I was trying to find out whether our work radios (Motorola CP200s and SP50s) were UHF or VHF. I tried using my scanner and thought that would be a straight-forward method, but on channel 1 (469.5000), I get clear signal on 44.395, 326.4875, 336.700, 343.475, 350.9875. I get interference with some audio on 310.0875, 407.6187, 408.250, 467.6687, 467.675. I borrowed a frequency counter and got the info I needed, but I’m still wondering what was going on… Is the scanner poor quality? (Radio Shack… probably an answer in itself… lol) Transmiter problem? A signal characteristic? Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks!
If you channel one is set on 469.XXXX, that is definitely a UHF radio. Another way to tell is by removing the battery and looking on the label inside the radio. I hope this helps.
If you hold the scanner closer than 10-15ft from the radio, yes it will sometimes trigger on different frequencies. I have had this problem before in RadioShack scanners… Best suggestion is to have a friend talk on the radio and hold the scanner in another room or at least 15ft away to get an accurate reading of the frequency.
As for the CP200 radios, if you remove the battery and look at the model number you can determine the frequency: