Radio monitoring, worth it? What type?

[zephyr17]

I have an old Radio Shack PRO-75, and I would never ride Amtrak without it. I always wear headphones to avoid re-broadcasting the conductor's voice right back into his ears when he is walking the train (and to avoid annoying the passengers). I admit, though, that I can become a bit attached to the scanner (not wanting to miss something when I have it turned off), and that my preoccupation with knowing what is going on can sometimes get in the way of relaxing and enjoying the trip...
When there are long delays and the PA system is lacking in information, I can usually figure out the problem from the scanner. The question is then how much to share with other passengers. (Once they figure out that you have information, they will start asking.) I believe it is technically illegal to disseminate information heard via scanner (correct me if I am wrong), but in practice I try to use my judgment. If the problem is innocuous (waiting for a freight, signal failure, etc.) I usually share it, whereas if the problem could sound alarming to those who don't understand trains (e.g dynamic brake failure) I usually keep it to myself.

If you need to know what frequencies to program in, a comprehensive listing by Amtrak route is here: http://www.on-track-on-line.com/amtrak-freqs.shtml

My understanding is the same, that it is technically illegal to share information heard via a scanner. Not that I don't do it.

 

[pennyk]

I too, have been considering purchasing a scanner. My knowledge is next to nothing about them. I have been to the radio shack and uniden websites. I assume that an analog scanner is sufficient. Are 200 channels ok? Are there some scanners that will not work on trains? How hard would it be for a middle-aged woman to use a scanner? Do they need to be programmed first?

Thanks

 

[AmtrakPDX]

I too, have been considering purchasing a scanner. My knowledge is next to nothing about them. I have been to the radio shack and uniden websites. I assume that an analog scanner is sufficient. Are 200 channels ok? Are there some scanners that will not work on trains? How hard would it be for a middle-aged woman to use a scanner? Do they need to be programmed first?
Thanks

The site that zephyr17 cited in the last post has some great information on what to look for in a scanner on the side panel of the home page. I just got done ordering the Uniden BC95XLT from Radio Shack. They only have it on the web. Their web forms were acting up so I called and they did the whole transaction on the phone. There's free shipping until the end of the month. I'm looking forward to seeing how it works on our trip!

 

[pennyk]

I too, have been considering purchasing a scanner. My knowledge is next to nothing about them. I have been to the radio shack and uniden websites. I assume that an analog scanner is sufficient. Are 200 channels ok? Are there some scanners that will not work on trains? How hard would it be for a middle-aged woman to use a scanner? Do they need to be programmed first?
Thanks

The site that zephyr17 cited in the last post has some great information on what to look for in a scanner on the side panel of the home page. I just got done ordering the Uniden BC95XLT from Radio Shack. They only have it on the web. Their web forms were acting up so I called and they did the whole transaction on the phone. There's free shipping until the end of the month. I'm looking forward to seeing how it works on our trip!

Thank you. I just printed out the information from that site. I think I might order the same scanner as you.

 

[BigBlueBuddha]

I too, have been considering purchasing a scanner. My knowledge is next to nothing about them. I have been to the radio shack and uniden websites. I assume that an analog scanner is sufficient. Are 200 channels ok? Are there some scanners that will not work on trains? How hard would it be for a middle-aged woman to use a scanner? Do they need to be programmed first?
Thanks

I just bought a new handheld Uniden BC72XLT for just over $75 with free shipping (they're widely available for around this price or up to ~ $100 but no need to pay that much).

I absolutely love it. This scanner will easily monitor all railroad frequencies in the US and Canada. It is also preprogrammed to scan Weather, Police, Fire, Marine, Air, and HAM bands. Plus you can program up to 100 channels manually.

One of the best features for listening to rail is that you can have it scan a ranges of frequencies where you define the range. For example, you can define a range as covering 159.810 - 161.565 MHz and have it scan that range. This will cover every railroad in the US and Canada, including Amtrak. Therefore, you don't need to know specific rail frequencies to scan, just the range given above. As long as you scan that range, you will always be able to pick up rail conversations and detectors wherever you travel.

 

[pennyk]

I too, have been considering purchasing a scanner. My knowledge is next to nothing about them. I have been to the radio shack and uniden websites. I assume that an analog scanner is sufficient. Are 200 channels ok? Are there some scanners that will not work on trains? How hard would it be for a middle-aged woman to use a scanner? Do they need to be programmed first?
Thanks

I just bought a new handheld Uniden BC72XLT for just over $75 with free shipping (they're widely available for around this price or up to ~ $100 but no need to pay that much).

I absolutely love it. This scanner will easily monitor all railroad frequencies in the US and Canada. It is also preprogrammed to scan Weather, Police, Fire, Marine, Air, and HAM bands. Plus you can program up to 100 channels manually.

One of the best features for listening to rail is that you can have it scan a ranges of frequencies where you define the range. For example, you can define a range as covering 159.810 - 161.565 MHz and have it scan that range. This will cover every railroad in the US and Canada, including Amtrak. Therefore, you don't need to know specific rail frequencies to scan, just the range given above. As long as you scan that range, you will always be able to pick up rail conversations and detectors wherever you travel.

Thanks. That is a great price, especially with free shipping. Did you buy on line from a retailer? Do you mind sharing where you purchased the scanner?

 

[BigBlueBuddha]

I too, have been considering purchasing a scanner. My knowledge is next to nothing about them. I have been to the radio shack and uniden websites. I assume that an analog scanner is sufficient. Are 200 channels ok? Are there some scanners that will not work on trains? How hard would it be for a middle-aged woman to use a scanner? Do they need to be programmed first?
Thanks

I just bought a new handheld Uniden BC72XLT for just over $75 with free shipping (they're widely available for around this price or up to ~ $100 but no need to pay that much).

I absolutely love it. This scanner will easily monitor all railroad frequencies in the US and Canada. It is also preprogrammed to scan Weather, Police, Fire, Marine, Air, and HAM bands. Plus you can program up to 100 channels manually.

One of the best features for listening to rail is that you can have it scan a ranges of frequencies where you define the range. For example, you can define a range as covering 159.810 - 161.565 MHz and have it scan that range. This will cover every railroad in the US and Canada, including Amtrak. Therefore, you don't need to know specific rail frequencies to scan, just the range given above. As long as you scan that range, you will always be able to pick up rail conversations and detectors wherever you travel.

Thanks. That is a great price, especially with free shipping. Did you buy on line from a retailer? Do you mind sharing where you purchased the scanner?

I bought it from Amazon.com

 

[wisEBfan]

In addition, I sometimes take note of approximate location for photos, and getting mile markers from the track detectors is a lot easier than getting them from the side of the tracks. Some track detectors also give temperature and speed.

What's a detector? What info comes from them? Does the same scanner pick them up? How often do you come across them?

Thanks!

Here a recording from aboard the EB of a detector near Glasgow, MT from about two years ago: Detector Near Glasgow MT

 

[AmtrakWPK]

Since my wife and I both have "ham" licenses, we use hand-held ham radio units that are programmable and also receive rail, marine, police, ,aviation, weather, etc., freqs. They are also programmable by computer - using a computer program and a serial or USB cable, making it much easier to program them. I don't know, but I would imagine, that at least some current scanners have that same computer-programmable feature, which makes programming a snap - using the computer program on your desktop or laptop computer, you select a memory number, type in the frequency, and in some cases you can assign a "name" for that channel/frequency which will then show on the scanner when that channel is selected. When you have selected the channels/frequencies/names that you want the scanner to have available, you can save a copy of it to your computer hard drive and then upload the whole thing to your scanner, and that's all that is required. Our ham equipment has that capability, and I would assume that at least some of the computer-programmable radio shack, uniden, etc., scanners would have that capability as well.

 

[Alice]

I too, have been considering purchasing a scanner. My knowledge is next to nothing about them. I have been to the radio shack and uniden websites. I assume that an analog scanner is sufficient. Are 200 channels ok? Are there some scanners that will not work on trains? How hard would it be for a middle-aged woman to use a scanner? Do they need to be programmed first?
Thanks

Yes, they need to be programmed first. Yes, a middle aged-woman can do it because I am and did. Just follow the directions in the manual.

 

[pennyk]

I too, have been considering purchasing a scanner. My knowledge is next to nothing about them. I have been to the radio shack and uniden websites. I assume that an analog scanner is sufficient. Are 200 channels ok? Are there some scanners that will not work on trains? How hard would it be for a middle-aged woman to use a scanner? Do they need to be programmed first?
Thanks

I just bought a new handheld Uniden BC72XLT for just over $75 with free shipping (they're widely available for around this price or up to ~ $100 but no need to pay that much).

I absolutely love it. This scanner will easily monitor all railroad frequencies in the US and Canada. It is also preprogrammed to scan Weather, Police, Fire, Marine, Air, and HAM bands. Plus you can program up to 100 channels manually.

One of the best features for listening to rail is that you can have it scan a ranges of frequencies where you define the range. For example, you can define a range as covering 159.810 - 161.565 MHz and have it scan that range. This will cover every railroad in the US and Canada, including Amtrak. Therefore, you don't need to know specific rail frequencies to scan, just the range given above. As long as you scan that range, you will always be able to pick up rail conversations and detectors wherever you travel.

Thanks. That is a great price, especially with free shipping. Did you buy on line from a retailer? Do you mind sharing where you purchased the scanner?

I bought it from Amazon.com

Thanks again. I just ordered one from Amazon.com with free shipping. I should receive it before my short trip scheduled for 9/11 - 9/15 (Orl-Was and back).

Alice, thank you for your feedback that a middle-aged woman can program the scanner. I hope I am up to it. (If not, I will ask someone in their 20's to help me). :lol:

 

[MattinCT]

Thanks again. I just ordered one from Amazon.com with free shipping. I should receive it before my short trip scheduled for 9/11 - 9/15 (Orl-Was and back).Alice, thank you for your feedback that a middle-aged woman can program the scanner. I hope I am up to it. (If not, I will ask someone in their 20's to help me). :lol:

Hey, pennyk,

How did the programing go? Is the scanner everything you'd hoped for? I think I'm going to buy one for my upcoming trip and wanted to know how you liked it.

 

[the_traveler]

I'm a little late to the party (so what's new :lol: ), but I too have the Uniden BC95XLT from Radio Shack. And best of all, Radio Shack is on Points for Shopping! So you can get a scanner AND earn AGR points too!

 

[MattinCT]

I'm a little late to the party (so what's new :lol: ), but I too have the Uniden BC95XLT from Radio Shack. And best of all, Radio Shack is on Points for Shopping! So you can get a scanner AND earn AGR points too!

Do you think its worth the extra $55 to get the BC95XLT over the BC72XLT?

 

[the_traveler]

I don't know, but I just looked at the Radio Shack site.

The BC72XLT is available for $99.99 and the BC95XLT is available for $129.99. You get 100 more channels that can be programmed - and 30 more AGR points!

Also, both include FREE SHIPPING!

 

[PetalumaLoco]

I'm a little late to the party (so what's new :lol: ), but I too have the Uniden BC95XLT from Radio Shack. And best of all, Radio Shack is on Points for Shopping! So you can get a scanner AND earn AGR points too!

Do you think its worth the extra $55 to get the BC95XLT over the BC72XLT?

The diif in price is $75 to $99 at amazon.com.

 

[MattinCT]

I'm a little late to the party (so what's new :lol: ), but I too have the Uniden BC95XLT from Radio Shack. And best of all, Radio Shack is on Points for Shopping! So you can get a scanner AND earn AGR points too!

Do you think its worth the extra $55 to get the BC95XLT over the BC72XLT?

The diif in price is $75 to $99 at amazon.com.

This is what I'm seeing on Amazon: BC95XLT and BC72XLT

I can't find the $99 price :blink:

 

[PetalumaLoco]

I'm a little late to the party (so what's new :lol: ), but I too have the Uniden BC95XLT from Radio Shack. And best of all, Radio Shack is on Points for Shopping! So you can get a scanner AND earn AGR points too!

Do you think its worth the extra $55 to get the BC95XLT over the BC72XLT?

The diif in price is $75 to $99 at amazon.com.

This is what I'm seeing on Amazon: BC95XLT and BC72XLT

I can't find the $99 price :blink:

BC95XLT

I have this one, no complaints.

 

[caravanman]

It is quite a while since my old collection of Radio Ham gear was used. The picture shows me around 1967, all the equipment used tubes, not semi conductors!

Not too portable, although the "19 Set" ex army transciever did have a short range vhf section. I guess I might leave this lot at home.. it only works on 250v anyway!

Ed.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

I hate to resurrect a dead horse, but I am back in the market for a scanner, as I managed to lose my Pro 94 the other day. I actually bought it used, and have been pleased with it, although I have only used it for rail and occasional air traffic monitoring. I never even bothered with trying to figure out what the Dual Trunking was all about. With all the good comments I have heard on the Uniden BC95XLT, I am wondering if I should switch to that unit or pick up another 94 off of eBay. One of my main concerns is getting best reception possible.

Any comments would be greatly appreciated!

 

[PetalumaLoco]

I hate to resurrect a dead horse, but I am back in the market for a scanner, as I managed to lose my Pro 94 the other day. I actually bought it used, and have been pleased with it, although I have only used it for rail and occasional air traffic monitoring. I never even bothered with trying to figure out what the Dual Trunking was all about. With all the good comments I have heard on the Uniden BC95XLT, I am wondering if I should switch to that unit or pick up another 94 off of eBay. One of my main concerns is getting best reception possible.
Any comments would be greatly appreciated!

I have no complaints with my 95, but I've never used anything else. I'm happy with the reception.

 

[Bierboy]

I hate to resurrect a dead horse, but I am back in the market for a scanner, as I managed to lose my Pro 94 the other day. I actually bought it used, and have been pleased with it, although I have only used it for rail and occasional air traffic monitoring. I never even bothered with trying to figure out what the Dual Trunking was all about. With all the good comments I have heard on the Uniden BC95XLT, I am wondering if I should switch to that unit or pick up another 94 off of eBay. One of my main concerns is getting best reception possible.
Any comments would be greatly appreciated!

I have no complaints with my 95, but I've never used anything else. I'm happy with the reception.

I'm in the same boat...I have the 95 and have used it on several train trips with no complaints.

 

[DET63]

I'm a little late to the party (so what's new :lol: ), but I too have the Uniden BC95XLT from Radio Shack. And best of all, Radio Shack is on Points for Shopping! So you can get a scanner AND earn AGR points too!

Do you think its worth the extra $55 to get the BC95XLT over the BC72XLT?

The diif in price is $75 to $99 at amazon.com.

Yeah, but do you get AGR points with Amazon?