1000 ch. trunking scanner worth it?

[DaveH]

About a decade ago I bought a pro-43 scanner from RS. Trunked systems never bothered me much because I would just lockout the data channels.

BUT, I haven't been active in scanning police channels for a few years. Today I noticed RS has a 1000 channel dual trunking scanner for $149.

Seems like a good deal, execept honestly I don't use all the channels on my 200 channel pro-43.

So what say the trunking scanner owners, should I think about getting one?

Thanks,

 

[Pat Bateman]

Well, it depends on whether or not your local Police or Fire agencies use a trunked system. If not, a trunking scanner is useless. It will still pick up stuff in non-trunking mode, but unless you live near a big city, the trunking feature probably won't be useful for a few years.
On the other hand, the Pro-43 is one of the best scanners Radio Shack has made. The number of channels is not as important as the frequency range, which is where the 43 excels. I take mine to air shows.

 

[Pat Bateman]

Forgot to add, I take it to air shows because it has the military air band, as well as the civil air band.

 

[Pat Bateman]

One more thing, rereading your original post. A trunking scanner will not work if an agency has one of the new digital systems. No scanner will yet.