Where to get started

[rottiman]

Due to some medical issues I find myself with alot of idle time to fill. Got onto listening to calls on the Renfrew County on-line. Would like to get a scanner (portable) and get into listening more. What is my best way to go? Not sure what scanner will work for me. I want to listen to all of the agencies here in renfrew county. Any help or advice to a newbie would be muchly appreciated.

 

[martyjess]

Scanner

I say go digital. With a digital scanner you will be able to monitor pretty much anything. Cops, ambulance, fire,
taxi's, planes, home phones, mines, walkie talkie, anything.

Uniden scanners are very good.

And I suggest you go for a 800 MHZ scanner.

Have fun.

 

[bill67]

I just bought a PRO 106 RADIO SHACK scanner which will do everything you want, although the instruction manual is confusing but time will clear things up. It is digital and retails for 400.00 some good deals recently knocked $100.00 off. Good Luck with your new hobby. BILL67 (WHIPPER)

 

[EJB]

I always go with Uniden scanners. There are a few ways to buy them, some locally (I suggest TorontoKris) for that and from the US (I deal with scannermaster, the company you see with the adds on here).
RadioWorld and Durham Radio are also local but Kris kicks there *** when it comes to pricing.

I would also go digital, Uniden has a bunch of great scanners out now, The Home Patrol is good, easy to use and cool but even though I bought it I miss my old 396T portable and would get the newer version of the 396 or the 996XT that is out now.
Expect to pay around $550-600 for new scanners and fair bit less for used ones.

You will find a good deal of helpful friendly people in the know with files and advice and encouragement here.

Good luck and let us know what you decide to do.


Eric

 

[DaveH]

What you want to listen to an how much money you have to spend
will narrow down the scanner you will want to get.

There are many older/used and cheap scanners that will allow you to
listen to rail, marine, aircraft etc. for as little as $50-$100. This may prove
limiting as newer shared systems pool frequencies, so no particular user
is on a "frequency"; for that you need a trunking-capable (trunk-tracking)
scanner which once programmed properly (can be a chore initially), will
sort that all out.

I have old non-trunktracking scanners in addition to trunktrackers (but
no digital) and they have all found a use for various services. Ottawa Police
have been digital since 1997, though not decodable by any scanner; and
I've grown away from listening to police per se so don't miss the OPP all
that much. Most people seem to want OPP, and in your area you could
also listen to Hydro Quebec, but that's about it for digital in your area
(other than new formats that can't be received).

At very least, to listen to MOH (ambulance) and MTO road operations
you'll need an analog trunk-tracker such as BC346XT which can handle
Motorola VHF trunking (some older trunking scanners can't, or don't do
it very well). If you want OPP and some MTO and MNR operations,
those which do not use encryption on top of digital (it's important to make
the distinction) you'll need a digital (P25) scanner, which ups the price to at least
$400 new if not higher.

As for 800MHz, you are sufficiently far from Ottawa or other major
centre that uses 800MHz trunking, so unless you travel to such places,
having 800MHz capability is irrelevent; but most modern scanners have
800MHz capability anyway. Last time I was in Pembroke there was a
tiny bit of listenable 800MHz activity (some LTR trunking), which you
almost don't need a trunking scanner to cover. The bulk of 800MHz
commercial activity is iDEN digital format (Telus MiKe) which again
scanners can't pick up and very little chance they will be able to in future
for a number of reasons (topic for later discussion).

Dave

 

[rottiman]

Appreciate the imput, Uniden seems like a good way to go. The new home patrol sounds like it is fairly easy to get into. Since I am not all that tech savy, it is probably the best route to go. For the short term, I will probably try to locate a good used unit of some kind to tide me over until I can take the pluge for the "new & better". Thanks to all for your imput, it is most appreciated.

 

[IdleMonitor]

Digital scanner, yes, I would agree, in order to listen to OPP, there is no BEAT (Analog Repeater) in Pembroke, therefore your subject only to the VR's only.

An 800 MHz scanner is not a necessity in Renfrew County, however most scanners (especially trunking) will come with that.

I myself own a 396T portable scanner and does me fine for scanning around the county.

I say go digital. With a digital scanner you will be able to monitor pretty much anything. Cops, ambulance, fire,
taxi's, planes, home phones, mines, walkie talkie, anything.

Uniden scanners are very good.

And I suggest you go for a 800 MHZ scanner.

Have fun.