one thing you just learned the hard way is not every scanner is right for 
everyone. For example in the local cities and towns near me, everything is 
analog and trunking doesn't work, it's been tried so just your basic scanner 
will work and many of us even have some around, like I do in the bedroom, 
that are 10 channel programmable ones from the 80's. My main one will do 
trunking but the only thing around my way on trunking is the state police 
and my scanner does trunking or non trunking, we can't mix like some you 
can. Do you only have trunking in your area, do you need digital? If you 
don't need digital, you'll save a lot of money that way. Used is an option 
too, it's hard to kill a scanner, as I said, a lot of us who help either 
paid or not in emergency management, fire, police, have scanners in our 
bedrooms from the 80's that get our local city/town so we can know and be 
ready if something happens in the night, but don't want the main scanner 
which picks up a lot more being heard in the bedroom. I generally can figure 
out the radio shack scanners as long as I know the key pad, they're not all 
that different form one another, or weren't last I knew. I have a couple 
portables around here as well and they're the same, my desktop one in the 
living room and my mother's, while about 10 years apart and a lot of models 
in between, are pretty much the same for programming. I don't know about any 
of the real new ones, but you really need to sit and figure out what you 
need, what you want to do with it and unless you like to throw money away, 
don't waste money on features you don't need like digital, what ever.

-----Original Message----- 
From: Linda C Knight
Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2015 8:21 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: question on what kind of desktop scanner to get.

Hi fellow hams,

I made a dumb purchase and its driving me stupid.

Just found out I can=E2=80=99t get my pasco county fire and police on =
this scanner i bought which is a radio shack pro 650=20

I was told it had to be a trunking radio and I don=E2=80=99t know what =
to get.

So would someone please advise me on the following:

1. Is there such thing as a trunking desktop police scanner that =
doesn=E2=80=99t cost as much as a car payment?

2. I live in a condo complex surrounded by iron railings, would this =
affect reception of a scanner? Probably not as I do have a radio shack =
handheld pro 92 scanner which works well. I just want a desktop unit.

3. are there any accessible desktop scanners?

I am really upset with my dumb purchase.

Thanks for any help.
Hugs and 73
Linda C Knight=20
With Sweet Gentle Ben,=20
HamRadiooperator CallSign: KK4HRG
Please note email: [log in to unmask]