Will this handheld scanner: (http://www.radios-uk.com/uniden_ubc3500xlt.htm) recieve Airport ATC And emergency services <SNIP> ambulance etc and fire. Airport atc is my main priority.

Excellent scanner have one and would nearly buy another

It will pick up most of what we are able to listen to.

No problem with aircraft and if you are within range ATC.

We are not allow discuss G****** on the forum, the rest you should be able to pick up.

Many of the emergency services are moving to a system called Tetra, when they do you will not be able to hear them anymore.

The 3500 is best used with free software; BC Tool, this allows you to programme it and even record audio.

I share this view. If you're going to splash out, and have a reasonably technical mind, buy it.

Also get a good external aerial as high as you can place it (even in the attic is good).

Is there a particular airport that you are interested in ?

I agree its a brilliant scanner! It took me a while to figure out how to work it properly.
Also, if your going to get one and your computer doesnt have a serial port youll need to get a usb cable for it.

To connect it to a computer you'll first need to buy the optional PC Control serial cable, available on eBay for about €20

If you're computer (usually laptops) doesn't have a serial port with 9 pins on it, you'll need a USB to Serial Adapter like this one:
http://cgi.ebay.ie/USB-RS232-Serial-Cab ... 1c141b0894

I have the ubc 3500xlt myself and it's a great bit of kit. Have downloaded bc tools and have the relevent cables but the computer tells me that it can't detect the scanner. yet the computer (when i plug in the cable )tells me its detectecd new hardware.

Any ideas anyone??
Thanks!!

What cable is it? The RS232 or the USB?

The RS adapter need drivers, the USB should be up no problems.

You will need your ports to be at the same speed or lower. In your scanner set a speed either 38400bps/57600bps or 115200 bps. The faster the better **** but for whatever reason you might not have connection at your selected speed.

You then need to find your port on your PC, it's in the device manager and you should see a few ports, right click and navigate to the port speed setting, and match it to that on your scanner.

You might have to lower both speeds to 9,600 bps in some cases.

ADVANCED: A tool called HyperTerminal [usually in the communication folder] can be invaluable in identifying the port in use and its configuration if one is running multiple devices. It can be tricky too as some port only show up when connected, it can also be complicated by the fact that some devices will only work on port 1 through to port 4 and you might only have pot 7 available ~ but that's unlikely in your case.

Hi gbee!

its through the usb that i am trying to connect. Will give your advice a shoot shortly and let you know the outcome. Thanks a mill!!

Hi gbee! Well after literally months of playing with this programme and trying to connect the scanner, thanks to your advice, I have success at last. Nice one and thanks a mill!!

Great. Delighted, thanks.