A Good Scanner?

So I am in the market for a good radio scanner for either MTA Subway, LIRR or Merto North. Any suggestions (that wont have me taking a loan out)?
Also, being clueless when it comes to radios, can one scanner be used for all MTA frequencies?

TheKornGuy wrote:So I am in the market for a good radio scanner for either MTA Subway, LIRR or Merto North. Any suggestions (that wont have me taking a loan out)?
Also, being clueless when it comes to radios, can one scanner be used for all MTA frequencies?

One scanner can be used for all MTA frequencies (except buses). You just have to program them in.

Price depends on whether you are going for a portable/hand-held or a base station type.

For a hand-held if you are not looking to spend a lot of money then the Radio Shack Pro-82 is one of the best for the money. $99.99. That is the one I have and it works pretty good with some limitations.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... age=search

Note: in spite of the Radio Shack branding that radio is made by Uniden (BearCat scanners).

Check all the items on the Radio Shack site. www.radioshack.com

The keyword would be scanner radios.


What you hear will be based on many conditions such as:

At home: How high you are will affect what you can receive. If you are at street level you won't hear as much. I live on the 23rd Floor and am in the NE Bronx. From my apartment I can pick up PATH and sometimes Coney Island Tower in additional to the Bronx and Queens. For obvious reasons you would not hear any underground activity.

In the street: Depends on where you are. If you are surrounded by tall buildings you won't get much unless you happen to be near where a subway or elevated line is. If you are on a subway train that is elevated you will hear just what is going on in that area. If you are in a tunnel you will hear only those transmissions for that section.

One thing you MUST be aware of when using a scanner - under NYS Law and FCC regulations - you must treat anything you hear as privileged information and may not repeat it to anyone, not even post it on a bulletin board. You may not carry it or listen it to it in an automobile unelss you have a ham operators license.

Also if you go for a handheld, get a set of headphones - they don't have to be great ones. If you use it on the train you want to be as discreet as possible and not disturb anyone else. Plus in the event of a situation the last thing you want is to be mistaken for a MTA employee (with angry fellow passengers coming at you from all directions).

Thanks so much for all the useful info! Defiantly know all I wanted to know now
And yes, headphones are a must to avoid getting yelled at, haha. I work for NYC DOT and whenever I have DOT my radio on durring work, its always MY fault that they closed the FDR

Also Allan, would you happen to know how to program in all the frequencies into that Pro-82. It seems like the best one to me, for the price, so I am going to pick it up. The only thing left to know is exactly what I need to program in, and how to do it! haha. Any help would be great

TheKornGuy wrote:Also Allan, would you happen to know how to program in all the frequencies into that Pro-82. It seems like the best one to me, for the price, so I am going to pick it up. The only thing left to know is exactly what I need to program in, and how to do it! haha. Any help would be great

Info on programming the scanner will be detailed in the owner's manual. There is also information on the Pro-82 scanner available online.

Most modern scanners have an optional cable & software allowing you to enter in the frequencies using a computer. This makes the tedious manual entry of frequencies quicker and easier. But, if you only plan on setting up the scanner once, and then only occasionally adding/deleting stored channels, it'd probably be a bit of a waste -- most PC cables for scanners are in the $30 - $50 range.