worth buying new scanner western wayne county (west Dearborn)

Just wondering if its worth while buying a new scanner now that i just bought a new power supply for my RS PRO-64 and discovered that its not much use except as a paperweight now with MCSPS. Just starting to have the time now to listen again (retiring soon and not on afternoon shift) and after reading a bit, I'm kind of worried about buying a new one and fighting to get something to listen to. I live under the flight path for DTW so might be worth it to get one for that but I really would like to know if any certain models would be better in my area based on other listeners experiences. I usually do my own digging for info, but I'm lost here Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated.!

Wimpy

The PRO-64 should work for receiving the aircraft frequencies but not for MPSCS traffic. I have been using Uniden scanners for a long time now and, as long as they are capable of receiving digital transmissions, they have worked fine with MPSCS. I would make sure the scanner is capable of P25 phase 2 as a future proofing measure. MPSCS is not phase 2 yet but you never know when that might change.

Thanks for responding smithken.
I really appreciate it. I have had a uniden unit in the past and am leaning that way again but have seen some negative comments about uniden and MCSCS in this forum so wasn't sure about another one. I'm sure everyone has their preferences but wanted some ideas. Never had a radio with trunking so I'm really looking forward to it.

Unfortunately most the Detroit Metro area is using simulcast sites on the MPSCS with few independent sites scattered around. Scanners can be very particular when it comes to receiving these simulcast sites. For example Scanner A might not work at your home but you take it half a mile down the road and it received perfect while scanner B wont work at that spot a half mile away but will work great at your house.

The latest 2 generations of scanners have been working to address this issue. I do not have the newly released SDS100, which was specifically designed to do well on simulcast so I can not comment on its performance. The TRX-1 and 2 (Whistlers competition to the SDS100) is currently in the later stages of development and is also being designed specifically to handle simulcast systems. Some people have also been using the Unication pagers as scanners for simulcast systems, which since they are designed for first responders, have had mostly positive reviews.

I would say its definitely worth upgrading to a new scanner if you are interested in listening. You will just need to find a good one for your specific area. If you get one that dont work well just return it and get a different one.

kd8ati said:

The TRX-1 and 2 (Whistlers competition to the SDS100) is currently in the later stages of development and is also being designed specifically to handle simulcast systems.

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That would be the Whistler TRX-100 and TRX-200 that are in development. The TRX-1 and TRX-2 are current models and have been available for a couple years now. Just clearing up any confusion this may cause.

Mike

wimpy481240 said:

Thanks for responding smithken.
I really appreciate it. I have had a uniden unit in the past and am leaning that way again but have seen some negative comments about uniden and MCSCS in this forum so wasn't sure about another one.

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I helped one individual having issues with MPSCS and the SDS100. It turned out there was an error in the RR database (some of the MPSCS sites were showing the wrong NAC code) and that was preventing the SDS100 from receiving the sites with the wrong codes. Once the settings were corrected, the SDS100 worked fine.

Your old scanner can still listen to aero, marine, ham, and most rail stuff. Other stuff will be hit or miss.

If you want to hear most public safety, in SEMI, most of it is on MPSCS. As a bonus, getting one of the newer models of scanner, you have options for listening to other digital modes, too.

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Which site(s) had the incorrect NAC so we can confirm and make sure this is corrected in the database?

jonwienke said:

I helped one individual having issues with MPSCS and the SDS100. It turned out there was an error in the RR database (some of the MPSCS sites were showing the wrong NAC code) and that was preventing the SDS100 from receiving the sites with the wrong codes. Once the settings were corrected, the SDS100 worked fine.

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