Best digital scanner for living in Oakland County?

EA87 · #1 (**permalink**) 10-25-2009, 01:13 PM

I live in Oakland County, and I'm getting a digital scanner for Christmas. I'd like to know what is the best one. I don't live in the middle of nowhere. I'd like to pick up Oakland County, Waterford, West Bloomfield, and surrounding areas. I currently own a Pro-96, but I want a digital so I don't have to keep scanning to pick up the rest of the transmission. If anyone lives in a county like mine that has good transmission and clarity, give me a suggestion please. Thank you!
-Liz

rdale · #2 (**permalink**) 10-25-2009, 01:50 PM

996XT, 396XT, PSR500 or PSR600. Depends on what features you need.

freqs · #3 (**permalink**) 10-25-2009, 02:41 PM

the pro 96 is digital .and a trunk tracker it will follow the Oakland county trunk system and the msp .I use the same radio ( the pro 96) for the Oakland County system and all other Oakland county agencies that are not on the new Open Sky system. If you have to hit the scan button to hear the rest of transmissions its more to my thinking that it is not programed correctly .If you want to buy a new radio thats fine what rdale recomended are great radios but what you have will work for and follow all radio traffic ( THAT IS NOT ON OPEN SKY) in Oakland county and the State Police .

Wyandotte · #4 (**permalink**) 10-25-2009, 05:29 PM

EA87:
Just to make clear what freqs is telling you. A lot of Oakland County is using OpenSky made by MA/COM. Understand that there is NO scanner that can recieve OpenSky. We don't want you (or your family) going and buying another scanner for no reason. Like freqs says, the 96 will work fine for everything in OC that is not using OpenSky, including all MSP.

Take a look at the Database for OC. See the listing that says "CLEMIS Public Safety Communications". If that list is accurate (folks up that way can answer that question better than me), the those are the communities you can't hear with any scanner.

Ray_Air · #5 (**permalink**) 10-28-2009, 12:43 AM

I see Open Sky has TG's for patches to the MPSCS. Has anyone ever heard an O/S patch to the MPSCS? I wish they would simulcast dispatch TG's to the MPSCS. I know, yeah right. Nah, truth of the matter is much of Oakland County is still not using CLEMIS (Open Sky), but when and if O/S ever takes off you will be SOL. My PD unfortunately went to O/S last year.

weeksben1 · #6 (**permalink**) 10-30-2009, 07:14 PM

For anything non O/S (opensky), I'm using a GRE PSR-500, mainly so I can recieve the MSP. I'd look at almost any modern digital trunktracker. Figure out which works best for you. One other suggestion (at least for the GRE and GRE type units) get some programming software, it really shortens the learning curve.

freqs · #7 (**permalink**) 11-01-2009, 11:12 AM

I still use my pro 2006 for OC it dont trunk track it does however pick up the trunk system . For the most part the 2006 is set up for anything non p25 digital non trunk freqs .