Could someone clue me on scanners?
On a couple post scanners were mentioned. What are they, and where do you get them? How they work would be nice to know.
Thanks for any help.
Neal[?][?]
Check out this link:
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=66784
I’ve got a Uniden SPORTCAT 180 and I love it. They’re discontinued, but can still be found. A couple of things to look for in scanners:
—Number of channels in memory (100 is good)
—Channels per second scanned (100/sec is good)
—Programmable Alphanumeric Display - VERY IMPORTANT, to me anyway. A friend has a scanner without alpha characters. So when a channel goes active, it displays only 161.125, for example. He can either have that freq memorized, or look at his handy spreadsheet that he made, and find out what that freq is (knowing who’s talking is very important in a multiple line area). With alphas, I can program that channel to display “CSX IB DISP,” or “INRD ROAD,” or whatever.
—Frequency Range. The “common” AAR freqs are 160-162ish range. Make sure your scanner covers those freqs (most do). The RRs also use some higher freqs in places, and trunking, but my scanner doesn’t do those, and I don’t know much about them. Maybe that other thread talks about them.
—Antenna. I’m a cheap ***, and use the “rubber duck” antenna that came with the scanner. They make antennas that are better suited to the RR bands. You might want to look into one.
—Lighted Display if you railfan at night.
—Lock Out. Of your programmed channels, make sure you can Lock Out and un-Lock Out channels quickly and easily.
That’s the basics. Laissez le bon temps roule.
Try Ebay they can get scanners fairley cheep used and New
Thanks everyone. There is a wealth of information above.
Neal