Suggestions for a good, new mobile

[W2IRT]

Hello all, and greetings from Essex County in New Jersey.

With my new (to me) truck now a reality, I'm looking at putting in a new generation scanner to replace the BC-785 that was in my old truck. I'm interested in putting this plus a new car stereo/bluetooth/handsfree system in the 2-DIN dash of my 2004 Tacoma.

My interest veered away from scanning, VHF and UHF for about a decade and the technologies have obviously moved on since I bought my last receiver. I use a 780 in the house and the 785 mobile. My town is on VHF conventional and the surrounding towns are mostly VHF conventional, UHF conventional or 850 MHz conventional, with one EDACS 471 MHz trunked system.

Staties near me are on 800 trunked. I know some local departments are using some form of APCO-25 system but nothing that I routinely would want to monitor, with maybe one exception (Montclair). So with that information (but no real clue as to what the immediate and not-so-immediate future are likely gong to hold for my area), I'm looking for a recommendation for a good mobile receiver. My primary interests are keeping up with PD and FD for wherever I am or where I'm headed to, as well as the occasional air band stuff and I'd like to be able to receive PSE&G crews in a power outage situation, but that's it, really. Also transit and FDNY when I drive into the city.

Can anybody recommend a radio I should be looking for given these parameters? Single DIN, good frequency coverage and the ability to mix-and-match a couple of trunked systems in with analog-conventional?

Thanks in advance!

 

[W8RMH]

The BCD996XT.

 

[ka3jjz]

This article from our wiki has a great deal of information on the DMA scanners - if you decide to get the 996XT, don't even bother with the Uniden manual - the Easier to Read manuals (linked at the bottom of the article below) will serve you much better

Program your DMA Scanner - The RadioReference Wiki

Mike

 

[W2IRT]

The 996XT is top of the line, but for where I'm located is that the best option? Do you think I'll *need* all those extra features? I don't mind spending the extra money, I just want to be sure it's spent wisely and not for things I don't need in my area. The truck will rarely be more than 50 miles from home. Usually within 5-10.

 

[captclint]

The 996XT is top of the line, but for where I'm located is that the best option? I just want to be sure it's spent wisely and not for things I don't need in my area. The truck will rarely be more than 50 miles from home. Usually within 5-10.

Good point. Based on what I see for your area: Essex County, there is no digital except New Jersey Interoperability Communications System (NJICS). BUT Newark FD operates on this system. So you could do fairly well with the BC15X or any number of older Analog scanners. Some would recommend digital since that is the future in areas like NJ. However, by the time that might happen(usually takes 2-4 years), scanners would have improved significantly. You should inquire about any plans for digital in the NJ forum before you decide.

 

[W2IRT]

What are the main differences between the 996T and the 996XT? I was thinking used/eBay for a T. Are the differences significant? Morris County (about 5 minutes west of my location) has just cut over to a countywide digital system, too, but I rarely venture out that way.

 

[ka3jjz]

Pete see this article in our wiki. Anything in bold in the features section represents changes from the older 996T

BCD996XT - The RadioReference Wiki

Mike

 

[tglendye]

All of the above are good scanners. Also another option is the Pro-197 from Radio Shack. Both RS and ScannerMaster have them at $399. And RS has them refurbed for $299.

It does not sound like you "need" digital for your area, but that money is not that big of a factor. Since you said you could have some digital monitoring from time to time, I would go with a digital as long as it does not break your bank.

And another option is to wait and see what the new scanner has that Uniden is set to announce (hopefully in 2 weeks).

 

[W2IRT]

I saw refurbed XT's for about $350...still a little spendy but not too awful so I think that's the way I'll go. I suspect the hardest part of this whole project is finding a good shop who'll do the install at a reasonable price.