Although this is more a scanner question, I think it's probably appropriate here for the hams, too.

What freqs do you monitor?

I listen way more than I talk on the radio. Frankly, one of the reasons I got my ham ticket in the first place was to be legal in a motor vehicle with a scanner in states like Minnesota, where I used to live, where they have outlawed mobile scanners.

Here at home, I have all the law enforcement freqs in my area, towns, 4 counties, and state patrol programmed. All ham repeaters within 60-80 miles. 2 meter and 75 centimeter. I have no 6 or 10 meter repeaters within reach. The national call freqs are in, though. Marine band is in there, but not much use here in north central Missouri. But when I go around the Mississippi River, the Lock & Dam traffic is monitored.

In addition to those, I have the Railroad freqs plugged in. There is a coal fired power plant 10 miles from me. They are in there.

I programmed in all the FRS/GMRS freqs, too. And the CB freqs are in there, in addition to my scanning CB.

What has all this got to do with anything? The way I see it, I have NO IDEA WHATEVER where the next attack will be. If there is a road block set up, I should hear it. If there is some sort of trouble at the power plant or with the trains, I should hear it.

The FRS/GMRS freqs was sort of an experiment, but I found that it works just this past weekend. Deer season is open, and I could hear a couple hunters on the property next to me. If some bad guys are trying to get to my place and are using any radio comms, I hope to have my "ears on" to be able to know.

Granted, if the bad guys really want to get me, I'm probably gonna get got, eh? But I figure any advance notice is an advantage.

I have a 1 oz eagle set aside for my final large radio purchase. As yet, I have not made the decision whether it will be a 746 PRO, or the Icom R2500. I almost sold the eagle 8 months ago to get a used 746, but got outbid. That was at $850 gold. This afternoon, I expect gold to top out $1150. Maybe if I drag my feet a little longer, I can get both.

Anyway, bottom line for me is being able to communicate with you guys is important, and I hope in the next months, we do get a net up and running, but listening to what is going on near to me is at least equally as important, if not more so, because after all, I have to know what is going on here to be able to let you know there.

Here is a link to the Icom R2500. It's a nice listening unit. There are plenty of better units out there, but $10k plus radios are not only out of my reach, but in my case would be a waste of resources.

http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/widerxvr/2500.html

jonesey65244
KC0OUF