Welcome to our Trunking Police Scanner page. Here you will find information on trunking police scanners currently available on the market. 

The information on this page is divided into the following topics:

• Trunking Scanners Operations

• Uniden Trunking Scanners

• Radio Shack Trunking Scanners 

• Trunking Scanner Resources

Note: This section is also the fourth part of the six-part Police Scanners & Accessories section. 

The information in this part covers specific trunking operations and not general trunking scanner technology. An overview of trunking scanner technology can be found on our Evolution of Police Scanners page. You can also read an overview of trunking radio system on our Trunked Radio Systems page. For specific programming information, refer to you scanner's operation manual.   

Trunking Talkgroup IDs

On conventional radio systems, frequencies are allocated according to channel use, i.e., one frequency for dispatch, one for car-to-car use, one for mutual aid use, etc. On trunked radio systems, a different method for identification is used since any frequency can be used by any agency on that system. This method involves the use of various numbers called "trunking IDs" or "talkgroups IDs" used to identify different agencies and their uses. 

In a large Trunk Radio System, there may be a large number of users including police, fire-EMS, public works, street maintenance, animal control, city engineers, etc. Since each user usually has more than one talkgroup ID, there could easily be over a hundred talkgroup IDs depending on the number of users. When a transmission is detected on a trunk system, a trunking scanner will display the talkgoup ID of the user. 

If you do not have a talkgroup user ID reference list for the system you are monitoring, you may not know exactly what talkgroup IDs are assigned to what users on the system. If this is the case, you'll have to figure out which agencies use each ID and for what purpose. You should be able to determine the type of user you are listening to such as police, fire, or EMS (Emergency Medical Services) after listening awhile. 

Once you have identified the type of service, note the associated talk group ID of that unit for future programming. Determining the service associated with a talkgroup ID 
might take a little time, but discovering the ID user of each signal can be a challenging and fun trunk scanning experience! Once you have a list of known talkgroup IDs, you can select the IDs you want to listen to and program them into "Talkgroup ID Banks" for exclusive monitoring. 

TIP: Talkgroup ID reference lists can be found though scanning websites sites such as RadioReference.com or those listed in our Police Scanner Websites page and though frequency books like Police Call (see our review) sold at through Radio Shack. 

Talkgroup ID Banks

Trunking scanners allow you to program talkgroups IDs into “Talkgroup ID Banks”. ID Banks allow you to control who and what you want to listen to. This is a VERY useful feature as it eliminates having to listen to every user and talkgroup on a TRS, especially if there are dozens of talkgroups. Most trunking scanners provide 5 or more ID banks, each with 5 or more "sub-banks" with room for 5 or more individual 
talkgroup IDs. 

The key to monitoring a trunk radio system is to strategically program talkgroups within talkgroup banks that can be used to your advantage. Find out which talkgoup IDs you want to listen to and then divide them up into useful groupings. Talkgroups for a particular use or agency should be stored together into separate ID banks such as Police in one, fire in another bank and so on. Once the ID banks are programmed, ID banks can then be turned on & off and/or individual talkgroups can be locked out giving you full control over a trunked system. 

Sample of a Programmed ID Banks

Channel Bank 1 – Your Local Public Safety Trunk Radio System 

• Talkgroup ID Bank 1 (Your Local Police)

  • Talkgroup ID 1 (Dispatch)

  • Talkgroup ID 2 (Tactical)

  • Talkgroup ID 3 (Detectives)

  • Talkgroup ID 4 (SWAT)

  • Talkgroup ID 5 (open)

• Talkgroup ID Bank 2 (Your Local Fire) 

  • Talkgroup ID 1 (Dispatch)

  • Talkgroup ID 2 (Response)

  • Talkgroup ID 3 (Fireground)

  • Talkgroup ID 4 (Rescue)

  • Talkgroup ID 5 (paramedics)

• Talkgroup Bank 3 (Whatever)

• Talkgroup Bank 4

• Talkgroup Bank 5

In the example above, if you just wanted to monitor police you, you would turn off ID bank 2 and any other banks you have programmed and just have the scanner monitor ID bank one. Note: Some trunking scanners (like my Pro-95) may have “sub-bank” within each main bank allowing for more talkgroup storage such as shown below:

• Talkgroup ID Bank 1
  • Talkgroup ID Sub-bank 1
    • Talkgroup ID 1 
    • Talkgroup ID 2
    • Talkgroup ID 3
    • Talkgroup ID 4
    • Talkgroup ID 5
  • Talkgroup ID Sub-bank 2
    • Talkgroup ID 1
    • Talkgroup ID 2
    • Talkgroup ID 3
    • Talkgroup ID 4
    • Talkgroup ID 5
  • Talkgroup ID Sub-bank 3
  • Talkgroup ID Sub-bank 4 
  • Talkgroup ID Sub-bank 5
• Talkgroup ID Bank 2 
• Talkgroup ID Bank 3
• Talkgroup ID Bank 4
• Talkgroup ID Bank 5

Trunking Scanner Functions & Features

See "Advanced Police Scanner Features" on our Feature & Functions page for complete details on special features that may come with your trunking scanners such as Data Cloning, Computer Control, Xpand, Signal Stalker, and many others. 

Current Uniden Trunking Scanners on the Market

The following is a list of current Uniden trunking scanners sold by scanner dealers and radio communication shops. Clicking on a model will take you to the model's product specification page from Uniden where you can access detailed information, including photos and owner's manuals. Note: Digital scanners are capable of tracking trunked and conventional analog systems.

Uniden Handheld Trunking Scanners

• BC246T  - 1600-Ch./1000-Banks, TrunkTracker III Scanner (Buy)

• BR330T - 2,500-Ch. Racing TrunkTracker III Scanner (Buy)

Uniden Base/Mobile  Trunking Scanners

• BCT-8 - 250-Ch./5-Banks, TrunkTracker III Scanner (Buy)

• BC898T - 500-Ch./10-Banks, TrunkTracker III Scanner (Buy)

• BCT-15 - 2500-Ch/400 Pre-programmed Cities, GPS Support (Buy) 

Aftermarket for Uniden Trunking Scanners

The aftermarket is where you will find recently discontinued scanner models that are no longer sold by Uniden Dealers as well as used and/or refurbished trunking scanners. Currently all Uniden trunking models are still on the current market line so the Uniden trunking aftermarket consists primarily of used and/or refurbished trunking models.  

• BC245XLT - 300-Ch./10-Banks, TrunkTracker II Scanner (1999) 

• BC235XLT - 300-Ch./10-Banks, TrunkTracker I Scanner (1997)  

• BC780XLT - 500-Ch./10-Banks, TrunkTracker III Scanner (2000) 

• BC895XLT - 300-Ch./10-Banks, TrunkTracker I Scanner (1997)

Check out our Police Scanner Buyer's Guide for more information and tips on shopping for new and after-market scanners

Current Radio Shack Trunking Scanners on the Market

The following is a list of current Radio Shack trunking scanners that are sold at Radio Shack stores and through Radio Shack Online. 

Radio Shack Handheld Trunking Scanners  

• PRO-97 - 1000-Ch./10 Banks Triple-Trunking Handheld Scanner (#20-527)  

• PRO-94 - 1000-Ch./20 Banks (A/B) Dual-Trunking Scanner (#20524)  

Radio Shack Handheld Scanner Comparison Chart

Radio Shack Base/Mobile Trunking Scanners

• PRO-2052 - 1000-Ch. Dual-Trunking Desktop Scanner (#20-432)

• PRO-2051 - 1000-Ch. Triple-Trunking Desktop Scanner (#20-426)

Radio Shack Desktop Scanner Comparison Chart

Aftermarket for Radio Shack Trunking Scanners

The aftermarket is where you will find recently discontinued scanner models that are no longer sold at Radio Shack stores as well as models that are used and/or refurbished. The following is a list of all Radio Shack trunking scanners that have been discontinued and no longer sold through Radio Shack. 

• PRO-90 - 300-Channels/10-Banks, Trunking Scanner (1997) (h) 

• PRO-91 - 150-Channels/5-Banks, Trunking Scanner (1998) (h) 

• PRO-92 - 500-Channels/10-Banks, Trunking Scanner (1999) (h) 

• PRO-93 - 300-Channels/10-Banks, Trunking Scanner (2001) (h) 

• PRO-95 - 1000-Channels/10-Banks, Dual-Trunking Scanner (2002) (h) 

• PRO-2050 - 300-channels/10-banks, Trunking Scanner (1997) (b/m) 

• PRO-2053 - 300-channels/10-banks, Trunking Scanner (2001) (b/m) 

• PRO-2055 - 500-channels/10-banks, Trunking Scanner (2005) (b/m) 

• PRO-2066 - 150-channels/5-banks, Trunking Scanner (1998) (m) 

• PRO-2067 - 500-channels/10-banks, Multi-Trunking Scanner (2000) (m) 

Note: (h) = Handheld,  ( b) = Base,  ( m) = Mobile, ( d) = Desktop 

Check out our Police Scanner Buyer's Guide for more information and tips on shopping for new and after-market scanners

Radio Shack Trunk Scanner Yahoo Groups! 

• PRO-92

• PRO-93

• PRO-94

• PRO-2052

• PRO-2053

• PRO-2066

• PRO-2067

Uniden Trunk Scanner Yahoo Groups! 

• BC245XLT

• BC246T

• BC246T

• BC780XLT

• BC780XLT

• BC895XLT

• BC898T

If you know of any others to add to the list, please submit them here.

Back to Police Scanners & Accessories