need advice - purchasing a new scanner
 

I'm thinking about purchasing a new scanner.

The one I have now is a handheld, probably about 8 years old, Radio
Shack 200 channels, 1.3GHz, Hyperscan Pro-26 with an antenna bought
separately (RH77CA Diamond).

I would prefer a desktop scanner that will scan around 400 channels or
possibly more. I would be willing to spend around $300 or so.

I would like the scanner to pick up the basic stuff: police, fire,
ambulance, security, city, also if it were to pick up baby monitors or
the occasional cordless phone would be interesting. : )

Can someone please recommend brands, model #'s?

I'm in the suburbs of Detroit (Oakland County). Is there anywhere
(besides a Radio Shack), that anyone could recommend making a
purchase? I would like to buy a new one a.s.a.p. instead of waiting
for an online delivery. If not, can someone recommend a good online
store?

Thanks in advance !!

alli

wrote in
:


I would like to buy a new one a.s.a.p.

When you said this, at first I though of "a sap", which might put you
into the category of a Radio Shack customer.

BUT Radio Shack has had quite a few scanners over the years, many quite
admirable. I believe that they now have a Digital Capable handheld
scanner. It requires no additional card (as does the Uniden line, quite
expensive for the card). But the price is high, since the card and price
were incorporated into the unit at the same time. The Pro-96 Catalog #:
20-526 and if the link is still good when you use it, here is the diet
version from TinyURL.com http://tinyurl.com/2qlmy

The radio is a Trunk Tracker, 5500 Channels, $500.

Also try AES for online orders. I have consistently received orders
overnight. This is the usual shipping cycle from Cleveland to
Pittsburgh, not and extra charge service. I have ordered items at 5:00
PM one day and received them the next. They have several stores, one
being in Cleveland Ohio and another in Milwaukee Wisconsin. (there are
other stores as well).

I have the Digital Capable Uniden 785D, which would require the APCO 25
card when I want to use the digital facility. But I have had many
problems with intermod interference, as my area is saturated with Cell
Phone and Pager towers. If you live in an area likely to receive
intermod interference, perhaps someone can suggest another radio.

Don't rule out the handhelds though, they can be multipurpose since it's
difficult to take a desktop radio to an air show or other event. We use
our handhelds most often, having the Yaesu VR-500, Yaesu VX-5R
Transceiver, and an Alinco DJ-X10T. None of these are trunk tracking.


Good luck.


I'm thinking about purchasing a new scanner.

The one I have now is a handheld, probably about 8 years old, Radio
Shack 200 channels, 1.3GHz, Hyperscan Pro-26 with an antenna bought
separately (RH77CA Diamond).

I would prefer a desktop scanner that will scan around 400 channels or
possibly more. I would be willing to spend around $300 or so.

I would like the scanner to pick up the basic stuff: police, fire,
ambulance, security, city, also if it were to pick up baby monitors or
the occasional cordless phone would be interesting. : )

Can someone please recommend brands, model #'s?

I'm in the suburbs of Detroit (Oakland County). Is there anywhere
(besides a Radio Shack), that anyone could recommend making a
purchase? I would like to buy a new one a.s.a.p. instead of waiting
for an online delivery. If not, can someone recommend a good online
store?

Thanks in advance !!

alli


--
Never say never.
Nothing is absolute.

wrote in message
...

I would prefer a desktop scanner that will scan around 400 channels or
possibly more. I would be willing to spend around $300 or so.

I have never regretted getting my Uniden 895XLT, unless you need trunk
capabilities other than the Motorola system it's a pretty good scanner. I
like the manual tune feature. Think I paid about $180 for mine several years
ago, don't know what the going rate is now but notice that they evidently
are still available.

I got a flyer from RS a few days ago and they are offering their Pro-94 for
$129 now. It's a pretty nice little scanner if you like hand helds. I don't
really care for hand helds (do keep one (94) in the glove box) but pick one
up once in a while when the price gets down to more than I can stand. RM~

If you want to listen to the Michigan State Police a
Uniden BC 796 XLT will be the way to go because MSP
us ASTOR APCO P-25 digital Motorola 800 Mhz trunking with
9600 Baud control channel data! More and more public safety
folks are going digital ,most unencrypted!
Check out this site:

http://www.strongsignals.net/index.cgi

http://www.strongsignals.net/access/boards/bc296-796d/board.cgi

http://www.strongsignals.net/access/boards/frequency/board.cgi

http://www.strongsignals.net/access/boards/trunking/board.cgi

Go to the bottom of the FREQUENCY board and TRUNK board to
look at the resources there. Check out the trunking systems to see if
they will work with the BC 796 XLT It not enough to know the bands covered
by new radios looking at the trunking systems supported is even more important!
Jim


Rob Mills wrote:

wrote in message
...

I would prefer a desktop scanner that will scan around 400 channels or
possibly more. I would be willing to spend around $300 or so.

I have never regretted getting my Uniden 895XLT, unless you need trunk
capabilities other than the Motorola system it's a pretty good scanner. I
like the manual tune feature. Think I paid about $180 for mine several years
ago, don't know what the going rate is now but notice that they evidently
are still available.

I got a flyer from RS a few days ago and they are offering their Pro-94 for
$129 now. It's a pretty nice little scanner if you like hand helds. I don't
really care for hand helds (do keep one (94) in the glove box) but pick one
up once in a while when the price gets down to more than I can stand. RM~

Here's an article on your county

http://www.trunkedradio.net/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=314

This is another great site for trunk tracking info!
jim

jmacdon wrote:

If you want to listen to the Michigan State Police a
Uniden BC 796 XLT will be the way to go because MSP
us ASTOR APCO P-25 digital Motorola 800 Mhz trunking with
9600 Baud control channel data! More and more public safety
folks are going digital ,most unencrypted!
Check out this site:

http://www.strongsignals.net/index.cgi

http://www.strongsignals.net/access/boards/bc296-796d/board.cgi

http://www.strongsignals.net/access/boards/frequency/board.cgi

http://www.strongsignals.net/access/boards/trunking/board.cgi

Go to the bottom of the FREQUENCY board and TRUNK board to
look at the resources there. Check out the trunking systems to see if
they will work with the BC 796 XLT It not enough to know the bands covered
by new radios looking at the trunking systems supported is even more important!
Jim

Rob Mills wrote:

wrote in message
...

I would prefer a desktop scanner that will scan around 400 channels or
possibly more. I would be willing to spend around $300 or so.

I have never regretted getting my Uniden 895XLT, unless you need trunk
capabilities other than the Motorola system it's a pretty good scanner. I
like the manual tune feature. Think I paid about $180 for mine several years
ago, don't know what the going rate is now but notice that they evidently
are still available.

I got a flyer from RS a few days ago and they are offering their Pro-94 for
$129 now. It's a pretty nice little scanner if you like hand helds. I don't
really care for hand helds (do keep one (94) in the glove box) but pick one
up once in a while when the price gets down to more than I can stand. RM~

HERE'S YOUR COUNTY

http://www.bouwkamp.net/miscanner/oakland.htm

Check out this link, it dose not look GOOD!
They are looking at OPEN SKY which can't be trunk
tracked by any hobby scanner radio available at this time!
You will find more on this in regards to Pennsylvania
which is using this system!

http://my.core.com/~lbutler/oakland.html

Jim


wrote:

I'm thinking about purchasing a new scanner.

The one I have now is a handheld, probably about 8 years old, Radio
Shack 200 channels, 1.3GHz, Hyperscan Pro-26 with an antenna bought
separately (RH77CA Diamond).

I would prefer a desktop scanner that will scan around 400 channels or
possibly more. I would be willing to spend around $300 or so.

I would like the scanner to pick up the basic stuff: police, fire,
ambulance, security, city, also if it were to pick up baby monitors or
the occasional cordless phone would be interesting. : )

Can someone please recommend brands, model #'s?

I'm in the suburbs of Detroit (Oakland County). Is there anywhere
(besides a Radio Shack), that anyone could recommend making a
purchase? I would like to buy a new one a.s.a.p. instead of waiting
for an online delivery. If not, can someone recommend a good online
store?

Thanks in advance !!

alli

wrote:

I'm thinking about purchasing a new scanner.

The one I have now is a handheld, probably
about 8 years old, Radio Shack 200 channels,
1.3GHz, Hyperscan Pro-26 with an antenna
bought separately (RH77CA Diamond).

I would prefer a desktop scanner that will
scan around 400 channels or possibly more.
I would be willing to spend around $300
or so. (snip)


If you're looking to really improve your scanning capabilities, perhaps
you should be looking at multiple scanners instead. With a single scanner,
your returns diminish at some point as the number of memory channels
increase. This is caused by two factors. First, in general, the greater the
number of memory channels in a single scanner, the longer it takes to scan
those channels, meaning each channel is scanned less often over a given
period. Second, whenever a scanner locks onto a busy channel, you always
miss what is happening on the other memory channels. With a greater number
of memory channels, your scanner will find busy channels more often. But, as
the scanner locks onto those channels more often, you miss more on the other
memory channels.

More advanced scanner enthusiasts solve these problems by simply using
more than one scanner, each focused on a specific range of frequencies. This
allows any one scanner to lock on a busy channel while the other scanners
still scan, insuring the user doesn't miss as much while listening to any
one channel.

Simple scanners are fairly inexpensive. For example, to focus on the
aircraft frequencies, a twenty or thirty channel scanner will often do
nicely. If you're a real real aircraft band enthusiast, you may want two or
three of these. With a separate scanner for this band, you'll be less likely
to miss anything interesting on this band while listening to the police
frequencies.

You could do the same for any specific group of frequencies you want to
scan intensively, leaving your main scanner to cover the frequencies not
covered by the dedicated scanners. Of course, that main scanner should be
the very best for those times when you want to hunt down the really rare
stuff.

Just something for you to think about.


Dwight Stewart (W5NET)

http://www.qsl.net/w5net/

Thanks to everyone for their advice & suggestions!

A LOT of this stuff goes right over my head (digital ... trunking ..
etc.), but I'm reading and trying to learn. : )

I probably won't turn this into a huge hobby or anything - honestly, I
just want a New scanner that is desktop (is 'base' the right term?).
It will Not be something portable that I would take on trips with me.
I just want it, so I can listen to it at home, in the evenings for
fun. (I already have an Old handheld - Radio Shack 200 channels,
1.3GHz, Hyperscan Pro-26 with an antenna bought separately - RH77CA
Diamond).

I just want the new desktop scanner for home and to sit on an end
table/stand in the living room. I'd prefer it to have a screen that I
can program it to 'label' what frequency and name of what agency
(fire, p.d., city ...) it is picking up, example:

453.800 Detroit Police

Right now, the handheld scanner I do have (which I guess, I could take
it on trips if I decided I wanted to do that) JUST displays the #'s.
So, for the past several years, whenever I'd listen to the scanner,
and see the frequency # or channel - I would have to refer to a list
and compare it to the channel, to 'try' to figure out What I was
listening to. : )

I'm not having much luck find a place that sells desktop/base scanners
though! I looked at http://www.radioshack.com/ under:
Catalog Home -- Phones & Radio Communications -- Radio
Communications -- Scanners & Accessories

clicked on:
Metro (800MHz/Digital) Scanner

They only had Two - one was out of stock (Uniden® BC785D Digital
Scanner), the other (Pro-2052 1000-Channel Dual-Trunking DeskTop
Scanner) didn't look like I could add text/labels to the display
screen.

I tried:
http://www.uniden.com/store/
and it seemed as if their entire stock is "like new" condition. I
want something brand new, not used.

I've listened to my old handheld scanner for Many years, but this is
the First time I'm researching how/where/what to purchase and I'm just
trying to figure out What I need to buy. I'd be listening to mostly
Oakland County Michigan (and Macomb & Wayne County Michigan also).

Thanks again for all your replies!!

alli

The Uniden you are refering to is the BC296D and it comes with the card. It
is about the same price as the Pro-96.


"Soliloquy" wrote in message
4...
wrote in
:


I would like to buy a new one a.s.a.p.

When you said this, at first I though of "a sap", which might put you
into the category of a Radio Shack customer.

BUT Radio Shack has had quite a few scanners over the years, many quite
admirable. I believe that they now have a Digital Capable handheld
scanner. It requires no additional card (as does the Uniden line, quite
expensive for the card). But the price is high, since the card and price
were incorporated into the unit at the same time. The Pro-96 Catalog #:
20-526 and if the link is still good when you use it, here is the diet
version from TinyURL.com http://tinyurl.com/2qlmy

The radio is a Trunk Tracker, 5500 Channels, $500.

Also try AES for online orders. I have consistently received orders
overnight. This is the usual shipping cycle from Cleveland to
Pittsburgh, not and extra charge service. I have ordered items at 5:00
PM one day and received them the next. They have several stores, one
being in Cleveland Ohio and another in Milwaukee Wisconsin. (there are
other stores as well).

I have the Digital Capable Uniden 785D, which would require the APCO 25
card when I want to use the digital facility. But I have had many
problems with intermod interference, as my area is saturated with Cell
Phone and Pager towers. If you live in an area likely to receive
intermod interference, perhaps someone can suggest another radio.

Don't rule out the handhelds though, they can be multipurpose since it's
difficult to take a desktop radio to an air show or other event. We use
our handhelds most often, having the Yaesu VR-500, Yaesu VX-5R
Transceiver, and an Alinco DJ-X10T. None of these are trunk tracking.


Good luck.


I'm thinking about purchasing a new scanner.

The one I have now is a handheld, probably about 8 years old, Radio
Shack 200 channels, 1.3GHz, Hyperscan Pro-26 with an antenna bought
separately (RH77CA Diamond).

I would prefer a desktop scanner that will scan around 400 channels or
possibly more. I would be willing to spend around $300 or so.

I would like the scanner to pick up the basic stuff: police, fire,
ambulance, security, city, also if it were to pick up baby monitors or
the occasional cordless phone would be interesting. : )

Can someone please recommend brands, model #'s?

I'm in the suburbs of Detroit (Oakland County). Is there anywhere
(besides a Radio Shack), that anyone could recommend making a
purchase? I would like to buy a new one a.s.a.p. instead of waiting
for an online delivery. If not, can someone recommend a good online
store?

Thanks in advance !!

alli


--
Never say never.
Nothing is absolute.




----== Posted via Newsfeed.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==----
http://www.newsfeed.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 100,000 Newsgroups
---= 19 East/West-Coast Specialized Servers - Total Privacy via Encryption =---

Try K-40 (They're a local dealer, not the national brand company).
It's on the south-east corner of 14 mile and Van Dyke. I haven't been
there in a couple of years (married, so no money to buy anything) but
I got my CB (a refurbished Uniden PC76XL) and a K-40 antenna there
about 7 years ago and it is still cranking like a champ. They even
replaced the connector on the antenna when it came loose for me at no
charge. Soldered a new one on in seconds, right there. I believe
they'll carry the uniden scanners. They'll also carry all the
accesories you'll ever need...Antennas, external speakers, adapters,
latest issue of police call...etc.

Scott


wrote in message . ..
Thanks to everyone for their advice & suggestions!

A LOT of this stuff goes right over my head (digital ... trunking ..
etc.), but I'm reading and trying to learn. : )

I probably won't turn this into a huge hobby or anything - honestly, I
just want a New scanner that is desktop (is 'base' the right term?).
It will Not be something portable that I would take on trips with me.
I just want it, so I can listen to it at home, in the evenings for
fun. (I already have an Old handheld - Radio Shack 200 channels,
1.3GHz, Hyperscan Pro-26 with an antenna bought separately - RH77CA
Diamond).

I just want the new desktop scanner for home and to sit on an end
table/stand in the living room. I'd prefer it to have a screen that I
can program it to 'label' what frequency and name of what agency
(fire, p.d., city ...) it is picking up, example:

453.800 Detroit Police

Right now, the handheld scanner I do have (which I guess, I could take
it on trips if I decided I wanted to do that) JUST displays the #'s.
So, for the past several years, whenever I'd listen to the scanner,
and see the frequency # or channel - I would have to refer to a list
and compare it to the channel, to 'try' to figure out What I was
listening to. : )

I'm not having much luck find a place that sells desktop/base scanners
though! I looked at http://www.radioshack.com/ under:
Catalog Home -- Phones & Radio Communications -- Radio
Communications -- Scanners & Accessories

clicked on:
Metro (800MHz/Digital) Scanner

They only had Two - one was out of stock (Uniden® BC785D Digital
Scanner), the other (Pro-2052 1000-Channel Dual-Trunking DeskTop
Scanner) didn't look like I could add text/labels to the display
screen.

I tried:
http://www.uniden.com/store/
and it seemed as if their entire stock is "like new" condition. I
want something brand new, not used.

I've listened to my old handheld scanner for Many years, but this is
the First time I'm researching how/where/what to purchase and I'm just
trying to figure out What I need to buy. I'd be listening to mostly
Oakland County Michigan (and Macomb & Wayne County Michigan also).

Thanks again for all your replies!!

alli

Thank you !! I think this may be exactly what I'm searching for (a
local place that sells scanners that is Not radio shack! :)

I'll probably give them a try later this week, once I decide on what I
need/want.

I just need to figure out What it is that I need ....

I know I'm set on purchasing a desktop scanner with the display on the
screen ... but not sure of a model # or brand that would be best for
my area.

Thanks again for everyone's help/responses!!

alli


On 14 Jan 2004 05:01:16 -0800, (SpazMaTaz) wrote:

Try K-40 (They're a local dealer, not the national brand company).
It's on the south-east corner of 14 mile and Van Dyke. I haven't been
there in a couple of years (married, so no money to buy anything) but
I got my CB (a refurbished Uniden PC76XL) and a K-40 antenna there
about 7 years ago and it is still cranking like a champ. They even
replaced the connector on the antenna when it came loose for me at no
charge. Soldered a new one on in seconds, right there. I believe
they'll carry the uniden scanners. They'll also carry all the
accesories you'll ever need...Antennas, external speakers, adapters,
latest issue of police call...etc.

Scott


wrote in message . ..
Thanks to everyone for their advice & suggestions!

A LOT of this stuff goes right over my head (digital ... trunking ..
etc.), but I'm reading and trying to learn. : )

I probably won't turn this into a huge hobby or anything - honestly, I
just want a New scanner that is desktop (is 'base' the right term?).
It will Not be something portable that I would take on trips with me.
I just want it, so I can listen to it at home, in the evenings for
fun. (I already have an Old handheld - Radio Shack 200 channels,
1.3GHz, Hyperscan Pro-26 with an antenna bought separately - RH77CA
Diamond).

I just want the new desktop scanner for home and to sit on an end
table/stand in the living room. I'd prefer it to have a screen that I
can program it to 'label' what frequency and name of what agency
(fire, p.d., city ...) it is picking up, example:

453.800 Detroit Police

Right now, the handheld scanner I do have (which I guess, I could take
it on trips if I decided I wanted to do that) JUST displays the #'s.
So, for the past several years, whenever I'd listen to the scanner,
and see the frequency # or channel - I would have to refer to a list
and compare it to the channel, to 'try' to figure out What I was
listening to. : )

I'm not having much luck find a place that sells desktop/base scanners
though! I looked at http://www.radioshack.com/ under:
Catalog Home -- Phones & Radio Communications -- Radio
Communications -- Scanners & Accessories

clicked on:
Metro (800MHz/Digital) Scanner

They only had Two - one was out of stock (Uniden® BC785D Digital
Scanner), the other (Pro-2052 1000-Channel Dual-Trunking DeskTop
Scanner) didn't look like I could add text/labels to the display
screen.

I tried:
http://www.uniden.com/store/
and it seemed as if their entire stock is "like new" condition. I
want something brand new, not used.

I've listened to my old handheld scanner for Many years, but this is
the First time I'm researching how/where/what to purchase and I'm just
trying to figure out What I need to buy. I'd be listening to mostly
Oakland County Michigan (and Macomb & Wayne County Michigan also).

Thanks again for all your replies!!

alli

Alli

Here's some on line stores

http://www.grove-ent.com/

and two others that advertises at strongsignals,net

http://www.scannersunlimited.com/

http://www.usascan.com/

AGAIN to listen to the Michigan State Police and all the other agencies
on that system you will need a BC 796 or the hand held by Radio Shack ,
PRO-96
The BC 785 with the digital card will not trunk track the Michigan
State Police
system. You may want to enter the 800 Mhz freq. for your county and
listen to them
conventionally to get a feeling for the traffic on trunking systems. You

WILL NOT
be able to follow the talk group channels but you can tell if its
encrypted , digital and if
it's of interest.
Jim

wrote:

Thank you !! I think this may be exactly what I'm searching for (a
local place that sells scanners that is Not radio shack! :)

I'll probably give them a try later this week, once I decide on what I
need/want.

I just need to figure out What it is that I need ....

I know I'm set on purchasing a desktop scanner with the display on the
screen ... but not sure of a model # or brand that would be best for
my area.

Thanks again for everyone's help/responses!!

alli

On 14 Jan 2004 05:01:16 -0800, (SpazMaTaz) wrote:

Try K-40 (They're a local dealer, not the national brand company).
It's on the south-east corner of 14 mile and Van Dyke. I haven't been=

there in a couple of years (married, so no money to buy anything) but
I got my CB (a refurbished Uniden PC76XL) and a K-40 antenna there
about 7 years ago and it is still cranking like a champ. They even
replaced the connector on the antenna when it came loose for me at no
charge. Soldered a new one on in seconds, right there. I believe
they'll carry the uniden scanners. They'll also carry all the
accesories you'll ever need...Antennas, external speakers, adapters,
latest issue of police call...etc.

Scott


wrote in message news:bh9300l728n5dcke1pdhmvt6=
...
Thanks to everyone for their advice & suggestions!

A LOT of this stuff goes right over my head (digital ... trunking ..=

etc.), but I'm reading and trying to learn. : )

I probably won't turn this into a huge hobby or anything - honestly,=
I
just want a New scanner that is desktop (is 'base' the right term?).=

It will Not be something portable that I would take on trips with me=
=2E
I just want it, so I can listen to it at home, in the evenings for
fun. (I already have an Old handheld - Radio Shack 200 channels,
1.3GHz, Hyperscan Pro-26 with an antenna bought separately - RH77CA
Diamond).

I just want the new desktop scanner for home and to sit on an end
table/stand in the living room. I'd prefer it to have a screen that=
I
can program it to 'label' what frequency and name of what agency
(fire, p.d., city ...) it is picking up, example:

453.800 Detroit Police

Right now, the handheld scanner I do have (which I guess, I could ta=
ke
it on trips if I decided I wanted to do that) JUST displays the #'s.=

So, for the past several years, whenever I'd listen to the scanner,
and see the frequency # or channel - I would have to refer to a list=

and compare it to the channel, to 'try' to figure out What I was
listening to. : )

I'm not having much luck find a place that sells desktop/base scanne=
rs
though! I looked at http://www.radioshack.com/ under:
Catalog Home -- Phones & Radio Communications -- Radio
Communications -- Scanners & Accessories

clicked on:
Metro (800MHz/Digital) Scanner

They only had Two - one was out of stock (Uniden=AE BC785D Digital
Scanner), the other (Pro-2052 1000-Channel Dual-Trunking DeskTop
Scanner) didn't look like I could add text/labels to the display
screen.

I tried:
http://www.uniden.com/store/
and it seemed as if their entire stock is "like new" condition. I
want something brand new, not used.

I've listened to my old handheld scanner for Many years, but this is=

the First time I'm researching how/where/what to purchase and I'm ju=
st
trying to figure out What I need to buy. I'd be listening to mostly=

Oakland County Michigan (and Macomb & Wayne County Michigan also).

Thanks again for all your replies!!

alli

Thank you once again everybody for alllll the responses!

Looks like I will be going with the Uniden Bearcat 796D. It was a bit
more then I wanted to spend, but I guess that is the best choice
available for what I was searching for. Besides, it's been about 10
years since I had a new one, it was time for an upgrade. :)

One (perhaps kind of a 'newbie' sort of) question:

The Bearcat 796D is Digital - is it 'backward compatible'? Will I
still be able to hear everything I did on my old Radio Shack Pro-26
'plus' the new digital signals - or does the Bearcat Just broadcast
'digital audio signals/broadcasts'?

Also, are there any accessories that I will need (or want) to purchase
for the Bearcat 796D or is going to work 'great' out of the box?

Here is what is already supposed to be prepackaged with the 796D:

P-25 digital card, AT248 Telescopic Antenna, AD580U AC Adapter, PS001
Cigarette Lighter Cord, PS002 DC Cord, MB785D Mounting Bracket with
Screws, OMBC796D Owner's Manual, TTFREQ Trunking Frequency Guide Book,
ESCAN E-Scanner programming Software CD-ROM, Screwdriver, HF24RS
Headset, BBFREQ Betty Bearcat Starter Frequency Guide

Just purchased an iPod before the holidays (didn't realize I would
need to spend about an extra $100 on accessories before I was able to
even use it! - don't want to be surprised again with this expensive
(Bearcat) purchase).

Thanks again Everybody for the quick responses!! It has made this
decision a LOT easier to make!!

alli

On Sat, 24 Jan 2004 04:46:19 -0500, Jim Mac Donald
wrote:

Alli

Here's some on line stores

http://www.grove-ent.com/

and two others that advertises at strongsignals,net

http://www.scannersunlimited.com/

http://www.usascan.com/

AGAIN to listen to the Michigan State Police and all the other agencies
on that system you will need a BC 796 or the hand held by Radio Shack ,
PRO-96
The BC 785 with the digital card will not trunk track the Michigan
State Police
system. You may want to enter the 800 Mhz freq. for your county and
listen to them
conventionally to get a feeling for the traffic on trunking systems. You

WILL NOT
be able to follow the talk group channels but you can tell if its
encrypted , digital and if
it's of interest.
Jim

wrote:

Thank you !! I think this may be exactly what I'm searching for (a
local place that sells scanners that is Not radio shack! :)

I'll probably give them a try later this week, once I decide on what I
need/want.

I just need to figure out What it is that I need ....

I know I'm set on purchasing a desktop scanner with the display on the
screen ... but not sure of a model # or brand that would be best for
my area.

Thanks again for everyone's help/responses!!

alli

On 14 Jan 2004 05:01:16 -0800, (SpazMaTaz) wrote:

Try K-40 (They're a local dealer, not the national brand company).
It's on the south-east corner of 14 mile and Van Dyke. I haven't been
there in a couple of years (married, so no money to buy anything) but
I got my CB (a refurbished Uniden PC76XL) and a K-40 antenna there
about 7 years ago and it is still cranking like a champ. They even
replaced the connector on the antenna when it came loose for me at no
charge. Soldered a new one on in seconds, right there. I believe
they'll carry the uniden scanners. They'll also carry all the
accesories you'll ever need...Antennas, external speakers, adapters,
latest issue of police call...etc.

Scott


wrote in message . ..
Thanks to everyone for their advice & suggestions!

A LOT of this stuff goes right over my head (digital ... trunking ..
etc.), but I'm reading and trying to learn. : )

I probably won't turn this into a huge hobby or anything - honestly, I
just want a New scanner that is desktop (is 'base' the right term?).
It will Not be something portable that I would take on trips with me.
I just want it, so I can listen to it at home, in the evenings for
fun. (I already have an Old handheld - Radio Shack 200 channels,
1.3GHz, Hyperscan Pro-26 with an antenna bought separately - RH77CA
Diamond).

I just want the new desktop scanner for home and to sit on an end
table/stand in the living room. I'd prefer it to have a screen that I
can program it to 'label' what frequency and name of what agency
(fire, p.d., city ...) it is picking up, example:

453.800 Detroit Police

Right now, the handheld scanner I do have (which I guess, I could take
it on trips if I decided I wanted to do that) JUST displays the #'s.
So, for the past several years, whenever I'd listen to the scanner,
and see the frequency # or channel - I would have to refer to a list
and compare it to the channel, to 'try' to figure out What I was
listening to. : )

I'm not having much luck find a place that sells desktop/base scanners
though! I looked at http://www.radioshack.com/ under:
Catalog Home -- Phones & Radio Communications -- Radio
Communications -- Scanners & Accessories

clicked on:
Metro (800MHz/Digital) Scanner

They only had Two - one was out of stock (Uniden® BC785D Digital
Scanner), the other (Pro-2052 1000-Channel Dual-Trunking DeskTop
Scanner) didn't look like I could add text/labels to the display
screen.

I tried:
http://www.uniden.com/store/
and it seemed as if their entire stock is "like new" condition. I
want something brand new, not used.

I've listened to my old handheld scanner for Many years, but this is
the First time I'm researching how/where/what to purchase and I'm just
trying to figure out What I need to buy. I'd be listening to mostly
Oakland County Michigan (and Macomb & Wayne County Michigan also).

Thanks again for all your replies!!

alli