Scanner hunting

[Bluewater]

Hi all!

So Christmas is upon us in 6 short weeks and I am thinking of a scanner. However, I do not know much about them, or what kind to..er.."suggest" to my parents in order to pick up the Class I frequencies listed here:

http://www.trainwatchers.com/radio/roads.html

I appreciate any help I get.

Thanks!

 

[PBY357]

I Bought a Uniden BC95XTL about a month ago, after a little digging, I found out how to program the frequencies that are close by to my area. I can hear detectors from 10 miles out and train crews from about 5. If you need help, I'd be glad to. Also, what type of terrain is near you? Flat, Hilly, Mountainous... That is helpful. The BCXTL95 also can be programmed with 200 channels, so you shouldn't have a problem there, and like I stated before, ranges depend on terrain and weather. Hope this helps!

 

[Bluewater]

Terrain: I guess "Kalamazoo Valley" means something now...
Weather: Kalamazoo is a black hole for weather...it changes every ten minutes....

But thanks! I'll look into each

 

[SuperFudd]

I expect every scanner made in the last 20 years can monitor those frequencies. I expect you would be monitoring no more than twenty frequencies and I believe all current scanners have more than 20 channel. If it doesn't have to be hand held, don't get a handheld. I suggest an inexpensive plug in the wall type. You may want to invest in a external, as in above the roof, antenna. You may want to consider it's audio quality / volume.