Police Scanners

[Tprspouse]

Ok...I need some input on what kind of scanner you would recommend. I finally figured out what to get hubby for Christmas. I have a slim choice up here....RADIO SHACK and Wal-Mart (and I'm not even sure they sell them there).

Thanks in advance!

[Sparky]

You must not have the internet.

[Bill R]

Tprspouse, asking what kind of scanner to get is like asking what kind of gun to get. It all depends. What are you trying to monitor? Are you strictly interested in public safety stuff? Are the agencies you are interested in monitoring on a trunked system? They might possibly even be operating on a digital system which would make monitoring very difficult. In order to be of help, you need to give us more info.

[Frank Booth]

Get him any old kind. Just about all of them will monitor the 49.00 area for the older cordless phones....That's what he's going to be listening to most of the time anyway once he figures it out....

[jwelch]

as previously stated, you need to find out what he wants to listen to. I have an old Pro-43 handheld scanner and it worked well. The 2000 series is a base model and it's nice as well. If you can get some specifics, let us know what he wants and we'll do our best...

Thanks,

jamie

[Tprspouse]

I want to get him a scanner to listen to the local/area PD, fire, etc. And, some surrounding towns. I just wasn't sure if there were better ones that might pick up a futher distance because the area that he actually covers is about 60 sq miles. Just thought he'd be interested in one, since his old scanner @%#$ the bed.

I don't think we have our area on the internet, though he does listen to NYPD, etc. on the internet.

Thanks!

[CopInNY]

Radioshack Pro-92 or 93 handhelds are EXCELLENT scanners. From my experience, Radioshack offers the best ones.

[n567]

quote:

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Originally posted by Tprspouse:
I want to get him a scanner to listen to the local/area PD, fire, etc. And, some surrounding towns. I just wasn't sure if there were better ones that might pick up a futher distance because the area that he actually covers is about 60 sq miles. Just thought he'd be interested in one, since his old scanner @%#$ the bed.

I don't think we have our area on the internet, though he does listen to NYPD, etc. on the internet.

Thanks!

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Now... Is it possible that he was suggesting you might find a wide selection of police scanners to purchase over the internet?..

[Metro174]

Radio Shack does have decent scanners. They are made by Uniden. Find out what frequencies your local PD and FD operate on and go from there. If they are trunked get something that follows trunked systems. If they are digital as is Baltimore PD, then good luck for now. I do hear that digital scanners will be available soon though.

[MK219]

quote:

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Originally posted by Tprspouse:
I don't think we have our area on the internet, though he does listen to NYPD, etc. on the internet.

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Boston area scanner

[Tprspouse]

Vermont is not listed, unless I am blind.

[207]

I have a Bearcat SC150 portable and the Bearcat BC860 desktop model. I'm not sure of the model but, we have Bearcat scanners in our cruisers.
I favor my SC150 because of it's portability and, from what I'm told, it's a favorite among NASCAR race fans because they can listen in on all driver/pit crew communications because of its turbo scan feature and dedicated channels.

I bought mine from http://www.scannerworld.com in Albany, NY.

Research you selection. If your geographical area is using "trunked" systems be sure to purchase a scanner that will be able to receive them.
Simply put, trunked is when a number of frequencies is assigned to a PD, or whatever, a computer selects which frequency to use to transmit and which frequency to use to receive a radio transmission.

[Sgt Lobster]

Our police force went onto Tetra (Terrestrial Trunked Radio - I think !) about 2 years ago a wholly digital system, which is supposed to be scanner proof.

To date the system has proved to be totally secure. I always found it a bit disturbing to arrest a suspect only to find he had a scanner tuned to your analogue frequency.

Listening to police frequencies in the UK is strictly speaking illegal, but it doesn't stop them selling scanners or people listening to police frequencies.

[txinvestigator1]

Radio Shack also gas a GREAT book for scanners listing frequencies, 10-codes, all kinds of stuff.

[Rimfire]

Yeah and now they have it on a CD which is much easier to search.