Bucks County Radio "Upgrades" - What Do They Mean To Me?

[frankz1]

Sorry if this is an obvious question, but will the "upgrades" to the Bucks County Radio System described here...

Bucks police calls get busy signal during Warminster standoff; radio upgrade planned - phillyburbs.com: Warrington

...have a negative effect on my ability to monitor the system through my PRO-96?

Thanks.

[phillydjdan]

According to the information I've seen, the answer is yes. They are planning on moving to 700MHz, which the Pro-96 cannot tune in any way, shape, or form.

[puzzleriddle]

Pro 96 can RECEIVE 700mhz but can't trunk track it

[phillydjdan]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.3.5; en-us; ZTE-N910 Build/GRJ90) AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1)

They can? Ive tried to enter 700MHz into mine and get the "invalid frequency" error.

[mlmummert]

Originally Posted by phillydjdan

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.3.5; en-us; ZTE-N910 Build/GRJ90) AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1)

They can? Ive tried to enter 700MHz into mine and get the "invalid frequency" error.

You can enter it with Win96 software but the scanner receiver isn't designed for that band and won't trunk track it.


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[Skypilot007]

Originally Posted by frankz1

Sorry if this is an obvious question, but will the "upgrades" to the Bucks County Radio System described here...

Bucks police calls get busy signal during Warminster standoff; radio upgrade planned - phillyburbs.com: Warrington

...have a negative effect on my ability to monitor the system through my PRO-96?

Thanks.

Sorry to say but in reality it means it is time to buy a new scanner.

[frankz1]

Trunking is kind of important to me in my usage. I like a "set and forget" kind of thing to hear what's going on around me. I don't mind a little initial set up, but I wouldn't look forward to manually following conversations around.

I see the PRO-96 is getting a decent price on ebay for its age, so it's not the end of the world.

Any recommendations on a comparable replacement (built-in speaker, battery operated, etc) that will work with the current system and the new system once implemented would be appreciated. (Not necessarily limited to Radio Shack, although I have been quite impressed with my current unit and would lean toward the brand).

They seem to be fast-tracking this change after their disaster in Warminster this week was broadcast.

[phillydjdan]

Actually, Frank, this new system has been in the works for several years. The recent press regarding the "busies" during the standoff only highlights the need. The County puts out pdf reports on the new system every so often, and can be read here:

Emergency Communications -- Radio Project

As of right now, the only scanner that will track phase 2 systems is the PSR-800. It is a portable scanner made by GRE (the same company that makes Radio Shack scanners). It is my understanding that the new system will be phase 2, so I would look into getting one of these, unless Uniden puts out a phase 2 capable scanner between now and then.

[frankz1]

Beautiful. Thanks for the detailed information.

[phillydjdan]

Just wanted to throw this out there, I was able to hear dispatches on the Fire Dispatch channel (155.550) in Jersey City, NJ and in several locations in Manhattan, at street level with a mobile radio. I was able to copy an EMS dispatch in Newtown Twp clear as a bell on 8th Av near Central Park!