Red Wave Radio

Hey all,
        I was wondering if anyone can help me with scanners.  I rented
one at the track this year at Dover and loved it so I figured that I
should get one for Christmas because I'm going to Daytona for the
first time ever this year.  Does anyone know what the best scanner
is??  Uniden, radio shack or RCA.  I got one from radio shack today
that was listed at $379, but I got it at $179.  It is called the
PRO-60 and has 200 channels (1-100 for winston cup, and 101-200 for
busch) and carries frequencies up to 999.9875 MHZ.  Are radio shack
scanners reliable and has anyone had problems with them??  The guy at
radio shack said that the uniden scanners were piles of junk, and he
said that the nascar fans he sold to returned the unidens for a
radioshack version.  I know a radio shack salesman said this and they
work on commission, but is it true??  Also, should I get the short,
stubby antenna instead of the 6 inch one??  Also, what does "audio
modified"  mean.  The salesman had no idea, and the box or booklet of
this scanner does not mention it.  Can radio shack "audio modify" it
if I wanted??  Finally, I've heard there is bleedover at some tracks,
is there a certain option on a scanner that would prevent this??  I
know these are a lot of questions, and I'm sure I'll have some more
eventually, but I don't want to get screwed.  I appreciate any info
any of you out there can give me.  

                                          Brian Bilodeau

Basicly sounds like you bought a decent scanner, and I would be leary of
of the salesman that you spoke to.

--
CHARLES SIMMONT ICP509/DISPATCHER
INCIDENT COMMAND PAGE OF ARIZONA
ARIZONA'S PUBLIC SAFETY INCIDENT NOTIFICATION SYSTEM
http://www.getnet.com/~n7qyk/icp.html

OTHER NOTIFICATION SYSTEMS
http://www.getnet.com/~n7qyk/icp/other.html

** The opinions expressed are my own, and not those of ICP unless
otherwise stated **

-> scanners reliable and has anyone had problems with them??  The guy at
-> radio shack said that the uniden scanners were piles of junk, and he
-> said that the nascar fans he sold to returned the unidens for a
-> radioshack version.  I know a radio shack salesman said this and they
-> work on commission, but is it true??

 Typical  RS Salesmen BS. In Fact UNIDEN  is the Manfacturer of the two
Latest Trunk Tracker Radio Shack scanners so I don't think the Corporate
Headquartes would agree with him. And neither would mulit-thousands of
Uniden(Bearcat) Scanner users.

->  Also, should I get the short, stubby antenna instead of the 6 inch
->  one??                            

    No longer is better basicly on a Hand held scanner. Unless you are
snooping where yuo are not wanted and want to hide. :-)

Strong signals,
Rich Wells  N2MCA  http://www.qsl.net/n2mca/
New Users FAQ : http://www.qsl.net/n2mca/NEW_USER.HTM
North Carolina editor for The Scanner Club

Hi Brian,
   I've used my RS Pro-34 at both Dover and Pocono with a 8" *** duck
with no problems.  A good set of Headphones is a must at the shorter tracks.
I guess your purchase is a good one.  Price wise anyway.  Also GRE and
Uniden make scanners for RS, so the guy at RS doesn't know his hole from an
ass in the ground.

Ron

: is??  Uniden, radio shack or RCA.  I got one from radio shack today
: that was listed at $379, but I got it at $179.  It is called the
: PRO-60 and has 200 channels (1-100 for winston cup, and 101-200 for
: busch) and carries frequencies up to 999.9875 MHZ.  Are radio shack
: scanners reliable and has anyone had problems with them??  The guy at

My primary scanner is a Pro-60 and I've been very happy with it.  Not
much intereference from images, and the battery usage is fine - despite
many people saying that they suck batteries down.  :)

: work on commission, but is it true??  Also, should I get the short,
: stubby antenna instead of the 6 inch one??

For Nascar use, I don't think the antenna will really matter that much -
you will be so close to all the transmissions, you are likely to pick it
up well with either kind.

: Also, what does "audio
: modified"  mean.  The salesman had no idea, and the box or booklet of
: this scanner does not mention it.  Can radio shack "audio modify" it
: if I wanted??

While I am not sure about that term, headphones are definitely a must at
a race.  And I mean the full covering "earmuff" type headphones.  :)

:  Finally, I've heard there is bleedover at some tracks,
: is there a certain option on a scanner that would prevent this??  

The Pro-60 is a triple conversion scanner, which is supposed to really
cut back on image interference.  I think you will be a happy with it.

--

First Radio Shack & Uniden make good scanners.There are always some lemons.
Get a set of good headphones like you probably rented
at the track.
Get a stubby antenna.The reason for this is to pick up
only the cars and not the police and fire dept's around
the track.You don't want to pull in all the signal from
far away.
Audio mod is where they increase headphone jack output.I don't know how to do
your's.Check some of
the mod sites or ask at the track.There are a couple of
scanner dealers at the track that may be able to perform the mod,

Good luck  
Enjoy Daytona
Robert

Quote:> Brian,
>    With regards to using your scanner at the races, you should use
> the short stubby antennas so that you only get signals from the
> local area, which will hopefully be your car & pit crew comms,
> and avoid strong overload from pagers, etc in the 460s MHz.

> Strong signals,
> Rich Wells  N2MCA  http://www.qsl.net/n2mca/
> New Users FAQ : http://www.qsl.net/n2mca/NEW_USER.HTM
> North Carolina editor for The Scanner Club

Hello All,
     I used my radio shack Pro-51 at the new California speedway at
Fontana, California. I found by talking to other scanner enthusiast as
well as the vendors that rent listening equipment that NO antenna
works best as we are so close to the action an antenna will pick up
TOO MUCH. I went on four occasions and removed the antenna every time
with excellent results. Hope this helps.
     Also I have learned that it is more enjoyable to use a 25db or
preferably a 50db noise reducing headset as after a couple of hours of
the listening as the annoying clip at the end of each transmission
just becomes too much...
Neal
Anaheim,California
P.S. If you visit Disneyland anytime soon,Bring your radio,460.050(APD
GREEN) it has some of the best dispatchers and action around including
a fleet of hilocopters seven days a week.

 >For Nascar use, I don't think the antenna will really matter that
much -

Quote:>you will be so close to all the transmissions, you are likely to pick it
>up well with either kind.

Rob,

Quote:>I agree that running a transmiter without an antenna will cause harm to the finals but with a receive only scanner there should be no problem or else my scanner would have exhibited detrimental effects already.

Quote:>Also, should I get the short,
>stubby antenna instead of the 6 inch one??

Quote:>Also, what does "audio
>modified"  mean.  The salesman had no idea, and the box or booklet of
>this scanner does not mention it.  Can radio shack "audio modify" it
>if I wanted??

Quote:> Finally, I've heard there is bleedover at some tracks,
>is there a certain option on a scanner that would prevent this??  I
>know these are a lot of questions, and I'm sure I'll have some more
>eventually, but I don't want to get screwed.  I appreciate any info
>any of you out there can give me.  

Chickcharn AT aol DOT com

Quote:

>                                          Brian Bilodeau

I use a scanner at Atlanta Winston Cup races twice a year.  I found it
works best with NO antenna.  You're so close you don't need one and if
you do use one, you get bleedover from cellphones etc.  Make sure the
scanner you get has 800 MHz since most of the drivers are there.  Also,
you need good, noise reducing headphones to avoid damaging your hearing
by turning the radio too loud so you can hear it over the track noise.

says...

Quote:

> Hey all,
>    I was wondering if anyone can help me with scanners.  I rented
> one at the track this year at Dover and loved it so I figured that I
> should get one for Christmas because I'm going to Daytona for the
> first time ever this year.  Does anyone know what the best scanner
> is??  Uniden, radio shack or RCA.  I got one from radio shack today
> that was listed at $379, but I got it at $179.  It is called the
> PRO-60 and has 200 channels (1-100 for winston cup, and 101-200 for
> busch) and carries frequencies up to 999.9875 MHZ.  Are radio shack
> scanners reliable and has anyone had problems with them??  The guy at
> radio shack said that the uniden scanners were piles of junk, and he
> said that the nascar fans he sold to returned the unidens for a
> radioshack version.  I know a radio shack salesman said this and they
> work on commission, but is it true??  Also, should I get the short,
> stubby antenna instead of the 6 inch one??  Also, what does "audio
> modified"  mean.  The salesman had no idea, and the box or booklet of
> this scanner does not mention it.  Can radio shack "audio modify" it
> if I wanted??  Finally, I've heard there is bleedover at some tracks,
> is there a certain option on a scanner that would prevent this??  I
> know these are a lot of questions, and I'm sure I'll have some more
> eventually, but I don't want to get screwed.  I appreciate any info
> any of you out there can give me.  

>                                           Brian Bilodeau

: well as the vendors that rent listening equipment that NO antenna
: works best as we are so close to the action an antenna will pick up
: TOO MUCH. I went on four occasions and removed the antenna every time
: with excellent results. Hope this helps.

Wouldn't it work just as well to turn the squelch all the way up?  I
always got the impression that it was bad to operate wihtout any antenna.

--

Racing Radios say to leave the antenna off the unit. The stubby ones
you buy are no better than having none.

Most of the teams are located in the 400 MHZ range. Only 2 or so are
up in the 800 MHZ region. This is according to my latest Racing Radios
scanner listing.

Owen Mitchell    KB5XE        Winston Cup Racing