Monitoring EDACS system with a used EDACS transceiver?

[sdaly]

Hi all,

I've been lurking for a while, enjoy this site very much, and this is my first post here. I have a couple conventional (non-trunking) scanners: an old BCT-12 and a BC95XLT. But now I'd like to monitor a local EDACS system. I have been looking at the BC346XT, but in an effort to try and do this on the cheap, I noticed that a used EDACS transceiver like a GE MP-A can be had pretty cheap on ebay. Is there any reason I couldn't just buy one of these old transceivers, program in the freqs and talkgroups, and use it for monitoring? Thanks.

[bezking]

Moved to the Harris-M\A-Com-GE-Ericsson Forum.

[davidbond21]

First off, welcome to RR longtime lurker first time poster!

Now you could do that, but, take it from a guy who owns a few EDACS radios(LPE-200's/Jaguar725M): They sound great and are going to give you the best reception available over any scanner, but for the hobbyist the advantages quickly end there.

First, the utter inflexibility of the radios will send you back to the scanner often. Whereas with a scanner you have the ability to find new talkgroups, the radio must be preprogrammed with them. If your local EDACS system is not well documented in the, you are likely going to be missing out on available radio traffic because you won't know what talkgroups to program into the radio ahead of time. This is a large part of this hobby and having a radio will hobble your ability to find these new talkgroups whereas a scanner will seamlessly pick them up for you.

Another large part of this inflexibility is that a radio is single purposed, i.e. it only does EDACS on one band(800MHz, 900MHz, etc.). While you may only have one system in mind to listen to, I am surrounded by multiple EDACS systems of different bands, along with Motorola and LTR trunking systems. The ability to do all that with one device, becomes apparent when its time to switch from one radio to the next.

Which brings us to the next little headache, programming. The EDACS Programmer software is not exactly easy or cheap to come by. It's also much more complicated than any scanning software, but in this case, incorrect programming done on your part to the radio could cause it to either not work at all(least worrisome) to causing interference or interruptions to your public safety agencies, possibly putting lives at risk(this is criminal). This is on top of fact that if your radio is not programmed correctly for monitoring only, the system administrators can send an inhibit command to the radio and you'll be left with an fancy looking brick or paperweight. Incorrect programming in a scanner means it just won't work, but it can't affect anything else.

I'm not trying to knock professional radios, but I would seriously reconsider getting one for your purposes. That scanner you mentioned looking at will do all an EDACS radio can do and much more, and usually for less after you spend your money getting the radio/programming cable/software. And the real kicker is unless you are on the fringes of reception, then a scanner will likely sound nearly as good and perform just as well.

[sdaly]

Wow, that's great information, thanks! I'm really glad I asked because I hadn't thought about those other headaches it would involve. I'll go back to my original idea of getting a trunk tracking scanner then. Thanks again.

[kf4sek]

For what it is worth, get the BC346XT. I have one and love it!

[e911god]

I have a PSR-500 that I use to monitor a local EDACS system and I love it. It has radioID as well, so when a unit keys up, I know who is talking and have all the ID's on the system alpha tagged. You can monitor individual private calls as well, scan multiple talkgroups, multiple sites, identify new talkgroups, etc, etc, etc.

I also have a LPE-200. Great radio that my agency purchased for me. The receive is much better than any scanner I've used, but you are limited compared to what I posted above. I have to admit though I prefer the scanner over the radio. When I'm not working and don't need the transmit capability, I use the PSR.

[ElroyJetson]

I use Orions in my vehicles and P7100IPs as my portable scanners. But my shop supports EDACS customers and we bought the software for the goat-choking sum of 2500 dollars.

My scan lists are very carefully tailored to scan everything that is likely to interest me and nothing else,
so I may miss some mildly interesting things once in a while but it's not an issue for me. I scan all
dispatch and talk channels that are commonly used by all police, fire, and rescue agencies, plus
the ones that they use for major incidents. But if the talkgroup assignments get changed, which
does happen once every so often, then I have to reprogram the radio to follow the changes, that is,
after I get the updated information via various sources. It's not as convenient as a scanner, but the
performance and durability of a public safety grade radio, even a M/A-Com one, totally outclasses
any scanner. I for one have no use for a scanner. YMMV.


Elroy

[Marty-Bishop]

All good advice so far but y'all are forgetting one thing. The original poster is looking at an MPA. There is a reason the MPAs are so cheap. Their being pulled out of systems nation wide as they are not rebandable. If the EDACS system in your area has been narrow banded or soon will be, you will not be able to use it as it is not capable of the lower end frequencies. If you want to use a commercial radio you will need an MRK (256k or higher), LPE-200, J700p, P7100, or P7200.

The portable radios NOT rebandable are the PCS, MPA, and EDACS 300p. Avoid them.

[ElroyJetson]

Sorry, that is NOT true. M-PAs and even M-PDs are fully capable of working with a rebanded system. The only issue is that they are not able to handle the new narrowband public safety conventional channels. (NPSPAC) but this has NO bearing on TRUNKING operation. They WILL program directly
down to the 806/851 MHz range requried for rebanded systems. If you're not in need of the capacity
to monitor the new mutual aid channels, there is no problem whatsoever with using an M-PA or M-PD
on the rebanded systems.

Elroy