Orange County area, what can you hear, type of scanner etc..

[PatriciaInCA]

Hello

I was referred to this site by someone on the SoCalScan yahoo group. I posted a question there about Orange County & Scanners (SEE COPIED POST BELOW). It was confirmed for me that the police departments in Orange County are all encrypted digital. So, if he can't listen into the PD's, what would he hear with a dual trunking scanner? I have gone through old messages on this board & so far it seems that the main thing talked about is the Fire Departments. Is that all? Nothing law related that might be of interest to a future police officer? Also, if you have any advice to offer me as to what would be a good scanner for his needs, I would appreciate it. What is the minimum that will work in our area, yet pick up as much as possible? I don't want to over spend on something that is not needed or useful around here. Oh, and if he can't hear the PD's, does he still need a trunking system?

Thanks for your help...


Hi,
>
> I live in Anaheim. My son is an Explorer with the Anaheim Police
> Department. He hopes to become a cadet soon, and eventually a police
> officer. He has been asking me to get him a scanner for his 18th
> birthday so he can hear what is going on in our area, especially the
> police departments. From what research I have been able to do so
> far, it seems that Anaheim, and maybe ALL PD's have gone 'encrypted
> digital' and that there is no way to listen in to their calls. Could
> someone 'in the know' confirm this for me? Also, If I was to get him
> a 'Dual Trunking Scanner' (like Radio Shack sells), what would he be
> able to hear in our area? If there is anything else I should know
> about scanning in this area, please tell me. I am just a mom trying
> to do something nice for my son..I need all the guidance I can get
> about scanners & scanning!! Thank You in advance for your guidance.

 

[scannerfreak]

All law specific talkgroups/channels with the exception of RED are encrypted (DES-OFB). You can monitor fire as they are in unencrypted Analog.

As far as what scanner do you need? Welp, A Non Digital Scanner will work for monitoring fire, however there are some other digital talkgroups that can be heard. IE: Lifeguards, Interoperbility TG's used by LE. Check out the database and have a look for yourself:

A= analog
D= digital
E=encrypted

http://www.radioreference.com/modules.php?name=TRSDB&sid=201

Digital scanners run around $500.00. Non-Digital scanners run anywhere from $100-300. You still need a trunked scanner to follow conversasions. Whether or not it is digital or encrypted has no bearing on the system being trunked.

I won't attempt to give you scanner buying advise as everyone will have a different opinion on what scanner is better than what.

Do some checking on Radio Shack's and Uniden's Web sites and you'll find all the info you need after you determine which type of scanner you want, digital or non digital.

Hope this points you in the right direction!

 

[mdfillipp]

And now from someone who actually lives in the state/county......

I wish we could all provide better news. Since Law is encrypted, minus the RED channel, Fire/EMS is predominantly the only thing left in our county to monitor. a dual trunking scanner refers to the basic Motorola and EDACS analog tracking scanners. While the county did upgrade the equipment and transmission technology, they left the means by which traffic is controlled current, which means you'll able to differentiate the Law or other digital talkgroups (channels) from all the rest of the transmissions, you just won't be able to understand what the hell they're saying. the next step up is a digital scanner, which will be able to make heads or tails of a basic digital signal, but really isn't used for much more than animal control or city services. Only other law traffic is, of course, outside the OC, but few are trunked. Then you have the LAPD, which is digital but not trunked.

The only other thing I can think of is maybe, since he is already somewhat on the inside, maybe they'll just give him the real thing if he asks.

Or you could try to break the encryption, assuming you have degrees in computer science, and electrical engineering; and a good lawyer.

 

[JoeyC]

Re: Orange County area, what can you hear, type of scanner e

While you can't monitor any law enforcement in OC there is plenty of law enforcement to be heard in the surrounding counties. From Anaheim you should be able to pick up LAPD, LASO and the other LA small city PDs as well as Riverside, San Bernardino and possibly San Diegos trunked systems. For LAPD, SD county, El Monte, Santa Monica, Monterey Pk you'll need a digital capable scanner though.

 

[scannerfreak]

And now from someone who actually lives in the state/county......

I lived there the first 19 years of my life and make 4 trips a year there and have family members in Law Enforcement/Fire there. I do believe I know plenty about the system. Frankly, I don't see anything different about what you said than I did.

If she asked about surrounding territories I would have been more than happy to adivise her on that as well.

Ps- I don't think telling someone to attempt to 'break" encryption is the best idea either...

 

[INDY72]

LOL telling someone to break the encryption is DEFINITELY a BAAAAAADDDDDDDDDDDDDD idea unless they already work for the government doing it lol. Can we say Federal Penn????

 

[mdfillipp]

I stand corrected on your experience with this area. Why'd ja leave?

I kind of meant it in jest.

including the breaking reference, especially when you consider its unlikely that the criteria I provided could be met, obviously you didn't get the joke (expecially the lawyer part, hint, hint)

thank you for the penn remark, but I assure you, if I ever do it, and get caught, you can rest assured I won't blame you or anyone else here (the preceeding paragraph, also, is in jest)

 

[ECPD279]

He probably didn't get the humor because there wasn't a smilie with it. Some folks need smilies. ;-)

BTW - I caught the lawyer part, but that's just me.

 

[scannerfreak]

Ya, I missed the Lawyer part Anyhow, I move out here to get away from Cali, wanted a peacefull place to start a family and now that I have I won't reside there anymore. Believe it or not, I wanted the four seasons as well. As I said, I do have lots of family there and love making several trips there a year. The "OC" will always be my home away from home!

 

[HBdigital1]

My soapbox, if you will, is this gosh-darn encryption scenario we have in OC! I agree one should NOT even hint at trying to "break" the "code" for encryption, as that would, well, be unlawful!! However, I have gone the gamut of even approaching the OC Grand Jury with a letter attesting to the exta monies needed to enable this, and comparing that with neighboring counties which DO NOT have this scheme, and how the extra funds could've been used for more cops on the street!! (have we heard of the fiscal crisis for our state? can we spell E-N-C-R-Y=P=T=I=O=N and the added funds for that? I have also sent the OC REgister letters from my point of view. May be a "minor" thing or not even a "thing" for the non-monitoring public, but for the majority of us who are law-abiding, and the costs to do this, and the myriad other police juridictions who DON'T do this, are we that much-more crime-ridden or full of potential to do this? BUt agreed, all above comments about other things to monitor are correct... and with myself being in medical profession, it is interesting to hear the paramedic chatter with the hospital base stations, and yes, that is exactly what the medics should be doing with their protocols!!!

 

[2wayfreq]

Hi,
Yeah it sucks that they encrypted it for whatever justification they came up with. I mean, its not like the place is ridden with scanner-toting drug dealers or anything. And, since they have it up and runnig now, I dont think they are going to ever disable it. It obviously costs an absolute fortune to buy all of those DES-XL Modules, they wont just ditch em. Decrypting?...wont happen. Illegal and you would have to have about 6 super computers working in parallel and for a long time on the coded signal. Lets just hope its not a trend for other counties.

 

[als365]

it sucks that everyone is buying trunk tracking scanners and systems are going to digital. it's like buying a computer - it's out of date by the time you get it home and hooked up . if you want to make an investment, then go for the gold and get the digital scanner. radio shack has them running for around $400 and you might want to try ebay (this is the pro-96 scanner) because i have found them on ebay for around $300 and some are new in the box.

if you just want to listen for pleasure, then get a regular trunk tracking scanner and scan what you can.

 

[mdfillipp]

Hi,
Yeah it sucks that they encrypted it for whatever justification they came up with. I mean, its not like the place is ridden with scanner-toting drug dealers or anything. And, since they have it up and runnig now, I dont think they are going to ever disable it. It obviously costs an absolute fortune to buy all of those DES-XL Modules, they wont just ditch em. Decrypting?...wont happen. Illegal and you would have to have about 6 super computers working in parallel and for a long time on the coded signal. Lets just hope its not a trend for other counties.

There appears to be a lack of consensus about which kind of encryption (modules) are in use on the CCCS: -XL vs. -OFB. Care to shed additional light on this?

 

[ROBDON1967]

re: OC Digital

Hi,
Yeah it sucks that they encrypted it for whatever justification they came up with. I mean, its not like the place is ridden with scanner-toting drug dealers or anything. And, since they have it up and runnig now, I dont think they are going to ever disable it. It obviously costs an absolute fortune to buy all of those DES-XL Modules, they wont just ditch em. Decrypting?...wont happen. Illegal and you would have to have about 6 super computers working in parallel and for a long time on the coded signal. Lets just hope its not a trend for other counties.

There appears to be a lack of consensus about which kind of encryption (modules) are in use on the CCCS: -XL vs. -OFB. Care to shed additional light on this?

This has been an ongoing discussion about OC's digital encryption system for quite some time. Not a lot of people like this system. If at anything, OC may drop the encryption and stick with digital only. Interesting thing about this subject is when OC switched to this digital encryption system, there were no digital scanners on the market to begin with. Go figure.

As for buying a digial scanner in SoCal, I talked to some people at a radio shop in Anaheim that sells scanners, and their sales in digital radios are so-so, and in fact they don't have any 250Ds available at this time... only 796D. I am going up to their other store in Burbank today to see how they are doing in sales of their digital radios. Make a deal with them, and they may lower the price.

Also... LAPD does have one analog channel at 154.830 MHz which similcasts the K-9/Hot Shot Calls (which was the old Tac-1 channel during the old 1 Adam 12 days). Good stuff on that channel.

RD

 

[mdfillipp]

Re: re: OC Digital

Not a lot of people like this system.

Not a lot of listeners like it, or the people who use it don't like it?

If at anything, OC may drop the encryption and stick with digital only.

As in, they can drop the encryption, or, you have reason to believe they will?