f2shooter
Member
Morning all,
I've gone digital everywhere else so I guess it's about time to try with scanning. I want to scan three counties primarily, Lee, Macon and Chambers with the odd side trip into Elmore. I'm pretty capable technically but would much prefer something I can simply punch in a zip code and listening range and just go. I've read about several including the Home Patrol of course and the BCD 496XT (I think I have that correct) as well as others. I've narrowed down my requirements to something that is portable which leaves out the HP. I'd prefer to use AA throwaways but can also be happy with rechargeable as long as I can get 4-6 hours of use per charge. Simple to use as outlined, I don't want to be putting in talkgroups and so on. Complex programming is going to result in a shelf queen. Price around $400. I'd like something with a current database that will include recent rebanding in the above counties. It needs to work as advertised and not be something where many of the features are not yet released. Database upgrades need to be relatively easy to download. To my knowledge only the city of Opelika has gone almost completely digital while all the county systems as well as Auburn, Tuskegee and others are still analog with no plans for change. So what scanner am I looking for within these guidelines? I can spend a bit more but would prefer to stay close to $400. The rest are pretty firm requirements. Thanks for any guidance, this is something I'd like to do in the next few weeks.
Otis
I've gone digital everywhere else so I guess it's about time to try with scanning. I want to scan three counties primarily, Lee, Macon and Chambers with the odd side trip into Elmore. I'm pretty capable technically but would much prefer something I can simply punch in a zip code and listening range and just go. I've read about several including the Home Patrol of course and the BCD 496XT (I think I have that correct) as well as others. I've narrowed down my requirements to something that is portable which leaves out the HP. I'd prefer to use AA throwaways but can also be happy with rechargeable as long as I can get 4-6 hours of use per charge. Simple to use as outlined, I don't want to be putting in talkgroups and so on. Complex programming is going to result in a shelf queen. Price around $400. I'd like something with a current database that will include recent rebanding in the above counties. It needs to work as advertised and not be something where many of the features are not yet released. Database upgrades need to be relatively easy to download. To my knowledge only the city of Opelika has gone almost completely digital while all the county systems as well as Auburn, Tuskegee and others are still analog with no plans for change. So what scanner am I looking for within these guidelines? I can spend a bit more but would prefer to stay close to $400. The rest are pretty firm requirements. Thanks for any guidance, this is something I'd like to do in the next few weeks.
Otis
