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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Police Scanners and Websites
Bill Gaither, Photographer, Assistant
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Galesburg | IL | United States | Posted: 12:25 PM on 04.28.09 |
->> I know there's old postings on this topic but wanted to see what people were doing and using today. I've seen websites people can use to monitor the channels and wanted to see what some of those are from different members.
Also, and more important, what are people carrying in their vehicles and on their camera bags? The Uniden BC-246 seems/ed like the title-holder for the line, and if so, does that still hold true? Recommendations?
Any feedback, links and suggestions are appreciated. Thanks! |
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David Harpe, Photographer
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Louisville | KY | USA | Posted: 2:35 PM on 04.28.09 |
->> Bill,
It really all depends on what type of system is in use in your area. If you have a a digital APCO-25 system in use for public safety you are really limited to a few choices. Most municipalities are moving in this direction, and after the DTV transition happens you'll seen a whole lot more systems move to digital for interoperability reasons.
www.radioreference.com is an invaluable resource for scanner stuff. They have frequency listings for all of the major metro areas, an active set of forums, and a pretty extensive equipment wiki. If you pay the subscription fee ($30/yr - CHEAP) you can transfer frequencies directly from the web site to your scanner if you have the right software.
As far as specific scanner models - I'm a big fan of the Uniden products. I recently picked up a 396XT, which supports all of the necessary digital modes and has a zillion features. There is an older model 396T/996T that is also popular.
Another popular line of digital trunk trackers is sold by GRE. The PSR-500/600 scanners are new additions. Radio Shack sells GRE scanners that are Radio Shack branded with minor feature tweaks. Here's a full rundown of digital trunk tracking scanners:
http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Category:Digital_Scanners
Keep in mind that when you go into the digital trunking world, it's nearly impossible to program these suckers without a computer, so always order the "optional" interface cable. |
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Nick Morris, Photographer
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San Marcos | CA | United States | Posted: 3:00 PM on 04.28.09 |
->> +1 David
396 is an awesome model and has been a workhorse for me for almost 3 years. I even dropped it in a pool 15 feet deep and it came out still working. Good luck programming though, you need an engineering degree to understand the manual. Cost me a few hundred bucks to have it programmed. |
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AJ Mast, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Indianapolis | IN | USA | Posted: 3:32 PM on 04.28.09 |
->> ScanAmerica:
http://www.scanamerica.us/index.php
If they have a listing for your area, you are good. It is limited only because you can not lock onto something, but for monitoring it is pretty good. Also a nice option for desk editors directing folks from the office.
You can also stream it to your cell phone:
http://mobile.scanamerica.us/
And if you do not have a stream where you live, adding one is pretty easy (and a neighborly thing to do) if you have a scanner in the office. |
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Tim Hynds, Photo Editor, Photographer
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Sioux City | IA | USA | Posted: 3:37 PM on 04.28.09 |
->> I use a Uniden 396T and I have it loaded with the frequencies for almost all of Iowa, South Dakota and Nebraska and have plenty of scanner memory room to spare.
If I have an assignment in Lincoln or Cedar Rapids, or Waterloo or Sioux Falls I can just push a button to toggle on/off those frequencies. It's a very nice scanner and should be for $500 give or take.
As mentioned, computer programming is a must. It can be done, but you'll drive yourself nuts doing it by hand. However, all the common programming software is Windows-only. I bought XP and did a Boot Camp partition on my Mac for the sole purpose of programming scanners and ham radios. |
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Kevin M. Cox, Photographer, Assistant
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Galveston & Houston | TX | US | Posted: 7:05 PM on 04.28.09 |
->> I've got a Uniden 396T in the car, 996T on my desk at the office and two BCT15s on my desk at home.
I've got an old Radio Shack Pro-93 and Pro-92 for running Unitrunker, which is a graphical program that displays who is talking on a trunked system and is unbelievably helpful, especially for identifying new and unknown talkgroups. |
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Nina Zhito, Photographer
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bay area | CA | | Posted: 10:25 AM on 04.29.09 |
| ->> get whatever a scanner buddy not necessarily in the photo community (radioreference.com) is using who can help you and with whom you can share and clone data. i was able to clone data from my old, dead but programmed rat-shack pro-96 to a new one. these things are so complicated to figure out and today's generation requires a pc to program. the signal stalking feature which picks up nearby freq activity is an interesting one on the pro-97, too. |
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Jean Finley, Photo Editor, Photographer
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Iowa City | IA | USA | Posted: 7:39 PM on 04.29.09 |
->> I like the scanamerica site, and I don't even use it for work.
(following slightly OT: sorry)
Two great calls from a recent "listening" session.
Call #1 - respond to assist injured man who fell off his bar stool at an establishment called "Knuckleheads"
Call #2 - dispatch reports two calls, first caller reports vandalism to a statue in the their yard - they followed the car full of vandals to a residence. Second caller - reports a strange car seemed to follow them home.
LOL.. only in IOWA! |
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Chad Greene, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Knoxville | TN | USA | Posted: 8:14 PM on 04.29.09 |
| ->> There is now an application called police scanner for the iPhone or iPod Touch that allows you to listen as well. For only 2.99 that's what I've been using lately. |
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Michael Durisseau, Photographer, Assistant
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Santa Fe | TX | USA | Posted: 9:57 PM on 05.06.09 |
->> Chad,
Is that the one from Juicy Development? |
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Jane Tyska, Photographer
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Oakland | CA | USA | Posted: 2:59 AM on 05.07.09 |
->> I use the Uniden BC-246T and am very happy with it...I found this site very helpful:
http://www.scannermaster.com/ |
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Adam Cairns, Photographer
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Columbus | OH | USA | Posted: 8:02 AM on 05.07.09 |
->> Emergency Radio from EdgeRift for the iPhone is a steal at $0.99.
http://edgerift.com/products/emergencyradio/
WunderRadio for the iPhone has a good number of emergency radio feeds in addition to an amazing internet radio station selection. It's $6.99, but it will let you listen to your favorite fm stations anywhere in the world.
http://www.wunderradio.com |
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