If you’re used to a needle tuner then you’re going to be in for a shock when you get your new programmable scanner home. Most of the newer Uniden rigs are radically different from needle systems. They’re also very different from the conventional USB or serial port programmable units that many scanner fans have heavily invested in.Some of the newer machines use memory card units for programming. An internal mini secure digital card is common on most of the Home Patrol models. Listeners can always set up a favorites section that includes all of their preferred frequencies and load it to the card.
These can generally be chosen from the provided database. The database that Uniden ships these units with contains preprogrammed frequencies for numerous geographical areas. Searching through the database is generally enough to get information on an individual police or fire department.
This feature is especially useful for those who don’t have a guide for an area they’re going to be visiting on a trip. It’s also useful for those who don’t want to have to do a bunch of calculations when working out a trunking system.
There are still quite a few conventional systems in many states. Nevertheless, many UHF stations switched over to trunking transmission sites years ago. This caused a lot of headaches for listeners.
Keywords were added into these new Uniden versions, which makes them a breeze to use. While police and fire departments are usually what scanner fans are looking for, they didn’t simply stop there. Railroad frequencies are programmed in and easily accessible by keywords. Train communications are quickly becoming one of the most popular things to listen to. Both government managed rail traffic and privately run operations use similar frequencies to communicate with towers.
Getting a hold of one of these new Uniden rigs can be a little difficult. Fortunately BearCatWarehouse.com sells Uniden home patrol scanners. It would certainly be much harder to order one without places like that to get them from.
Aircraft frequencies are also easily accessible from the keyword programming system. Those who live near areas where they can regularly hear this kind of traffic might also want to have a look out for beacons. There could be some local airport automated weather beacons. Sometimes this weather coverage is more up to date than even the NOAA WX reports that come in on higher VHF stations above two meters.
