New to forum and scanning

glamisrat · Post by **glamisrat** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 6:36 pm

Hello all,

I have been lurking here for a few months. I am new to scanning and scanners. I first got the bug to scan while making many trips to the airport with my young daughter, she loves to watch the airplanes. I thought it would be interesting to listen in on the ATC at the same time.

The more I thought about it, the more I feel I need a scanner that will scan everything in the county. I think it would be useful in a natural disaster situation to be able to hear more info. I have been looking at the Uniden 396 digital, but don't have the funds to get one right now.

Any suggestions on the best place to purchase Uniden products?

Thanks all,

Alan

mike · Post by **mike** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 8:26 pm

Me I am happy with my Radioshack PRO-96 and I also have a BC246T for fire related scanning but I read about the GRE PSR 500 and it has some great features and it will be useful in the future once the county converts to a project 25 all digital 700/800 mhz trunked system.

Post by **Brian** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 9:00 pm

Uniden is going to be releasing a press release end of this month(Sep 29th) about something new!.

Since you are new. Start looking around this site!
It will keep you awake for a few hours

It's the main Database & Forum for the US and part of other countries.
http://www.radioreference.com

w6pix · Post by **w6pix** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 10:37 pm

Glamisrat, you going out this weekend? Saw all my neighbours (Lakeside) loading up the toy boxes today.. CASES AND CASES of beer.

Figured it might be a desert rat weekend?

glamisrat · Post by **glamisrat** » Fri Sep 26, 2008 1:12 am

Brian thanks for the link, I killed a few hours on that site. There is just so much to learn. I guess I should wait and see what uniden has to say, maybe a new model?? From what I have read it seemed like the 396 would cover me into the future, even for 700mhz stuff?? I also read that the uniden software updates are free and the GRE stuff is not, thats the real reason I am leaning towards uniden.

Am I reading the specs right on the 396 in that it will pick up nearby traffic, even if I dont have those freqs programmed?

And no

I am not going out to glamis this weekend, I have to work. Riding the sand dunes has been my longtime hobby, but has become more difficult now that I have two small kids. I am actually trying to sell my quad. If I can, my plan is to use some of the funds to get my scanner.

Thanks again to all.

Post by **Brian** » Fri Sep 26, 2008 1:35 am

The 396 has the CloseCall so you can auto tune near by freqs like fast food drive-thru or people using two-way radio at glamis.
http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Close_call
http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Signal_stalker

Yes 396 will work into the future & 700MHz stuff. (It will still work on the new RCS system in 2011/2012).

GRE offer free firmware updates for their scanners.
Because they already offer about 3 or 4 updates already for free.
( I don't recall hearing anything about GRE charging for firmware updates anytime soon)

I heard about Uniden might charge for some updates(but nothing so far been release yet).

Here is another link to listen to San Diego feeds online.
http://www.scansandiego.net

Info on the new RCS system (PDF link on the bottom right of the page)
http://www.rcs800mhz.org