Scanners

Will be taking 2 to 3 long-distance Amtrak trains the next month ... Would love to have a scanner to be able to listen to everything thats going on but after that I would have no use for it...

So my questions are :

are there usedthe ones available if so where ?

is it worth it if I buy a new one I resell it afterwards ..? ( seems like a hassle )

is there a certain type that I would need that would accommodate the various railroads ?

Anybody in the local LA area I live in San Gabriel Valley... ( temple city )

where

I could lease / rent theirs ? I I would put up a full cash deposit for the value of the scanner and return it up on my trip... ?

Or I m open to other suggestions

Mike

Any scanner would be able to pick up the AAR frequencies (160.xxx and 161.xxx) used by the railroads, so you only need one.

If you want a scanner, buy one. . I love mine and take it on all Amtrak and VIA trips, as well as when I go out railfanning (which is seldom, these days). You can get one fairly cheaply, especially if you don't go for higher cost options like having 1000 channels or trunking. Amazon has a 300 channel one for $79.95. For myself, I wouldn't rent mine out. If someone is going to break it, it's going to be me.

I would second that and buy. I'm in NY so a poor candidate for a loaner regardless. The modern units normally feature a PC programming capability, you can pre load all of the frequencies in advance and go directly to the channel in use in the area you are traveling. OTOL has an excellent listing of radio frequencies by route, I usually print out the sheet for the rote(s) I am traveling. I had a Uniden Bearcat 75 which is reasonably priced and did the job, I now have a 125 which is a bit pricier, but was in stock the day I ran over the 75 the day before I went on a long trip. It works on rechargeables or AA (flip a little switch inside)

I also have a Uniden Bearcat Model? Its not very expensive so Id buy one. Use some form of headphones to listen. You wont get to hear all conversations but you will hear some interesting stuff.

I use a little Uniden SC230 scanner that I bought used on eBay for only a few dollars. Here are a few features to look for when shopping for a radio that will scan railroad frequencies:

- The capacity to receive frequencies of from 160.215 to 161.565 MHz. (This is where most railroads operate their main voice communications networks.)

- The optional capacity to receive the 450 to 470 MHz UHF band. (AMTRAK’s On-Board Service personnel sometimes use these frequencies to facilitate family and group activities.)

- A sufficient number of programmable channels for storing all of the frequencies you plan to listen to. (Believe it or not, 20 channels will usually be sufficient!)

- The capacity to lock out certain channels so that they won’t be scanned.

- A “close call” feature that allows searching for nearby active frequencies.

- A “hold” feature that stops the radio from scanning and pauses it on a particular frequency.

- An external earphone jack. (Wearing earphones is a “must” if you plan use your scanner in an open coach or other public spaces.)

Some might also want to add battery-charging capabilities to this list. I use disposable batteries, but make it a point to pack along my scanner’s AC adapter. Most AMTRAK passenger cars now offer conveniently-located AC power outlets for those passengers who want to use their laptop computers and other electronic devices at their seats. Taking advantage of this amenity can greatly prolong battery life.

Among railroad scanner enthusiasts, the general consensus is that the little “rubber ducky” antennas that come with most scanners should be replaced, since they are not optimized for railroad frequencies. I use a 12-inch all-band antenna. The output power of the portable radios used by the train crews is in the range of from 5 to 10 watts, providing coverage of no more than a mile or so. Since most onboard communications are only intended for other nearby radios, my all-band antenna is more than adequate for receiving them.

A good place to find frequencies for your scanner is to visit the AMTRAK Radio Frequencies page of the On Track On Line website: http://www.on-track-on-line.com/amtrak-freqs.shtml. There, you will find most of the frequencies used by various AMTRAK trains such as the “Southwest Chief,” the “Capitol Limited,” and the “Texas Eagle.” These frequencies should be reasonably current since they are updated on a regular basis using information provided by rail fans.

Hope this will be of help

Thank you.

Here’s what I bought the 99.00 one.

Do you think this good ?

I have that one and I like it, but I am by no means a radio expert. I used the cable and PC program to enter the frequencies for my trips. The radio came with a set of rechargeable batteries, but if you flip a little switch in the battery compartment you can also use it with regular AA. You should bring along earbuds or some other type of lightweight earphones.

Hi where can you find a case cover for this ? I looked everywhere

enter it in a search and many different choices and price points come up, I have no particular favorite since I don't have one....

The most important thing is the antenna, not the scanner itself. Ideally, one tuned for the RR frequencies. However, that is mostly to increase range and you'll be right on the train. I use the the "rubber ducky" antenna that came with the scanner that is not tuned, and I get the train crew just fine. Sometimes the dispatcher isn't clear, but since the crew has to repeat back the dispatcher's instructions, that is a small impediment.

Bottom line is the cheapest scanner with it's cheap rubber ducky antenna should work fine for you.

If you were buying it to railfan and using it to figure out where the trains were and where to set up, my advice would be a little different, but if you ever do that, just buy an additional magnetic mount antenna for your vehicle to increase range. Cheap scanners work fine for railroads.

Agreed. At the fractional wavelengths that are all handheld antennas and for receiving only, tuning isn’t really important.

Once you grow past handhelds or start transmitting, then tuning becomes relevant.

Here is a link to the Radio Reference site’s discussion group for new and prospective owners of Uniden scanners

https://forums.radioreference.com/uniden-prospective-owners/

Someone there can probably tell you if someone is making a case for your BC125AT or if there is a case made for another scanner that will fit it.

Cases? When the belt hook on my scanner broke when I was on a trip, I found a case for a point and shoot camera that works just fine as a holster for my scanner. Still using it.

Omg. I got this scanner, I can not believe how complicated it is ...

Yes this my first scanner, never would have believed it to be like this...

Very frustrated and disappointed

Once you get used to it, you will be fine. It does so many things it can be intimidating at first. Since you can identify what frequencies you want by route and location (OTOL has a listing per route), and you are using it for rail travel, just program in the rail frequencies for now, and you can even advance manually to the one being used for a particular segment of the trip. Don't get put off by all those bells and whistles that really don't apply in your case. They have value, and at some point in the future you may wish to explore and possibly utilize them, but that is not needed to enjoy the transmissions on your trip. All that hunting and scanning is not required if you already know the frequency that will be used for the transmission you wish to catch.

The railroad frequency band is also quite limited. One can simply enter the bookends of the low and high end then hit search to allow the scanner to cycle through all frequencies in that range. If and when it hears something it will stop. You can then enter that specific frequency into a set of stored memory channels to search, knowing that it is likely to have activity.

I don't know the particular set up of the radio you purchased. But, as another poster mentioned, once you ubderstand the basics of how thibgs works, it's actually rather easy.

Wish I were there. I could set it up for you in 5 to 10 minutes.

I was guessing they got the BC125 since that is what the showed the ad for. It comes with a usb cable, and there is free software available, a little spreadsheet, that allows you to input a specific frequency on a specific channel on the radio. If you put in the entire block of AAR frequencies used on your routes, in channel number sequence , it will be very simple for you to go directly to the channel in use in the territory you are in. Sometimes there may be ore than one active channel in a given location, as an example a very large busy operation like Washington Union Station.

ref5035 said:

Omg. I got this scanner, I can not believe how complicated it is ...

Yes this my first scanner, never would have believed it to be like this...

Very frustrated and disappointed

Click to expand...

Don't feel bad....I have had several scanners before, and recently bought a "simple" Bearcat 75, and had to spend a lot of time learning how to use it. One thing that annoys me is their apparent cost cutting, by combining as many functions as possible into the few hard controls. I especially dislike not having a separate sqelch knob.

It is reminiscent of modern auto dashboards, where you have to go thru several levels of menus on touch screens, rather than having simple knobs to do the same job...

One hint, when you input the frequencies, program them into the same channel numbers on your scanner as the AAR channel numbers. That way when the road channel changes and the crew radios "rolling to 36" or something similar, you can just punch up 36.

The frequencies published on OTOL are great and I always keep them with me on a train trip. However, bear in mind that the railroads change frequencies and the road channel change points with some regularity and OTOL is dependent on field reports to stay current, so it isn't always. Be prepared to go hunting for the right channel if the RR has changed and OTOL doesn't know it yet...and send an email to OTOL with the change

Thank u all. Problem is I only have an I pad, so I am unable to download this software it says I need....

Which from a Laymen, aka. First timer in the scanner world, the point I can’t understand why something has to have a software in order to make it work when you bought it it just doesn’t make sense to me

Very complicated...

I even took a chance and took it to Best Buy and see if they could program it for me and they said no they don’t do that.....

Uck.....

You don't need the software, it just makes it easier and faster than putting them in one at a time manually. You can go to a channel and program a specific desired frequency, and then store it. But it is tedious Maybe a friend with a pc will let you do it. It is really pretty quick that way.

I am an IT guy but manually programmed my scanner. Just didn't want to fiddle around. And you only need the 96 AAR frequencies, plus maybe a few station services frequencies, so it isn't exactly a huge time commitment. It takes maybe an hour or two to program them all in manually and then you're done. Probably would have taken me that long to install the software, set it up, and run it, assuming a few problems along the way.

If you got the BC125, the manual programming instructions are on page 37 of the owner's manual. Because of the multi-purpose buttons, it is a little bit more involved than with my scanner, but it is pretty much straightforward.

Thank you ,

I don’t even know anything about frequencies , etc.

just a plan ol non tecky type here guy here.

I really just bought this thing because I was planning a couple long-distance trips and I just didn’t want to sit in my room not knowing what’s going on if anything I’ll probably totally go on western United States States...

LA New Orleans Chicago Seattle California Zephyr Southwest chief sunset limited...empire builder ...

I really just thought I bought the thing I turn it on and it connected to channels never had any idea it would be this involved....