Where to get a scanner in texas, specifically austin

[asilentbob]

Hello, im new to this forum and have been looking towards getting a hand-held scanner for a while. Basicly my limit is up to around $100 or less. If anyone knows of some shops in austin that sell them it would be helpful. If not a local source, ebay is probably my next best bet. Due to my budget i realize that im not going to find an excellent APCO-25 IV trunking 1000 bank scanner, its gonna have to be pretty cheap. As for brands, i don't really care, from what i have searched, radio shack/realistic has some nice, commonly lower priced scanners on ebay. For instance, i saw a very cheap pro 82 that would be nice. As for frequency range, 30MHz to 900MHz will probably be what i end up getting. Used or new, dosn't really matter as this will be my first scanner.

I will go by Radio Shack some time to see if they have anything in their stores, but im guessing that most of the scanners would be only available to order online. Perhaps i can find one at a gun show. Suggested locations to check? Also, IIRC there is a "spy shop", i can't remember what its called, but ill have to check there too.

If this thread is inapropriate or in some way against what is common or acceptable at this forum, im sorry.

 

[mam1081]

Where to buy a scanner in Austin...

Well, I hate to tell you this, but it would be REALLY hard to find a APCO-25 scanner under ~$250 or 300 - and those are used. You're looking at about $450-550 for a new one. I would recomend you just save up and get one - as Austin has LOTS of traffic on their P25 800 MHz trunked system. Models you could look at are the PRO-96, Uniden BC796, and 396T. I'm sure there are a few others out there that you could look for. To scan Austin's system you'll need a digital trunking scanner that will do 9600 Baud trunking (that's what Austin's is). If you just want to listen to the surrounding counties (Hays and such), you might be able to get by with a VHF conventional-only scanner. You could get that for less than $100 - just look in these forums and in radio shack. Williamson Co is Motorola trunked, Bastrop County is Motorola trunked (both are analog). You would need a basic trunking scanner for these - sometimes you can find those for around $100.


As for where to find some - look on these forums - the For Sale one. Sometimes there are some good prices and peolpe are generally easy to work with. They also get a better deal because they don't have to pay the e-bay fees. Radio Shack sells new digital scanners. There are numerous online stores that sell digital scanners also. I don't live in Austin, but there are very few stores that carry digital scanners other than radio shack. I would doubt that there is anywhere else to look for new digital scanners other than radio shack locally.

Hope that helps...

 

[asilentbob]

thanks!

Well, then i guess im saving up.

Thanks for the help!