I never found a scanner I liked, so I always thought I'd build a 433MHz receiver. I figured what the heck, the beeline is built from a 433 transmitter chip, so there must be a corresponding receiver chip. nope, can't really find one! anyone have an idea for a $10 433 MHz packet RX chip??!??
after some use, I disagree that the signal bars (visual) are better than listening (audio) to a changing signal. but the bees are FM so the signal quality is always "really good". so ya gotta keep yer eyes on the HT signal bars, at just the moments you should be scanning the horizon for the rocket. in that way, the AM transmitters (Rocket Hunter, Walston) have a slight advantage.