Whistler WS1010

[tdenfuny]

Hello,

I would like a police scanner. On Amazon I can see that the Baofeng and the Uniden are popular. I have also come across the Whistler WS1010, but that one doesn't have a lot of reviews. Is the WS1010 a decent buy as a first scanner?

One complaint that I see about the Baofeng and the Uniden is that the manuals aren't written very well. Is this different with the Whistler?

 

[RDGDigital]

Keep in mind that not all scanners will be able to monitor everywhere. In fact there are a lot of systems (including police) that can't be monitored by any scanner.

In order for us to provide any help or to make any recommendations, we would need to know where your are and what you want to monitor. You don't need to give us an address, but just a State, County and maybe a City or Town.

At the top of this forum is a link to the Database. If you click on that link and then click on your State and then click on your County you can see what kind of systems are near you.

 

[N8IAA]

Hello,

I would like a police scanner. On Amazon I can see that the Baofeng and the Uniden are popular. I have also come across the Whistler WS1010, but that one doesn't have a lot of reviews. Is the WS1010 a decent buy as a first scanner?

One complaint that I see about the Baofeng and the Uniden is that the manuals aren't written very well. Is this different with the Whistler?

Baofeng's are amateur radios, not scanners. In fact, if you read in the cheap radio forum in the area for commercial radios, you'll see many comments about the slow scan rate. It will not do trunk tracking, and P-25 digital conventional.
I use a combination of Unidens, GRE, and RS scanners.
You can go into the User CP and include your area. It will help identifying what might be needed for you to scan.
Have a happy day.
Larry

 

[dmg1969]

It depends. If you are only monitoring conventional analog systems, then the Whistler WS1010 might be OK. If you are going to monitor anything digital or any analog trunked systems, it will not. If you give us your location (state and county/town) is sufficient, we can help.

The Baofeng radios are amateur radios, not scanners. Although ones like mine (UV-5R2...dual band VHF/UHF) have a scanning feature, it is slow and only good for a few frequencies. I got mine to use as a makeshift scanner and it is more sensitive than my scanners. However, you have to be certain to disable the transmit ability. If you transmit on a public safety frequency, you will have the police and FCC knocking on your door. If you are not familiar with radios, stay away from an amateur radio and stick with a scanner.

 

[tdenfuny]

Thank you for all the replies. I learnt a lot.