On 18 Aug 2006 19:18:00 -0700, wrote:

wrote:
Can anybody give me advice on which frequencies I should be targeting
for my first scanner purchase - in Oskaloosa, Iowa?

Do I need digital, or is my area mostly analog? I'm looking to start
out cheap, but don't want to start out disappointed, so any advice on
frequencies and analog/vs digital for my specific area would be
helpful.

Okay, so I find my frequencies here -
http://www.radioreference.com/module...me=RR&ctid=846

but I still can't tell if its digital or analog. Any hints there?

Everything there is analog (even the RACOM trunked system you see the
link to at the top) with the exception of the Alliant Energy system
which, being iDen, can't be monitored with any existing scanner. So a
Pro97 or a Uniden 246 or 330 (or even a Pro95) will do just fine.
Whichever scanner you decide to get, get the programming cable
(Unidens come with one) and some programming software (there are trial
versions of the good ones, Uniden, ARC and Starrsoft).