[Scan-DC] Dumb question about 780XLT

[Bote Man]

[I'm posting to the list because my information might be
of general interest to others deciding which to buy.]

Contrary to what I and others originally believed, the
785 mobile appears to be a mobile version of the 250 portable, 
rather than an updated version of the 780 mobile.

If you want to keep up with current and future systems,
get the 785 with the digital card. It will allow you to
monitor D.C., Fairfax, Montgomery, Howard Counties and
the airports authority trunked systems, plus all the
usual stuff to which you have become accustomed. I am
almost certain that it will receive the milair stuff
that you want to hear.

The 780 has some operational and physical differences
from the 785, so it is not a natural "upgrade" from
780 to 785 as you might think. The 780 happens to have
some preferable features over the 785 according to
several well-respected users out there, but prices of
them are dropping as the 785 ships.

There are several lists at Yahoogroups specifically targeted
at these line of Uniden scanners:

  UnidenBC250D 
  UnidenBC780XLT 
  UnidenBC785D 

Don't rush out and buy one before you know what you are
getting into. 

Bote
F.E.C. milepost 339.3 
Look -> http://pages.prodigy.net/bote/rail
Listen -> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scanaudio_FLL (intermittent)
Live -> http://www.fecrs.com

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Cathy Drzyzgula
> Sent: Saturday, 15 February, 2003 19:32
> Subject: RE: [Scan-DC] Dumb question about 780XLT
> 
> I see that is probably the model I meant.  Been reading about too many.  Is 
> the 250d more or less the same, except more portable and without the 
> external record feature.  I know some of you don't want to listen to too 
> much talk about this topic, so references to reviews or experience would be 
> appreciated offlist.  I did mean Combat air patrol when I said CAP.  I 
> bought the scanners I have now in 1989, so I'd rather buy something that 
> will handle the future local systems, rather than having to change again 
> later.  Thanks for the input.
> 
> Cathy
> 
> 
> At 07:13 PM 2/15/2003 -0500, Chas Armstrong wrote:
> >If you want to monitor both CAP frequencies and
> >Montgomery County's new system, then you need a
> >785d (or a 250d) and the bc251 digital decoder
> >card.  Although the 780 will do milair am, it will
> >not accept the digital card.  A PC can be used to
> >download (or possibly upload) frequencies into the
> >scanner's memory, and to adjust various settings.
> >However, the PC is not required to actually use
> >the scanner - think of the PC as a different way
> >to program the scanner vis a vis using the keypad.
> >
> >Charley