Radio Shack Pro-107 Handheld Scanner

Awhile back I had an extended conversation with my friend Dan Scott, KF4MND on the 146.970 repeater here in Savannah about a new scanner he had just purchased: the Radio Shack Pro-107. He had some concerns about it and we discussed its features and capabilities. I have to admit that I wasn't all that familiar with this "iScanner" and my conversation with Dan and subsequent research have led me to some conclusions on how useful this radio would be to the coastal Georgia scanning hobbyist. I've divided them into two categories: positive and negative; some of them, as you read, will be contradictory but this is indicative of my conflicted opinions on the radio. I see some good points and bad points to a radio of this nature and they go beyond the radio's capabilities.

Let's start off with the positive conclusions:

1. The Pro-107 is designed to be an easy to use radio that one doesn't have to program. It operates off of the Radioreference.com database through the use of an SD card. This is certainly a bonus for the casual scanner listener, many of whom have problems programming a lot of the newer scanners. This eliminates the programming process and gets them directly to what they want to do and that is listen - usually to the local PD or FD.
2. Another bonus for the casual listener is that from what Dan describes to me and what I've seen it is fairly easy to operate; essentially if you can listen to your music on an iPod or MP3 player, then you can listen to and operate this scanner.
3. I think this may be a good radio to get new folks into the hobby. This could very well be a radio to whet their appetite for the hobby and eventually lead them to purchase a more capable radio and get deeper into the hobby.

Now for the negative conclusions:

1. This is not a good radio for the Savannah metropolitan area. Most police communications in Chatham and Effingham Counties are digital and all police communications in Bryan County are digital. This radio is Analog Only. That means if you like listening to the Police, this radio is not going to let you do it. At current, you would be able to monitor most all of the Fire/EMS radio communciations in Chatham and Effingham Counties and very little in Bryan County. In the not too distant future, the Chatham-Effingham TRS will be upgraded and it too will be all digital; at that point this radio will allow you to monitor very little public safety radio traffic in the Savannah metropolitan area. Most all new systems being introduced in urban areas and future upgrades for current systems in urban areas are All Digital. Being analog only is a serious weakness for this radio.
   
2. Following that, if a new scanning hobbyist bought this radio and was looking forward to listening to the Savannah area PDs, their experience with this radio could turn them off to the hobby. If they area Bryan County resident and bought the radio, it could really turn them off to the hobby!
   
3. A radio like this could lead to the "dumbing down" of the hobby. Already very few hobbyists are interested in putting their radios into search mode to look for new things and help build up the knowledge base on their area. By this radio's nature it will simply feed this trend. I know that in some respects, this conflicts with #3 in the positive conclusions but I see both sides of this issue and feel compelled to include both views here.

In short, I feel that this could be a very good entry level scanner or a scanner for the casual scanning hobbyist, albeit for a limited time and with limited capability for those living in the metropolitan Savannah area. For those in more rural areas of coastal Georgia it would be more useful. If Radio Shack and the radio's manufacturer GRE are planning on introducing a digital model of the Pro-107 (and I suspect they are) it would be a much better choice for those in the Savannah area. My suggestion to those in the metropolitan Savannah area looking to buy one of these radios is to wait and see if they introduce a digital model; it will save you money and frustration in the long run.

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT