Glenn Fetty writes in a message to All
 GF> Just got the new Radio Shack sale flier in the mail today and 
 GF> I saw that they have their frequency counter marked down. I've 
 GF> been interested in one of these for a long time and am wondering 
 GF> if anyone has one and what their opinion is of it. I am interested 
 GF> in general frequency snooping, including radio towers, antenna 
 GF> farms, fast food joints, etc. 
I have one and it works for what I use it for.  (At work I do 2-way radio 
repair and it will usually get me in the ballpark for a real reading on the 
big service monitor.)  I wasn't able to read anything at McDonald's the other 
day...  But then, I didn't bring it right up to the order kiosk or one of the 
personele.  For snooping you generally need to be within 10 feet or so of the 
emitter to get a good reading - anything farther and you are likely to read 
some radio station or the local NWS transmitter.  I had a heck of a time 
reading the frequencies that the ship's crew was using on the cruise I took 
to Alaska (Ketchikan in particular) - turns out they were using Marine 16 for 
docking, but the local NWS, police and a couple of commercial FM stations 
were on a tower a couple of blocks from the dock.  Yikes!  I had to hold the 
counter's antenna "just so" to read the radios that the boat folks were 
sing.
  
 GF>  I don't need computer interfacing capability. Is this little 
 GF> guy worth $80? Any comments are greatly appreciated - not just 
 GF> on this counter but frequency snooping in general. 
It's worth the money - even at full price.  Pick up "rubber duck" antennas 
from your local 2-way shop cut for the common 2-way bands too.  They are 
"sharp" enough to add a bit of selectivity if you know what band you are 
looking for.
 
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