smaug]

'just put in a bid on a Radio Shack Pro-91 trunking scanner.

 

[UPMan]

Trunking means that a large pool of users use a limited number of voice channels (frequencies) and each call is assigned a voice channel at the time of transmit, rather than each channel being assigned a dedicated frequency. Trunking allows many users to use a relatively few frequencies (for example, the old Tarrant County analog trunked system had 20 frequencies, but over 300 different channels).

Different transmit/receive is repeater duplex operation (like amateur radio uses) and can be monitored by any conventional scanner.

 

[coolderb]

I'm newish to this forum, but not new to radio. I'm a licensed ham, so I know a thing or two. But about scanners? Not so much.

Here's what I'm looking for, for my brother:

• Handheld
• < $50
• Used-but-not-abused is fine
• Telescopic antenna option, for best reception. BNC antenna mount is strongly preferred for this reason.
• Would be nice if it also picked up broadcast bands, but not strictly required
• He likes to listen to hams, so 144-148 MHz is required and so is 440-450. 220 would be good too, as there are a couple 1.25m repeaters in our area.
• He lives in Homewood, IL, 60430. Not sure what the police and fire depts are using there. If they're something that requires fancy trunking or digital or decoding I'll probably have to take a pass due to price.
• He'll mostly use it to listen to whatever's local while he smokes outside.
• He's kind of lazy, so easy-to-program is preferred. (though I can help if needed)

If you guys could recommend specific models that can be had in this price range, that's great. If you can recommend models to stay AWAY from, that's good too. Or if you can just recommend specific features to look for, that's of course helpful too.

I was just thinking of perusing ebay, pawn shops, or some other used sales sources and finding something that will at least cover the VHF and UHF ham bands as a start, but I thought I'd check in with the experts first.

Check your local pawn shops and flea markets. In the past year I bought a Radio Shack Pro-93 with box and manual for $10 and a Pro-92 for $15. Both work great. I also bought a RS Pro 2032 at a flea market for $5. I use it for listening to fire, EMS and security at the shopping mall across the street from where I live

 

[steveh552]

I know you looking for a scanner, but if he just wants to listen to HAM, why not get this:TDXone TD-Q8A HT

I believe you can even block it so it cannot transmit in the programing.

 

[Smaug]

Steve, that looks like a Baofeng UV-5R clone. Not a bad idea, but I think I'll stick to a scanner for him. I offered to buy him an HT if he passes his tech exam, but he's too lazy. I don't want to make a liar out of myself, now that he didn't follow through. ;-)