newbie

[truckrider814]

Ok to start off im in sterling va Loudoun county. im totally new to this other than using the scanner on my ipod. I bought a uniden bearcat 350c from a family friend for 10 bucks he used it up in Winchester va problem is i can only hear the Wx, CB, and the AIR. i know that Loudoun county went to the p25 system. what that means i have no idea but i know that they went to that. Did i buy the wrong kind of scanner for my area? I mainly wanted to keep it in my truck and when i wanted to transfer it to the kitchen table.

Thanks
Kyle

 

[KG4INW]

Welcome! Yes, unfortunately you'll need a digital scanner to be able to listen to P25. Radio Shack, Uniden and GRE all make good digital scanners but they certainly are a little more than $10 though. You should be able to go to your local Radio Shack and see the ones they have for sale there.

 

[Highpockets]

Ok to start off im in sterling va Loudoun county. im totally new to this other than using the scanner on my ipod. I bought a uniden bearcat 350c from a family friend for 10 bucks he used it up in Winchester va problem is i can only hear the Wx, CB, and the AIR. i know that Loudoun county went to the p25 system. what that means i have no idea but i know that they went to that. Did i buy the wrong kind of scanner for my area? I mainly wanted to keep it in my truck and when i wanted to transfer it to the kitchen table.

Thanks
Kyle

Here is the manual just in case you want to enter what frequencies that are listed for your county that the scanner can receive.

http://www.uniden.com/pdf/BC350Com.pdf

 

[CoolCat]

Ok to start off im in sterling va Loudoun county. im totally new to this other than using the scanner on my ipod. I bought a uniden bearcat 350c from a family friend for 10 bucks he used it up in Winchester va problem is i can only hear the Wx, CB, and the AIR. i know that Loudoun county went to the p25 system. what that means i have no idea but i know that they went to that. Did i buy the wrong kind of scanner for my area? I mainly wanted to keep it in my truck and when i wanted to transfer it to the kitchen table.

Thanks
Kyle

P25 is a widely used digital standard used in public safety. To receive it, you must have a P25 capable digital scanner.

As you already know, the Loudoun county VA system is trunked P25 system*. You will not be able to hear that on your BC350C. There are however some conventional local public safety frequencies you can program and hear on that scanner. According to the RR database page for Loundoun county VA, the county fire dispatch channel (6a) is also simulcast on 46.38000 MHz (there are a few other "fire-talk" frequencies you can program in as well).

* Apparently some of the talkgroups in that system are using TDMA modulation. There are conflicting posts on this forum about whether or not the new GRE PSR-800 can decode TDMA. If it can do it, then that is currently the only scanner on the market that can decode it.

 

[brownlab]

I use a Uniden 996XT which has an adapter that you can plug in to your car cigarette lighter. I prefer this one over the handheld 396XT but both will work in Loudoun County. (Radio Shack and GRE also have models but the Unidens are the only ones I have experience with) YES there is an issue with the TDMA modulation however since there still a number of older radios still used in the field, the TDMA system allows for FDMA which most modern scanners can decode. No one knows how long this will lasts but as long as there are older radios out there, you should be able to monitor Loudoun. Unfortunately these radios cost as much as 600 dollars new however you can find them on eBay for less than 500. If you are just getting back into scanning, you will need a computer (laptop or desktop) to program your scanner. This is actually the easy part and there are a couple of programs you can download after you buy the radio (if we have not talked you out of it (lol)) Location, Location, Location is always an issue in Loudoun and depending on that will dictate if you need to upgrade your antenna. Good Luck.

 

[fmon]

Actually the new PSR-800 at $449 will scan TDMA

See: http://forums.radioreference.com/ma...orum/203574-whats-going-pg-3.html#post1494847 from http://forums.radioreference.com/gr...r-800-post-release-thread-17.html#post1494895

 

[brownlab]

I really hope that GRE and the PSR-800 solves the TDMA issue but I have not seen any verification from PG or Loudoun yet.

 

[fmon]

Goodness, what did you miss in my link above?

I really hope that GRE and the PSR-800 solves the TDMA issue but I have not seen any verification from PG or Loudoun yet.

Originally Posted by Dewey to troymail
the next time you drive near the PG area? Since PGPD is full time TDMA, you may be the first who can answer if the PSR-800 is already capable of following TDMA.

Reply by troymail to Dewey
Sorry - I thought that was obvious -- it does.

I certainly would call the reply "verification" in PG.
.

 

[brownlab]

Nothing but the only verification seemed to be one person receiving a couple of TGs while driving around and again, TDMA will accommodate FDMA if an older radio unit is still being used in the field. Maybe that what was happening? Maybe not. Also everyone was speaking about the Fire/EMS TGs. Has anyone monitored any PG Police TGs on the new GRE yet? I can monitor 90% of the Loudoun Public Safety system on a Uniden 996XT which has no TDMA programming that I am aware of. I really hope you are correct however I need some more verification before I lay out another $450. Anyhow I appreciate the information.

 

[fmon]

PG Law TG's are 100% TDMA. troymail's concern was loss of signal as he moved away from the tower. Of course, loss of signal=loss of coms. Could it be your 10% miss in Loudin be 100% TDMA?

 

[brownlab]

Well the PG Police TGs is encouraging news. Location, location, location is the main issue here in Loudoun regarding reception but my inability to pick up stuff like Animal Control and Car to Car transmissions I feel is a TDMA issue. The fact that GRE is addressing TDMA is great news and hopefully we can look forward to a firmware update one day for the 996XT. When I come back to Old Town Alexandria next week I plan to program PG to see what (if anything) I can receive.

 

[truckrider814]

Ok so I'm gonna settle for what I can hear with the 350c I'm getting the local fire an SMS pretty good. Now to listen to loudoun, fairfax which scanner do I need a digital one or a trunking one or both. Now with either system can I sill Listen to the old systems cause I go down to lake Anna and over to winchester also and they use the old systems

 

[gcgrotz]

Kyle:
Hi and welcome to RR, stick around and soon you will be an expert.

For $10 I would say that you got a deal. There is still enough around to hear to make it interesting. Being close to Dulles gives you plenty to listen to, Air monitoring is never dull. You might want to put in a bank of Ham repeaters too, and the Family Radio/GMRS channels can bring some interesting things too.

But for the public safety stuff you will need to spring for the $$$.
Good Luck!

Ok to start off im in sterling va Loudoun county. im totally new to this other than using the scanner on my ipod. I bought a uniden bearcat 350c from a family friend for 10 bucks he used it up in Winchester va problem is i can only hear the Wx, CB, and the AIR. i know that Loudoun county went to the p25 system. what that means i have no idea but i know that they went to that. Did i buy the wrong kind of scanner for my area? I mainly wanted to keep it in my truck and when i wanted to transfer it to the kitchen table.

Thanks
Kyle

 

[brownlab]

Kyle:
Hi and welcome to RR, stick around and soon you will be an expert.

For $10 I would say that you got a deal. There is still enough around to hear to make it interesting. Being close to Dulles gives you plenty to listen to, Air monitoring is never dull. You might want to put in a bank of Ham repeaters too, and the Family Radio/GMRS channels can bring some interesting things too.

But for the public safety stuff you will need to spring for the $$$.
Good Luck!

Kyle,

The only Loudoun Co Public Safety you will be able to monitor on the BC 350c is Loundoun Fire Dispatch on Freq 46.380. You will hear the fire department "go out and come back" but that is about it. The official word about Loudoun Co Public Safety is that there are no scanners currently on the market that can receive any Loudoun Co Public Safety digital radio Talk Groups. This is because Loudoun uses a type of modulation known as TDMA and it cannot be monitored by any scanners on the market. HOWEVER recently GRE has developed a new scanner known as the PSR-800 which can reportedly receive and decode TDMA transmissions. This radio costs around $450. If you live in the eastern part of the county (or east of Bull Run Mountain) you will probably also receive all Fairfax Co Public Safety on the PSR-800 (Fairfax Co does not have a TDMA issue). If I was in the market for a new radio, this is what I would buy.

 

[truckrider814]

Ok so update i've been messing with it for a few weeks and i mainly listen to the fire dispatch and EMS. makes this interesting saved me from a back up on 15 the other day. i manually scan through the freqs every so often and i can hear other transmissions but i can't tell what they are. but what im wondering is am i able to shorten the antenna cable without affecting the performance. btw i got the mag one from radio shack.

thanks
Kyle

 

[gcgrotz]

Hey '814, good to see you're sticking around. Yes you can shorten the cable and it will have no noticeable effect with one exception: be sure you do a good job of re-attaching the connector to the shortened cable. Messing that up could make your scanner deaf.

 

[truckrider814]

thank you because im tired of having it running out the door and up on the roof im just gonna run it in the headliner and out my cargo light along with my cb antenna.

 

[Ensnared]

There is yet another way. If you have an Android phone with scanner applications, this will work too.

 

[brownlab]

If you spend a lot a time driving US 15, both PW county and Fauquier simulcast Fire/EMS on VHF154.325 and 494.43750 repectively and voice a fair amout of useful traffic. You may already know this but just in case you do not it is worth having. Glad you are getting use from your radio.

 

[truckrider814]

thanks i hear it all the time but i never knew where it was. and i do drive 15 quite often now adays. im still trying to find a good trunking scanner that i can actually afford, (haha been told i don't even make enough to have a beer budget)