Newbie (would be) Scanner in Ocean County

[CaptGEB]

I was wondering if anyone could offer advice in a mfg/model selection of a useful scanner in Ocean County to monitor Police, Fire, and other emergency traffic.

I have heard that agencies have or will be converting to "digital" communications. The price range I favor is that of the non-digital types. If I could use a less expensive unit for a couple of years to see if I enjoy using it, that would be ok....I could always upgrade later. I just do not know what systems are used Statewide, in Ocean County, or in my specific Township of Lacey.

Any help and suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[DJ88]

At the present time, the police systems in Ocean County that are digital are Dover Twp., Lakewood, Little Egg Harbor Twp., and Point Pleasant Beach. I believe Berkeley Twp. is in the process of converting to digital. All of these systems have encryption capabilities and no scanner can receive encrypted transmissions. If you aren't interested in moniotoring any of those systems, then you don't need a digital scanner.

Ocean County operates on an analog (not digital) 500 MHz Motorola Trunk System, so if you want to monitor them, you would need a scanner capable of trunk tracking. They also use some UHF, VHF, and low band frequencies that aren't part of the trunk system. However, for the most part, the bulk of the operation is on the trunk system IE: dispatch for some police departments, the Sheriff's Department, Prosecutors Office, fire ground operations for some of the fire departments, and county services. As for them going to digital, there's no information at the present time to confirm yes or no, but the possibility always exists.

As for Lacey Twp., they use an analog (not digital) conventional system for police and EMS. The fire departments are dispatched by Ocean County and operate on the county trunk system.

With all of that in mind, it would be best for you to get a scanner capable of receiving trunk systems. I have only dealt with Uniden Scanners, although Radio Shack scanners are very popular also. Some non digital Uniden models that have trunk traciing capabilities and would serve your purpose are:

BASE MODELS - APPROXIMATE PRICE
BC898T (500 channels) - $220.00
BCT8 (250 channels) - $175.00
BCT15 (2500 channels) - $230.00

HAND HELD MODELS - APPROXIMATE PRICE
BR330T - (2500 channels) - $250.00*
BC246T - (2500 channels) - $200.00
* - I believe the 330T has a NASCAR decal on the front of it. It's got something to do with the scanner being able to receive the NASCAR frequencies and I think Uniden may have some kind of a deal with NASCAR to display the decal. Some of the other cheaper hand held models that don't trunk track also carry this decal. This turns a lot of people off.

I've always had Uniden scanners and find them to be excellent. Others may recommend Radio Shack models. I guess it's just a matter of what people like and are happy with.

 

[crazyboy]

I'd like to add that Dover Twp is full time encryption, Manchester is digital but not encrypted, and Jackson is Encrpyted Digital.

 

[DJ88]

My apologies for omitting the Jackson Twp. System, but it doesn't matter because of the 24/7 encryption. As for Dover Twp., the few times I've listened to it, dispatch has been in the clear and the units were encrypted or visa versa. Either way, it's useless monitoring.

Most important, regarding Manchester Twp., according to the information posted on East Coast Scanning, there IS encryption on the system, specifically the detectives talk groups. It's posted here: http://eastcoastscanning.com/viewtopic.php?t=58

 

[CaptGEB]

Thank YOu

I certainly came to the right place for the answers to my questions! Thank you DJ88 and crazyboy for your responses. I really appreciate it.

 

[W2SJW]

I'd like to add that Dover Twp is full time encryption

Not 100% true - I monitored them for over an hour on Monday, and about 50% of the cars are in the clear, but H.Q. was encrypted every transmission...

 

[eclipse3256]

just buy a motorola astro portable and u can hear it all like me !!! lol

 

[crazyboy]

Not 100% true - I monitored them for over an hour on Monday, and about 50% of the cars are in the clear, but H.Q. was encrypted every transmission...

Sorry but you caught my drift. 80% of the transmissions are encrypted including all of the dispatch. IMHO not worth monitoring.

By Manchester being unencrypted I meant their dispatch channel.

And Eclipse Even if we got Moto portables we would need to get the encryption keys. If you have done that its not something I would go bragging about on a public board.

 

[W2SJW]

On the subject of digital in Ocean Co. (and sorry for hijacking this thread), but do any of you guys know why Lakewood is carrying out all their ops on channel 2? Did something happen to the main repeater on 453.325?

 

[germwad86]

Just a quick question? I will use Dover Twp. and Point Pleasent for examples. These towns do not have Trunked systems and yet still have APCO 25. I thought that this was meant for Trunking? I assume this is not the case since these towns are running Digital and digitaly encrypted systems with regular freqs?

 

[FuelForFire]

Just a quick question? I will use Dover Twp. and Point Pleasent for examples. These towns do not have Trunked systems and yet still have APCO 25. I thought that this was meant for Trunking? I assume this is not the case since these towns are running Digital and digitaly encrypted systems with regular freqs?

They use P25 digital on conventional frequencies. P25 can be used on conventional systems, Type II (3600 kps control channel) trunking, or P25 (9600 kps) trunking.

It is easy to confuse the two. If you do some searching around the board and on the main site there are some pretty good explainations of it.

For example:

http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Project_25

-Mike

 

[DJ88]

In Ocean County, Jackson Twp. is Type II (3600 kps) and Manchester Twp. is P25 (9600 kps.), both trunk systems. You may also see the 3600 and 9600 kps referred to as 3600 or 9600 baud.