On Wed, 9 Feb 2011 08:33:23 -0800 (PST), Kidd Joe wrote:

I’m just fishing for some honest opinions here before I drop $500 on a
new scanner. I recently sold an unblocked AOL MKIII I bought in 2004,
because it became basically useless for the purpose of full coverage
scanning. I never lost my fascination for the hobby, so I’m
considering a Home Patrol (or a Pro-106) to at least enjoy the trunk
tracking capability it didn‘t have.

The problem for me is that with all this encrypting going on, is it
really worth the money? I mean how much longer can I take advantage of
casual eavesdropping before I end up with an expensive paper weight I
can‘t use for anything else? That’s why I’d appreciate your take on
it.

Thank You.

I bought one about a month ago based on the recommendation of a friend who has
long been into scanners. I love it. I live in SW Connecticut and the range is
amazing. I get Long Island, NYC, up near West Point, well into Connecticut and
NY State. The only department I'm aware of that is encrypted is my own home
city's police department. But all the surrouding PD's are clear, as are fire and
EMS. Even the Connecticut State Police are broadcast in the clear. This is the
best money I've soent on a "toy" in a long time. My only complaint is that even
though I live in area close to three major airports, there's not a lot of
aircraft frequencies in the databas. That's something I hope will be corrected
with updates in the future. The only change I've made on the Home Patrol is I
switched out the antenna that came with it to a Watson WSMA-801, which was
another recommendation from my friend. It's about an inch longer and the
reception is great. One thing I did that I'm glad I did is that the sound coming
out of the HP isn't all that great, but it has a line out plug, so I plugged it
into my computer speakers and WHOA! it's like sitting in dispatch it's so loud
and clear. The only screwy thing is that the line out on the scanner takes a
2.5mm plug and my line in is 3.5mm. I couldn't find one locally so I hit up eBay
and found them cheap and qith free and quick shipping. I can't recommend this
little scanner enough. I'm glad I bought mine.