Radio Shack PRO-95 Scanner I picked up a PRO-95 scanner from my friend Gary (thank you!) at the last Mt. Tom ARA hamfest. GRE-made handheld released by Radio Shack in 2002 or 2003. 1000 channels in 10 banks of 100, covers the usual bands: 25-54, 108-174, 216-225, 406-512, 806-960, and 1240-1300MHz. There are a few features I like about this model. The VHF-low band coverage extends down to 25 and up to 54 MHz. It receives 11m, 10m, and 6m. The reception mode (AM/FM) is user selectable. Scan speed is a decent 60 channels per second. A Tune function lets you enter in a frequency and search up or the down the bands. Audio output is pretty good for a portable. It uses AA batteries for power instead of a proprietary battery pack. The antenna connector is BNC. Finally, it is computer programmable. There is a free programming software package available for this model at http://www.starrsoft.com/freeware/Win95/default.asp. It uses the standard Whistler/Radio Shack cable thats also works with the WS1040, PRO-96, and similar models. Both USB and RS-232 cables are available if you have an older PC. Win95 works OK under Windows 11 and previous versions. The software package is a big help when dealing with 1000 memories. While the trunktracking feature is a moot point unless you have an old EDACS system you want to monitor, the PRO-95 works great for analog conventional systems. I think it has better practical sensitivity than my WS1040 since the WS1040s DSP tends to mute the audio on marginal analog signals. You wont find that problem with an analog scanner. The Win95 page has an Excel spreadsheet to make copying frequency data from other sources to Win95 easier. The Tune function works well for band cruising. Start at 25 MHz. (AM mode) to pick up WWV in Colorado when the skip is coming in, and search your way up from there. Besides using the Tune function, with 1000 channels you can program in a large number of common frequencies such as every low-band public safety or business/industrial allocation, or every 25 KHz. spaced frequency in the common military sub-bands (30-31, 32-33, 34-35, 36-37, 38-39, 40-42, 46.60-47, & 49.60-50.00 MHz.) The old Consolidated Frequency List shows the original service allocations before the common pools, so you can narrow your scanning down to frequencies originally allocated to Power & Water Utilities (IW) if you want. If you have conventional analog systems you want to monitor, the PRO-95 will do a good job. I use mine for local analog pubic safety systems, VHF-low band skip, VHF aeronautical, and VHF ham band monitoring. 1000 channels enables me to program in all the VHF and UHF analog conventional public safety (mostly FD and EMS) channels in a 10 mile radius, common VHF/UHF ham simplex frequencies (AM and FM), local VHF aeronautical frequencies, all the common military low-band allocations, and a bunch of frequencies I use for skip-indicators. A PRO-95 sells anywhere from $20-$50 on Ebay, and averages about $40 at local hamfests. Thats a good price considering youll pay about three times that for a brand new analog conventional scanner with similar capabilities from one of the online dealers. If you're going to monitor VHF-low band you'll need a decent external antenna. The rubber duck that comes with the receiver isnt going to work well, and the usual telescoping whip antennas arent much better. (A quarter-wavelength at 40 MHz. is around 70 inches.) I use a vertical dipole cut for the FM portion of 10 meters (~29 MHz.), and it does pretty well for receive across the whole 25-50 MHz. range. If I were more interested in the high end the the band, I'd cut it for 6 meters. I tossed the center conductor leg across a tree limb up about 20 feet or so. The end of the bottom (ground) leg is about 4 feet off the ground. Under normal band conditions I can hear low-band FD and EMS dispatch channels out to about 50 miles. CHP at 39 MHz. is a consistent skip catch, as is WWV on 25 MHz.