Scanners

I have a Uniden Bearcat 30 channel scanner. I used to have a Radio Shack brand 100 channel but I didn’t use most of the channel slots. Of course I only listen to railroad channels and not fire and police. A friend of mine has a antenna from Railcom and he also has a thing called a power tip that connects to the end of the antenna. He heard train crews talking over 20 miles away. I also have a retactable antenna from Radio Shack, it works pretty good.

Willy:
I have a Uniden Bearcat BC 100XL scanner which has been discontinued for the last several years. Some of the featuresto look for in a scanner include at least 100 channels, channel lockout, weather channels, programmable search, keypad lock, and memory backup. Although my scanner is powered by a nicad battery pack I suggest getting a scanner which is powered by alkaline AA cells since hey last longer, and they are more readily replaceable since you don’t have to recharge them.

As for antennas. If you have a car i suggest getting a magnetic base antenna that is tuned for the railroad radio frequency range from Railcom in Germantown TN. It would also be a good idea to get a portable antenna for the scanner that is tuned to the 160 MHz range in place of the “rubber ducky” antenna that comes with the scanner.

Where to buy a scanner. I would not buy a scanner from Scanner World in Albany, NY since I had a bad expeience with them several years ago. I bought a replacement battery pack from them which couldn’t hold the charge, and they refused to replace it even though it was only 10 days old; I finally got the battery pack replaced for free from Uniden.

As far as reatrictions go the only federal law in effect prohibits listeners from revealing the contents or the nature of anything they hear on the scanner. A very few states(KY, NY, FL, MI, IN, MN restrict the mobile use of scanners in cars in that you need a pemit to use the scanner in your car… KY and IN don’t even allow people to use their scanners in public places

To ShaunCN, Go to http://home.cogeco.ca/~trainstuff/ for a roof antenna made from a stock CTC product.

(Intro follows-Hey all! My name is Billy, and I’m from Oregon. I work for United Rentals and occasionally work as a brakeman for the Sumpter Valley Railroad. Key interests are railroading (obviously), heavy equip., and radio communications.)

Uniden, Radio Shack, those are all fine and dandy…BUT! You guys are forgetting the best name in the radio communications business: MOTOROLA! Get yourself a commercial HT or mobile and I guarantee you will NEVER go back to scanners. The intermod rejection and front-end sensitivity of a scanner is pale in comparison with that of a two-way radio. Commercial Motorola equipment is a small investment, yes. My portables listed below ranged from $150-$300, while the new mobile cost $488 after MANY discounts and rebates. However, they are worth every penny.

I currently own six Moto portables: 99CH VHF MT1000, 99CH VHF MT1000 w/ MDC front, 8CH 800 MTX, 16CH VHF HT1000, 16CH UHF HT1000, 8CH UHF GP300. I just purchased my second Motorola mobile, a 64CH VHF 45W PM400. (First was my beloved GM300 which went belly up after spending several abusive years in a BN HyRail.) Thus far, I’ve been more than pleased with the sensitivity and transmit range of the PM400. If you need to get out and be heard, or want to draw in distant comms, this sucker does all. What sold me were the 64 channel capacity (plenty of room for AAR, industrial/business pool and weather), alpha-tagged channels so you can name them for function, and standard heavy-duty microphone. No Barby stuff here. Also be sure to get an external 7.5W speaker so you can hear when around noisy machinery. (Ie. locomotives, excavators, etc.)

As a side note, with the exception of the 8CH MTX, all my portables are equipped with remote speaker/microphones (“shoulder mics”) and transmit/receive channels required for the work I do. If your desire is to listen only, I strongly advise disabling transmit (Tx/Rx are independently programmable) and avoiding the use of a remote speaker/mic. It makes for less hea

I just picked up a 2nd Radio Shack desktop for $80 and it sure seems like a steal. I am not as knowledgeable as some of you, but I can hear crews for up to 10 miles.

Now a question…i have an old house and I notice that I get better reception off of the scanner (larger area) on certain outlets. Is that normal?

Also, someone mentioned a power tip for an antennae. What is that and where do you get one? I am looking for a simple way to increase range.

ed

For better reception, make sure the scanner is aligned for the rr bands 160-162. Most scanners are set for city police & fire bands as this is what most people listen to. With the scanner being st for the rr bands, this makes a big difference in the quality in what you can hear.

Not to be rude but all Scanners suck in or around big City’s.
Now being away from the city and out in the country is another thing, The Scanner works GREAT out in the Open Country sides.

That would be because most radio is line-of-sight. Still something on the scanner is better than nothing… Once you learn the limitations, you’re in good shape.

A home scanner without an outside antenna is less than it could be. If you can, get a decent base antenna and get it as high in the sky as you can…

Well, I got the Pro-83 scanner from Radio Shack. It’s 200 channels and works fine with just the antenna that came with the scanner. I get good reception in the middle of the city without any special antennae. Thanks to everyone who gave tips on scanners. I took all tips into consideration and probably wouldn’t have gotten a scanner without the help that everybody provided. Thanks a bunch!