Best Radio Scanners
Receives conventional and the following types of trunked channels: •Motorola Type I •Motorola Type II •Motorola Type IIi Hybrid •Motorola Type II Smartnet •Motorola Type II Smartzone •Motorola Type II Smartzone Omnilink •Motorola Type II VOC •LTR Standard •Project 25 Standard •Motorola X2-TDMA •P25 Phase I and Phase II •EDACS Standard (Wide) •EDACS Narrowband (Narrow) •EDACS Networked (Wide/Narrow) •EDACS ESK On the following frequencies: (25-512 MHz) (758-960 MHz) (excluding cellular telephone bands) (1.24 – 1.3 GHz) ". Favorites List, System, Department/Site Quick Keys and temporary avoid.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The reason to buy the Uniden unit is A) As you travel, the GPS feeds your location into the scanner and the scanner updates the frequencies it is scanning to those near you and B) because it is also plug & play. Mine arrived with the necessary cords to plug directly into the scanner, and it worked from that moment. You can connect the scanner to your PC to update the firmware and the frequency database from Uniden. I purchased a magnetic mount antenna on Amazon for about $30 (ASIN B004HM9RHE) and it works great. I have been told by the Ontario Provincial Police it is legal to have a scanner in a vehicle in Canada but have not been able to find the law on the books. For a busy dad, the simplicity is welcome and the Plug & Play No Fuss Ready-to-Use attributes actually let me enjoy the thing without brushing off my kids to learn how to make it work. It reminds me of the original Apple MacIntosh computer: A product so smart you can turn it on and use it without devoting hours of study to get it to function :-)."
"Nothing I could do would make it work. ***. When you read these reviews make sure it’s for the scanner you’re looking at. I’ve heard complete conversations on my other scanner (set for only two frequencies) that were missed on the BCD436HP because of the amount of time to scan through all the frequencies within 20 miles. The Sentinel software (latest version and USB drivers [...]) is used to really customize the scanner. When you plug the scanner into a USB port on your PC the scanner will ask if it’s a mass media device or serial. The BCD436HP comes with three (3) AA rechargeable batteries that are charged using the USB mini cable. I plugged mine in overnight when I received the scanner and it was pretty warm in the morning. The scanner also has to be turned off before the batteries will charge. While the scanner is plugged in and on it doesn’t use the batteries. You will hate this thing if you don’t understand that. I’ve read over many of the reviews and most of the one stars are people who expected to turn it on and listen to whatever they expected. It gives you step-by-step instructions and explains things the included manual doesn’t."
"I replaced the OEM antenna with this and it made a noticeable difference - Its a Diamond SRH77CA that can be found on Amazon for about $25 - http://www.amazon.com/Diamond-Original-SRH77CA-Dual-Band-Handheld/dp/B00K1JJWFO?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=od_aui_detailpages00)."
"In my area it's all digital and MPSCS is a huge network as well. You need to upgrade the firmware and the frequency database before anything else."
Of course, scanning the 32,000 available frequencies can be time-consuming and frustrating, which is why Uniden added such functions as Close Call capture technology, which instantly tunes to signals from nearby transmitters to help you detect and identify local signals, and a comprehensive memory that holds up to 300 programmed channels. Runs on 2 AA alkaline or Simple USB charging allows you to recharge your scanner's batteries from a computer, or adapters for many wireless telephones. Ten Preprogrammed Service Search Bands: Easily search for frequencies typically used by Police, Fire/Emergency, Marine, Racing, Civil Air, Ham Radio, Railroad, CB Radio, Weather, and more.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Nice unit! If you feel that my review has helped you in any way, please hit the "yes" box below this review."
"great scanner just live in a touchy area."
"OK but not a very good speaker only good for short range area."
"Doesn't pick up the correct channels for my area."
"Yes, it's an incredible under utilization for a scanner like this, but I'm providing a service to my neighbors and that's okay for me."
"Difficult to program, and small speaker."
"The frequency was too low for my area."
Receives conventional and the following types of trunked channels: •Motorola Type I •Motorola Type II •Motorola Type IIi Hybrid •Motorola Type II Smartnet •Motorola Type II Smartzone •Motorola Type II Smartzone Omnilink •Motorola Type II VOC •LTR Standard •Project 25 Standard •P25 Phase I •EDACS Standard (Wide) •EDACS Narrowband (Narrow) •EDACS Networked (Wide/Narrow) •EDACS ESK On the following frequencies: (25-512 MHz) (758-960 MHz) (excluding cellular telephone bands) ". Enhanced dynamic memory with narrowband reception and location-based scanning.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I left off years ago at triple trunking. Well not the fact that I got to upgrade and pay for it.,,,DMR, not that important to me. I was going to forward the ports, but could not type in the colon at the beginning of the app you know, the IP address colon the number Port you assigned it to."
"Living in central Florida, I can monitor service from both coasts, using a discone style antenna."
"I live in a rural area in Ohio & this picks up the Ohio MARCS trunked system phase 2 where as my old homepatrol 1 did not."
"One complaint (see below for important update concerning reliability) is that scanning digital systems tends to take a lot of time and can cause you to miss some local calls. Thankfully it's very easy to narrow down your list of scanned agencies using favorites (be sure you look at this because it is a great feature when you want to just listen to your town)."
"Extremely difficult to set up, and enter frequencies."
"One caution - do not update firmware or data files using Parallels Desktop 10 on a Mac - my experence was a total disaster."
"Simple programming with software, updates as easy as taking SD card out and plugging it into a computer, no lap top or cable needed."
"Im located in a die hard EDACS provoice city."
Best Handheld CB Radios
It comes with everything you need to get started in a hurry, including a battery pack for times you want to run the unit on six AA batteries and a cigarette lighter adapter for battery-free operation in your car. While communicating, a built in ANL (automatic noise limiter) improves reception for weak signals, and squelch control further eliminates background noise. The flexible antenna with BNC connector is easily removed for transport, and an external headset jack is provided for hands-free use. Display Size (W x H): 1.375 x .5 Inches. Power Requirement: 6AAA. Operating Temperature Range: -30 ~ +50° C What's in the Box Midland 75-822 Radio, AC Wall Adapter, Alkaline Battery Compartment, Rechargeable Battery Compartment, Mobile Adapter, Antenna, Documentation. Portable CB radio with 40 CB channels, 10 NOAA channels, and 4 Watts of output power.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The mobile adapter has two connectors. This way I could use the external power and the included antenna."
"Has a powersave option that keeps you going as long as your batteries can stand (I had to buy 8 rechargeable AA batteries seperately for the charger pack) We did have a few issues when on the far side of the park from each other, but getting to higher ground put us back in touch again (this was a mapped distance of 6 miles from hilltop to hilltop). I've had otehr small scale cig lighter powered radios and this one has been better in every reguard. I'd recommend anyone who doesn't wish to purchase and install a full blown CB in their personal vehicle buy one of these, the more people around you with one, the better off you'll be in an emergency situation."
"I may change my review after installing a real antenna but the range is very limited with the rubber duck."
"Also the NOAA reports come in Loud & Clear with the Rubber Antenna."
"It does not really seem to have a hanger useful for hanging from a vertical surface, such as my dashboard, but was more than acceptable for me as I prefer to keep it in my center console when not in use."
"Installed it in my new SUV and didn't want to drill holes or cut things."
"I wish it had worked because the size and shape of it was a perfect fit in my hand and I had thought being able to slide the battery pack on and use the weatherband in the house would have been nice."
Best Fixed-mount CB Radios
Style: BEARCAT980SSB. Wireless Mic Compatible - Compatible with the BC906W Wireless CB Speaker/Mic.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Looks great, nice bright colors/ display."
"Great radio but hard to find wiring diagram for power mics."
"Never could quite get a good clear signal through it but I'm sure that's 100% user error in my own inexperience tuning and nothing to do with the quality of the CB."
"Works awesome, great to talk again to the world!"
"Have yet to install it into a vehicle but have talked on one and they are GREAT!!"
"One complaint I have is that the annoying beep sound it makes every time I change the channel."
"P.S the clicking everyone complains about when switching channels really isn't that bad!"