Uneducated Question

[milaw]

I am an Ofc with a dept on the state MPSCS system. My dad would like nothing better than to be able to hear whats going on in my city (which borders his city) like he could with the old vhf system. I would like to get him a scanner for christmas but it only needs to get 5 talkgroups at the max. Could anyone point me in the right direction?

A little more info:

- My city and his house are both less than 5 miles from the closest MPSCS tower so I would assume that is mostly what we are associated with.
- FD is still VHF, would that be a problem?
- I have a little experience with scanning and programming it but that was a basic scanner about 5 years ago without any trunking, would programming the scanner for my dad be a real challenge or is it self-explanitory?

Thanks alot for your help, it is very much appreciated.

[rdale]

No problem, any of the current line of digital scanners will do what you want. Top of the line = $500, older models can be had for $350 or so, and maybe $250ish if you go EBay.

[mikey60]

Originally Posted by milaw

I am an Ofc with a dept on the state MPSCS system. My dad would like nothing better than to be able to hear whats going on in my city (which borders his city) like he could with the old vhf system. I would like to get him a scanner for christmas but it only needs to get 5 talkgroups at the max. Could anyone point me in the right direction?

A little more info:

- My city and his house are both less than 5 miles from the closest MPSCS tower so I would assume that is mostly what we are associated with.
- FD is still VHF, would that be a problem?
- I have a little experience with scanning and programming it but that was a basic scanner about 5 years ago without any trunking, would programming the scanner for my dad be a real challenge or is it self-explanitory?

Thanks alot for your help, it is very much appreciated.

I'll add one thing to Rob's response. As long as your department is not encrypted, any of the digital capable scanners should work for you. As of this point, the City of Kalamazoo DPS and Calhoun county are encrypted. Pretty much everything else as far as county and state police agencies are in the clear, with the exception of some surveilance talkgroups.

Mike

[MPSCS]

Welcome to Radio Reference.

You might want to take a look here and see if you can monitor what you're looking for. Then just send your dad the link.

Live Police, Fire, and EMS Scanners on RadioReference.com

[FPOWLD]

Check the classfied " For sale" site on Radio reference site. There is a PRO 96 ( hand held) for $250
(-FS 3 Scanners) and a PRO 2096 base/table top for $275( -FS PRO 2096). Either of these radios would do the job.

Good Luck. I'm sure your Dad would like either.

[milaw]

Thanks for the help guys.