Scanner for use on Amtrak trains

[gmushial]

There are many here that are scanner knowledgeable. I have a RS pro-405 scanner that I use to listen to UP trains coming into town - but being a base using, taking it on a train wouldn't be terribly viable (besides being 15 year old technology, there's got to be better choices). What I think I'm looking for is a small scanner that I can listen to rail comm within a train, btwn the train and stations and various automated switches/axle counters along the way. With the 405 and an external antenna I can hear trains 40 or 50 miles south of here coming north. The scanner for use on Amtrak doesn't need that capability (I don't think, though more experienced scanner users might with to correct that). What's out there today? Small, affordable would be nice, reasonable battery life would be nice?

many thanks, greg

 

[Dave Van]

Me too!!! I want one by my next trip......sitting for 5 hours in the dark, darkness and no info, will not happen again.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

The Uniden Bearcat BC95XLT is an EXCELLENT Scanner and can be picked up for about $100 or so if you shop around. I upgraded mine with a "stronger" Rubber Duckie and put in rechargeable batteries. Be sure to pick up a basic set of headphones as well.

 

[Ryan]

Anything handheld will fit the bill. I have a bearcat and a radio shack, both work just fine.

If I were buying one new, I think I'd get this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Uniden-Handheld-Scanner-Black-BC75XLT/dp/B00A1VSO9M/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1383700119&sr=1-1&keywords=scanner

That's from my usual shopping method, go to amazon, search for the product, look at Amazon Prime only and then pick the most popular with 4+ star reviews. It looks very similar to the Bearcat that I have.

Edit: I linked to the BC75XLT, I have the BCT95XLT recommended above.

 

[Swimmingcat]

I use my ancient Bearcat (walkie-talkie style) that still works well! Riding in Sleeper I can plug it in, but the battery still has decent life (I believe). I use headphones as well, except sometimes in my room I just keep the speaker volume down.

 

[TinCan782]

Scanner and handheld GPS are a couple of my "must haves" when I'm on the train. For strictly railroad monitoring you don't need a wazoo scanner with all the bells and whistles. A so-called "Nascar" scanner will work fine.

 

[cav1865]

On the Empire Builder, I always take my Radio Shack hand-held multi-trunking scanner, plus my Garmin GPS. A small 110v universal adapter comes in handy too. Great way to keep track of developments, speed, and listen to trains and conductors to determine what delay are, etc. GPS always is a conversation piece at dinner - especially train speed.

Train frequencies change, but Burlington-Northern is around 165 mhz or thereabouts depending on your location.

 

[TraneMan]

I have a small hand held one, I don't recall what it is since I let Jebr keep it for the rest of his trip. It was fun to listen to some of the traffic.

 

[anir dendroica]

There are 97 railroad channels, but only a fraction of these will be of interest on any train trip, and some will always have spurious interference. I find it most useful to program in a bank of channels (usually around 10-20) that are used on my route and then set it to continuously scan these.

Frequencies for particular trains are conveniently listed at

http://www.on-track-on-line.com/amtrak-freqs.shtml

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

I always print out the Frequency Sheets for the routes I plan to take and supplemented with a Timetable or good Railroad Atlas it is easy to figure out where you are at. If you happen to be listening at the right time you'll hear the Conductor call out the Channel change.

 

[buddy559]

Anything handheld will fit the bill. I have a bearcat and a radio shack, both work just fine.

If I were buying one new, I think I'd get this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Uniden-Handheld-Scanner-Black-BC75XLT/dp/B00A1VSO9M/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1383700119&sr=1-1&keywords=scanner

That's from my usual shopping method, go to amazon, search for the product, look at Amazon Prime only and then pick the most popular with 4+ star reviews. It looks very similar to the Bearcat that I have.

Edit: I linked to the BC75XLT, I have the BCT95XLT recommended above.

Is the one you linked to, the BC75XLT a decent one as well?

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Aren't the railroads in the process of moving to narrow band digital trunking or something like that?

I've been leaving my scanner behind because I was under the impression that analog scanners are about to stop working for rail transmissions.

Did I completely misunderstand the situation or is it just taking longer than I had originally understood?

 

[anir dendroica]

Digital changeover is currently mandated for 2018, though that may be a moving target. There are now "narrow-band" analog channels, with 97 additional channels added between the original 97 channels. My understanding is that so far these new channels haven't been used for much, and if they are used they can be picked up by a regular scanner.

 

[Ryan]

Anything handheld will fit the bill. I have a bearcat and a radio shack, both work just fine.

If I were buying one new, I think I'd get this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Uniden-Handheld-Scanner-Black-BC75XLT/dp/B00A1VSO9M/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1383700119&sr=1-1&keywords=scanner

That's from my usual shopping method, go to amazon, search for the product, look at Amazon Prime only and then pick the most popular with 4+ star reviews. It looks very similar to the Bearcat that I have.

Edit: I linked to the BC75XLT, I have the BCT95XLT recommended above.

Is the one you linked to, the BC75XLT a decent one as well?

I don't have any personal experience with it, but it's a bit cheaper than mine and seems to be well reviewed. I wouldn't hesitate to buy it (I kind of wish that I had, the Bearcat that I have was kind of an impulse purchase that I didn't research all that well).

 

[Dave Van]

Thanks all!!!!

 

[Alice]

I have the Bearcat BC125AT. I like it because it has a pre-set railroad band in addition to the bands I can program myself for particular trips. This is handy for the usual situation where I take a list of frequencies I expect to use, but don't get around to programming them. Or on a roadtrip I "somehow, unexpectedly" end up near tracks I hadn't planned on and don't have the frequencies. I got it about a year ago after the old-style (wideband analog) one I used to have had to be a lot closer to broadcasts to understand them. Street price is a little over $100, I got it from Scanner Master because they bundled it with other things I wanted and to reward them for support they've given me with over the years. Amazon has a lower price.

Any of these things, you'll want to read the manual before purchase, it can really clarify whether spending another $10 or $100 for a feature is worth it. I have a friend with a $500 scanner he loves, but I wouldn't. I was glad that I spent some time with it though because that is how I figured that built-in railroad band would be worth the extra $30 it cost at the time, especially since those frequencies get labeled with their AAR channel numbers.

I read somewhere most railroad broadcasts are now digital and narrow band, but not encrypted. When the broadcasts become encrypted, we'll all be out of luck. Self-described "experts" differ on whether or when that'll happen. It is a hot topic in radio forums but I don't hang out at any except when planning a purchase.

Ditto to what everybody has said about scanners being indispensable.

 

[MattW]

*SNIP

I read somewhere most railroad broadcasts are now digital and narrow band, but not encrypted. When the broadcasts become encrypted, we'll all be out of luck. Self-described "experts" differ on whether or when that'll happen. It is a hot topic in radio forums but I don't hang out at any except when planning a purchase.

*SNIP

This is incorrect, railroad broadcasts are still analog. They are narrowband transmissions which just means that older or wideband scanners won't receive the railroad transmissions quite as loud. Any switch to digital will be quite some time from now. The earliest I heard is 2018. Many railroads reportedly are buying radios that are digital capable, but of course aren't using that functionality right now. Some transit systems however use some form of trunking. Atlanta's MARTA uses a form of Analog trunking where the transmissions are still analog and I can pick them up from time to time, but which frequency each transmission occurs on is determined by a digital system. I think the MBTA non-commuter rail system just went to a full digital trunking system with digital transmissions.

 

[AKA]

I was just given an old Radio Shack Pro 23 model 20-504 by a friend. It works for local police and fire. It is also programable. Will it work for Amtrak ? Any hints ?

 

[gmushial]

Thanks all!!!!

+1 x10

 

[gmushial]

I have the Bearcat BC125AT. I like it because it has a pre-set railroad band in addition to the bands I can program myself for particular trips. This is handy for the usual situation where I take a list of frequencies I expect to use, but don't get around to programming them. Or on a roadtrip I "somehow, unexpectedly" end up near tracks I hadn't planned on and don't have the frequencies. I got it about a year ago after the old-style (wideband analog) one I used to have had to be a lot closer to broadcasts to understand them. Street price is a little over $100, I got it from Scanner Master because they bundled it with other things I wanted and to reward them for support they've given me with over the years. Amazon has a lower price.

Any of these things, you'll want to read the manual before purchase, it can really clarify whether spending another $10 or $100 for a feature is worth it. I have a friend with a $500 scanner he loves, but I wouldn't. I was glad that I spent some time with it though because that is how I figured that built-in railroad band would be worth the extra $30 it cost at the time, especially since those frequencies get labeled with their AAR channel numbers.

I read somewhere most railroad broadcasts are now digital and narrow band, but not encrypted. When the broadcasts become encrypted, we'll all be out of luck. Self-described "experts" differ on whether or when that'll happen. It is a hot topic in radio forums but I don't hang out at any except when planning a purchase.

Ditto to what everybody has said about scanners being indispensable.

Just as a sidenote: the RS Pro405 that I'm currently listening on: got it off eBay, used, for $32 + $11 shipping, ie, pretty cheap entertainment; and a pretty cheap foot in the door, which has now led me to thinking about having a scanner on board.

 

[Alice]

I was just given an old Radio Shack Pro 23 model 20-504 by a friend. It works for local police and fire. It is also programable. Will it work for Amtrak ? Any hints ?

Yes. There are several ways to get started. Scan everything, scan just rail (159.810 to 161.565 MHz), or scan specific frequencies you program. I suggest scanning everything to get used to the scanner and its controls, then program in specific frequencies for the trains or activities you are interested in. Here are the instructions in case your friend didn't include them.

Edit: I just looked closer at the instructions, this is an excellent scanner.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

When I got my Bearcat I sat down for about 30-45 minutes with a list of AAR Frequencies and keyed them into the Scanner Banks by hand, assigning each Frequency its AAR number. So when it is time to change from, say 85 to 36 I simply hit HOLD, 36, HOLD and I'm there

 

[AKA]

I was just given an old Radio Shack Pro 23 model 20-504 by a friend. It works for local police and fire. It is also programable. Will it work for Amtrak ? Any hints ?

Yes. There are several ways to get started. Scan everything, scan just rail (159.810 to 161.565 MHz), or scan specific frequencies you program. I suggest scanning everything to get used to the scanner and its controls, then program in specific frequencies for the trains or activities you are interested in. Here are the instructions in case your friend didn't include them.

Edit: I just looked closer at the instructions, this is an excellent scanne

Thanks for the help Alice. Now for the homework. :unsure:

 

[gmushial]

When I got my Bearcat I sat down for about 30-45 minutes with a list of AAR Frequencies and keyed them into the Scanner Banks by hand, assigning each Frequency its AAR number. So when it is time to change from, say 85 to 36 I simply hit HOLD, 36, HOLD and I'm there

I did similar, ie, loaded all the AAR frequencies... but for a slightly different reason: I had no idea which were the ones that I was going to find traffic on (and in fact the one or two listed on the web for this area have been dead and have found traffic on another). Now that I know where to look, I have set "channel" 75 (not AAR 75, but scanner 75) as the scanner's priority channel, ie, it checks it btwn checking each of the others in the list. Haven't gotten brave enough to force it to simply stay on 75, but over time if I continue to only find traffic on it, then I'll do such. ... though must say that: some of the old hand UP engineers have been calling their status back to the dispatchers for so long, that they have it down so smooth and quick, that one hears them - for all 2 seconds - and spends the next minute trying to figure out what it was they were saying ;-) .... but with time I suspect/hope I'll be as fast at processing what they're saying, as they are saying it (one can only hope).