newbie questions

[needmoremoney]

hate the term newbie, but.......am an extra class ham that hasn't listened to a scanner since my old bearcat 150 days. i stopped listening when the suffolk county pd went to trunking systems. i am so far out of the loop now, and MAY be interested in purchasing a new scanner, but have a couple of questions.

1st i am in brookhaven town, suffolk county long island, interested in SCPD, sheriff, and local FD's, south shore oakdale thru moriches, hauppauge thru ridge, more or less. (i know they ALL used to use a main 46mhz freq with a few secondary freqs during emergencies, but understand now they use different 150mhz freqs for each dept....not sure if that's correct though). also may listen to some vhf marine, ambulance, BMH, used to listen to whatever the ole bearcat would lock onto, then note the freq. not even sure how the new scanners work anymore. i've looked at a few sites that list the 46mhz freqs, along with 157mhz freqs, and during a recent emergency tuned my ic746pro to 46.30-46.46fm & heard NOTHING. my 746pro tunes to say 157.830 on fm, not even sure if it can do the freqs listed for local FD's, ending in 5's, etc. needless to say, didn't here anything there, either. i don't really know how trunking/tracking works, other then it (very simplified) searches out clear freqs allowing multiple users in limited space.....

so will a bearcat 996xt scanner receive what i'm looking for? if i was to purchase one, WHAT do i do next? do i need to KNOW what i'm looking for & program it in/have it programmed in? does it KNOW where i am & what to do? what else do i NEED TO KNOW before and after i purchase the correct scanner for my needs?

 

[W2NJS]

Everything you need to know to start things going in your search:

Suffolk County, New York (NY) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference

Looks at a glance as if most of the action is on UHF and not VHF in the county these days.

 

[needmoremoney]

google brought me to that page, where i continued on to this forum. that's what confirmed my earliest info that 46.46 wasn't where i was going to find any local FD activity!

that said...............

so will a bearcat 996xt scanner receive what i'm looking for? if i was to purchase one, WHAT do i do next? do i need to KNOW what i'm looking for & program it in/have it programmed in? does it KNOW where i am & what to do? what else do i NEED TO KNOW before and after i purchase the correct scanner for my needs?

thanks, 'njs de **2rc

 

[n2pqq]

Since you have been away from scanning
For awhile you might want to take a look
At the undien home patrol.

It would allow you to jump right back into
Scanning and feel like you where never
Away.

I have both the undien 996xt and the
Home patrol.

For pure ease of use and enjoyment
I would pick the home patrol.
Price for both units is about the same.

 

[theoldcop]

Yes...the 996XT will fit the bill now and for quite some time. The county Smart Net system has excellent county coverage. The few P25 transmissions (D.A.'s office, a couple of Sheriff's talkgroups) are decoded very well.
The 996XT can be a complicated radio. As an Extra you should not have too much trouble getting used to it, but I would still recommend the Butel software ( ARC XT software for Uniden BCD396XT BC346XT BCD996XT BCT15XT models scanner free demo ) for programming and control.
The HP-1, although an excellent radio in its own right, would be a little too lacking in customization for someone with your experience, in my opinion.
A Suffolk resident myself, I would be willing to help should you make the purchase.

John