New scanner

[CoastStarlight99]

I am currently using a Radio Shack PRO-50 it has been very good to me for a about 3 years, and I have enjoyed using it very much. It holds 20 channels and it has really been all I needed while traveling aboard Amtrak trains. But it is a the 2nd worst scanner in Radio Shack handhelds with the only scanner that stores fewer freqs being a 10 channel handheld.

I was recently brough to the attention of the Radio Shack PRO-82, which holds 200 freqs and is a bargain, it is being sold on ebay for just $49.

I dont think I would need 200, is there one that holds about 100?

What about digital scanners? This would be cool, if it were under $100, does radio shack make a digital? Or only Uniden Bearcat?

What is trunking again??

[CRail]

200 Channels may very well be the min. I have a RadioShack Pro-95 which I bought a few months ago for approx. $220. It was quite the investment, but its really good. There are 10 Banks of 100 Channels which is helpful since I am a volunteer Firefighter and an Incident page dispatcher (for emergency paging to fire buffs and news stations), so i have over 20 freqs. in a bank.

I was recently brough to the attention of the Radio Shack PRO-82, which holds 200 freqs and is a bargain, it is being sold on ebay for just $49.

That is a bargain but it is probably very basic, (which is probably ok for you) and will not be trunk tracking, (again will most likely not effect you since RR's dont trunk)

What about digital scanners? This would be cool, if it were under $100, does radio shack make a digital? Or only Uniden Bearcat?

Not Sure, I dont know of any digital RR's either. Digital scanners are for transmitters not operating on a traditional frequency like most do, and cannot be picked up by analog scanners. These are extremely pricy.

What is trunking again??

It's Complicated. When talk groups (or transmitters like police, fire, or any other govt agencies that use trunking) would otherwise be using many frequencies due to heavy radio traffic, there are many frequencies somewhat randomly selected by a computer each time a transmitter "keys up." You will need a trunk-tracking scanner to recieve these transmissions but im not sure if the pro-82 is. I have a trunk tracking scanner but have NO IDEA how to program trunked freqs into the darn thing. I have tried and gotten no where.

The pro-94 at approx $150 has all this and is very similar to the 95, but does not link to the computer and other scanners. These also have digital wx standby which will alert you when there is any sort of weather alert or advisory which would be good if photographing on one of those beautiful days where a suprise severe thunderstorm is only 50 miles away.

Hope that helps...
Happy Rails!

[CoastStarlight99]

I just found the SC180
It is 100 freqs, and it is made by Uniden.

Its only $60 on ebay, but I think its better than the 82.

What do you think?

[starionwolf]

I don't know much about those two scanners, but the price is cheep. 100 channels should be enough for you to monitor the railroad frequencies.

If all you want to do is listen to the railroads and maybe weather channels, buy the Uniden 180 scanner.

Have fun!

[CRail]

sounds good. seems like a good deal to me

[CoastStarlight99]

I decided to go with the PRO-64
A 400 channel handheld scanner which does 4x what I need it to do. This should last me along time.

Thanks for your help guys!

[starionwolf]

Heh, I have the Pro-64 too. It's nice and cheap. If you want to use it at home, I suggest you buy an AC to DC adapter.

Have fun listening to the radio.

[CoastStarlight99]

Just came in the mail,

Do you have a link to where I can download the manual?

I purchased it on eBay and the seller did not include any instructions on programming it.

Thanks

[starionwolf]

I found a quick-start guide on Radio Shack's site:
http://support.radioshack.com/productin ... rs&Reuse=N

The documents under "Other Documents" is pretty good.
If the link doesn't work, search for item number 20-564 at radioshack.com

I'll keep looking for a real online manual.