Scanner & SDR shopping at Ham Radio Outlet (HRO)

Was down in Phoenix for work, and realized there was an HRO store in the city. A 2 hour bus ride later, I was there checking out the radios and chatting with Scanner Jim. Could he convince me to pick up a new scanner or Software Defined Radio (SDR)?
Link : hamradio.com

[@robbehr8806]

I live just west of Phoenix and have been to the HRO store many times. Your channel is interesting. Thanks!

[@FrugalRadio]

Cheers Rob.

[@QRPadventures]

I have had mine for over a year and I am absolutely blown away every time I use it. Steep learning curve but in the end worth every penny.

[@FrugalRadio]

Yes, I agree about the learning curve. I'm attempting to do a little programming each night after work. Tonight I was messing with the colours. I have realised that was even an option!

[@BT59]

Was just there for some parts and info. Great Guys. Friendly and helpful and great supplies.

[@FrugalRadio]

Agreed!

[@Milcom34]

Thanks Rob. I Purchased my Icom IC R20 There, Great Radio and Great Store. Take Care and Radio On****

[@FrugalRadio]

Brilliant! Thanks for your comment Jerry.

[@graphicventures]

Always a pleasure watching ur videos

[@FrugalRadio]

Thanks!

[@danedewaard8215]

Congrats on your new scanner purchase! My last scanner purchase was a BCD396XT (P25 Phase1). I purchased a second RTL-SDR v3 to use UniTrunker Software to receive P25 Phase2 signals! I haven't set that up yet. Thanks for the video!!!

[@FrugalRadio]

The RTL-SDRs certainly work well with a variety of software for decoding P25. Enjoy getting it set up!

[@k3dhj]

Congrats on the new scanner! I am fortunate to have an HRO store near me in New Castle, DE - just a 20 minute drive away.

[@FrugalRadio]

Thanks. Great to hear you're close to one of the stores. Hopefully you've enjoyed some good times there!

[@KI4ASK]

We have an HRO here in Atlanta. Great store with friendly staff. Looking forward to your review of that scanner. I’m contemplating buying one

[@FrugalRadio]

Great news on having a local HRO with friendly staff. Got to love the selection and helpfulness of the staff. Makes for an excellent customer experience.

[@Valam72A]

A dream place!!

[@FrugalRadio]

Yep!!!

[@joltdude]

Unfortunately I have not had a great experience with this chain of amateur radio stores … glad they treated you with respect and service, unlike how they treated me in the past and my Elmer.

[@FrugalRadio]

Oh, sorry to hear about your bad experiences with them.

[@jamespiroli823]

Rob, it was a pleasure meeting you. Stop on in the next time you are in Phoenix.

[@FrugalRadio]

Will do Scanner Jim. Thanks for dropping by!

[@Milcom34]

Update: Just Got my New Uniden SDS100 Scanner there on Oct 21, of 2023. What a Great Scanner and Store*** Scanner Jim and Paul were Great Help. Thanks and Radio On Everyone****

[@FrugalRadio]

I'm glad to hear you had a great experience there as well. Definitely a store worth visiting if you're in Phoenix!

[@EverydayJ1786]

Hey Rob , Jordon here , im excited to see you picked up one of those beautiful scanners . I dream of owning one like it one day !. I Look forward to your up coming videos . Keep it up sir👍

[@FrugalRadio]

Hey Jordan, good to hear from you again! Hope all is well with the family and you're getting some radio time in!

[@Wayne-Pr]

Awesome to see you nack Rob I was only thinking the other day that its been a while now as always I look forward to your future videos reviewing your new gear.

[@FrugalRadio]

Hi Wayne. Yes, been rather busy of late so the videos have been a bit slow in coming out unfortunately. Still lots of snow on the ground here, so waiting to get some external antennas up. Hope you're keeping well.

[@Wayne-Pr]

@@FrugalRadio Gday Rob. Thanks for your reply, absolutely under the pump over this side of the world especially with Starlink as well as a lot of other comms work & tower maintaince ( have you seen or tried Starlink ? ). It's the middle of our summer & our day light saving so long 14 -18hr days ( 12+hrs of day light ) 6 & 7 days a week @ this time of the year, this is the time that we make our real coin before the long wet weather sets in & we are delayed from a lot of outdoors work for many weeks. I cannot remember the last time I touched a radio 😭 with all this "stuff" happening overseas & all I barley have time to do before getting some sleep is read some of the Facebook sw group postings & watch a few choosen youtube videos & think about what I'm missing out on, on the airwaves. 😣 but plenty of time for radios when the long wet winter arrives & our outdoor work just about comes to a compleate halt. Take care, stay warm, safe & dry & keep up the great work & look forward to your future videos.😊😉 Wayne.

[@alainbroekema5000]

Great collection of radios but to far away for me, overhere in Europe they do not use P25 trunk systems but only encrypted Tetra transmissions.

[@FrugalRadio]

Yes, definitely more difficult to listen to public safety in Europe. Tetra appears to be mostly encrypted, although I have encountered multiple Tetra systems that were only partially encrypted. It's always worth checking the signals in your area for clear traffic. Even without public safety though, there's still lots to monitor!

[@SDWNJ]

I bought my RSP1A from HRO (online).

[@FrugalRadio]

Good to know. I had a look at one of the other SDRPlay SDRs when I was there!

[@bruschi8148]

Same here!! Love it

[@FrassoFra]

I would like to buy a SDS100 for monitoring DMR here in Italy, but I have read some reviews where basically said that this scanner in Europe doesn't work at all on "our" DMR...

[@FrugalRadio]

Ah, I wonder if people are talking about dPMR? That's another digital format, widely used in Europe & Asia. My recommendation would be to use a regular SDR to assess the systems in use nearby. The P25 part will do you no good in Italy. So you'd have to weigh up how many systems you could decode with it, and if there's something interesting on those systems. As far as dPMR goes, it is available as an add-on purchase for the SDS200E. This radio also would not allow Tetra monitoring.

[@FrassoFra]

@@FrugalRadio Maybe, because all the rewievs where from Germany, France and England. I Italy many state services like firefighers, police and army police are still in analog in 70% of the regions, there are some tetra and dmr sites for the police but they are only experimentals. Then there are only few ham radio links with Nxdn. I use SDR to monitor DMR sites in my area like for local police or regional civil protection. The only sites in P25 are the securities in the US Army base in Vicenza, Livorno, Napoli and Sigonella. But i really would like to have something portable for DMR, if this really scanner works well can be an idea, but it's a pity that many of his functions will be usless here... At this point we'll wait a review!

[@FrugalRadio]

If it is just DMR (and NXDN), I would go for the less expensive BCD325P2 or 996P2. Both can be upgraded for DMR & NXDN, are less expensive than the SDS radios, and are easier to use in my opinion. They also scan analog channels much faster than the SDS.

[@FrassoFra]

@@FrugalRadio thanks for your advice!

[@FEPLabsRadio]

Hey Rob, found the channel, and really like the stuff you're doing. We'd love to have you on our Sat/Sun morning show - Coffee and Ham Radio! Shoot me a reply and let me know if you're interested. I would've emailed, but I couldn't find any contact info for you on here. Thanks! - Jim

[@FrugalRadio]

Hey Jim, I'd be up for that. You can send an email to FrugalRadio @ Gmail dot Com.

[@TwstedTV]

OMG $699.99 for a scanner. 😯😳 aaah, nope.... The handheld looks pretty and all, but ill wait for the price to drop to $150. Otherwise, its going to stay right were it is.... 😉👍

[@Milcom34]

The Price of these Scanner will Never Drop. Sorry****

[@stevegiron8825]

Are the Phoenix area agencies encrypted ?

[@FrugalRadio]

Some of them are, others are not.

[@AdvistaVideo]

Did you catch the key comment Scanner Jim said? “As long as it’s not encrypted!” So you buy this Uniden SDS100 for $700 to monitor police, fire etc and find out in a few months you now own a $700 brick. Because police and emergency frequencies are going to be encrypted, rendering scanners useless. Buyer beware.

[@FrugalRadio]

There certainly are lots of encrypted services. In my area, all police are unmonitorable now. EMS too. Yet there's still a lot of talkgroups that are in the clear. And 90% of the DMR / NXDN systems are also in the clear here. So it's a very useful device to me at this point. In fact it is basically now my go to P25 device at the moment.

[@neilcrompton3488]

1st comment lol,keep up the good work 👍

[@FrugalRadio]

Thanks man!

[@prototype3a]

No way I would buy a SDS100. Reviews online show that it really needs another engineering cycle and probably a better/more efficient CPU.

[@FrugalRadio]

Works well here, but it is definitely slow on conventional analog frequencies. Much better than the 436HP that preceded it.

[@prototype3a]

@@FrugalRadio ok paid shill.

[@FrugalRadio]

Lol, if only I was paid! Didn't get a discount or anything. Just sharing my story.

[@ManuelPinner]

I have the SDR Play RSP DX, a whole lot Better the All Uniden Scanners,

[@FrugalRadio]

As I'm sure you've been able to tell from my channel, I'm a huge fan of SDRs. I love what they are capable of. But I firmly believe scanners still have their place too. Nice SDR you've got, by the way!

[@ManuelPinner]

@@FrugalRadio I also Use it with SDR Angel,

[@curtiskennedy1175]

? ???????

[@FrugalRadio]

What's your question?