Handheld Scanner ?

[dominoc]

I'm in the process of looking for a small handheld scanner to listen to Police / Fire / Ambulance / Railway etc around Australia. I gather that is VHF/ UHF.. I'm not real savvy on these things.

I don't want to spend a fortune but am hoping to find something at around $100 or less. If it's a little over I'm not concerned.

Was hoping to take it overseas an listen to other emergency services in the US and Canada as well.

Any recommendations? I see there's a small handheld Uniden on ebay which may or may not do the trick. Again, I"m not sure what I need to be looking for.

Any help would be greatly appreciated..
Thanks

[dominoc]

really?

[X-Firey]

Unfortunately these days you may need to spend a bit more than $100.

A lot of the emergency services operate on VHF/UHF digital trunking networks both here and in the US/Canada.

I think a good unit would be the Uniden UBCD325P2-AU but will cost more than $100. I have one and I'm very happy with its performance.

Just remember with regards to monitoring Police. Most Police services in Australia use encrypted radio communications and no scanner will decode the audio.

[nirvana]

You may be better off downloading one of the many free scanner apps available to your mobile phone . I don`t use them myself anymore because i have a 396xt and only listen to local stuff,but when i was using them ,i had a worldwide app to access many countries and regions and services. No need for an antenna, just good mobile phone reception. I can`t remember which one i had ,but google it to see which one other people recommend for your purpose.


Nirvana

[dominoc]

Thanks for the help. I'm still looking. The Uniden UBCD325P2-AU is a little to pricey though.
Scanner apps, maybe.. I would like a receiver.. The cell phone reception in Australia is terrible compared to third world countries so use of the app is limited.

[X-Firey]

You could also look for a secondhand UBCD396XT or UBCD396T. Both these units do P25 Phase 1 digital. I think you would be better off with the UBCD325P2-AU as it also does P25 Phase 2 digital. You would be 'future proofing' your self for changes to these digital networks.

I don't know much about these phone apps. I think you would soon spend the equal amount $'s in data usage in a short time if you were an avid listener depending on you phone plan.

Best of luck with your search.

[nirvana]

Good point, X-Firey.

I didn`t listen to the app for hours on end ,but they apparently use about 1GB of data per 8 hours of use .

I prefer a handheld scanner over a mobile phone.


Regards,

Nirvana

[harry56]

Once traffic has passed West Maitland they are handed over to 130.1000 (transmitter also at Gloucester)

[Newy1234]

Once traffic has passed West Maitland they are handed over to 130.1000 (transmitter also at Gloucester)

What?

[Vkfour]

Once traffic has passed West Maitland they are handed over to 130.1000 (transmitter also at Gloucester)

Maybe you should make sure your are posting to the right thread.