help with a scanner purchase.

[BammBamm]

I am thinking about purchasing a police scanner but can't decide which one would be best for my area. I mainly want it for police and fire and a small amount of aircraft( I am within 40 miles of 2 major airports and many small ones) And to listen to the local hospitals helicopter. I don't know much about scanners and am unsure if I need trunk tracking. I'm thinking about a GRE PSR-310 Triple Trunking Police Scanner as I found one local new for $170 ish. Also looked at a uniden BCT-8 for about the same price but I like a handheld. This will be hooked to an outdoor antenna when used as a base and I am only looking to receive maybe a 50 mile radius,Is this possible? This will never be used in a mobile but I would like to be able to take it to work to listen while working in the shop. Thanks in advance.

 

[IMD262]

click the Choose a Scanner button.

http://www.policescanners.net/

 

[Mudfoot]

Yes, what you want to do is possible.

To really enjoy regional listening, invest in a high gain outdoor antenna and use the lowest loss coax you can afford.

Plenty of scanner forums online.

 

[RatsoW8]

I used to live in NW Indiana and worked at Midway. I listened to all the ISP and CPD freqs including the tac units, the airport, ground, approach and departure freqs on a Kenwood TM-V7A.

I liked listening to the CPD while crusing through the 65th street hood from the Dan Ryan.

 

[scout943]

Scanner Master - Police Scanners by Uniden Bearcat, AOR and Radio Shack.

 

[undertaker]

Uniden home patrol

 

[BammBamm]

thanks for the advice. I like scanner masters link to help me choose. I'm still not sure but I did my taxes this evening and should have it back soon so I need to figure it out soon.

 

[jopcobra89]

Living in the Chicago area you're going to want to monitor the StarCom21 system which is P25 Digital. Most everything around Chicago and Cook County run on it. You'll need a digital scanner like the Radio Shack PRO-106 or PRO-197. A "fancy" digital scanner like the Uniden Home Patrol would make monitoring this area a cinch, but they're not cheap ($450 to $500).

You can also find various scanner feeds of Chicago and the surrounding area on the net. They do a fine job covering most everything in that region. Go to the Radio Reference website and become a premium subscriber for $15 for a 6 month subscription to get access to all of them. You might want to forget investing in a scanner after discovering all of the feeds available.

 

[Mudfoot]

Yep, can't beat them feeds. Plus you can monitor them on your smart phone with appropriate app.

 

[jopcobra89]

Yep... I just bought an iPod Touch 4g and a Monster bluetooth stereo speaker unit and listen to all kinds of scanner feeds via wifi. The entire setup is small enough to fit in the palm of my hand and works great!