Scanner advise please

[TJKLECKNER]

I live in Ames Iowa. I have been using a Radio Shack Pro 97 1000 Channel Triple Trunking Scanner for the past five years. They do cost a bit much for the basic amateur and ham band radio traffic but living in Ames I found it quite useful when listening to city traffic and the Des Moines NWS Micron System around the Story, Dallas, Boone, Jasper, Marion, Madison and Warren counties. The local Radio Shack has it for sell for $175 and sometimes its on sell for less.

If you want to hear a sample of whats going over the airwaves in Ames? I have a Radio Reference Live Scanner Feed.

 

[Karen St John]

Thanks so much Jim! I happen to live just down the road from Iowa State University and they have some students that are amateur radio operators and also spot for Skywarn, many of them are enrolled in the Meteorology program there and I'd really like to be able to listen in on their communications. Stupid question, can I pick them up with a basic scanner? Sorry if that's a dumb question, total noob here.

I'm sure you can pick up the Skywarn, which operates in a fairly narrow range of frequencies. As for the other ham frequencies, I would check with the ISU amateur group and see where they operate.

 

[RWilbanks]

The state of Iowa is planning to implement a statewide 700 MHz, Project 25 trunked radio system within the next three years. Sadly, a lot of people in Iowa will have to purchase new scanners that can decode digital radio signals. Likewise, the city of Des Moines and Iowa State University are looking at switching to Project 25 technology by 2013. Therefore, any future scanner that you purchase, should have this capability.

Yours truly,

Ron

 

[Matt Tottle]

Yeah it has to do with the spectrum shuffle/rebanding. It's easier, cheaper, and more advantageous to upgrade to APCO/Project 25 than mess with upgrading the analog equipment.

 

[rdale]

Actually no... I just went through the upgrade process, and it was incredibly easy to update an analog repeater to a narrowband analog repeater. Iowa already has a statewide system, but to get more channels they need to go to 700, and that band is required to be digital.

 

[Eric Friedebach]

Years ago I put a Uniden BCT7 in my vehicle for monitoring public safety frequencies, but I personally never found what I heard to be of much use, and with scanners that can receive the new modes starting at $300, I question the value even more. Am I missing something?

Since Matt is planning on getting his ham ticket next year anyway, I would suggest a 2 meter rig with a decent antenna. With a good trunk lip or mag mount, the cost would be about what an entry level digital scanner would be. Plug in the Skywarn frequencies and 146.550 simplex, and you’ve got something pertinent to listen to.