Prospective Scanner Purchase For Review.

[exFlight Officer]

I am looking for a radio that I may use for C.A.P. as well as a police scanner. This radio seems to be just what I am looking for. Being a college student, I can not afford much and this is in my budget area. What do you all think about it being a C.A.P. radio? Does it qualify? Would this be useful for GT Missions? Can I use this in my car? Anyone suggest something better?

http://www.scannermaster.com/RadioShack_PRO_164_Police_Scanner_p/22-501222.htm

[Eclipse]

There are no specifications or regulatory comment by CAP regarding devices which are "receive-only".
So it won't qualify as a "CAP Radio" in regards to licensing or use.  As far as for a GT, it all depends on how you use it, I suppose it never hurts to be informed.

Whether you can use it in your car depends on state and local law.

[N Harmon]

That scanner is capable of receiving all CAP frequencies, but will only be useful for analog modulated transmissions. You will not be able to decode any digital (P25) transmissions. For that you need a digital scanner, and they cost several hundreds of dollars. If that is okay by you, then you can probably get away with an even cheaper scanner.

[Airrace]

Try using E-bay to get a radio that you can use at CAP functions. Last Sunday I purchased a Kenwood TK 280 VHF radio for $92.00 shipped to my house.

Here is the one I purchased: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120480471998&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT

The Kenwood TK 280 has 250 channels and can also work as a scanner. It is on the list of radios used by CAP. I have purchased five of the same quality radios on E-bay over the past few months and have not paid more than $100.00 for each of them.

There are a few of them on E-bay this week but they are in the $150.00 to $250.00 range. Take your time and keep looking as I did and you will easily find the same deal.

Here is another one that didn't even sell last week on E-bay:http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380167452654&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT

It was missing the battery charger of which you can get for under $25.00. Most of the radios have used batteries but they can also be purcased for less than $25.00 on E-bay.

Good Luck!

[RADIOMAN015]

I am looking for a radio that I may use for C.A.P. as well as a police scanner. This radio seems to be just what I am looking for. Being a college student, I can not afford much and this is in my budget area. What do you all think about it being a C.A.P. radio? Does it qualify? Would this be useful for GT Missions? Can I use this in my car? Anyone suggest something better?

http://www.scannermaster.com/RadioShack_PRO_164_Police_Scanner_p/22-501222.htm

Remember that radio scanners are receivers only and don't transmit so likely is of limited value in a deployed team enviroment (but very helpful at a mission base).   You could go a bit less expensive for $149.95 by getting the PSR 300 http://www.scannermaster.com/GRE_PSR_300_Police_Scanner_p/30-501183.htm

The only issue is these scanners receive AM/NFM mode only and not P25 CAI digital.  Most federal agencies now use P25 CAI digital, and states like New Hampshire are going all digital for all public safety.  There's even rumors that CAP will eventually go all P25 CAI digital.

However, with the scanner you should be able to hunt ELT's & PLB's (121.5, 243.0, 406.XXX), listen to various emergency frequencies -- PD, FD, EMS, Highway, Electric/Gas/Water Utilities, Railroad, various businesses, etc...    Many larger cities and even states are now using trunked radio systems (which a portable VHF transceiver can't receive).    With the "close call capture" feature on the radio you should easily be able to find many frequencies you might not be able to find easily (e.g. even CAP's) or even be aware about.  You can also monitor typical aircraft (air traffic control) & marine comms.

My personal feeling is CAP needs to look more to one way broadcasting of emergency information to its' personnel and this could very easily be done on the high powered repeater output frequencies, that likely will be discovered by radio monitoring hobbyists anyways.   Also during practice missions the CAP VHF aero radio could transmit one way directions to ground teams on 122.9 or 123.10.   (At least try some experimentation to see how effective this could be)
RM

[JoeTomasone]

The Kenwood TK 280 has 250 channels and can also work as a scanner. It is on the list of radios used by CAP.

Before you buy one, note that the TK280 is NOT (yet) on the list of radios compliant with the POST 1/06 narrowband standards, and as such may not be placed into service for CAP at this time.  If it is determined to NOT be fully narrowband compliant, you will have wasted your money on it.

Ref CAPR 100-1 10-2, https://ntc.cap.af.mil/comm/equipment/vhf_summary.cfm

Notice: Radios meeting the "Narrowband Pre 1/06", but failing to meet or not having been tested to the "Narrowband Post 1/06" standards may continue to be used until the end of their life cycle, if acquired or placed in service prior to Jan 2006 (Ref: 47 CFR 300 5.3.5.2, Effective Dates).  "N/A" in the "Narrowband Compliant Post 1/06" column indicates the radio was not tested to the New Standards by the manufacturer.