Upgrading Help

[bco]

I'm throwing out the BC245 and looking to upgrade to either the 246 or the 396 digital. I am really having a hard time justifying (to my wife!) that I need a $500 scanner. Help!

I'm sure this question has been asked a lot already. I have have also read the Wikis on the the Uniden scanners and reviews.

What I am wondering is if a digital capable scanner is going to benefit me in the long run. Is there any indication of how soon agencies in UCAN will go digital? Or is there any way to really know?

Also, I enjoy listening to BLM/USFS fire freqs while visiting inlaws in central Utah. How soon will these federal freqs go digital with the p25 stuff? I had heard 2010, but is that still a reality?

I hate to buy a digital scanner just to monitor a conventional fire freq, but so be it.

If there are threads that already answer this delemma please refer me to them and close this thread. I was hoping to get a local perspective rather than the national opinion on either model.

You guys have been helpful to me in the past and I appreciate you and this site.

Ben

 

[Utah_Viper]

Ben,

If you can afford the digital it is worth it. We have no way of knowing when, and if UCAN users will switch. There already are some using the capability. Another point is that of Federal P25, again we do not know when that really will happen and to what extent. One final thought; Traveling, you nevr know what systems may be in use in other places you may visit in the future.

 

[Rolfman]

As you have pointed out it is really about cost. If you look at the long run the digital will take you in to what ever future there is with the P25 format and that price is around $500. You can stay with what is out there today for $200ish and listen to just about everything there is to listen to.

My opinion/point/thoughts are how often do you really see the prices come down that much. I bought my BC246T around 3 years ago for about $230, look at the price today, it’s around $210. That is after the introduction of the BCD396T, XT and the new BCD346XT. Once the price is set on these products they tend to stay near that. There was that great Radio Shack sale on the GRE clones, which I bought one, and it was because it was such a great sale and I was not even in the market nor even thinking about it.

So if you budget can handle it go ahead and get a P25 digital compatible and enjoy it. If not get what you can afford and you can still enjoy.

 

[CruiserC50]

I understand the value in having a digital scanner that can be used outside Utah in other areas that are digital. Are there any advantages to using a digital scanner with analog frequencies? For instance, does the BCD396XT sound better or get better reception than a BCD346XT when scanning analog (i.e. UCAN)?

 

[davidmc36]

I'm throwing out the BC245
Ben

I hope you don't mean literally, if so tell me when your garbage day is

Seriously, I am with Viper and Rolf, spend as much as you possibly can to future proof as much as you can. Don't spend 200+ now just to spend 500+ in a few years.

The wife is easy to handle, just use my buddies rule that he and his wife have that she gets to have as many diamonds as he had rifles and apply it to scanners.

That reminds me, my scanner count is a little higher than the rock count, there goes the bank account again.:twisted:

 

[CruiserC50]

I understand the value in having a digital scanner that can be used outside Utah in other areas that are digital. Are there any advantages to using a digital scanner with analog frequencies? For instance, does the BCD396XT sound better or get better reception than a BCD346XT when scanning analog (i.e. UCAN)?

I guess my real question is: Besides digital, what advantages does the BCD396XT have over the BCD346XT?

 

[qlajlu]

I'm throwing out the BC245 and looking to upgrade to either the 246 or the 396 digital. I am really having a hard time justifying (to my wife!) that I need a $500 scanner. Help!

Sorry. She is YOUR wife. You are on your own with this one.

I'm sure this question has been asked a lot already. I have have also read the Wikis on the the Uniden scanners and reviews.

Good. You have done your homework.

What I am wondering is if a digital capable scanner is going to benefit me in the long run. Is there any indication of how soon agencies in UCAN will go digital? Or is there any way to really know?

There is no way to outguess what any agency will do or when. If we could do that we would be in great demand as psychics. As far as benefiting you in the long run, that also would fit into the realm of knowing the future. I try to live the Boy Scout Motto: Be Prepared!

Also, I enjoy listening to BLM/USFS fire freqs while visiting inlaws in central Utah. How soon will these federal freqs go digital with the p25 stuff? I had heard 2010, but is that still a reality?

Again, the realm of the unknown and trying to outguess a federal bureaucrat.

I hate to buy a digital scanner just to monitor a conventional fire freq, but so be it.

If there are threads that already answer this dilemma please refer me to them and close this thread. I was hoping to get a local perspective rather than the national opinion on either model.

You guys have been helpful to me in the past and I appreciate you and this site.

I dunno. Kinda sounds as if you have already made up your mind to me and you are just looking for someone to help you justify the purchase. Ain't gonna happen.

With the economy the way it is at present, I seriously doubt that any agency is going to justify the expenditure of tax dollars to go digital very soon.

When I realized that my BC780s were going to become unable to keep up with UCAN I decided that I would have to get something that could be expanded "INTO." In other words, even though there were only one or two P25 TGs in the UCAN system, the possibility of additional digital TGs was present. I did not know when, if ever, I could get another scanner so I went ahead and got one that was P25 capable. Even if I did not ever use that capability, I could if necessary. That is the whole point of this exercise. Do you want to be ready IF digital moves in to the UCAN system?

 

[Rolfman]

P25 and about $276 @ ScannerMasters

The price jump comes with the P25. Other than a little more memory they are the same scanner.

 

[Utah_Viper]

Looking over the West Valley City Council meetings for this year (Yes, I am running this year) I found a few mentions of Radio upgrades. They don't expect to upgrade all the radios in WVC for at least 3 years. I would say its safe to say they wont go to all digital anytime to soon. I have not seen data on what the new radios will be and if the will be digital and encryption ready.