scanners

[pacer1969]

hi all i was thinking of buying this scanner Uniden EZI-33 XLT Air band Radio Radio Scanner.just wondered if it was anygood as im quite new to this.also what would i be able to listen to,i used to have a scanner years ago very basic one and could tune in to police enjoyed many nights listening. but now im told you cant do this now as its encrypted, and help please

[Andy]

Apart from Airband and Marine and a few small business users, digital is now dominating the bands. There's almost no point in buying an analogue-only scanner these days, as all you'll hear as you tune around will be digital noise.

[bigpimp347]

All depending if you want to take it out and about you're limited..

you can get a digital scanner like a whistler, but expect to pay a couple or three hundred quid just to listen to digital stuff..
or if home base get a retro Realistic 2004, 2005, 2006 or something similar, fit a discriminator tap then use a laptop or pc and decode digital via DSD+

or failing that all together, if you have a PC or laptop get a cheap SDR dongle about £10 use HDSDR or SDRSharp, and use that instead and listen from around 20Mhz to 2Ghz.

it all depends what you want to get from it.

what you can hear general results in what you buy.
buy a cheap limited coverage scanner and hear not a lot, spend money and get a scanner with no gaps or wider coverage and hear a bit more
get a digital scanner or laptop and maybe hear more..

but a scanner is only as good as your antenna and the antenna is only as good as the coax you use on it..

[Wayzgoosebob]

Currently I have two analogue scanners, Realistic Pro 43, and a 125xlt. Both are capable of receiving civil air band and more importantly, military air band. Where I live I have the benefit of Mildenhall & Lakenheath on my doorstep plus Wattisham and stanta nearby. My point is that these scanners are extremely useful to me for the mil band. As said, depends on what you wish to use it for and your location, a lot has gone digital now. Police use Airwaves tetra so no listening there. Bottom line, if you are near airports and airfields then an analogue scanner may well prove worthwhile, anywhere else then digital would be the way to go.