Anyone shed some info on the ubc120xlt

[wishbone]

im looking to purchase a decent and affordable scanner..however i have been tossing up between a few..im leaning towards the uniden 93xlt scanner or the 73xlt..however i have recently stumbled across the 120xlt (which i believe is a lil older) but i was wandering is this scanner any good? as for it says it has 9 bands...any info will be appreciated and suggestions...thanks

nick

[WadeH]

Hi Nick,

Can't help you with the 120xlt but last christmas I bought myself a UBC93XLT and a MobileOne SCBASE antenna at the recomendation of other members here. Magnificent setup. Very easy to operate and picks up from far and wide (eg: I can hear Northam and York firies, and DEC down at Nanga Brook near Dwellingup) and the sound is clear.

I knew nothing about scanning before joining this site so if I can use this unit I recon anyone can!!

Hope this helps a bit.

[meg]

I don't know the 120xlt either, but looking on the specs, it has 100 memories as does the 73xlt, the 93xlt has 200 memories.

Both the 73 and 93xlt's have a wider range of receive frequencies, especially the 93xlt.

So depending on what you want to listen to (ie: what frequencies its in) and how many memories you want to have to store things, the 120xlt may be perfect, though the 93xlt does have better specs.

I've got a 93xlt that I'm very happy with, I've also got an ancient Radio Shack Pro2024 which is attached to a MobileOne SCBase antenna (like the poster above). Both work really well

[radiotech]

Meg, does the close call function (on the 93xlt) work for all types of transmissions? Say I am in a hospital and they send a pager signal will it give me that frequency? How about other services such as trunking, cordless phones ect?

[yorky]

If you are very close to the transmitter, yes.

However pager calls are data so you'll just get a lot of beeping etc.

[Tyranus]

No trunking is available on the 93XLT. You can however program in the individual frequencies of a trunk network, but you won't be able to select a particular talk group and follow their conversation only, without being on scan and 'hold'ing when you hear them. Cordless phones are a private network, don't try programming it in, and if you do no one on this website wants to know as it goes against our aim of providing a voice for responsible scanner users in WA.

[radiotech]

That's not exactly what I was looking for, my question relates to the boundaries of the "close call" feature. I had a 72XLT two years back but never actually got any use out of it so I am trying to confirm as much as possible before spending money on one of it's successors.

My question is: I am near a transmitter that isn't the typical voice frequency (whether it be a trunking, data, paging or cordless type) will it pick up the detect the frequencies even though it's not solid voice being transmitted? A good example is that I am driving down the highway and pass a police officer on his radio, while he is using the digital network (no so worried about encryption for this example) will the close call function be able to pick up the frequencies? Another is that I am outside a hospital and want to find the paging frequency, I sit and wait and finally a page is broad casted (tones and beeping) will it find this for me?

Going by what both you and yorky have provided, I am led to believe that it can detect any type of transmission within the frequency limits. Curiosity killed the cat so to speak... I'm not asking about trunk tracking or listening into cordless phones!!

[yorky]

Going by what both you and yorky have provided, I am led to believe that it can detect any type of transmission within the frequency limits.

Bolded ^

So if you went past a cop on digital for example, or a cordless phone on 2.4Ghz etc no, it won't pick up anything. Only if its within the units limits.

[radiotech]

Digital in the context in which radio's that police use, is not 2.4GHZ, it's a digital transmission in either the VHF or UHF band.

[yorky]

Correct, I didn't say it was 2.4Ghz, just some cordless phones are.

The scanner will not pick up police digital frequency even if you are right next to the transmitter.

[Tyranus]

radiotech, ok no worries I see where I misinterpreted! Suffice to say you are correct, any analogue transmissions made in the area of the scanner should be detected provided it falls within the frequencies of the scanner. Obviously anything outside of those frequencies won't be detected and any digital it won't know how to deal with.

[wishbone]

thnx guys for the reply...so u reckon i shld stick with either the 73xlt or 93xlt?

[Tyranus]

yep my 93XLT gets me the air band, FESA, SJA, Public transport, RPH security, Amateur radio UHF and VHF as well as other random ones that I choose to find occasionally.

[radiotech]

The scanner will not pick up police digital frequency even if you are right next to the transmitter.

I've had a rough time explaining myself in this thread...
My question was a tricky one to explain but got the answer I was looking for at the end!!

Shopped around for this question and had a good bite back. Given that the 93xlt can pick up audio formats such as pagers, individual trunking frequencies, then it will have no trouble detecting digital police frequencies. While you can't hear them talking as it's not a scanner that is capable of "converting" digital format like other Uniden models, you can however get it to detect the nearby police transmitter (in this instance on the highway next to me) as there is an audio format on the frequency the fellow in the car is using. A bad example is pagers, with the tones and beeping what have you, Close Call can stick pick up the transmitter frequency.

Sorry about the confusion and thanks to those who have helped.

[wishbone]

hey guys gave dick smith a call today and to my suprise they dont sell the uniden 93xlt yet! now correct me if i am wrong but the 93xlt has been out for awhile, while i know its the updated version of the 92, surely dse carry them..the lady on the fone said that they dont sell them nor do they have them in stock... could someone confirm with me that they do carry the 93xlt...cheers

nick!