I thought that this would make for an interesting topic. Radio communications actually helped spark my interest in trains. I personally am intrigued by radio. I know that several members are also involved in amateur (Ham) radio as well. Please feel free to share your comments, tips, as well as, any information you might have regarding this subject.
As for me, my equipment is as follows:
Radio Shack Pro-2016 desktop scanner
RG-8X coaxial cable
MFG/Hy-Gain 5/8 wave ground plane antenna, tuned to 160.500 Mhz.
Radio Shack Pro-76 Handheld scanner
If you want somthing that is reliable and recieves a LOT better than a run of the mill radioshaft scanner, look at VHF ham gear (good excuse to get your ham ticket to boot) or used commercial gear..
The problem with the standard scanner is that they are deisgn to recieve over a wide spectrum of the band. To do this, they are not tuned well to any one part. A properly cut antenna will help to some degree, but not that much. Scanners also have almost NO front end filtering, meaning that spurious emmsions (intermod) will run rampent through them.
Commercial gear, and to a lesser extent, Ham gear, are tuned to recieve only one part of the spectrum. This mean they are much more sensitive in the range you will find most all RR freqs. Couple that with a good antenna, and you will have a winning combo! Watch ebay and you will find tons of this stuff used, but usually in good condtion. I highly recomend GE equipment (they DO make good radios). The GE PCS or MPA handhelds are excellant, as are the MVS series mobile radios. Motorola also has good stuff, but it like buying NIKE shoes..you are paying for the name..
lets see..stuff I own...
Handhelds..
2 GE MPA VHF
1 GE MPA UHF
1 GE UHF..a older model than the MPA's...but i cant remember which one :)
a couple of Yasue HT's..one VHF 23R and a dualband
Mobiles..
A GE MVS in the truck
A Kenwood VHF mobile in the truck
A Motorola 16 channel in the van
A Kenwood dual band
2 Yassue FT2500's
Scanners...
A old Radioshaft 16 channel mobile in the truck.. cant remember the last time it was even on,,
A Pro-2037 mobile..
Other asssorted stuff..A couple of Motorola Spectras, a Kenwood TS690s for ham (HF, Six meters ect)
Portable handheld radio here.
Radio Shack(radioshaft) PRO 82 200 channel radio with marine, air, fire/police, ham & wx settings and also has "weather alert."
Bought the dadgum thing after I left my other radio somewhere on Cornishville St in Harrodsburg-->on the trunk of my car, forgot it was there :'( . It was regular something like around $100 but got the radio for half-->when there was a Radio Shack in Versailles(now out of business). I also have a telescoping antenna attached to it.
Quote from: E.M. BellIf you want somthing that is reliable and recieves a LOT better than a run of the mill radioshaft scanner, look at VHF ham gear (good excuse to get your ham ticket to boot) or used commercial gear..
I will second that. A scanner can pick up somewhat decently with an external antenna, but for the most part aren't really that great. I made the switch over ot ham/commercial gear a few years ago and was amazed at how much better the radio receives. Also, the audio quality was better and the volume was much greater than what one could get with a scanner.
QuoteI highly recomend GE equipment (they DO make good radios).
I will also second that. Radios might be the only good products GE makes. ;)
Here's what I own...
Yaesu FT-2800M mobile radio in the car.
GE PCS Handheld
Radio Shack Pro-89 Scanner (rarely used).
If your'e looking into buying some commercial/ham gear, here's a little tip. NEVER buy anything that's built to government specs. We all know that they go with the lowest bidder, so the equipment is usually cheap in more ways than one. The best thing to do is look for equipment that's built to military specs, as the military doesn't cut corners with communication devices. Looking for a Yaesu radio is probably a good place to start, as those are all built to mil specs.
I often thought of getting a handheld ham rig. I have some friends near Harriman, TN who are Ham operators. I've had fun playing with their equipment. Since the equipment I own now is sufficent, I don't think I'll be making any upgrades any time soon.
I've got an Icom IC-V8 hand-held connected to the Maxrad gain antenna mounted on the deck lid of the car. A lot of radio "purists" don't like the Icoms but its built to military specs and works pretty well (although I think something is messed up with either it or the antenna). I like the flexibility of being able to unhook it from the gain antenna, snap the rubber ducky back on and stick it in my pocket (broke the belt clip) for when I'm outside the car. These radios are cheap too, bought mine for $100 including shipping from hamradio.com