scanner reccomendations?

[xShadowx]

Hey, I mostly am tinkering around with GMRS but was looking for a scanner so that I could listen in a little better. the scan function on my radios is pretty poor. I was mostly looking at GMRS/FRS, MURS, 2m, 60cm, and CB in a handheld. I really cant justify dropping maybe more than $120 and i would prefer to keep it under 100 if I can. Amazon had the uniden BC75XLT, the Whistler WS1010, and the uniden BC125AT are the only  handhelds showing. will either of these be ok for my basic use, what are my other options?

 

 

 

note: not interested in police/fire/ems, in in the law enforcement field and its too much like work, plus I already have a issued radio (Motorola XTS500) and I can listen to pretty much whatever I want.

[SteveC7010]

Hey, I mostly am tinkering around with GMRS but was looking for a scanner so that I could listen in a little better. the scan function on my radios is pretty poor. I was mostly looking at GMRS/FRS, MURS, 2m, 60cm, and CB in a handheld. I really cant justify dropping maybe more than $120 and i would prefer to keep it under 100 if I can. Amazon had the uniden BC75XLT, and the Whistler WS1010, as the only 2 handhelds showing. will either of these be ok for my basic use, what are my other options?

 

You need to know what kind of radio systems are in use in your area. I will guarantee you that once you have a scanner, you'll want to listen to police, fire, and ems. They are far more interesting than what you listed above. For scanner recommendations and information, I suggest you hop over to radioreference.com and do some reading. Far more info there than here.

[Logan5]

for a portable scanner I have a Bearcat 125AT,  not real fast, but scans limited GMRS channels fast enough for my needs. operates on 2 AA battery or car/home cord. bout 120 dollars.

[xShadowx]

You need to know what kind of radio systems are in use in your area. I will guarantee you that once you have a scanner, you'll want to listen to police, fire, and ems. They are far more interesting than what you listed above. For scanner recommendations and information, I suggest you hop over to radioreference.com and do some reading. Far more info there than here.

 

yeah, I'm in law enforcement and have a issued radio (motorola XTS 5000) with all the police/fire/ems channels already, my main concern is the channels I listed, probably should have mentioned it. not as much fun listening to them when its a part of your job, too much like work, the GMRS is more recreation to me.

[SteveC7010]

yeah, I'm in law enforcement and have a issued radio (motorola XTS 5000) with all the police/fire/ems channels already, my main concern is the channels I listed, probably should have mentioned it. not as much fun listening to them when its a part of your job, too much like work, the GMRS is more recreation to me.

 

That helps, a lot. (You're probably figuring out that it's important to have complete info when having conversations via forums.)

 

The amateur stuff is the kicker because hams are moving into newer technologies like P25, DMR, etc. You'll have to learn what's in use in your area before deciding on a scanner. A good resource is repeaterbook.com. RadioReference.com has some amateur listings, but IMHO it is not as comprehensive as repeaterbook. Your location is a pretty populous area, and that's where the newer technologies are popping up. Scanners now have many features to accommodate these newer technologies, but you have to match the features desired to the scanner.

[Werdna]

Amazon had the uniden BC75XLT, the Whistler WS1010, and the uniden BC125AT are the only  handhelds showing.

 

I believe that the BC75 and BC125 are more or less the same unit; the 125 just has the extra bells & whistles, while the 75 is purely functional. Either one should have no problem with the services you've mentioned. I've just ordered a 125... I found a seller on eBay who offers them new-in-box at a very generous discount (I won't link here, but it would turn up in a search easily enough if you're interested).

 

If you're willing to eliminate CB from the mix, you could also look into some of the lower-priced Baofeng handhelds. They are built to be transceivers and not scanners, so the scan rate is relatively slow by comparison... but I've had no trouble with my UV-B5 and have it programmed up with FRS/GMRS/MURS and the ham bands. (Added bonus is that you are able to transmit on those bands, if you are so inclined and licensed.)

[xShadowx]

I believe that the BC75 and BC125 are more or less the same unit; the 125 just has the extra bells & whistles, while the 75 is purely functional. Either one should have no problem with the services you've mentioned. I've just ordered a 125... I found a seller on eBay who offers them new-in-box at a very generous discount (I won't link here, but it would turn up in a search easily enough if you're interested).

 

If you're willing to eliminate CB from the mix, you could also look into some of the lower-priced Baofeng handhelds. They are built to be transceivers and not scanners, so the scan rate is relatively slow by comparison... but I've had no trouble with my UV-B5 and have it programmed up with FRS/GMRS/MURS and the ham bands. (Added bonus is that you are able to transmit on those bands, if you are so inclined and licensed.)

 

 

 

i have one of the UV-5R models, It is not picking up channels like i want and its super slow, half the time i can have a handheld in the same room and it may or may not pick up my transmission

[Werdna]

i have one of the UV-5R models, It is not picking up channels like i want and its super slow, half the time i can have a handheld in the same room and it may or may not pick up my transmission

 

Well I can't vouch for that model specifically, but in many cases the stock antenna that comes with the unit isn't that great. $12-15 on Amazon can get you one that might dramatically improve reception.

 

Although if you have an available budget of around $100 or less, you should be able to get a decent dedicated scanner with lots of extra features too.

[xShadowx]

Well I can't vouch for that model specifically, but in many cases the stock antenna that comes with the unit isn't that great. $12-15 on Amazon can get you one that might dramatically improve reception.

 

Although if you have an available budget of around $100 or less, you should be able to get a decent dedicated scanner with lots of extra features too.

 

I have a nagoya NA-771 on it now, was looking at a Diamond, but reviews were mixed and it was twice the price

[stalbaum]

I believe that the BC75 and BC125 are more or less the same unit; the 125 just has the extra bells & whistles, while the 75 is purely functional. Either one should have no problem with the services you've mentioned. I've just ordered a 125... I found a seller on eBay who offers them new-in-box at a very generous discount (I won't link here, but it would turn up in a search easily enough if you're interested).

 

...

 

I have both radios. Correct, it is mostly "bells & whistles" kinds of differences for general scanning, such as the the 125 being programmable with alpha tags. The extra cost for the alpha tags is worth it I think, but to each his/her own.

 

But I did notice one maybe important difference that might apply the xShadowx's narrower question. The 125 has programmable per channel settings for AM, FM, NFM and Auto, and the 75 does not. I did some tests comparing the 75 side by side with some bubble pack radios (one bp sending and it's twin and the 75 receiving), and the 75 definitely makes FRS and GMRS sound very quiet in comparison. I *believe* this because the bubble pack radios I was testing with use 12.5khz (NFM) only, but I think the 75 receives it as an 25khz FM signal, hence the insipid sound.

 

So later I tried setting my 125 scanner to NFM for the FRS/GMRS channels, and to my ears, the signals from the bp does *seem* to sound more equivalent to the clear reception of the same signal on the bp's twin. (I should try the 75 and 125 side by side, maybe I will try to make that happen!) I also think the 125's auto wave form detection (AUTO) recognizes the FRS narrowband quite well too, again to my ears. For the GMRS channels tested, it seems the same, sounds good. But I understand that some GMRS channels can be either 12.5khz or 25khz, vs. the 12.5khz that the bubble pack radios seem to use. I am unable to test this because I have no such GMRS (25khz bandwidth) radio to test with, but it seems to me that the AUTO mode might be a very good choice for those GMRS channels that might come in at either bandwidth. (Or just set all FRS/GMRS to AUTO and let the robot work...) I'm just guessing on that, and also guessing that maybe you care more about the bubble pack traffic in your neighborhood anyway, because you are far more likely to hear part 95 radios than higher quality part 90 radios. I'm sure there is deeper knowledge in these forums however; I'm kind of new to this. But the 125 is maybe more optimal for scanning FRS/GMRS.

 

I am also guessing that the 75 does not have the same automatic circuitry - it would have to discriminate between AM and FM of course, and I think it obviously does because I am scanning CB. So I think I can confirm that. But no matter what, the 75 receives (well, my ears hear) the bubble pack frs/gmrs signals very poorly, as if it is a nfm bandwidth being played on an FM circuit. Again, I need to get the 75 and 125 next to each other soon... that may confirm.

 

You can hear the scanner either way. Both will work. I noticed the price is way down on - a certain well known website today.

 

I will keep testing though. I think I will have to make some side by side recordings to be really sure.

[jwilkers]

Consider the rtl-sdr dongle method. Very inexpensive. Can monitor a lot of stuff. Free software to decode and scan. Must run on a computer; but you can stream via WiFi to a device and carry it with you.

 

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