Time to upgrade

[SupSupDog]

I used to listen to king/sno and Tacoma area but I haven't used my scanner since wsp went to digital.

I have a bct15 which is obsolete. but I am wondering if I should switch to a digital one or will it be obsolete in a year or two and I wasted my money

I just saw uniden has the sds100/200 and the digital hp's which when they switched to digital thought about getting.

sometimes I think it would be cool to lisyen to. whats your opinions

 

[sparklehorse]

I have an SDS200. It’s very good on p25 digital, and in the case of simulcast p25 it’s much better than any previous scanner model. I know South Sound 911 has some simulcast, not sure about the other digital systems in your area, but I can’t imagine Seattle is going to remain analog forever. When they do go to digital it will almost certainly be simulcast. So the SDS is the most ‘future proof’ scanner available right now. One of the problems with digital though is it makes it easier for law enforcement to encrypt their transmissions. I’m not saying that will happen with Seattle, I have no idea, but it did happen in my area in Clark County Washington when they went digital. Perhaps someone in your area can chime in with more info on that topic, but it’s clear that encryption has been a growing trend across the country as digital systems have replaced analog ones. And of course no scanner can, or ever will be able to decode it. Fire & Medical often remain in the clear however. One drawback with the SDS is that it can be less than stellar on weaker analog VHF and UHF signals. It’s not that it lacks sensitivity, it’s more an issue of selectively, or in other words an inability to properly filter out interference from strong signals nearby in the radio spectrum. Uniden has released some firmware upgrades with filtering options that help address this, but they don’t work for everyone in every situation. Whether you’ll have problems really depends on what you’re trying to monitor and what your unique radio environment is like. If you live in a signal-dense area like a big city you might have more issues with analog than if you’re out in the tulies.
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[devicelab]

sometimes I think it would be cool to lisyen to. whats your opinions

You need to decide if it's worth the investment. The [new] scanners are expensive and require additional $$$ if you want to fully take advantage of the scanner's capabilities. Also the programming is far more "complex" than previous generations. Of course, you won't really know until you try it yourself but you may want to check out YouTube for videos on the new scanners and learn before you buy.

Probably the best investment right now is for the Whistler TRX-1 which you can sometimes pick up on the various auction sites for $300-ish give or take. The TRX-1 supports all of the latest digital modes with a few caveats; however, that's nearly 50% of the investment of the Uniden scanners.

 

[jondeaux]

I recently bought the SDS100 and I have a backup Trx-1.. I use the SDS100 almost daily,

 

[sparklehorse]

There's also the Uniden BCD996P2 or BCD325P2, both of which are in the $350 range, but require a paid upgrade if you want DMR or NXDN. However, I doubt there's much, if any, public safety in your area that uses DMR or NXDN. But like the Whistler TRX-1 or TRX-2, these radios will likely be poor performers on digital simulcast systems, meaning transmissions will sometimes be clipped, choppy, garbled or dropped altogether. You might get lucky and be in a spot where you'll get decent decode, but most folks have had issues with simulcast with these older radios.
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