Scanners: worth the money?

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NE933

Conductor
Joined
Aug 17, 2005
Messages
1,107
Location
Queens, New York
It's been over a decade since I owned one, and lately allways feeling nostalgic for a new one. But my misgivings and doubts stem around not from the price, per se, but the current state of bandwidth and the rapid re-assigning of frequencies to accommodate hi-def TV and radio. Also, Positive Train Control is on the horizon. Will any of these things make present scanner's pickup abilities obsolete?
 
I love my train scanner. It is a bearcat NASCAR scanner and I have found it very useful on my lD trips - particularly when there is a delay.
 
I love my train scanner. It is a bearcat NASCAR scanner and I have found it very useful on my lD trips - particularly when there is a delay.
I too have a Bearcat and use it strictly for Railroad Frequency monitoring; I took time to program all the AAR frequencies into the memory banks and simply tap in the 2 number frequency code to get what I need. Even when I'm not traveling I sometimes flip it on to Channel 30 and listen to the BNSF traffic and Heartland Flyer as they pass by the house; a Defect Detector less than a mile from me that keeps me updated on what is passing by.

All in all I consider my Scanner a well spent investment (about $90)
 
Yes, that's correct. But what I'm getting at is the the anxiety that frequencies will be massively changed when other things on the spectrum/bandwidth, like television (Verizon Fios for example has regular CBS, NBC, ABC, and HiDef equivalents -- the "LowDef" will eventually be phased out and this part of the spectrum might mess around with frequencies used by railroads, police departments, hospitals, and other things that scanners pick up).

Whether Bearcat or RadioShack or any other brand, I'm worried that in a few years all of these will stop working due to reassigning of frequencies.

Maybe I'm not making sense (happens frequently), or my anxieties are unfounded. The question i suppose is whether scanners will have the same access to the same numbers or will I end up having to buy a new scanner in five years.
 
The digital transition has already happened for TV stations, and there's no mandate for switches for radio frequencies. Most of the frequencies in the UHF range that have been repurposed (52 and above) have went either to emergency communications or cellular frequencies. I doubt there'd be much change coming down the pike, though I could be wrong.
 
Yes, the writing is already on the wall for conventional radio transmissions. That being said what exactly is the concern you have? So far as I can tell most US railways are still using the same frequencies for now and probably will be for years to come simply to avoid the cost of replacing everything at once with brand new hardware. Eventually it will switch over as economies of scale start to kick in, but for now a radio scanner will perform much like it always has, at least with regard to rail transmissions. Police and fire in major metros have long since moved on to digital trunking, sometimes with encoded or encrypted signals, but the railways don't seem to be in much of a rush, at least where I go.
 
Actually, your concerns are pretty valid-As of Jan 1, 2013 the current 2 digit AAR Channels are gone. As in no more. (in theory-more on that in a minute) The standard channels are on the 25 kHZ bandwidth. Many RR's have already migrated over to Narrowband (12.5kHZ frequencies) in anticipation of the Jan 1 date, and are operating on essentially the same channels, only different, on the 3 digit AAR channels. In most cases, it's the same channel, only "narrow". If you usually listen on 52-52, they either have already changed over to 052-052, or will on or before Jan 1. As I said, in theory, you shouldn't be able to hear them. In reality, this narrow band thing isn't giving the bandwidth space that was anticipated, and I beleive you will be able to still hear, it may be just quieter, or harder to hear a bit.

So, if you are buying a scanner, get one that's narrow band capable, as the freq's tighten up, you may lose the ability to hear on the current 25 kHZ bands if you can hear at all now.

Now, that said, I would NOT buy one that's just narrow band capable-Go with one that's narrow band AND digital capable. (I don't know squat about scanners, I am assuming someone makes them, since they are making tri-mode radio's now) Becuase the bandwindth increase they expected just isnt there with this narrow band thing, the industry is expcting to see a movement to force it into digital radio before too much longer, making this whole narrow band thing just one big expensive bad dream. So, if you're buying anything, buy narrow band at the least, and buy narrow band/digital/tri-mode at best. That should suffice for this round of changes, and the next one that will probably come within the next 5 years or so as a best guess.

And, lastly? invest in some good ear buds to go with it. Drives me nuts, when somebody has a scanner/radio/gamepad/igalexy etc on a train, without headphones! Those sleeper walls are pretty thin....Just my pet peeve.
 
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I wouldn't expect narrowband to be a problem for reception, except for the possibility of increased interference from adjacent channels.

If you are receiving on channel 66 (161.100 +/- 0.0125) - 25 kHz bandwidth - you can still receive a transmission on new channel 066 (161.100 +/- 0.00625) - 12.5 kHz bandwidth. In urban areas, interference problems may arise as two new narrowband channels (165: 161.0925 and 166: 161.1075) will be picked up (perhaps poorly) on a scanner set to Channel 66.

Mark
 
I had no problem listening in my scanner during my ride this week - but I agree with getting headphones for your scanner. I was about to kill the person in the bedroom next to me over the summer as their scanner was so loud all day and all night. I didn't mind it during the day, but it seriously woke me up repeatedly - even with ear plugs - at night. I think he must have heard me through the thin wall complaining after day 1 because then it was no longer a problem.
 
Yes, that official missive explains it quite nicely, and hits the nail on the head. It also points out that we've headed for a mess until it gets better.
 
I seriously doubt that the railroads will move completely away from the 16x.xx bands. Fire and police that have moved to the 800 mh digital trunking have found serious problems with reception inside buildings and other radio shadowed areas, where the old 15x.xx band could easily penetrate. Digital trunking has the potential to accomodate a lot of traffic with limited channel use, but will occasionally generate a busy signal when a lot of talk is going on. Not a good thing for an emergency or mission critical transmission.

A good scanner with the ability for wide/narrow band and vhf and uhf will likely be good for many years. That said, programing for digital trunking is not for the faint of heart.
 
I love my train scanner. It is a bearcat NASCAR scanner and I have found it very useful on my lD trips - particularly when there is a delay.
That's the exact same scanner I have, and it works fine.
I have the same scanner, although I needed some help figuring out how to use it. Alan B and tall Alan both expertly assisted me during the Seattle gathering and now I am an expert (LOL).
 
I apologize for bringing back an old thread, but I would appreciate some assistance as I am considering purchasing a scanner for my cross-country trip at the end of December. What is the cheapest model I could get that would function reliably? Are there any I could get for $50 or less?
 
The only radios that theoretically could work under $50 would be some of the Baofeng amateur radios that also can pick up the railroad frequencies. However, these aren't that great at working as a scanner (they don't scan channels very fast) and, if programmed incorrectly, can allow someone to break FCC regulations by transmitting on frequencies that most people can't legally transmit on.

The much safer (and better) bet, although a bit more expensive, is the Bearcat line of products. There's a basic one for $80, but I prefer the BC125AT for about $15 more. It can be programmed on a computer with a mini-USB cable, has the ability to label channels by text as well as by frequency (handy if you want to tell if the transmission is from a specific area or just for reference,) and is very efficient at scanning the railroad frequencies.

If budget is a concern, I'd look for a used Bearcat, perhaps on eBay or at a thrift store.
 
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I apologize for bringing back an old thread, but I would appreciate some assistance as I am considering purchasing a scanner for my cross-country trip at the end of December. What is the cheapest model I could get that would function reliably? Are there any I could get for $50 or less?
Actually, in the $50 range, I'd look at used scanners on ebay. I recently purchased a new Yaesu ham radio scanner strictly for my railroad scanning. The beauty of getting a ham-capable scanner is that the newer ones also have software available from multiple sources that you can program it on your computer and download it into the scanner! I don't have to know diddly about all the various capabilities on the radio other than enter a railroad frequency, indicate what 'bands' it can be received on (it's a giant spreadsheet of up to 1000 frequencies, 10 'bands' to subdivide as desired, I use 1 band per Amtrak route I ride) and that's it! I'm contemplating getting the basic level 'technician' ham license so I can broadcast on ham frequencies. The radio is wired NOT to broadcast on RR frequencies...pushed 'talk' and it didn't do anything to test it.

Although not a 'doomsday prepper', being able to broadcast in an emergency does NOT require a ham license. So, when SHTF happens, I'll be able to get information as well as broadcast 'HELP!'

Or, look on ebay for older Radio Shack scanners. They're quite cheap these days due to Radio Shack essentially going bust. I have one gathering dust.

edit: I almost forgot, be sure to get a 160-162 mhz (RR frequency range) tuned antenna for your scanner. Or, if you already have one, you may need an adapter for a different connection. They're all readily available online.
 
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