hand held police scanner

[vosschs 5,000+ posts]

anyone know a good one to get, im looking to get one around 60-100 bucks or so, only want a range of like 30 miles or so ? i dunno do they go that far, some one with some experience discuss them here and help me out, this is the ones im currently looking at

http://www.westcoastmall.net/shop/product_info.php?products_id=154

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5733112977&category=40980

this one seems to be the best

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5799955346&category=40980

will it pick up police/fire/ambulance crap like the other ones?

Click to read more...

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

While the Bearcat's are normally decent scanners I've always had better luck with Radio Shack's Realistic scanners.

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

Do you know what frequencies your local police/EMS are using? If you don't, a Google search usually will bring something up. If they're going to the Motorola EDACS trunking system, you'd need something to follow the 800MHz trunked frequencies...I know Uniden makes a few handhelds that do it. If they're just on the regular VHF/UHF public safety bands, you don't need that.

Capability to unblock the 850MHz cell phone band is something those Uniden's or Realistic's won't do...at least none built after 1994. Although, listening to people's cell phones gets old very quickly. But if you want to do that, use an older model or get a foreign-built scanner like a Yupiteru or AOR. Most VHF/UHF ham radios can also be modified to receive cell phones.

Are you using this in your car? Or at home? The antenna is going to make the biggest difference in the reception and what you can hear. I've got a 3 foot whip antenna and a 19" stubby antenna on the roof of the van, and when I'm back home in NC I can routinely monitor cops using repeaters that are 50 miles away. Up here in the mountains, of course, I can hear much farther. If you're using it at home, a good antenna up in the attic or on the roof will increase your reception as well.

 

[Chevillac 5,000+ posts]

Do you know what frequencies your local police/EMS are using? If you don't, a Google search usually will bring something up. If they're going to the Motorola EDACS trunking system, you'd need something to follow the 800MHz trunked frequencies...I know Uniden makes a few handhelds that do it. If they're just on the regular VHF/UHF public safety bands, you don't need that.
Capability to unblock the 850MHz cell phone band is something those Uniden's or Realistic's won't do...at least none built after 1994. Although, listening to people's cell phones gets old very quickly. But if you want to do that, use an older model or get a foreign-built scanner like a Yupiteru or AOR. Most VHF/UHF ham radios can also be modified to receive cell phones.

Are you using this in your car? Or at home? The antenna is going to make the biggest difference in the reception and what you can hear. I've got a 3 foot whip antenna and a 19" stubby antenna on the roof of the van, and when I'm back home in NC I can routinely monitor cops using repeaters that are 50 miles away. Up here in the mountains, of course, I can hear much farther. If you're using it at home, a good antenna up in the attic or on the roof will increase your reception as well.

See what I mean about you having everything. But you make it all sound so interesting. You must have a way with words //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif. Anyway ill be asking you about this again in about 7 months......if I remember.

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

Are you using this in your car? Or at home? The antenna is going to make the biggest difference in the reception and what you can hear. I've got a 3 foot whip antenna and a 19" stubby antenna on the roof of the van, and when I'm back home in NC I can routinely monitor cops using repeaters that are 50 miles away. Up here in the mountains, of course, I can hear much farther. If you're using it at home, a good antenna up in the attic or on the roof will increase your reception as well.

I guess this holds true for all RF traffic regardless of band, eh?

When I first got interested in 11-meter equipment (and some not entirely legal modified 10-meter gear) the fella that taught me most of what I know about it told me the 1st and most important thing to remember was Height=Power. Under most conditions 4 watts 100 feet off the ground>400 watts 10 feet off the ground. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

Yup...no matter what frequency you're on, if you don't have a good antenna up high, you're not going to hear much.

 

[vosschs 5,000+ posts]

so do you think the UNIDEN BC80XLT BEARCAT would be the best there? im not looking for 50 miles, just maybe 15-20 or so, im sure the stock antenna will work, and im not going to put an antenna on my car, lol, also there is a 50 ft antenna right by my house at the old fire house, i dont think they use it for anything, would that work for anything? and in all the nearbye towns there are huge cell phone towers, do they help for me?

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

You'd be able to hear your county's channels on just the stock antenna...easily.

 

[vosschs 5,000+ posts]

sweet, my dad has a list of the channels some where i know that, so ill just order it some time this week, no hurry *clicks and adds the BC80XLT to favorites*

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

While it's not technically a "scanner"...http://rffun.com/catalog/widerxvr/0020.html would be very nice to own.

Although my Yaesu VX-5R does 90% of what that does...just not as cool to use, heh.