Getting started in Philadelphia County

[cxs293]

With the upcoming Pope visit, my boss had the idea of issuing scanners to our employees in the field so they can remain abreast of anything going on during the papal visit.

Philadelphia PD and Fire are the foremost concerns, but other agencies like SEPTA, PennDOT, and neighboring counties (especially Montgomery County, and/or Camden County in New Jersey) would be nice to have. And if they have any un-encrypted stuff, government agencies would be nice as well.

So I am trying to figure out what I need for a scanner to meet the above objectives. What should I look for a in a scanner? What frequencies do I need? Where can I find them? What features are vital and which are nice to have? Longevity is not of paramount concern as this is probably going to be a short term thing but if it can get us through the Democratic National Convention in 2016, that would be excellent.

I used to understand enough to be dangerous with scanners, but that knowledge is at least 15 years old. So, I am pretty clueless about any changes that have happened in the recent past.

 

[hippieman556]

I would suggest looking into all the interop channels for both federal and non federal

 

[phillydjdan]

I would suggest a portable like the Uniden 325 or 436 or a Whister 1080. They will give you the ability to monitor Phase II systems (Camden and soon Bucks). If its a base/mobile you want, get a Uniden 996P2 or Whistler 1095.

 

[cxs293]

I would suggest a portable like the Uniden 325 or 436 or a Whister 1080. They will give you the ability to monitor Phase II systems (Camden and soon Bucks). If its a base/mobile you want, get a Uniden 996P2 or Whistler 1095.

Thank you for the suggestions. That leads to a couple of other questions

1. Is Philadelphia switching to a Phase 2 system any time soon? I've read conflicting reports on this.
2. If I wanted to skip the Phase 2 functionality and just needed something for the immediate future, is there any suggestions that would work for Philadelphia county? Do I only need an analog trunking model that covers 800 MHz?

 

[phillydjdan]

Philly uses a Phase "1" P25 system right now. You need a digital scanner to hear them, but not a Phase 2 scanner. They are in the process of building out a Phase 2 system, but that is rumored to be a couple of years away still (think 2017 ish). If you want something for right now, you can look at just about any digital scanner, but keep in mind if you are moving around versus staying stationary, you WILL have reception issues due to a pesky little thing called LSM distortion that Philly has come to be infamous for.

 

[trentbob]

... maybe get a used 536 with little use... I know where one may be available...

 

[phillydjdan]

Eh, I don't want another local getting one of those useless bricks for Philly, Bob... lol

 

[cxs293]

Thanks so much for your help. This really helped get me pointed in the right direction

 

[Septa3371CSX1]

For a P25 Phase 1 scanner the Pro 651/652 models are pretty good. My 651 has less issues with LSM than my 668 does on Philly's system. I still have issues nonetheless but my 651 (and older 106 which isn't working right) give me pretty good quality.

You won't be able to monitor Penn DOT as they are on the state's Open Scam system which is not able to be monitored by any scanner or computer decoding program. The good news is the state will be replacing the Open Scam system with a VHF/700/800 P25 Phase 2 system in the next several years and as long as encryption isn't used you will be able to monitor Penn DOT in a few years.