How to tell if Analog

[fjcvisual]

Apologizing in advance for my lack of knowledge here, but I am glad there is a 'New User' section, because this stuff is confusing. This is my first entry into monitoring.

I am looking to buy a mobile scanner and am thinking of the Uniden BC346XT. I hear lots of good things about it, and I am willing to go through the pain of programming.

I want to monitor Police and Fire from Chino, CA as a base for worthy news events (Photographer). This city is in San Bernardino county and borders on LA, and Riverside counties and i would like to monitor surrounding cities like, Pomona, Corona, Diamond Bar and the vicinity.

I am having difficulty understanding if the BC346xt will monitor all of those counties. I think that some of LA county is digital but as I look at the database, I can not tell. I am sure the information is there, but I don't know where to look.

lastly, if someone could recommend a book, or some kind of getting started guide, I would appreciate it. that way I don't have to post such ultra beginner questions.

thanks in advance, Jim

 

[kd8ati]

Jim,

The first thing you need to do is determine exactly what cities you want to monitor. Chino is part of a countywide Motorola trunking system, that is analog. It appears to me that most of San Bernardino county is Analog. Now you also mentioned a few other cities in LA County. Pomona is on a trunking system that uses both digital and analog voice. Unfortunately the city of Pomona is using the digital voice so the scanner you mentioned would not be able to pickup Pomona. Corona is on a basic VHF repeater and does not use trunking so you could use the 346xt to monitor them. Diamond Bar is a bit more complex. According to RR database, the fire/ems for this city are handled through the LA County Fire department, which is all done on a number of different analog UHF repeaters. You would need to figure out which repeater serves the Diamond Bar area. Again yes the 346xt would be able to monitor all LA County FD repeaters. For the police again RR says that is handled by the LA County Sheriff. They also use a number of analog UHF repeaters, you would need to figure out which repeater would be associated with Diamond Bar.

It basically comes down to this. If you are looking at the database and are looking at a trunked system, there is a letter next to the talkgroup. It is likely going to say D, A, or E. Digital, Analog, and Encrypted, respectably. That will tell you if you need a Digital scanner or not, which the 346xt is NOT. If it is a basic frequiency listed such as 425.550 or 155.360 then it is using a regular repeater in which case the 346xt will be able to monitor it.

As far as programming goes. Do yourself a favor and get programming software / cable to program your scanner. Trying to program a trunking scanner by hand will leave the the people who know what they are doing with hand cramps and feeling exhausted. It would leave people who are not sure exactly what they are doing feeling dazed and confused.

Hope this helps.

 

[fjcvisual]

kd8ati,
most helpful. I do plan to use software, and a subscription to RR. I plan to get the scanner, then work with it. I figure that will be the best way to learn everything.

thanks again.