[Scan-DC] Scanner Recomendations

Mon Jun 8 16:40:17 EDT 2009

I really wanted to get in on this discussion sooner but I got busy over the weekend.

I really liked my Pro-96 when I first got it, but like so many people I feel that it has gone deaf to so many things. It's not nearly the scanner it used to be. So much so that I would actually rather get an old saber astro portable to listen from rather than to try and see what it will hear today.

But then by chance I got a Unidern 92xlt scanner in a box of other stuff. I really like the close call feature and I really feel it's so much more sensitive than the pro-96. In the car I have the radio shack glass mount all band scanner antenna and I can hear sooo much more on the 92 than I ever heard with the pro 96. Things like MSP on low band, and NIH on the 410 federal band. So I just wonder if the new portable scanner the 396xt is as good as the 92 and so it would be worth it to spend the money and have the added features of the GPS attachment option.

Or will it be like buying an old black and white tv (the 92) that receives better than any new color tv (396) ever will? 

That's what is holding me back. Would the newer uniden be as sensitive as my 92?

Joe B
-----Original Message-----
From: Doug Kitchener <oldsdoug at hotmail.com>

Date: Sun, 7 Jun 2009 11:28:28 
To: <fxpd614 at gmail.com>; <scan-dc at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: Re: [Scan-DC] Scanner Recomendations

I have both Uniden (BC-396, not the XT, and BC-796) and PRO-197 (RS, of course) and like both... I tend to go in the direction of base/mobile radios rather than portables but the electronics are the same.  Mike has probably covered better what I'm going to say next, I just skimmed his message, but FWIW... the audio quality of the RS unit is far superior to the Unidens.  I believe the GRE/RS receiver itself is a little better ("hotter") than Uniden.  I _think_ the Uniden covers one milair band that the RS/GRE does not (I listen mainly to public safety and haven't gotten dragged into milair scanning yet!)  I understand that the GRE radios come with the programming cable (but don't hold me to that).  The RS and Uniden ones do not.  For my taste, the display characters are a little too small on the PRO and it provides too much information that cannot be controlled through the menu (minor!).  And finally, the Radio Shack ones occasionally go on sale - they were $200 off at Xmas and $100 off at Memorial Day... so watch and see if they go on sale over 4th of July or holidays after that and be ready to strike.

I used to throw the 796 in the car whenever I went anywhere, but have switched over to the PRO, because the audio is so much better, esp in the vehicle application (road/wind noise and so forth).

Plan on possible added expenses for programming cable and/or software.

Soooo... I don't dislike any of the ones I have... you pays your money and you takes your choice!  Having said that, I think the RS one_on sale_ is the best value if the lack of that one milair band isn't an issue for you.  Money talks!

By the way - forget hand programming and I highly recommend the BuTel software - have not tried anything else tho so others may be just as good.  And I learned to program the Uniden radios first, so I find those a bit easier to program than the RS/GRE.  Also, you will have a significant learning curve for both using and programming - I found this very daunting at first.

Good luck - let us know what you decide!

Doug

----------------------------------------
> Date: Sat, 6 Jun 2009 22:52:17 -0400
> From: fxpd614 at gmail.com
> To: scan-dc at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: [Scan-DC] Scanner Recomendations
>
> What do you recomend? PSR-500, Uniden 396xt, or the Pro106?
>
> --
> Kenneth Fowler
> AIM: fxpd614
> fxpd614.blogspot.com
> http://www.facebook.com/people/Kenneth-Fowler/1524131853
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