Which scanner would you recommend today?

[AAFC]

Hello, I currently own a PSR-500 and a Pro-197. Both are working fine on the Minnesota ARMER P25 system. However, a coworker has asked me to purchase and program a new scanner for her and I'm not sure which one I should recommend. I have not kept up with the current events of GRE closing, and Whistler taking them over, and which scanners are supported/not supported, etc, etc. Does the new Whistler version of the PSR-500 (WS 1040 I believe) handle digital distortion better than the GRE model? Is there any noticeable difference between the GRE and Whistler models? Is the programing procedure the same between the two models? Can I use the same WIN500 software on the new Whistler scanner?


...... Or is the WS1080 really the only option? I am a little scared to recommend the WS1080 to her simply because I have zero experience with it and I feel that I know the PSR-500 (WS 1040) fairly well. I would hate to recommend a scanner that I've never seen in person...... not to mention, I would have to completely learn a new scanner and it's programming software just to set-up one scanner for a co-worker. However, if the fine people of this forum truly feel the WS-1080 is the superior scanner, then I will bite the bullet and lean how that scanner functions.

What's your opinion?

Thanks in advance!

 

[torontokris]

I would say you know the psr-500 / 1040 so go with that. You can clone them etc.

Whistler scanners are the same scanners.. however they will have firmware updates in the future and the GRE will not.
I dont know if they can be cloned together directly but yes the WIn500 works on them.

The psr-800/1080 is a great scanner but will require you to learn a totally different system. Although it has north america preprogrammed on it.

 

[SCPD]

I truly believe that there is no such thing as the perfect scanner by any manufacturer, every scanner has pro's and con's. You have to decide what features you want and decide.

You need to understand your system(s) you want to monitor where you live ... talk to people that monitor those systems and ask what scanner they use and how they like it.

And be prepared to get many different answers, just as you could get here.

I personally would go for something like a PSR800 or Whistler 1080 .. for a handheld.

 

[marksmith]

You need to know what systems you want to scan. If these include P25 Phase II systems then you will need to go to the 1080. If you have no Phase II systems in your area then you don't need the 1080, though it might be easier for a newby to learn.

If you only have P25 Phase I, you only need a scanner that will do that.

BCD536HP/HP2/996XT/PSR800/396XT/996T

 

[AAFC]

Although it has north america preprogrammed on it.

Thanks to all of you for your replies....

torontokris, You mentioned the psr-800/ws1080 is pre-programmed for north America. This may be a dumb question but how does this work for the end user? Do you simply put in your zip code, or city, or county etc, and it scans for your local PD/FD? Or does the scanner "just know" where you are? I guess what I'm wondering is.... does the fact that it comes pre-programmed make it very simple for a beginner to operate it, or is it still very complicated to figure out?

Thanks again!

 

[marksmith]

You can pick the systems or categories you want to scan by state/county using the few keys on the keyboard to pick through a national database (the Radio . Reference database) or enter a zipcode.

The zipcode method dumps business, ham, taxi, and a whole lot of other junk you might not be interested in, however.
The state/county sekect makes it pretty quick to pick some specific stuff to listen to and assign to a scanlist. Do it a few times and its a pretty quick learning curve.

No frequencies to enter or other stuff typical to setting up a system in a scanner. All goes in with talkgroups tagged with description, etc.

Mark
---------
BCD536HP/HP1/HP2/BCD996XT/BCD396XT(2)/BCD996T/PSR-800 and others.