Would it be practical to use a ham radio as a scanner?.I understand they
have channel memories,scan ability and in many cases cover the bands of
interest.The best thing is those with detachable heads that would make
mounting in a small vehicle really easy.Is anybody using one for this
purpose.

Thanks

Ambrose

My opinion is that while an amateur radio and scanner are related, they
intended for different purposes.

Scanners generally scan much faster, have more memories organized in a
different fashion, do trunking ( analog and digital ) and are usually triple
conversion Vs 3 for the amateur variety.

This doesn't mean you can't use an amateur radio for scanning purposes, it
just won't do the job as well.

Dave... K9JDK




"ambrose" wrote in message
news:qmrAc.70483$Sw.54277@attbi_s51...
Would it be practical to use a ham radio as a scanner?.I understand they
have channel memories,scan ability and in many cases cover the bands of
interest.The best thing is those with detachable heads that would make
mounting in a small vehicle really easy.Is anybody using one for this
purpose.

Thanks

Ambrose

ambrose wrote:

Would it be practical to use a ham radio as a scanner?.I understand
they have channel memories,scan ability and in many cases cover the
bands of interest.The best thing is those with detachable heads that
would make mounting in a small vehicle really easy.Is anybody using
one for this purpose.

Well...

I'll give you my experiences, not with mobile rigs, but with HTs.

A scanner (Like a Pro-95) is designed as a scanner first, last and only.
The banks, bank selection, lock-out etc are all pretty easy and
straight-forward to use.

My Kenwood TH-F6a, is a tri-band VHF/UHF radio first, and a general
coverage receiver/scanner second. (It sucks as a general receiver
unless you attach an external antenna, then it is ok).

Yes, the TH-F6a has "banks" and "bank select" and "lock out" but they
are all secondary functions. Bank select is in a secondary menu. Lock
out is a two key press action, etc.

The channel scan rate is speedy enough though.

The TH-F6a scratches the itch that a scanner does (I usually don't bring
both) but it is a bit more of a pain to program and use as a scanner.

If I was going into another area and expected significant searching or
entry of new frequencies, I *would* bring both.

The short story? Unless you are a ham and are significantly going to use
a ham rig AS a ham rig, go with a scanner, you'll be happier.

My $0.02,

-Donald
--
"One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem,
see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable
words." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I use the Yaesu FT-7800 in my vehicle. When I am not on FM repeaters I call
listen to Fire/PD/EMS, ect.
If you need trunking or APCO 25 digital, forget the ham radio and use a
scanner.

73,

"Donald K" wrote in message
...
ambrose wrote:

Would it be practical to use a ham radio as a scanner?.I understand
they have channel memories,scan ability and in many cases cover the
bands of interest.The best thing is those with detachable heads that
would make mounting in a small vehicle really easy.Is anybody using
one for this purpose.

Well...

I'll give you my experiences, not with mobile rigs, but with HTs.

A scanner (Like a Pro-95) is designed as a scanner first, last and only.
The banks, bank selection, lock-out etc are all pretty easy and
straight-forward to use.

My Kenwood TH-F6a, is a tri-band VHF/UHF radio first, and a general
coverage receiver/scanner second. (It sucks as a general receiver
unless you attach an external antenna, then it is ok).

Yes, the TH-F6a has "banks" and "bank select" and "lock out" but they
are all secondary functions. Bank select is in a secondary menu. Lock
out is a two key press action, etc.

The channel scan rate is speedy enough though.

The TH-F6a scratches the itch that a scanner does (I usually don't bring
both) but it is a bit more of a pain to program and use as a scanner.

If I was going into another area and expected significant searching or
entry of new frequencies, I *would* bring both.

The short story? Unless you are a ham and are significantly going to use
a ham rig AS a ham rig, go with a scanner, you'll be happier.

My $0.02,

-Donald
--
"One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem,
see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable
words." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe