Jake said:
Thanks for all your comments. They were very helpful. I'll check out the the models at Radio Shack.
A couple of things you should know about Radio Shack products.
Many folks like to put down Radio Shack products, however:
1: Much of what is labeled Radio Shack, or Realistic, is not really made by Radio Shack/Realistic/Tandy but by some other well known company..... I'm not sure who made my milti-meter however I do know who makes a case that fits it like a glove (FLUKE, one of the most trusted names in this product line) I would not be surprised to find a Radio Shack Scanner that is all but identical to a Bearcat scanner.
2: Several years ago (ok, 1970's) one of the Radio and Electronic magazines put Radio Shack, Cobra and Johnson (The two biggest names in CB's) to the test... The labortory test bench test.
They found that the very best Johnson, was virtually identical performance wise to the very best COBRA, and was superior to the very best Radio Shack... (no surprise there at all)
They found that the #2 Johnson and Cobra were nearly identical... And the #1 Radio shack was also nearly identical to the big boys #2 (once again, not really a surprise) in everythign but price
From top to bottom, the Johnson and the Cobra were not only very nearly identical in specs, but in price
However Radio Shack, Well, their top started, as noted, about the same as the number 2 Johnson & Cobra performance wise, but were priced about the same as Johnson and Cobra's #3 radio.
This too continued all the way down to the bottom of the line,, with the bottom Radio Shack uint (Which I tossed about a month ago) being cheaper than the bottom of the other two, but again performancy wise nearly identical
In some cases, it is known who makes the Radio Shack labeled product, In others it's not as well known.
But I've never had any of their good products I would not be proud to own... The bargain basement stuff... Well, you may well get what you pay for there, but anything mid-level or above is going to be as good as a big name product costing about one level more