I'm haing trouble figuring out which would be a good scanner for Orange
County, California. By radioreference.co, for Orange County
(http://tinyurl.com/c6ya9) it looks like everything is on Motorolla II
or LTR trunking, so I figure I need to get a good trunking scanner. I'm
having a hard time figuring out which one to get, though.

The police are on Motorolla II, but are digitally encrypted. Does that
mean I need a regular digital scanner, like the RS PRO-2096 or Bearcat
BC796D to listen to them?

I'm hoping to get the most scanner for my money... I'd like to keep it
under $200, but could go up to $500 if it was really needed (if I
really needed digital, for example). I'd like to end up with a good
all-around scanner, but the main thing is it has to work well if there
is a big emergency (like an earthquake). So I'd really like to be able
to hear police and other emergency services. Maybe even National Guard
or other military chanels.

Thanks for you help,

Jeff P