Want a basic scanner, suggestions?

[sutter927]

I have become very interested in the police and ems scanner activity and would like to purchase a inexpensive scanner to listen to local activity. I see that the Madison WI Public Safety system is on a trunking system. Motorola Type II Smartnet, Analog. System frequencies seem to be 854.xxxxx to 859.xxxxx. Then there are the DEC and HEx, and it all makes my head spin......I start to think I know which radios would suffice and then I read more on the forums and I get confused and feel like all my knowledge is now incorrect! SO if anyone has a basic system they "recommend for a newbie that needs this kind of Capability I am all ears...

Does a digital system pick up analong? But not vice versa?

Looked at PRO-164 and just not sure it is the best choice.

Any help is greatly appreciated

Sutter

 

[frazpo]

Dane county is APCO P25 which is a digital system. You will need a digital capable scanner to listen to it. A digital scanner will also receive analog frequencies.
Madison WI Pub Safety is on a trunked analog system.

I personally would not purchase anything other than a digital capable scanner with that large digital system for Dane county. Who knows if Madison will migrate over or not. Plus you would be missing out on a lot of good scanner traffic.

I hope this helps. Someone local to that area may have some detailed info for you. You may post a similar post in the Wi. Forum.

 

[sutter927]

Thank you

Thanks, I will post there as well. SO the PRO-164 would not be the right ticket I am guessing.....

sutter

 

[N8IAA]

Dane county is on a digital system, Madison is on an analog system. There are link TGID's for Madison. So, for the time being, an analog trunk tracker would work.
My suggest, however, is that you ask the mods, by clicking on the red and white triangle in the upper right corner of your post, and ask that they move the thread to the WI state forum.
Larry

 

[frazpo]

Thanks, I will post there as well. SO the PRO-164 would not be the right ticket I am guessing.....

sutter

Well I am a Uniden guy myself
Keep in mind some scanners have free software capable of programming them and some don't.
Some come with a programming cable and some do not. (don't quote me on that one, been awhile since I purchased)
I can tell you I am always pleased with my 396xt. Some are equally as happy with a Pro 164.

 

[sutter927]

Thanks I just created a new post over on the WI board too. I did see the Uniden scanners as well, but again I get all confused when I am making sure either has the right components.....

Sutter

 

[frazpo]

Whats your budget?

 

[sutter927]

I would like to stay under $150 if possible.

Thanks!

 

[frazpo]

$$

Unless you find a steal from an individual or pawnshop then $150 will not go far for a digital scanner in good shape.
I would consider paying another $100 for a digital.

I would check Craigslist. Actually I just checked your area and there is a Digital Uniden for $200

 

[sutter927]

Fazpo thanks for all your input I do appreciate it. And thanks for the price update. I was looking at Ebay and I did see a uniden BC346XT C TrunkTracker III Police Scanner - not sure if the C negates the ability for me to use it on my desired location but they are around $180 used or refurbished.

 

[mule1075]

346XTC is analog trunking only FYI.

Sent from my Z750C using Tapatalk

 

[johnls7424]

In this day and age you midas well get a digital trunking scanner. Cause if you have an interest now, when you start listening to basic, local, conventional radio system(s) you will soon enough want to upgrade so you can listen to Trunked systems as well. Your department might even be on a trunked system already. I suggest the Uniden BCD436HP. Its probably the best portable digital trunking scanner on the market. It is however around 450 dollars. My advice is go big or go home in that aspect. You don't even need a programming cable ( even though I believe it is even included on this model). Just enter your zip code and ** bam** your listening to your favorite departments and channels.

 

[frazpo]

Fazpo thanks for all your input I do appreciate it. And thanks for the price update. I was looking at Ebay and I did see a uniden BC346XT C TrunkTracker III Police Scanner - not sure if the C negates the ability for me to use it on my desired location but they are around $180 used or refurbished.

Like I said, there is a local Craigslist listing in your area for a Uniden digital scanner for $200.

http://appleton.craigslist.org/ele/4882186357.html

 

[ofd8001]

I've used a Uniden 396XT during an overnight stay in Madison last year. It received well.

Echoing most of the above comments, the city of Madison is on an analog system. The surrounding area is on the DaneCom system. Also the WISCOM system comes into play for interoperability and state users, such as the State Patrol. These latter two systems are digital.

My experience in life has been if I tried to pinch pennies, it often comes back to haunt me. I find I say "I wish I spent the extra money up front."

 

[sutter927]

thanks OFD for the advice, I have realized my 150 is out now, but I was looking at the wrong stuff!

 

[rapidcharger]

This is what I mean by digital race-to-waste systems being terrible for our hobby and pricing people out of the hobby.
Sutter, a new digital trunk-tracking scanner is going to run you about $550. And even then, there will still be many new challenges for reception and audio quality and nowadays you're only a few short years away from the next tax dollar boondoggle which renders your expensive scanner useless.
If you have some computer know-how or access to someone who does, you might look into the software defined radio dongles (which are extremely cheap ~~$20) and some of the software and plugins for trunking.
Even without the trunking plugins, you could still get at least a modicum of listening pleasure out of it and see if you want to take the plunge and spend more. Is it complicated? Yes, there will be a learning curve for new users. But it's cheap. And you may just decide that meets your needs. As an added benefit, it will also receive other popular digital formats used primarily by businesses that no scanner currently will.

 

[sutter927]

Rapidcharger....thank you for the information. Whole new arena to explore for me. oh boy and I thought my head hurt looking at scanners, this will give my brain a workout. I am a computer person and support several different types of software so maybe there is a chance I can figure some of it out. When you say there is a dongle I get that, the software part has me wondering. any further information on the names of the software(s) or manufactures would get me pointed the right way.

Thank you all so much for your willingness to offer me advice!

 

[rapidcharger]

Rapidcharger....thank you for the information. Whole new arena to explore for me. oh boy and I thought my head hurt looking at scanners, this will give my brain a workout. I am a computer person and support several different types of software so maybe there is a chance I can figure some of it out. When you say there is a dongle I get that, the software part has me wondering. any further information on the names of the software(s) or manufactures would get me pointed the right way.

Thank you all so much for your willingness to offer me advice!

Sorry for the headache!

There's a whole section of this very forum dedicated to software and decoding digital transmissions and lots of posts in there about it that you'll have to sift through.
http://radioreference.com/software/
I would start with the : Digital Voice Decoding Software room.
And you should find some decent tutorials on YouTube for getting set up.
I was fortunate to have someone locally help me get set up and show me how to use it and even more fortunate that someone else locally actually gave me the dongle for free.

As for the dongles, you can search online shopping venues and auction sites for "USB tv tuner dongle" and they start around the $10 mark actually.

It's definitely more work but you can't be the price and the added capability to monitor other stuff including decoding text paging and things like that.

 

[fredva]

RTL-SDR Tutorial: Following Trunked Radio with Unitrunker - rtl-sdr.com is a good tutorial. There is additional information on what the SDR dongles can be used for at rtl-sdr.com - RTL-SDR (RTL2832U) and software defined radio news and projects. Also featuring Airspy, HackRF, FCD and more.. Some people use them to track aircraft, for example.

Success depends in part on how much horsepower your computer has, whether you use the computer for other tasks simultaneously, and your reception of the system you want to monitor.

 

[metallitrunks]

RadioShack Digital Triple-Trunking Handheld Radio Scanner (PRO-651) - BLINQ

Blinq.com is selling these PRO-651's for 180$. Just got one myself, it's such an amazing buy for the price. It does everything you need and more. Hooked it up to the laptop after downloading Win500, and a few minutes later I had everything set up. Granted, you will need to purchase the USB cable separately but all in all the total is around 200$. A little over your budget, but you really wont be able to come anywhere near that price for what you can do with this scanner.

Good luck!