Scanner upgrade to DMR - worth it?

[richad]

Hi everyone,

I am looking to upgrade the 536-PT to enable DMR - but I am wondering, for someone living in Sydney NSW, is it worth it? What can I receive that I cannot on P25 trunking. Are there gov departments using DMR?

I can probably find this myself but I feel pretty lazy at the moment.

Thanks!
Richad

 

[Kazzaw]

I dont live in Sydney but from what I hear both DMR and NXDN are quite common down that way, DMR being the most popular and NXDN being just viable to purchase

 

[Reconrider]

Look on rrdb to see what systems are in your area and if any are dmr. If you find systems you want to hear, then yes it’s a good idea to buy. If you see business or bus companies with dmr, I don’t buy it because I don’t want to hear buses but everyone is different. You can also drive around doing a search and if you hear any static or buzzing noises on a frequency then write it down and search the fcc

 

[VK3RX]

I can probably find this myself but I feel pretty lazy at the moment.

Thanks!
Richad

Great source of local and up to date info by joining this community:

scanSydney

 

[SandBagger1]

I have two UBCD536-PT scanners and I reckon they are a great radio. Rule of thumb is Government mostly use P25 and business mostly use DMR. Of course I would check the radio reference database for where you are as I'm finding more and more Cap+ sites. Then there is amateurs who have access to most digital modes, it all depends on what you want to listen too and where you located.

 

[richad]

Maybe someone can give me a crash course in DMR on the 536-PT scanner. Thanks

 

[Kazzaw]

Tier 3, Con + and Cap + will be your main headache, as the systems have to be manually programmed.

ScanSydney should have a lot of information on this for you

 

[richad]

Thanks Kazzaw

 

[richad]

Sigh...its like chinese to me. I gotta relearn DMR. So much work.

 

[Xplorer00]

People will assist you, but they will not do it for you.

Easiest way is to do it yourself, that way if something goes wrong, you will know what to do to fix it.
Also, you could be away on holidays and identify a new system not listed anywhere.
If you have learnt how to program, you can easily put it in.

If you have a frequency you want to know who is using, lookup on ACMA or maprad.io (forget FCC as it's only for US).
Ask questions when you have DMR.

ScanSydney