Clueless in central kentucky

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FAT_Ronnie

Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2021
Messages
6
Location
Kentucky' east of the river.
Hey fellas,

I've long been a fan of radio, years ago, around 2007, I had my heart set on buying an eaton e1 radio.
My interest was in finding odd ball late night am radio shows, and their stranger shortwave cousins. I never got my expensive eaton, but rather a flashy, knoby, buttony, but sadly analog, Grundig. It wasn't a great radio, but it wasn't terrible, I bought a load of #8 copper and built a delightfully poorly grounded antenna that spanned from my bedroom window to the roof of the garage. It worked in its own way.. I could pick up large stations as far south as Florida, and as far north as newyork.

Recently I have wanted to return to the game, so I researched buying my ole Holy grail, the eaton flagship e1... which appears to have a greater return on investment then a crypto currency.

I've looked into some tec sun offerings, and they look to be excellent radios, but I've grown to realize that comercial am is not what it was in 2008, but rather a sea of repeat syndication. leaving the local laundry mat advert more entertaining then the show your tuning into. Worse still, Shortwave and it's oddities are all but dead.

Generally being disappointed in what was available on comercial bands I found this website and began searching what was on offer.

Trains, fire, ems, police, avation. the licensed ham community, a whole load of stuff.

While I probably won't cold turkey quit listening to comercial AM eagerly awaiting an advert for scratch and dent appliances, I want to give these bands a try.

The radios are a totally different animal, and I'm finding myself lost in the weeds. locally the good stuff appears to be encrypted "nxdn" which just sounds expensive. Leaving public safety to just secondary channels broadcasting over ?fm? (I'm not sure I have that right)

I live in central kentucky, south of the big city.

Will I have much luck/fun listening on a "wallmart" whistler 1010?

Thanks.
FatRonnie
 

Andyssonopie

Member
Joined
Nov 8, 2008
Messages
90
Location
Central Ky
There is still a lot out there to monitor, but I'm sorry to tell you your not going hear hardly anything on what you have. Most of everything in central Ky is NXDN and what isn't is digital which the 1010 is not going to receive.
 

FAT_Ronnie

Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2021
Messages
6
Location
Kentucky' east of the river.
Thank's Andy
Looking into nxdn equipment options, and it significantly increases the cost of equipment.

What kind of stuff is out there to monitor that isn't encrypted?

Thanks
FatRonnie
 

TomLine

Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2019
Messages
140
Location
Hamilton, Ohio
Kentucky is moving towards all digital, probably encrypted, soon to be state wide trunked. The old stuff can't deal with that. Suggest an RTL-SDR usb stick and SDR# (sdr sharp) software if you have a computer just to get up to date. If you don't have a computer, there are scanner products and you're in the right place in this group. Cops and fire use pretty high frequencies now and radios that pick up long range HF won't help with that.
 

Andyssonopie

Member
Joined
Nov 8, 2008
Messages
90
Location
Central Ky
My suggestion would be to go in to the RR Database and see what systems is being used in you local area, myself local police in my town is encrypted, but fire and ems is not. Several of the towns around us are all in the clear. KSP is looking in the near future of going to a different system. Do your research before spending a lot of money on something that won't do you any good.
 

FAT_Ronnie

Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2021
Messages
6
Location
Kentucky' east of the river.
Thanks Tom, I will look into the USB stick and software, as I'm currently also in the market for a computer to run some work software, but I'm awfully biased toward a dedicated unit that I could run consistently in the background. This group is certainly a great place to be, with some light search and trolling I'm finding I also should consider p-25 systems Aswell.

Thanks Andy. The reference pages here are great, and I'm also starting to look into the surrounding county's to see what frequency's are registered. I'm really glad I joined this forum before I flushed 80$ down the drain, which may be almost a 1/4 of the cost what I will actualy need to enjoy radio going foreward.

FatRonnie
 

KG4EMJ

Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2011
Messages
111
Location
Central Kentucky
I'm about 15 miles west of Lexington as the crow flies. I use a Whistler TRX-1 that I picked up on eBay for a song. I have it programmed for local fire, EMS, school busses, utility companies, etc. I also receive KSP Post 12 traffic on it (for now, until they go to the upcoming new system). It is quite entertaining. I've heard several bus crashes and other incidents over the years. KSP seems to always have a high speed pursuit. It's shocking how many idiots run from the police. EMS is always calling for help loading 450 lb. women into the trucks. Last night a car rolled over and caught fire with the occupants trapped inside over in Spencer county. There's always something to listen to. The hobby is definitely shrinking as technology advances which is sad. But for now you can still enjoy the last golden days of monitoring the airwaves.
 

FAT_Ronnie

Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2021
Messages
6
Location
Kentucky' east of the river.
Kg4 you have described exactly the content I need in radio, further RR trolling has convinced me I needed a radio capable of nxdn, p25, (dmr if i want to listen to utility's) and simulcast for receiving the big city.

So I placed an order for the uniden sds200...

The damn screen got me, and I'm working too much to make an economical judgment.

Can't wait for this thing to arrive, program and buy keys.

Thanks
FAT Ronnie
 

Bill88

Longtime Member
Joined
Jul 6, 2007
Messages
129
Location
Grovers Mill, NJ
Kg4 you have described exactly the content I need in radio, further RR trolling has convinced me I needed a radio capable of nxdn, p25, (dmr if i want to listen to utility's) and simulcast for receiving the big city.

So I placed an order for the uniden sds200...

The damn screen got me, and I'm working too much to make an economical judgment.

Can't wait for this thing to arrive, program and buy keys.

Thanks
FAT Ronnie

You won't regret it.
Awesome radio.
 
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