analogue scanning

[radiodave]

They're motorola gp300's but I dont have a lead or a PC or the software! they're UHF so between 400 and 470 MHz. If/when I get an MD380 should I programme in 449MHz and then go up in 12.5KHz steps?

[radiodave]

They're motorola gp300's but I dont have a lead or a PC or the software! they're UHF so between 400 and 470 MHz. If/when I get an MD380 should I programme in 449MHz and then go up in 12.5KHz steps?

[radiosification]

GP300s are available in multiple frequency bands. How do you know which band your radios are in? The easiest way to find out which channel your radios are on in a certain band is to program in all of the simple UK business light channels that are in the frequency band in to your radio. But don't just buy an MD-380 if you aren't sure if you radios are VHF or UHF.
I don't really see why you're getting an MD-380 anyway. If you're communicating with analogue radios and want to scan analogue frequencies, why not just buy an analogue radio which will be much much cheaper? Then you could get one which is actually suitable for scouting - waterproof.

[radiodave]

They are definitley UHF gp300's. The trouble is I have no way of programming them but if we are donated more radios (which we have been told will be happening) then I wont know what frequencies to program them to, hence the scanning question. I had looked at getting an MD380 as it was a relatively cheap radio which had (limited) front panel programming capability while still being of a reasonable build quality and durability

[zippy]

the first thing you need to do before spending money my friend is to look at the licence, it will tell you exactly what frequencies you are permitted to tx and rx on.

[radiosification]

Honestly it is a waste of your money buying a DMR radio when you're not going to be using DMR. Get something like a Wouxun kg-uv8d instead. That is a good quality, not too expensive radio and it covers both UHF and VHF so you can use both bands if you want. It has proper FPP and VFO (a mode where you can just tune to any frequency in its range) unlike the MD-380.