I am planning a summer trip along the BNSF Stampede Pass subdivision and am looking for a good, though not too expensive, hand held scanner. I have visited the Uniden web site but seem not to find anything in the 161 mHz frequency range. Any recommendations will be greatly appreciated. [:D]
You might try Radio Shack or other electronics store. It is a common radio. Problem is that railroads are going digital and the 160 mHz range radios may not be good much longer.
Pretty much any pocket or desk scanner available will cover the railroad band (160-161 Mhz). However you won’t see that specifically listed in the specs. You’re more likely to see something like "137.0000-174.00MHz ", which obviously includes 160-161 MHz.
Henry’s right about the digital thing, although I haven’t seen any specific timetables for that. The railroads do have to comply with the FCC narrowband mandate, which has as its deadline January 1, 2013 (or maybe December 31, 2012, but close enough). The digital probably won’t be something today’s scanners can decipher, but that may come in time.
That said, they won’t be moving off the 160-161 MHz frequencies - you just won’t be able to get anything useful off them.
In the meantime, search the forums for “scanner.” It’s a recurring topic, and generally includes plenty of good information. In fact, you may find one within the first 3-4 pages of this forum.
Radioreference.com often has local railroad frequency information. You can also search the web for scanner
A 2 meter band two-way radio tranceiver is another possibility. These radios appear to be more sensitive than scanners. The down side is they only cover the VHF frequency range, 144 - 174 Mhz, but most of the railroad transmisions are in the160 - 161 Mhz frequency range. As far as i know you don’t need a ham operator’s license to use the receiving function of the transceiver.
Ham radio, or 2 meter band, is not where railroad communications are found. Nor is it available in scanner format such as hand held models used by railfans. No, you don’t need a license to listen but to broadcast.
I have a Yaesu 250FT transciever which is a 2 meter band two-way radio, and it works in the144-174 MHz frequency range. The railroad communications (road and dispatcher channels) are mostly found in the 160 -161 MHz range which my radio readily picks up. This is a hand-held radio.
The railroads also use 457.9375 MHz in the UHF band for the end-of-train device transmissions which the 2 meter radio won’t pick up. I have found the end-of-train signals don’t convey any useful information, and they are not strong enough to give you an indication a train is approaching until the train is almost on top of you.
Edit: As far as I know only two states, Kentucky and Indiana, forbid the use of scanners in cars and in public, while Florida, New York, Michigan, and Minnesota forbid using the scanners in cars.
I just looked up the manual - that Yaesu model will scan, too.
I use a Puxing radio occasionally. Also a transceiver, it, too, scans - although I haven’t used it as such much. I actually purchased several as proof of concept for local fire operations. They are programmed for the railroad, too, and get used there occasionally.
That said, unless you fan in an area with multiple active lines, you really only need one channel at a time most of the time, the road channel for the line you’re on.
Technically, two meter is 146-148 MHz, but I think you’ll find that most two meter radios will handle most of the VHF-High band.