Bridgeport / Clarksburg amateur looking for a new scanner

[noblewv70]

Hi all...

Just as the title says, I'm an amateur scanner listener in the Harrison County area looking to purchase a new scanner (or two). I have an older Uniden BC350A and a BC244CLT. Neither scanner seems to be working properly (they have trouble scanning and seem to hang on random channels regardless of the squelch setting). I'm not sure if the problem is the scanners themselves or if the problem is that they are outdated and no longer work in this area.

Any advice?

Should I buy a new scanner? If so, which brand/model? I'm not looking to spend a bunch of money but would like to purchase a good quality unit that can withstand being on for several hours a day.

Thanks!!!

Chris

[Bubba1661]

Well I see by the Data Base that your area has a lot of digital traffic. Although there is still conventional frequencies that are active, You will need to get a digital radio to receive these. I have the Pro-197 and the Pro-106, and a BCD396XT that are excellent digital radios. You will have to go this route to be able to monitor this area.

[ScanFanWV]

If you want to listen to traffic from State agencies such as the WV State Police and WV National Guard, and an increasing number of local agencies (police, fire, EMT, public bus companies, etc.), you will need to get a scanner that is capable of receiving APCO Project 25 (frequently called simply "P25") trunked radio transmissions.

You will also need to be able to pick up digital transmissions on conventional frequencies in which the modulation format is P25 (vs. AM, FM, or NFM).

To listen to local police, fire , EMT, etc. who still use traditional analog frequencies in the 150-154 MHZ range (or so), you will need a scanner that is capable of receiving Narrow-band FM ("NFM" or "FMN") channels. "Narrow-band" means that the steps between frequencies are 12.5 kHz instead of 25 kHz.

I did research for a couple of months before deciding that the best scanner for use anywhere in WV is the GRE PSR-500 (handheld) or GRE PSR-600 (desktop model), which are identical to the Radio Shack PRO-106 (handheld) and Radio Shack PRO-197 (desktop model).

These four scanners pick up every type of transmission listed above as well as several others, such as the EDACS analog trunked system used by Appalachian Power (AEP).

You might have a problem finding the Radio Shack PRO-106 because the manufacturer (GRE) lost their factory in China last year. They are trying to build a new factory, but as of right now the PRO-106 is not in production. (I don't know whether this affects the production of their other scanners.)

If they still have them in stock, you can get a GRE PSR-500 from Universal Radio in Ohio for a decent price. Also, if you live in Bridgeport, you should get the scanner 1-2 days after ordering it. The store is located just outside of Columbus. I live just outside of Charleston, and my scanner arrived via UPS the day after I placed the order - and I just asked for the regular shipping, nothing special.

NOTE:

The GRE PSR-500 comes with an AC-to-DC power cord and a data cable so you can program the scanner using your computer with 3rd party software (e.g., ARC500). The scanner DOES NOT come with a printed manual. The manual is a PDF file on the CD included in the box, which you can also download off the internet.

The PRO-106 does NOT come with an AC-to-DC power cord or a data cable. These are separate purchases, and cost an additional $50 to $60 all together as I recall. It DOES, however, come with a printed manual. (And it does not have a CD in the box.)

There is a book available called Easier to Read PRO-106/197 - PSR-500/600/310/410 Scanner Manual, which makes up for not having a printed manual if you get the PSR-500. The book costs $29.95 at Universal Radio, but you can also read the contents of the book online for free here:

Easier to Read Pro-106/197/PSR500/600 Digital Scanner Manual

[ScanFanWV]

P.S. - Here is a link to the GRE PSR-500 at Universal Radio if you are interested:

GRE PSR-500 Scanner Radio Receiver, PSR500

I like shopping there because I like to support locally-owned businesses, and they have always given me top-notch service by mail/internet, and over the phone.

I got the PSR-500, and I am very happy with it.

[noblewv70]

Thank you bubba and scanfan. I appreciate your help.

Are the digital trunking scanners difficult to program? I'm only interested in listening to local and state police, fire, EMS, rescue, health net, etc.

Thanks again!

[ScanFanWV]

I found the digital trunking scanner difficult at first because I had to learn a bunch of new terms as well as understand the basic concept of trunked systems (control channel frequency, alternate control channel frequency, and talk group ID number).

Your local and county police, fire, EMS, etc. are, or soon will be, using the State's P25 Digital Trunking System.

Go to this page, West Virginia Statewide Interoperability Radio Network (SIRN) Trunking System, Statewide, West Virginia - Scanner Frequencies, and scroll down to Harrison County. You will see the talk groups for your area listed. The talk groups include Bridgeport PD, Clarksburg PD, and numerous VFDs.

At the top of that page, you will find three radio towers listed in Harrison County for the State's P25 system. They are in Clarksburg, Salem, and McWhorter. Each one has one control channel frequency (shown in red numbers), and one alternate control frequency (shown in blue).

(Click the word "County" at the top of this table (called "System Frequencies"), and the column will be re-sorted so that the county names are in alphabetical order.)

If you had a digital trunking scanner, the first thing you would need to do is create a TSYS (trunking system) and put in the control channel frequency and the alternate control channel frequency for the tower nearest your location. You do not need to include the frequencies listed in black numbers.

After you create the TSYS in your scanner, you can start programming the talk groups. For that you need to put in the talk group ID number (TGID), and then associate it with (to put it another way, link it to) the TSYS you just entered.

You can also give the talk group a name (called an "alpha tag") which will be displayed on the scanner's screen when the talk group is active (transmitting), or when you are scrolling through your Scan Lists (formerly called "Banks") manually.

My PSR-500 will allow me to program up to 32 frequencies as a single P25 TSYS in the scanner's memory. That means I can put in the control channel frequencies and alternate control channel frequencies for up to 16 different towers.

I created a TSYS that includes the towers located along I-64, I-77, I-79, and called it "P25 Roadways."

Then I put in the TGIDs for the police in the Kanawha Valley area, the State Police, Huntington City Police, etc., and linked them all to my "P25 Roadways" TSYS. This allows me to listen to the police in the Kanawha Valley, and then drive to Huntington and listen to the city police there without reprogramming anything in my scanner.

To give you an idea of how necessary it will be for you to have a Digital Trunking Scanner that can pick up the State's P25 system: The Kanawha Metro 911 dispatchers still use their old analog frequency for dispatching most calls, but some communications between them and local police/fire/EMT (Dunbar, Nitro, St. Albans) take place over the P25 Talk Groups. The local police/fire/EMT units and departments frequently talk to each other using the P25 Talk Groups, not traditional analog frequencies.

I'm listening to two Dunbar police officers talking to each other using their P25 Talk Group right now.

The Charleston PD has one frequency which is a conventional frequency (not part of the trunked system), but it is a digital radio frequency. They are using P25 digital modulation on it instead of FM or NFM.

When I was using my old scanner (Radio Shack PRO-76), I missed all of this stuff.

Remember, not any old Digital Trunking Scanner will do. You must have one that is capable of picking up the APCO Project 25 (P25) Digital Trunking System, or you won't be able to pick up anyone who is using the State's new system, or who is using P25 modulation on a regular frequency (like the Charleston PD).

[noblewv70]

Thank you ScanFan. I appreciate your help. I'm ordering the PSR-600 tonight.

[ab8sn]

Originally Posted by noblewv70

Hi all...

Just as the title says, I'm an amateur scanner listener in the Harrison County area looking to purchase a new scanner (or two). I have an older Uniden BC350A and a BC244CLT. Neither scanner seems to be working properly (they have trouble scanning and seem to hang on random channels regardless of the squelch setting). I'm not sure if the problem is the scanners themselves or if the problem is that they are outdated and no longer work in this area.

Any advice?

Should I buy a new scanner? If so, which brand/model? I'm not looking to spend a bunch of money but would like to purchase a good quality unit that can withstand being on for several hours a day.

Thanks!!!

Chris

Hey Noble

As the others have already mentioned you will need a digital trunking scanner for Harrison Co, they are 100% on the WV SIRN with the exception of a few analog conventional freqs carrying the simulcast broadcasts from the system. I'm posting mainly to possibly give you an answer as to why your Uniden 350 may not appear to be working correctly. It's probably not the scanner but when you're trying to monitor any UHF activity the scanner most likely is "hanging up" on interference from the strong signals of the control channels nearby in use by the trunking system. I noticed that myself the last time I was in that area with a regular scanner, needless to say it didn't work very well.

The other guys have given you some very good models of digital scanners to consider but I wanted to let you know I just purchased a GRE 600 from Universal Radio and they are really nice to deal with I would purchase from the again.

73s and hope this helps you some

Chad

[noblewv70]

Thanks Chad.

I just ordered the GRE PSR-600 from Universal Radio. Hope to have it in a few days. I'm good at following directions so I should be able to get it programmed. If I have problems, I'm going to rely on you guys to help me out. Stay tuned...

Chris

[GunneUSMCR]

noblewv70 needed help and you guys came through. Your suggestions/cmpts have helped me (a Newbe) get restarted in the best direction. I'm waiting on a PSR 500 that I ordered but dreading the pain to program it. After pricing remote antennas (Big $) I built my own knowing the freq (wavelgth) involved. Thanks again from this 65yr old 1st grader.

[OldDeadOne]

noblewv70 and GunneUSMCR I would suggest getting Win500 and a subscription to radioreference here to make it easy on both of you....

[noblewv70]

Originally Posted by GunneUSMCR

noblewv70 needed help and you guys came through.

Yes GunneUSMCR, they sure did.

Thanks again guys!

Chris...

[noblewv70]

Originally Posted by OldDeadOne

noblewv70 and GunneUSMCR I would suggest getting Win500 and a subscription to radioreference here to make it easy on both of you....

Good idea. I will look into it. Thanks.

[MOTOROLANUT]

Originally Posted by OldDeadOne

noblewv70 and GunneUSMCR I would suggest getting Win500 and a subscription to radioreference here to make it easy on both of you....

Amen to Old Dead Ones suggestion of the Win 500 software. I have not touched a button on my Pro-197's or 106 since. Once you go computer programming you will never go back to manual data entry.

[noblewv70]

Here we go!

I received my new scanner (GRE PSR-600) a few days ago and decided to tackle programming it this afternoon. I downloaded the WIN500 software and purchased a subscription to RadioReference.com. The WIN500 software is VERY confusing for an amateur. I almost gave up. After a few hours of scratching my head and blurting out a few expletives for good measure, I'm up and running... Well, sort of... I have one "system" (named Harrison) uploaded to the scanner and it seems to be working. I would like to build a few more systems (Monongalia, Marion, Taylor, and Lewis Counties).

Would any of you listeners in the Harrison County WV area like to share systems that you listen to?

Thanks!

Chris

[MOTOROLANUT]

Originally Posted by noblewv70

Here we go!

I received my new scanner (GRE PSR-600) a few days ago and decided to tackle programming it this afternoon. I downloaded the WIN500 software and purchased a subscription to RadioReference.com. The WIN500 software is VERY confusing for an amateur. I almost gave up. After a few hours of scratching my head and blurting out a few expletives for good measure, I'm up and running... Well, sort of... I have one "system" (named Harrison) uploaded to the scanner and it seems to be working. I would like to build a few more systems (Monongalia, Marion, Taylor, and Lewis Counties).

Would any of you listeners in the Harrison County WV area like to share systems that you listen to?

Thanks!

Chris

What are you interested in listening to or looking for?

[noblewv70]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (Android; Mobile; rv:18.0) Gecko/18.0 Firefox/18.0)

Mainly interested in the counties surrounding Harrison - 911 dispatch, EMS, fire, state and local police, etc... I'm going to play around with the WIN500 software a bit and try to build a few more systems.

[MOTOROLANUT]

You should be able to download around 95% of all you need to win 500 since you are a premium subscriber to RR.