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Customers most agreed on the following attributes:
I like this product. Can listen to police, fire, ambulance, Ham, racing and more..
The Pro-162 scanner is made for Radio Shack by Uniden. Sensitivity is great and the display is nice and clear. Battery life is around 18 hours with rechargeable NiMH cells. If you live in an area with lots of RF as I do (lots of repeaters and towers), this radio is a better offering than the GRE-made products, which tend to be great at bringing in weak signals, but overload easily when in RF-prone areas. Audio on the Pro-162 is nice and loud and you can turn it up without much distortion. Probably the best audio I've heard lately on a handheld scanner. Sure, it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the most expensive models, but for what it does, it does *very* well. Overall an excellent value for the price for an analog trunking scanner!
from Parkersburg, WV on 9/30/2008
I really like the scanner. Normally, you have to buy a new antenna instead of the stock, but even with the stock antenna it works well. I thought the 800mhz wouldnt come in as well but it actually comes in better than my base scanner. The only thing i dont like is that you have to turn it all the way up to hear it well.
from Danbury, CT on 9/28/2008
This scanner is very comprehensive and can fulfill even the most avid listeners. It is well designed and a very good value for the price. I would like have had the A/C adapter included with the scanner instead of having to have had purchased it separately. I purchased the scanner as a replacement for Radio Shack's PRO-64 Scanner. This is a much more advanced scanner than the previous one.
from Northern NJ on 9/13/2008
Finally had to replace my pro-92 I am pleased with this scanner. Butel software is very intuitive and was able to fully program this unit from radio reference with all pertinant information. Highly recommend this unit.
Update to programming the PRO-162, Butel software is the program for this scanner. You have to purchase this software for 30 bucks, well worth it. Also with the software you can import all the frequencies as well as trunked frequencies to the scanner. The only thing I did not like is you can not fix the text at the start up of the scanner like "Win 97" (Pro-97) Hope this helps...happy scanning!
I bought this scanner to replace my beloved Pro-97. I was not that optimistic about finding a good replacement for my Pro-97. I read the reviews and took a risk. I am very happy with this scanner. Very easy to program and I actually got better range and reception over my Pro-97. The only thing I did not like was the lack of the light controls. The trunking is great on the scanner, and the conventional freq's suck the range right in. Other then that I would recommend this scanner to anyone, including novices and pros. The text tags are easier to program than the Pro-97. More like the modern "text messaging" Read the reviews!...its a great scanner!
from Bakersfield CA on 8/20/2008
This scanner and the Pro-137 have the best audio. It also is able to detect pl tones that are used by various agencies. It has a large display and is easy to use, but you should have it programmed by software. Butel has this online, just get the cable from Radioshack. Best of all you can program the backlight to come on during each received transmission if you are in a dark area. In Bakersfield we have mostly LTR for trunking. It does very well with it but you cannot add a tag to the trunking codes.
I love it like how it displays the towns names and everything
from Brockton, Ma. on 7/30/2008
This is my 3rd radio shack scanner over the years. And by far this is their best one yet.
Still have their pro 2035 table model scanner and it works just as well today as when I purchased it
12 plus years ago.
The gentleman at the store where I bought the Pro-162 was very helpful and went above and beyond to make sure that I was a happy purchaser. Even put the rechargeable batteries in for me.
from Washington on 7/25/2008
I love this scanner! First thing I did was remove all the pre-programmed freq's. I live in a small town and they just didn't pay off. Plus, if on scan mode, all it does is go through a bunch of freq's that it didn't need to which drains the battery. Freq's were easy to program in without software - yea, it takes time, but not pailful. My only frustration is that it doesn't come with a home plug-in, and they don't recommend one to buy. They don't come with a car adapter, and they don't recommend one to buy -- what they do recommend to buy is a 10 foot extension for the car -- what good is that if you don't have the car adapter? Tried to call twice and got nowhere with tech support. They suggested I call a local office who in turn suggested that I bring the scanner in to figure out which ones to buy. Overall, LOVE the thing. It's just what I wanted. Now to just find the accessories so that I don't have to keep feeding it batteries! Awesome scanner!
I am getting a PRO 162 radio scanner for christmas. I herd that its great, I like it to when, "I'm not an EMT Police Officer or Fire Fighter I still injoy listening to the Emergancy channals, Ham Channals, Racing Channals, Airport Channals, Marine Channals and etc...
from pasadena tx on 6/23/2008
First Scanner I've Ever Bought. It Is So Easy To Use.
[3 of 3 customers found this review helpful]
I?ve been scanning for more than 30 years and the Pro 162 is my best scanner ever. My most recent scanner before this was a waste of[$]for the Uniden BC296D with APCO25. Thus, I have a high-priced scanner for comparison, and the Pro 162 leaves it in the dust, and at a great value, too. The best thing is the big display screen that is easy to see and the characters are large. It is very easy to use, and the owner?s manual is easy to understand, especially when compared with the one that came with the Uniden BC296D which required a doctorate in scanning to comprehend. The batteries in the Pro 162 last a surprisingly long time, and it is refreshing to have a scanner that runs on AA batteries because you can always get AA batteries from somewhere. So far, the only con about the scanner is that it was preprogrammed with an excessive number of frequencies. This feature is, I suppose, great for beginners, but it means a lot of reprogramming to enter channels in the order most preferable to the user. That is just a minor inconvenience. I can?t say enough about the Pro 162, and it proved to me that you needn?t spend a lot of money to get quality. By the way, I also still have a Radio Shack Pro-62 that is very old, but still runs like a champ. You can?t go wrong with this scanner.
[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
from Federal Way, Wa. on 6/5/2008
Easy one handed programing. To open or close the Banks you press Func then the Bank arrows, then choose the banks. In Trunking mode the talk groups are in a List which you access by simply pressing the number keys.
A software program would make programing even easier.
[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
from New Haven County, Connecticut. on 6/4/2008
There is way too much to say about this scanner for the amount of space given here. However, it is worth every penny. This scanner picks up where a lot leave off. The sensitivity is great. The selectivity is also great. The audio is loud and clear. The ability to label Banks and well as channels is a big plus. the screen is larger than most portable scanners available today. It allows you to see the bank label, the channel label, the frequency, the PL/DPL tones if used and the delay status if used, all at the same time. Even for beginners, this scanner is easy to use. I highly recommend it wether this is you first or an addition to your present choice.
[3 of 3 customers found this review helpful]
from New Haven County Connecticut on 6/2/2008
The Pro-162 picks up where the pro-128 left off. Sensitivity is great from 25-800 Mhz all around. You can alpha tag both the channels and the banks as you wish with up to 16 characters. The display is larger than any other scanner in the Radio Shack lineup. This model is made by Uniden. The PL/DPL tones are easy to program. If you do a tone search, the radio displays it immediately after receiving a signal. A nice feature not advertised is that during standard frequency search or pre-programmed service search, the radio displays the PL/DPL tone if one is being used, automatically and immediately. The manual leaves a lot to be desired. Too much jumping around instead of keeping all topics together. This radio is not a juice hog. I used 4 Duracell 2650Ma batteries for an entire 12 hours without a problem. The audio is loud and clear. The antenna included is worthless and must be replaced. Definitely worth the [$] sale price. You will not be disappointed.