Radio Shack salesperson says Black Hawk County going digital "soon"

[zoofer]

Went in to the Cedar Falls Radio Shack store this evening with the intent of purchasing a PRO-107 scanner while it was on sale for $149. The salesperson told me that they were out of stock, but that the Waterloo store had one. Before I left the store, the salesperson mentioned that the Black Hawk County system would "soon" be converting to a digital system. I asked when the change was going to be made, but the salesperson was unsure of exactly when the conversion to digital would happen.

Any truth to this? I would hate to spend my money on an analog trunking scanner if it was going to be obsolete within a year, but I'm not exactly crazy about spending $300++ for P25 capability if I'm not going to need it anyway.

Info appreciated. Thanks!

KC, W0VP

[Radioman96p71]

If Blackhawk county does indeed go digital with RACOM, they will most likely go to ProVoice, which no scanner can track. As far as the rumor, i haven't heard a peep but way down here we don't hear much lol

[burner50]

Originally Posted by zoofer

Went in to the Cedar Falls Radio Shack store this evening with the intent of purchasing a PRO-107 scanner while it was on sale for $149. The salesperson told me that they were out of stock, but that the Waterloo store had one. Before I left the store, the salesperson mentioned that the Black Hawk County system would "soon" be converting to a digital system. I asked when the change was going to be made, but the salesperson was unsure of exactly when the conversion to digital would happen.

Any truth to this? I would hate to spend my money on an analog trunking scanner if it was going to be obsolete within a year, but I'm not exactly crazy about spending $300++ for P25 capability if I'm not going to need it anyway.

Info appreciated. Thanks!

KC, W0VP

I'm not an expert, but I do know that Blackhawk County is on RACOM, so if they were to do digital, it likely wouldn't be P25.


There hasn't really been any license activity in the past two years, so I would wager to say that the radio shack employee was (As Usual) Full of Crap.

[Jay911]

The last time a Radio Shack employee told me something was going to go "digital" (or had already done so), it was with the motive (clearly stated by him) to sell me a new cell phone which I could connect to my existing scanner and hear the "encrypted transmissions" (his words). So I would wager that burner50 is right on the money.

[Signal3and2]

Originally Posted by jay911

the last time a radio shack employee told me something was going to go "digital" (or had already done so), it was with the motive (clearly stated by him) to sell me a new cell phone which i could connect to my existing scanner and hear the "encrypted transmissions" (his words). So i would wager that burner50 is right on the money.

lol!!!!!!

[IowaGuy1603]

The average Radio Shack clerk knows enough about radios to plug them in the wall socket.

No more-----most less than even that.

[joetnymedic]

sounds like someone was just trying to sell a digital scanner. personally I'd check the fcc pending database and look to see if any licenses were even applied for. From past experiences, Radio Shack guys at least here in CT are so far disconnected from the scanner world, they don't even know the difference between digital signal and digital as in digital you punch into the radio. not just that but i had one guy tell me they didnt even sell scanners while he was standing in a row with 3 scanners on the shelf right behind him, It was a definate kodak moment when I pointed it out to him pointing to the scanners on the shelf. I will savor that moment for a long, long time

[bar422]

Pretty good bet he was trying to sell you a digital scanner.....most of the Radio Shack people don't have a clue!

[KD0BML]

Black Hawk going digital is about like Dubuque going "triple trunking" after the rebanding last fall and then supposedly going digital in 6 months.

I try to avoid the radioshack salespeople as much as possible when I'm there. The more I listen to them, the more annoyed I get. When you try to explain it to them, they just look at you like an idiot.

[IrvingtonVFD43]

Originally Posted by IowaGuy1603

The average Radio Shack clerk knows enough about radios to plug them in the wall socket.

The RadioShack store clerks in my neck of the woods says there is no digital here in Norfolk and probably never will be.

....OhKay......

I am currently listening to 2 N-WIN towers in "True digital P25 modulation" while I type this!