Just bought a baofeng scanner
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I hate to be the news breaker but you'll need a trunking scanner. Phoenix is on a trunking system. Though you may be able to monitor some conventional uhf and vhf frequencies with your baofeng of other services that do not use digital phase 1 and smartnet type 2 for Maricopa county.
Maricopa County, Arizona (AZ) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference
Maricopa County, Arizona (AZ) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference
N8IAA
Member
Being that they are ham radios, and not scanners, you are pretty much SOL for those frequencies. You always could get a ham license tho:wink:
Larry
methusaleh
Member
Interesting, I didn't know they broke into the scanner market, but I am not at all surprised.
What is the model number? Is it any better than the Baofeng transceivers as far as a better front end/rejection? Does it scan faster than the transceivers do?
What is the model number? Is it any better than the Baofeng transceivers as far as a better front end/rejection? Does it scan faster than the transceivers do?
I'm pretty sure it is one of the Baofeng UV5R HT Variants and NOT a "scanner".
Baofeng UV5R Variants - CHIRP
Baofeng UV5R Variants - CHIRP
It's not a scanner. It's a transceiver. It will probably only scan the programmed VHF and UHF frequencies you put in it.
N8IAA
Member
If you folks read his first post, he's not receiving the VHF frequencies that are programmed into the radio.
Larry
Larry
If he's "scanning" the frequencies that came in the radio, he won't pick up anything. He can't program the trunking frequencies.
He doesn't make sense when he says, "I can't seem to find any Phoenix police frequencies when I type the frequencies in."
And then there's CTCSS.
He doesn't make sense when he says, "I can't seem to find any Phoenix police frequencies when I type the frequencies in."
And then there's CTCSS.
You seem to have posed this same question in several different threads, but I'll go ahead and give you my opinion here. I bought the Uniden BCD325P2 digital trunking scanner. It's about as low cost as you'll get, while still having digital, trunking, phase 2 capability in a handheld scanner. It's also computer programmable, as is the case [almost a requirement] with most scanners these days. You can program by hand, but I wouldn't want to spend hours doing what I can do, literally, in less than five minutes.
With that said, you're going to have to pay for what you want. You can currently get the BCD325P2 on Amazon for about $366. It's about as cheap as you'll find a radio that does everything that this one does. It'll get you the (non-encrypted) Phoenix PD channels, along with many of the surrounding cities that use the various Regional Wireless Cooperative systems, along with the county Motorola II system in use by the MCSO. You're not going to find a cheap, sub-$100 radio that will allow you to monitor the valley agencies, unless you're willing to settle for DPS and some fire dispatches.
There are other scanners out there, but this was the one that ticked all of the boxes on my wishlist and it has been a solid performer since I bought it. I'd recommend also picking up a good aftermarket dual-band antenna at some point, but you'll get by with the stock 'rubber duck' until you do. You'll also want to find a copy of FreeScan and you'll be good to go.
I hope this helps shed a little light on what you'll need to get up and running. I'd be happy to answer any other questions you have. I've used a scanner for many years as a part of my job, but the digital scanner is something I've only gotten into using over the past year or so. If there's a question I can't answer, I'm sure one of the other members can.
Good luck and happy scanning!
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Good point, Larry. I Got my license back in November and have 2 of those Baofeng HTs. They work great and it's a great way to meet new people who have the same interests.
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