Digital scanner

[cookiegirl01us]

Looking to buy a digital police scanner what’s the best one any suggestions I’m looking for one you just enter zip code for easy setup thank you

 

[buddrousa]

What all new people to the hobby need to learn and answer these questions.
1. What is it you want to hear? (Police, Fire, EMS, what is the range you expect (how far do you want to hear)?
2. Where are you located?
3. What is your budget?
4. Do your homework What Type Systems are in use in your area. (P25, DMR, NXDN, SIMULCAST, TRUNKING)?
5. How technological savvy are you?
6. Do you want a Base Mobile or Handheld?
7. Do you understand BASIC COMPUTER COMMANDS (DOS COMMANDS)?
8. If needed can you put up your own outside antenna?

 

[rk911]

where are you located (town, city, county, state)? what do you want to monitor?

 

[K4EET]

If @cookiegirl01us still is in the same area she was 7 to 8 years ago when she first joined Radio Reference, then it is Cumberland, Maryland based on her first post:

Power Company Cumberland, MD

Does anybody know the frequency of power company here in Western MD thanks

forums.radioreference.com

Granted, it would still be nice to have a little more information like @buddrousa was asking.

Cheers! Dave

 

[trentbob]

I think it's great you signed up for RR eight years ago and you have two posts oh, and this is one of them. Yes you could give us all of your information and what you want to listen to, we could give you different suggestions according to what it is you need to hear and what kind of systems you have according to where you live. We could save you money. We could offer different brands even though there's only really one at this point.

Your profile does not indicate where you live but you might live in some rural area in Bumblefk Idaho or you might live in Los Angeles or Philadelphia PA.

You're going to be asked a lot of questions about the system you want to hear and where you live and Phase 1 and Phase 2 but you've already indicated all you want to do is put your ZIP code in and hear your local stuff. The fact that you haven't posted in so long and that you're even asking this question and you did say you wanted the best...

For a mobile or base application the Uniden sds200. For a portable situation they make the SDS 100 and these are the premier radios as they can handle all of the new systems and simulcast transmissions secondary to LSM. They are very expensive and I suggest you just Google them and look at them with their great displays. If you want to save a few bucks then answer all the questions you're going to get about where you live and what you want to listen to. There are other radios offered by Uniden that might suit you better. I would not recommend Whistler radios as they do not handle simulcast Distortion secondary to LSM. There will still be people who will push them.

That's my two cents but you have great people here that are going to ask you lots and lots of questions and give you great suggestions.

You already have the attention of some of the best people on RR to help you.



Good luck... Bob.

 

[Reconrider]

The best would be the sds100 for a handheld. BEst for mobile/desktop would be the sds200.
If that's to pricey, the 436 is another good choice. Both have the "i'm lazy zip code programming" feature in them.

IF you want better than that, get a sdr and learn the programs you'll need to make it great.

 

[cookiegirl01us]

where are you located (town, city, county, state)? what do you want to monitor?

Want to monitor police and fire 21502 is zip code looking for best scanner was looking at this scanner Whistler TRX-2

 

[trentbob]

Want to monitor police and fire 21502 is zip code looking for best scanner was looking at this scanner Whistler TRX-2

Okay so you're going to need a radio that can handle Phase 1 and Phase 2 simulcast systems well. My recommendation stays the same, including regarding Whistler scanners. The best radio to handle Phase 1 and Phase 2 simulcast Distortion secondary to LSM is sds100 + 200 If you just want to put your ZIP code in and limit your range and listen. It's a big investment and you want to avoid disappointment. The TRX may not work well for you but you'll save the few bucks by not getting a better radio that will work properly for you. Depends what your priorities are. You did say you wanted the best scanner for your area? Again good luck.

 

[K4EET]

Zip Code 21502 is Cumberland, Maryland and the surrounding area in Allegany County, Maryland. The principle systems in your area for Public Safety (police, fire and EMS) are:

Allegany County, Maryland (MD) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference

Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference for Allegany County, Maryland (MD)

www.radioreference.com

First Responders Interoperable Radio System Team (FIRST) Trunking System, Various, Maryland

First Responders Interoperable Radio System Team (FIRST) Trunking System Profile

www.radioreference.com

@cookiegirl01us, take a close look at these tables for what you want to program your scanner with. Under the "Mode" column. when you see a "capital E" that means full-time encryption to which no scanner can decode. A "lower-case e" means part-time encryption.

All of the above posts have good information in them. I am in a simulcast area and get good reception with a Uniden BCD536HP because I am close to one of the towers. If you are not sure where your towers are located with respect to where you are, I would say that your safest bet is with the Uniden SDS100 (handheld scanner) or the Uniden SDS200 (base/mobile scanner). Alternately, if whoever you purchase your new scanner from will allow you to return it for an upgrade if simulcast distortion causes you reception issues, you could try the Uniden BCD436HP (handheld scanner) or the Uniden BDC536HP (base/mobile scanner). In my opinion, I would not go with the Whistler brand.

I would suggest that you carefully read the manual that comes with your scanner and also read Mark's "Easier to Read" manual for your scanner that you purchase. Understanding how your new scanner works gives you much better control of what you want to listen to. You will also be able to "fine tune" your scanner's features, especially on Uniden's SDSx00 series scanners but also on Uniden's BCDx36HP series scanners.

Feel free to ask us specific questions that we will try to answer for you.

Cheers! Dave

 

[trentbob]

Haha, when I looked up that zip code I got Baltimore County Maryland. The county is Phase 1 and the state system is Phase 2. Dave is correct that the 436 and 536 are P2 capable. It depends on location location location and there are no guarantees. Great Radios introduced in 2014 so they are going on their seventh year now and they do not have an SDR chip and may or may not be successful with simulcast distortion. As Dave says it works for him because of his proximity to a tower. It's a roll of the dice.

PS... It really would help if you would give your hometown.

 

[tvengr]

Haha, when I looked up that zip code I got Baltimore County Maryland.

We must both have dyslexia. You made the same mistake I did and entered 21052 at Fort Howard in Baltimore County. 21502 is Allegany County MD which largely uses the FIRST statewide trunked system. FIRST uses simulcast sites and I have problems monitoring the statewide system with anything other than a SDS100 or SDS200. The Uniden SDS100 handheld and SDS200 base/mobile are the only scanners designed to receive simulcast systems.

 

[trentbob]

We must both have dyslexia. You made the same mistake I did and entered 21052 at Fort Howard in Baltimore County. 21502 is Allegany County MD which largely uses the FIRST statewide trunked system. FIRST uses simulcast sites and I have problems monitoring the statewide system with anything other than a SDS100 or SDS200. The Uniden SDS100 handheld and SDS200 base/mobile are the only scanners designed to receive simulcast systems.

Yep, I did make the same mistake Jim LOL. We are not hearing much from the original poster but I think the point here has been made very well.