Hi all,
I've been thinking about getting a radio scanner so I can listen to ATC. Any recommendations or tips? I checked out Radioshack, and they had a few in the $100 range, but nothing for less than that.
Thanks,
Will
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Hi all,
I've been thinking about getting a radio scanner so I can listen to ATC. Any recommendations or tips? I checked out Radioshack, and they had a few in the $100 range, but nothing for less than that.
Thanks,
Will
What I found was that the cheaper scanners don't pick up the aircraft band, so you're already looking at a more expensive one for that. I picked up one at RadioShack last year just to have something available ahead of the Jones Beach show, and I ended up getting a PRO-82, which is listed on their website at $99.99. It's decent, but I wanted some more features so I later picked up a PRO-97.
The PRO-97 (listed at $149.99 on the website) mostly adds the 800MHz band plus trunking, which isn't necessary for any aviation stuff but I wanted to be able to listen to the Hoboken PD (analog in the 800MHz band). The scanner also has the nice feature of text tags, so instead of only displaying the frequency (which is all the PRO-82 can do) you can give it a descriptive name, so that you don't need to memorize what frequency is what. I, for example, have all the ground/tower frequencies for JFK, LGA, and EWR (and a couple of GA airports) programmed in and named according to what they are. I do the same for the railroad freqs I keep stored in another bank.
For a basic scanner just for listening to ATC, when you don't mind memorizing frequencies (or have a cheat sheet taped to the back of the scanner), the PRO-82 isn't a bad deal. If you can afford it, though, I'd go for the PRO-97; the text tags are nice plus you can use it for more, which the extra bands & trunking.
I picked up one from Radio Shack for $63 about6 months ago and I love it! Works great! It stores up to like 400 freqs so you don't have to remember them.
I would highly reccomend it, I would also reccomend picking up a new antenna for it that is stronger than the stock one. That is about another $20, but you don't need it.
Thanks, Phil and Matt.
Matt--do know you the model number of the one you got?
one work, icom. go to a pilot shop and buy an icom. i've been using them forever and my ic-a23 has lasted me at least 8 years now without incident. we even used them on the ramp at papago for the ground crews. i know that's more than one word but you get the point...
Yeah, its the Radioshack Pro-83, if I may, I will also ad that it is very durrable, I have dropped it several times, one time about 10 ft on to cement, and doesn't even show any damage. It has also fallen off a moving pickup truk (I left it on the top while spotting, forgot to take it back inside the truck :D) I will post pics of it in a few minuites once they finish uploading
Also, here is an ebay link to a used one you might want to concider, right now it is only at $20. It is one of the older versions of the 83 with only 200 channels and a larger manual than the one I have. But it is basically the same thing with half as many storage channels.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Radio-Shack-PRO-83- ... 0096436130
Alright, sexy photo time! I also put it in a nice background! :D
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...nerpics004.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...nerpics003.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...nerpics002.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...nerpics001.jpg
I have the PRO-94, it gets a decent amount of aviation freqs, and I do enjoy the trunking feature. However I would not reccomend it because although it has a PC port, there is no decent software to read/upload freqs to it. It has room for 1000, and when you have that much room it gets tough to keep track of everything. I've resorted to creating an Excel doccument that I use to keep track of what freqs I put where, and what they all are for. Go for the 97 if you are going to spend the cash on Radio Shack.
What is "trunking" anyway?
I have a PRO-82, and I love it - but I want to upgrade to the PRO-97 soon. It'd be nice to label the freqs :)
As others have said, the PRO-82 is good, but if ya got the money, go for the 97.
pfft, the PRO-83 is better than the 82 :DQuote:
Originally Posted by FlightShadow
I have the 82 and love it. The freq thing is kinda gettin to me tho. But I have different banks for each airport. It works.
As you can see there are several options so you really need to decide what you will use it for and how much expandability you want. The ICOM is great but technically you are suppose to have a Ham Operator's License since it is a transceiver.
Also be aware of laws pertaining to the use of scanners.
Trunking:
On conventional radio systems, frequencies are allocated according to channel use, i.e., one frequency for dispatch, one for car-to-car use, one for mutual aid use, etc. On trunked radio systems, a different method for identification is used since any frequency can be used by any agency on that system. This method involves the use of various numbers called "trunking IDs" or "talkgroups IDs" used to identify different agencies and their uses.
A trunking system is controlled by a computer know as a Site Controller. It can also be controlled by a Master Control Center (MCC), which works parallel with the Site Controller. The MCC and the Site Controller are linked to repeater sites by microwave or dedicated telephone circuits. The basic trunking system contains one channel that serves as a control or "handshake" channel, known as a data channel. Most trunked systems currently operate in the 800 MHz band, but there is no technical reason to prevent trunking from being applied to other bands.