i downloaded the latest update on the website, and i was wondering if i should download the latest file on the uniden tool, which says 4/07 or just keep the one from the websitethat says 7/02. the only difference in the name of the file, is the date.
Best radar detector for the money/performance?
Looking to get a good radar detector and wondering what everyone recommends for the best bang for the buck while still having strong performance.
I care most about good range, reliable alerts, minimal false alerts, and overall real-world performance. I don’t necessarily need the most expensive option if something cheaper performs almost as well.
What radar detector would you guys recommend? I’m brand new to radar detectors and would love ur opinions and recommendations. thank you
Let me begin by saying that I've been a scanner enthusiast for many years, and I currently own some top of the line equipment such a an SDS200 and an SDS100 that I use at home. I considered getting the new SDS150 and rigging it up in the truck to external antennas but that's going to require a lot of work. I drive a plastic for a company and really don't want to be running wires everywhere and drilling into shit. But as I recently changed from a local day cab job to Regional OTR, I do want to get a scanner to take along with me while I'm out every week. I think that the 885 will be a good compromise as it's plug and play. I can just put it up in the CB compartment and plug it in without a bunch of extra work. But antennna choice is a major concern of mine! The 885 relies on a single antenna port to both tranmit on the CB band as well as pull in the scanner signals. I've never delt with anything like this before as my focus has always been on pulling signals in versus transmitting out - I'm not a HAM guy by any means. A discone on the semi probably isn't going to hold up well.
Having said, my main priority is getting better reception on the scanner versus the CB. TBH I really don't care what y'all are talking about on there and would only use it to talk to scalehouses at shippers, etc., and the usual to radio ahead to see why traffic is stopped, if anyone knows if the coop is open, etc. Similar reason why I want a scanner on the road with me. Especially when the weather is shit, so I can listen to the locals on the PD channels (if not encrypted) and the plow guys. Maybe if I'm really bored and I'm parked in some shithole somewhere I'll listen in to all the shooting and overdose calls too 😂
Is anyone out there running an 885 and have any antenna recommendations? I'm going to start out with two 4 inch Firestick II to see how that goes. Iowa 80 has them for like 35 a piece. But long term I have a feeling I'm going to want something more robust. I feel like it's going to be difficult though with a plastic truck (fiberglass) to get a decent ground plane. There are a lot of recommendations online for antenna choices to go along with the 885 but nothing semi specific. If I end up needing to do anything extraordinary with the antenna setup, the guys at my company shop already said they'd do it for me.