subject: 5 Features To Consider When Buying A Radio Scanner [print this page] With over 300 radio scanners to choose from, selecting a new radio scanner can be a daunting task. You will need to keep in mind your primary use of the scanner when selecting it, whether that is listening to police reports, keeping up on HAM radio, or listening in to the conversations of race teams at the NASCAR races. Here is a list of things you'll need to choose from when buying a new or used Uniden Scanner.
1-First you need to select either a mounted/base or handheld design. If you'll be always listening in your car or at a desk, you may prefer a base design, which looks something like a car radio or a clock radio. A base scanner can be mounted inside your car or sit on your desktop. If, on the other hand, you want the flexibility of being able to carry your scanner with you on the street, to work, around your house, to the races and sporting events, or while riding the subway, you will want a handheld design.
2-You will need to decide whether you want to be able to access your scanner via your computer, which is an increasingly popular function. If this is an important function, you will either want to buy a radio scanner that has this capability built in or buy a scanner that is compatible with separately sold interface kits, which allow you to hook up your scanner to your smart phone, laptop, or desktop computer.
3-If you will be traveling with your Uniden scanner to different cities, you may want to buy one that has the Service Scan (also called Service search) feature, which will automatically scan a new area for broadcasting radio frequencies. This can save you time when you travel to a new city, although you may still need to program in certain frequencies and channels yourself.
4-Scanners have different search speed scan capabilities, and you may not know how this will affect your listening. If you are using the radio scanner for listening to car races and sports events, police, emergency, or weather reports, then a search speed scan of 15 to 25 channels, and 50 frequencies per second should be fast enough. You want the search speed to be fast enough that you can keep up on seldom-used stations while still not missing broadcasts from regular channels and frequencies.
5-Scanners are able to monitor (and remember) a different number of channels. If you live in an urban area, or if you plan on listening to several types of channels (police, weather, sports/auto racing, etc.) then you will need more channels.
