Which Brand is Better BC V.S AOR

[SniperAce]

Greetings: I am new to this site as much as I am to The world of Digital Scanners.I would like your input before I buy something that would be useless to me in me 6 months down the road. Thanks

1)
Which Scanner is better (as far as listening to todays Police, Fire, EMS, Land, Air, Local, State, Federal, Frequencies)

AOR AR8200MKIIIB
http://www.scannermaster.com/store/01-500794.html

or

BCD396T Scanner
http://www.scannermaster.com/store/01-501003.html

 

[fmon]

Many Police, Fire, EMS, and Local use the Public Safety Trunked Radio Systems (TRS). Many State systems also use or are developing TRS. Many Federal systems are using TRS. That leaves you with Air and whatever you describe as Land which both radios can do (BC can't do Sideband). With your parameters, the choice should be easy.

 

[Dubbin]

What Frank is trying to say but just can't seem to spit it out is that the BCD396T would be the best choice for you.

 

[fmon]

Sort of , but mostly provoking thought for this question: "I would like your input before I buy something that would be useless to me in me 6 months down the road." The AOR wont fit most of the requirements from the get go while the 396 is the most modern technology available in trunking scanners.

Using the 6 month analogy in the question, my Pro-96 has been around for over 2 years and is still current with most of the listed parameters-the Fed 380 and new PS 700 trunking may be the exceptions. And if it (the 96) and another BearCat (BC296), survive rebanding, they will both be outstanding scanners for many years down the road.

 

[EricCottrell]

Hello,

The two radios you mention I consider in different classes of use. Which one is better depends on what uses you consider important.

The AOR is a wide-band receiver and very useful for monitoring AM, FM, and SSB non-trunked transmissions. It has memories and search/scan features but is not really a scanner. It is meant as a radio you tune around.

The Uniden is a scanner that can follow several trunked radio systems and decode P25 digital audio. It is geared to scanning VHF and UHF band frequencies. It has tune features like a receiver but is really meant to scan frequencies for activity.

I have the mobile version of the AOR receiver (AOR 8600), and the BCD396T. I use them for different purposes. The AOR is more flexible in certain areas and I use it for tuning around the bands. The Uniden is used to scan the local Public Safety agencies and sometimes business LTR.

Even though the BCD396T is a very capable scanner, there are still some trunked systems that it can not trunktrack and some digital voice that it can not decode. For example, if you local police and fire use ProVoice then no scanner can decode it. So you need to find out what radio systems are being used by the agencies you want to hear.

73 Eric

 

[DaveIN]

Greetings: I am new to this site as much as I am to The world of Digital Scanners.I would like your input before I buy something that would be useless to me in me 6 months down the road. Thanks

1)
Which Scanner is better (as far as listening to todays Police, Fire, EMS, Land, Air, Local, State, Federal, Frequencies)

AOR AR8200MKIIIB
http://www.scannermaster.com/store/01-500794.html

The AOR "8200" will not do "digital" decoding of APCO-25 without modification using the 8600 optional decoder card. It will only do trunk scanning as the second scanner with a PC running trunker.exe and an additional scanner with a discriminator tap. However, this setup will not trunk scan a APCO-25 system.

The Uniden BC296D, BC796D, BCD396D will do all of the above that you mention and track EDACS (wide, narrow, and scat) and regular LTR systems.

AOR makes excellent receivers and are in a class with Yaesu and Icom for general coverage, but Uniden is in the same frequency coverage area with the new BR330T without APCO-25 decode and Single Side Band. The upcoming BCD996T should be in that class (minus Single Side Band).

 

[EricCottrell]

The AOR "8200" will not do "digital" decoding of APCO-25 without modification using the 8600 optional decoder card. It will only do trunk scanning as the second scanner with a PC running trunker.exe and an additional scanner with a discriminator tap. However, this setup will not trunk scan a APCO-25 system.

The Uniden BC296D, BC796D, BCD396D will do all of the above that you mention and track EDACS (wide, narrow, and scat) and regular LTR systems.

AOR makes excellent receivers and are in a class with Yaesu and Icom for general coverage, but Uniden is in the same frequency coverage area with the new BR330T without APCO-25 decode and Single Side Band. The upcoming BCD996T should be in that class (minus Single Side Band).

Hello,

I doubt you could fit the 8600 P25 decoder in the 8200. It is not an option card that plugs in like the CTCSS decoder. The P25 decoder PCB is mounted inside the 8600 where the internal battery option goes.

The BCD996T is more a mobile version of the BCD396T so it will not have the wide-band converage of the BR330T or AOR.

73 Eric

 

[Voyager]

Greetings: I am new to this site as much as I am to The world of Digital Scanners.I would like your input before I buy something that would be useless to me in me 6 months down the road. Thanks

1)
Which Scanner is better (as far as listening to todays Police, Fire, EMS, Land, Air, Local, State, Federal, Frequencies)

AOR AR8200MKIIIB
http://www.scannermaster.com/store/01-500794.html

or

BCD396T Scanner
http://www.scannermaster.com/store/01-501003.html

For the uses you mentioned, get the Uniden.

Joe M.

 

[SniperAce]

As I stated I am a total Newbie when it comes down to the digital aspect of Scanning as far as APCO-25,Sideband, etc; goes!

So, with all due respect, Frank-it is a tough decision for those like myself who is inexperienced and does not have a "Money Tree" out in his back yard to just blindly spend $500.00 on the first scanner that catches his eye without researching it first.

As far as my Only Scanner goes, it's an antique (but runs great) it's an older 1993 BC250 800 MHz Scanner that I picked-up on-line (this chip-set was outlawed in 94) and it can still pick up most of todays Cell/Cordless phones/Home Baby Monitors/.

Anyway, thank you all very much for your experience and friendly positive advice!

Sniper Ace

 

[cipher66]

Hello,

The two radios you mention I consider in different classes of use. Which one is better depends on what uses you consider important.

Eric pretty much summed it up right there... But for your example target listening areas I would definetly go for the 396T instead of the AOR due to the types of systems that you wish to monitor, and the simple fact that the 396T will decode APCO25 digital signals. Good luck with your decision

 

[SniperAce]

My 396T is on it's way

Just want to thank those of you who replied to my thread for helping this Newbie decide on this scanner, I am looking forward to it ! I just hope it isn't as technical as I have read on here concerning certain aspects of the BC390T (ie Manual Freq Programming, Tones, Trunk Tracking, etc) this is all new to me.Talk with you all soon.

 

[Hoseman292]

I would choose the Uniden BCD396T without stopping to take a breath in between choices. I have both the AOR AR-8200 MkII as well as the Uniden BCD-396T and the Uniden comes in first by far. Though the 8200 works as a wide range receiver and covers shortwave, with the way most local, state, and federal agencies have made the digital radio transition. This alone makes the AOR radio virtually useless unless the particular agency decides to simulcast.