Railfan Technology > Motorola GM 300 vs Kenwood TK-7180 vs Realistic 400 CH Pro-2006

Each of these radios has great reception on the radio streams that I listen to.  Would either have better reception in my automobile than a 20-yr old Uniden 
BC-142XL?  Do they operate from battery power and accept PL-259 or Motorola plugs?  Are these all scanners?
Thanks
Andy

I don't know where to start on this.  Only the Pro-2006 is a scanner--it is a mobile scanner, likely with a PL-259 antenna connector.  It's been out of production for quite awhile.  The TK-2180 is a portable commercial radio that requires computer programming--it is not field programmable.  The GM-300 is a commercial mobile radio.  Again, not field programmable from the keypad.  I'm guessing that you are looking at these on the used market.  I would suggest that you do more research on this forum before you jump in a buy something that you likely can't use or won't meet your needs.  There are pages and pages of posts on this forum about what works best, etc.

About five years ago I bought a used Kenwood TK-7180, the software to program it and the programming cable for a total of about $250-$300 on Ebay.  It took me about 60 minutes to figure out how to use the programming software and get it programmed.  I use it in my car powered by the "cigarette lighter" style power port.  It has a PL-259 type antenna connection.  It works great.  I'll never go back to using scanners.