Posted: 7/14/2010 2:06:08 AM EDT
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Dear HAM gurus,
I have been lurking here in your forums for the past few months and have become quite interested in radio in general. So let me provide a short history before I get to my question. I am a LEO and am issued a Motorola XTS3000 (or 5000), unfortunately as I am still a rookie ( going on my third year, I guess I'm stuck as a rookie until they run another academy) I have to turn in (share) my radio and car at the end of each shift. I am looking for a radio and/or scanner that would allow me to monitor radio traffic on my 30+ minute drive to work, as most of the guys I work with do to get a feel for what kind of night it will be. I also have a copy of our complete county radio frequency control plan. I need to find something that meets most or all of the following requirements. Wants:
As I have been studying for my technician/general license for a while, I suppose it could be a radio that I would also be able to use for more traditional HAM stuff. It's obvious, but I state it anyway, I am not looking to use it as a substitute for my work radio, I understand the legalities ( that basically its illegal to do so). I have a work radio and it will be used for its intended purpose. Currently I have been considering the following radios, for ham uses: Yeatsu VX-X series Yaesu VX-7R Yaesu VX-8 and even though its a bit out of my price range (xmas present?) FTM 350R Scanner?. BCT15x or BC346xt Hints help or suggetions welcome. DEL |
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If you are studying to get your ticket, just pick up the HT. You will want one anyway so just do it right the first time. (Though I suggest you just buckle down and pass the exam first. It is way easier than you think.)
I can't speak for the model you have listed but I have a VX5 that I've been using for about 8 years now, and it is great. Yeasu makes a real nice HT for the money. |
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For scanning digital trunked stuff in a handheld package, I'd get this: http://www.greamerica.com/PSR-500.html The radio shack Pro-106 is essentially the same thing rebranded and can be had new at RS for $400 right now. You can find them on eBay cheaper than that typically. |
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from what i remember the amateur HT wont pick up trunked digital so that leaves you with a scanner option only. Yup, amateur radios don't work as scanners anymore, so don't expect that. Trunking/digital killed that aspect, but a lot of HTs never worked very well for scanning years ago anyhow. Aircraft or one station listening, yes, but not much else. If the dept you want to listen to is trunked, then you must buy a scanner and you say digital, so it must be digital and trunking capable. All the new digital scanners follow trunking. You can still buy trunking scanners that only work on analog signals though, so be careful. And, even if you buy an HT for ham that works on digital, it won't follow a trunked system, so don't even try it. I think I've seen that the ham manufacturers make digital ham radios now, but I'm out of hobby so I don't don't much about that. I do know they won't work for trunking. |
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Misery, Thanks for the input! I guess ill start looking towards scanners then and save up some money for a seperate Ham rig. Any suggestions for a digital trunking scanner? To be honest I always liked Radio Shack scanners, but I think my only scanner right now (an analog trunking model) is a Uniden. I'm not at home, so I can't look. 
Just like anything else, some people like the Uniden models over the RS or GRE models better, but the RS or GRE units seem to be more popular. The GRE scanners are most likely your best bet, so I'd personally go with the recommendation for the PSR-500. RS sells the PRO-106, which is basically the same unit inside, but the outside is different looking. GRE releases firmware updates sooner than RS too, and you can't use the GRE update on the RS, even though they're basically the same unit. The GRE comes with a USB cable and other accessories that are extra on the RS, although GRE only gives a users manual on CD-ROM. I would go here and do some reading to be sure on what you're getting into: http://forums.radioreference.com/scanners-receivers-forums/ |
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In reply to using HT as a scanner.... I brought my VX-7R to a Nascar weekend. It was nearly usless. I believe its called intermod. Not what it was designed for so I'll be using my bearcat for scanning duties. Nothing like trial and error. Thanks for the heads up |
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buy a compatible moto radio on the used market. Ive seen mts 2000's as low as $250. have your county commo person or local moto radio shop program it for you. I believe this is the best option. Duplicate what you normally carry on shift, get them to program it for you and you should be good. The upside to this is that you can also transmit legally. Having a ham radio unit that does both would be nice but it's not really feasible in this case IMO. |
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In reply to using HT as a scanner.... I brought my VX-7R to a Nascar weekend. It was nearly usless. I believe its called intermod. Not what it was designed for so I'll be using my bearcat for scanning duties. Scanners get a fair amount of intermod as well. It just depends on the location and the radio. Wider receivers, dual or triple conversion, ect... - All factors for this. I've owned some scanners that were so bad with intermod that they sounded off everywhere no matter what I did. One was a Radio Shack and it would give me problems all over town with the duck antenna on the local police freqs. I took it back. I also owned a desktop Uniden back when trunking first came out and it would receive intermod on the 800 mHz freqs! Took it back after 2 days. POS. Same holds true for HTs or mobile rigs (ham). I've owned some that were awful (older Alinco and Yaesu HTs) and others that were great. |
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buy a compatible moto radio on the used market. Ive seen mts 2000's as low as $250. have your county commo person or local moto radio shop program it for you. I believe this is the best option. Duplicate what you normally carry on shift, get them to program it for you and you should be good. The upside to this is that you can also transmit legally. Having a ham radio unit that does both would be nice but it's not really feasible in this case IMO. This is nice, however, will his dept allow him to own a private radio programmed for their network? Will it work on encryption? Would they want it too? They may have a policy against this, let alone being able to transmit if you aren't on the job. Stupid yes, but nowadays you never know. Also, this will box him into only being able to receive his dept and nothing else. Maybe he wants to listen to aircraft, fire, medical, ham, other police depts, and whatever. |
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buy a compatible moto radio on the used market. Ive seen mts 2000's as low as $250. have your county commo person or local moto radio shop program it for you. I believe this is the best option. Duplicate what you normally carry on shift, get them to program it for you and you should be good. The upside to this is that you can also transmit legally. Having a ham radio unit that does both would be nice but it's not really feasible in this case IMO. This is nice, however, will his dept allow him to own a private radio programmed for their network? Will it work on encryption? Would they want it too? They may have a policy against this, let alone being able to transmit if you aren't on the job. Stupid yes, but nowadays you never know. Also, this will box him into only being able to receive his dept and nothing else. Maybe he wants to listen to aircraft, fire, medical, ham, other police depts, and whatever. I'm not looking to transmit ( at least on the department Frequencies) and I'm not worried about encryption, at least not until I get assigned a take-home radio. But it had also not occurred to me that I could also listen to City / State also. . . . |
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Theres is a guy in our squad that uses a Motorola XTS3000 to monitor the state's 800 digital network. The radio has to be programmed to scan for talkgroups rather than letting it try to affiliate with the system. Around here, if a radio trys to affiliate that is not approved, the system administrator will do an over the air stun/kill. Then it has to go to the Motorola shop for repair. They may let you have a personal radio on the 800 P25 system if the group you work for owns it. If they are paying a per radio fee, it probably won't happen. Then you will need the PSR-500 scanner. I would check with your radio shop before I paid $600.00 for a XTS that you can't use.
RS |