How to Choose a Scanner

Choosing a Scanner

The first scanner I owned was a fairly simple contraption. It could scan 10 channels that were chosen by installing “crystals” for the 10 frequencies you wanted to listen to. Of course in those days a typical county might have two or three fire channels and two or three police channels, so that was just fine.

Today the systems that are used by public safety agencies generally will have dozens of frequencies shared by more dozens or hundreds of “talkgroups” which are the equivalent of what we used to call channels. Instead of the simple analog voice systems of the past, many jurisdictions have now moved to digital systems. Much like the conversion you may be familiar with from analog to digital TV, the move to digital radio requires special equipment that can convert the digital signal back into voice. So let’s look at what you need to consider when choosing a new scanner

1. The first choice to make is whether to go portable or desktop. Portable scanners look like walkie-talkies, run on battery power and can be carried with you everywhere. Desktop scanners also double as “mobile” as they are designed to not only work on your desk, plugged into your home’s electricity, but they will also mount in your vehicle and run off of your vehicle's battery just like your car stereo. They will even mount in the space currently occupied by your stereo, if you like. The sound from desktop units tends to be richer, since they have the advantage of larger speakers. Also you may find that the desktops are more sensitive and may pick up weak signals better. Also check for features as there may be some additional features on the desktop/mobiles in comparison with the portables.

2. Conventional or Trunking? The simplest systems have one frequency for each channel just like the old days. We call these systems “conventional." If you live in a rural area, there’s a good chance that your local public safety agencies are still on conventional systems. Also, if you are interested in listening to Air Traffic Control, business radio systems or ham operators, you will find that they are all conventional. Your state police or highway patrol may still be on a conventional system. Less expensive scanners will allow you to listen to conventional systems.

The next level scanner will allow you to listen to trunked systems. These systems share a relatively few frequencies among many talkgroups. The frequency that a talkgroup is using can change from moment to moment. You would not be able to follow a conversation happening on a trunked system with a conventional scanner. You would hear a part of the conversation, then the rest of it could go to another frequency and you would be lost. A trunking scanner will follow the conversation for you, changing frequencies as necessary automatically by constantly monitoring the “control channel” for the system. Trunking scanners represent the next level up in price from conventional scanners.

3. Digital or Analog? While larger agencies switched to trunking systems years ago, only some have converted to digital systems. The difference between analog and digital transmissions comes in the way sound (voice) is transmitted. Analog systems work just like your FM radio stations, whereas digital systems are more like satellite radio or digital TV signals that broadcast stations are converting to. You will find that digital scanners monitoring digital systems will sound a bit different than analog systems. Since the digital processing done on these systems is designed to make a true replication of human voice, often background noise will be reduced, eliminated or sometimes sound very strange.

The move to digital has been accelerated by the Department of Homeland Security’s effort to get agencies to be more inter-operable. The idea is to get everyone on compatible systems that can talk to each other. But we are nowhere near that goal yet.

Digital scanners are generally in the neighborhood of twice as expensive as an equivalent analog scanner due to the extra circuitry and processing power required to do the digital conversion.

4. GRE or Uniden? This is really a personal choice. Both are Japanese companies that make a high-quality product. There are no cheap knock-offs in the scanner world. Many people are loyal to Uniden as their scanners carry the “Bearcat” brand name that has been around for many years. Honestly, the company that made the original Bearcat Scanners is long gone, but you will still pay a bit of a premium for that name.

GRE (GRECOM) is better known for being the manufacturer of scanners sold by Radio Shack. GRE has only recently begun selling their scanners directly so they aren’t as well known. Of course, from a pricing perspective that just might be an advantage for you! The GRE scanners are usually a better deal than their Radio Shack counterparts because they tend to come with the accessories that Radio Shack charges extra for. And when you purchase GRE scanners you get GRE support which is outstanding.

While generally speaking the two manufacturers make equivalent products, there are some differences in features, if not quality. For instance, the Uniden desktop scanners have a somewhat larger screen. Also, the high-end Uniden BCT15 and BCD996T have GPS integration. When mounted in a car AND combined with a compatible GPS, the scanner will automatically choose the system to scan based upon location. Pretty cool for travelers. On the other hand, some folks claim that GRE scanners are more “sensitive” to weak signals and do better in digital signal processing. I personally think that either makes a great choice!

How do you know whether the systems you want to monitor are digital or analog, trunking or conventional? Just ask! There are many resources you could research to find the answers, or you can click on Contact Us, call or write and tell us what you are interested in listening to and we will let you know. Simple as that! And if you want a specific scanner recommendation, we can do that too.