SCANNERS AND RADIO EQUIPMENT

[Anonymous]

Hey guys, i would like to know what stuff i need to listen to cab chatter, tower talk, and train positions and stuff. Radios, scanners, frequencies,etc... how much does all it cost, and where i can find it. thanks alot!-Ben BNSF+UP+Cajon Pass=FUN RAILFANNING

[redflasher1]

I just bought a Radio Shack Pro 83 (Uniden BC92XLT) for $119.95 at my local Rat Shack store. An additional $12.95 for an ac adaptor. Uses 2 AA alkaline batteries or use your own rechargeables. It has a feature that allows the scanner to tune to nearby transmissions without being programmed to a particular frequency. It has 200 channels and is nice and small and light. I have many handheld scanners but this is rapidly becoming my favorite.

[spbed]

I use a Uniden I also got at RS. I was disappointed in it so after my last trip I returned it.

[Anonymous]

i have a Radio shack pro 82 with 200 channels and tune like the 83 for $100 and a mobile antenna from radio shack for $20 and it works pretty good up in erie pa

[chad thomas]

I have had many scanners. Right now I use a cheap Radio Shack job. It works for me. I recommend getting one that has 100 channel or more capacity. That way you can program all the AAR assigned railroad frequencys. I also recommend getting a antennae cut for 160 MHz, much better reception. Also I personaly don't like the internal speekers, they are too tweety for me, so I sometimes use a external 9" speaker. It sounds so much better, especialy when traveling down the highway with the windows open.

[Anonymous]

All depends on how serious you are about it, and how much you want to spend.

Chad has some excellent advice regarding number of frequencies in the radio and antenna length, but I recommend staying away from Radio Shack products. And if you are only going to listen to VHF (railroads, some police and fire), then I suggest getting a VHF-only scanner, as they are more sensitive to the frequencies, as they are designed for only those freq's.

I went to a local independent electronics store (NOT Radio Shack), and had a VHF-only unit hard-wired into my truck, with a permanent antenna mounted on the roof, and a nice speaker installed inside. Under the right conditions, I can hear hotbox detectors up to thirty miles away, with locomotive and tower transmissions up to 50 miles away.

The setup cost me over $500, but it sure is great when I'm out chasing trains!

[StillGrande]

Of course, if you just want to sit at home and listen to a variety of places, I highly recommend Live Railroad Scanner on the web (http://www.railroadradio.net/). It is free. You can get action from one coast to the other. Lots of choices.

[TheS.P.caboose]

I use a Radio Shack PRO-76. It has 200 channels, in banks of 20. I also have bought the California Region Timetable from Altamont Press. This timetable lists line by line all of the stations, dispatchers, frequenies and a lot of other information, ie yard frequencies, symbols of origin/destination as well as descriptive codes. The railfan timetables maybe in your local hobby shop, I'm not sure, or by visiting http://altamntpress.com they are in Modesto, California. The nice thing IMO is all the information it gives us railfans.

You're in one of the better locations, Cajon, in the state IMO. Enjoy the railfanning, scanner and all the rest of our hobby.

[chad thomas]

One more comment on programming.
I program all aar channels on one bank for when in unfamiliar places, but the sweep time on 100 channels is quite long and can sometimes cut off the first few words of a transmission. So I program the known freqs in my area on the second bank and use it when I'm on home turf. That way it almost instantly locks on.

[richardy]

Here is a link to an old scanner thread that has more information.

http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?page=1&TOPIC_ID=22940

[Willy2]

I have a Pro-83 scanner from Radio Shack. It has 200 channels and 10 banks that can hold 20 channels each. It's price is around $120. There is a lot more information in the link posted in the above reply.

[wcfan4ever]

I've got a Pro-94 handheld along with a mobile antenna along with a base scanner for at home. I also have a frequncey counter for when I travel to new territory so I can just program new frequencies in while I go. They all work great.

[kschmidt]

Greetings,

Depending on what you want to listen to. If you just want to listen to RR's I would suggest the Vertex VX-150 Handheld Transciever. It can hold 199 freqs and is nice compact size. Since it is a transciever and only scans from 140-165mhz it is more sensitive than most scanners that scan more bands. It also costs about $110.00 about what a scanner costs. You don't need a ham license to listen or scan. However if you want to use it to transmit on some of the lower bands you can get your ham license.

I have a VX-150. I really like its size and ruggedness.

Keith

[Anonymous]

My 300 Channel Pro93 does wounders for me,Darn good Scanner! I like it alot.
BNSFrailfan.

[csxengineer98]

you can listin online for free ...check out this sight....http://www.railroadradio.net/index.php
and you dont have to spend a penny...
csx engineer

[tree68]

Antennas are everything. If you can swing it, do get one set up for the 160 MHZ area - you won't regret it.

If you look real close, you might occasionally discover that the only difference between some RS and some BC handhelds is the case and model number...

I have a 16 channel in the truck for fire & EMS, as well as the two RR freqs I normally encounter. If I'm on the road either the 100 channel or 1000 channel trunking scanner (both RS) are with me, and some careful research will usually yield the freqs I need in that area. RRs are not usually a primary scanning target for me, but I do listen in, especially if I'm 'fanning.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention being familiar with scanner laws where you are. I don't think CA has any restrictions, but some states do, and some are more aggressive about enforcement than others.

[RudyRockvilleMD]

I still have a Uniden Bearcat BC 100XL scanner which I use in my station wagon, and I use a Maxrad antenna which is tuned for the 160 mHz frequency range. That combination works well but with the 160 mHz carrier frequency the reception is "line of sight" so the performance of the scanner and the antenna depends on the terrain and the railroads' repeater systems. I had two battery packs for the BC100 XL scanner, but one battery pack was always getting hot so I disposed of it at our county's ni-cad battery drop-off site. I like to have two nicad battery packs for my scanner, but the trouble with my BC 100 XL scanner is the battery packs for that scanner are not easy to come by.

I recently bought a Radio Shack Pro 83 scanner, and I like it very much since I can use NiMH rechargeable batteries instead of nicad bateries.; so far it does well. I can also use conventional alkaline batteries. I also bought a power cord for the Pro 83 to recharge the scanner's battery in my car. You don't have to worry about memeory effects when you use nimh batteries.

I would also second trees 68's comments about being aware of scanner laws. A few states restrict the use of any kind of mobile or portable radio that can be tuned to receive on police/public safety frequencies. That's the bad news. The good news is very few states restrict the mobile use of scanners (in your car) or the portable use of scanners; portable use means carrying the scanner around. FL, NY, MI and MN only restricts the mobile uses of scanners. MI and IN restrict both the portable and the mobile uses of scanners However, I don' know how strictly any of those states enforce their scanner restrictions.

[rrock]

I must second tree68's comments about antennas. I have an *ancient* Radio Shack hand held scanner (can't kill it). About a year ago I replaced the "rubber ducky" antenna with a tuned antenna (nominally 160MHz) from a local ham radio shop. Reception "distance" has more than doubled. Every penny I spent on the replacement antenna was worth it.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for everything guys!

[Anonymous]

Is there a web site out there that has alot of realy good Tuned RR Antenna's for Hand-Held Radio's?
BNSFrailfan.

[RudyRockvilleMD]

There is a good book about the subject of railroad radio if you are interested. it tells you what you need to know and more. It is called "Railroad Radio - Hearing and Understanding Railroad Radio Communications and Systems," by Vincent Reh. The book costs $19.95 + $3.50 for shipping, and it is published by Byron Hill Publishing Company, P.O. Box 197, Grand Isle, VT 05458.

I haven't read the wholebook yet, but what I did read was informative.

[DPD1]

QUOTE: Originally posted by bnsf97

Hey guys, i would like to know what stuff i need to listen to cab chatter, tower talk, and train positions and stuff. Radios, scanners, frequencies,etc... how much does all it cost, and where i can find it. thanks alot!-Ben BNSF+UP+Cajon Pass=FUN RAILFANNING

If you're like most people, you'll end up finding the radio hobby a lot of fun all by itself. A lot of people start out just listening to RR stuff, but end up listening to a lot more.

Dave

-DPD Productions - Home of the TrainTenna RR Monitoring Antenna-
http://eje.railfan.net/dpdp/

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by DPD1

QUOTE: Originally posted by bnsf97

Hey guys, i would like to know what stuff i need to listen to cab chatter, tower talk, and train positions and stuff. Radios, scanners, frequencies,etc... how much does all it cost, and where i can find it. thanks alot!-Ben BNSF+UP+Cajon Pass=FUN RAILFANNING

If you're like most people, you'll end up finding the radio hobby a lot of fun all by itself. A lot of people start out just listening to RR stuff, but end up listening to a lot more.

Dave

-DPD Productions - Home of the TrainTenna RR Monitoring Antenna-
http://eje.railfan.net/dpdp/

I only Monitor the RR Band and nothing else! Anything else is just BORING news.
Now that I think about it......I just wi***hat there where Scanners for the Railroad Frequency Band "ONLY" with nothing else.
BNSFrailfan.

[CANADIANPACIFIC2816]

Forget about buying scanners from Radio Shack. I bought a 200 channel scanner from Radio Shack a couple years ago, and I found that it does not stand up to a lot of abuse. You only have to drop a Radio Shack just once on a hard surface, such as concrete, and you will begin having problems with reception. In addition to trains in my area, I also listen in on our local police department and my scanner from RS will often cut out, with several seconds of dead air..........so that I often miss what the dispatchers are telling the officers over the air. If I ever get around to buying another scanner, it will most likely be a product of Uniden Bearcat.

[tree68]

QUOTE: Originally posted by BNSF railfan.
I only Monitor the RR Band and nothing else! Anything else is just BORING news.
Now that I think about it......I just wi***hat there where Scanners for the Railroad Frequency Band "ONLY" with nothing else.
BNSFrailfan.

That's the beauty of today's programmable scanners - you can go out and buy a 100 channel scanner, load it up with the AAR channels from 1 to 100 (or something like that) and away you go. Actually, since there are less than 100 AAR channels, you can always stick an EOT freq in there, too. A tuned antenna finishes the package.

If some of the chatter I've seen lately about the RR freqs is true, you might want to get a 200 channel radio, as they are talking about using narrow band VHF and doubling the channels within the existing space.

And - while I get tired of listening the cops go to yet another domestic disturbance, I still like to hear what the local fire folks are up to...

[chad thomas]

7.5 KHz spacing [:0]. Interesting. I havn't heard that. Larry, where did you hear that ? If you don't mind my asking.

[tree68]

QUOTE: Originally posted by chad thomas

7.5 KHz spacing [:0]. Interesting. I havn't heard that. Larry, where did you hear that ? If you don't mind my asking.

I think it was here - it's been a while. Narrowband is happening in the entire VHF-Hi arena, not just railroad radio. Any new VHF-Hi land mobile radio you purchase today will be narrowband capable.

[richardy]

QUOTE: Originally posted by chad thomas

7.5 KHz spacing [:0]. Interesting. I havn't heard that. Larry, where did you hear that ? If you don't mind my asking.

It is in the FCC rules Part 90.

[chad thomas]

Thanks for the info guys.

[TheS.P.caboose]

If you're looking for specific frequencies for Cajon Pass; 160.515 for UP for Las Vegas to Daggett and West Riverside to Santa Fe Avenue; BNSF - 160.950 from Barstow to Lynwood and 161.190 between Lynwood and San Bernardino. These are just the road frequencies.