Scanner Help

Looking to buy a scanner to currently scan OKWIN for sector 8 OKC

I know OKC is Provoice but some of the stations like Del City and MWC are P25

I need a scanner with reband ability.

Are the newest RS, Uniden, Whistler best for OKC

Do you see MWC, Edmond, Moore Norman, OKC going P25 1 or 2 TDMA ?

Any advice would be great as these are not cheap.

It would not be out of the possibilities for both systems to join and form one system as that tends to be the direction these big systems are going. If that is the case the scanners listed below would work on the OKWIN system.
Phase 1 or 2
Uniden 1 BCD996P2 2.BCD325P2 3.BCD436HP 4.BCD536HP 5.HP2
Whistler 1.WS1080 2.WS1095
RadioShack 1.PRO668
GRE 1.PSR800
Phase 1 Only
Uniden 1.BCD396T 2.BCD396XT 3.BCD996T 4.BCD996XT 5.HP1
Whistler 1.WS1040 2.WS1065
GRE 1.PSR500 2.PSR600
RadioShack 1.PRO106 2.PRO197 3.PRO18 4.PRO651 5.PRO652

BCFreak said:

Looking to buy a scanner to currently scan OKWIN for sector 8 OKC
I know OKC is Provoice but some of the stations like Del City and MWC are P25
I need a scanner with reband ability.
Are the newest RS, Uniden, Whistler best for OKC
Do you see MWC, Edmond, Moore Norman, OKC going P25 1 or 2 TDMA ?
Any advice would be great as these are not cheap.

Click to expand...

Anything new can be updated to support rebanded systems which is good, because rebanding has already occurred on, I think, all OKWIN sites. Further, anything that was made in the last couple years can be rebanded, whether Uniden or Whistler (current owner of GRE's intellectual property). Ironically, Nextel is out of business now, but I digress.

I wouldn't worry about P25 Phase II until more sites are updated with new hardware. Heck, most sites in the OKC Metro have yet to be updated to P25 let alone P25p2. It will happen - Norman has started the process to replace their two-site system (Site 40) but I can't imagine there is state money to do the state-owned parts.

There are several P25 OKWIN sites as you can see in the database (where they are treated as a separate system - they aren't, it's all one big system), but those have been new sites, not updated ones (correct me if I'm wrong!) because you can't buy analog equipment.

You could get a BCD796D and be perfectly happy for some time. Hell, even with rebanding, my BC780XLT works just fine on Site 40 because the only conversations that get assigned to rebanded channels seem to be P25 which that radio can't deal with anyway; I hardly miss anything. Anything analog, at least.

So you don't see any benefit to getting BCD436 or 536 in OKC anytime soon?

what about Del City and MWC with digital channels?

are the P25 or TDMA?

Do you have to go from P25 then TDMA or can you just upgrade to P25 phas2 TDMA

Who owns OKWIN Site 8?

BCFreak said:

Do you have to go from P25 then TDMA or can you just upgrade to P25 phas2 TDMA

Click to expand...

I don't think I wrote that clearly. No, not as far as I know. When sites get upgraded they will be new equipment and my understanding is that they will support whatever the current APCO Project 25 standard is, meaning Phase 2 TDMA. I suppose whoever is upgrading the site could scrounge around for older equipment ("NOS") but whatever few bucks they saved by buying old inventory would come at the expense of a shorter period of vendor support.

Norman owns Site 40 (one part on OU's campus, the other part north of Lake Thunderbird) but who owns Site 8? Edmond owns part of it, but what about the rest? Anyone know? Unless there is Free Federal Money, I don't see the state rushing to upgrade existing sites as I would expect them to use any money they have on new sites (which would surely be P25).

It will happen, sites will go to TDMA, but it probably won't happen before Xmas! Buy an older radio for cheap and enjoy it now then upgrade when it's necessary. BC796Ds seem to be in the $200-250 range.