Need some assistance

[RizzleSizzle]

First off, I'm sorry if this isn't the right place to post this. I'm new & confused and don't know what I'm doing, really. I just want to listen to what's going on in my town.
I recently bought a Uniden Home Patrol 2 scanner. I thought I did my research and bought a good scanner that would be easy to operate. I live in Hermitage, TN. I enter my zipcode in and I can get every county around me and some parts of Nashville fire & police but I never hear anything that's local to me. Why won't it pickup the police activity that's close to me? What am I doing wrong? Is anyone familiar with this scanner and can help me or point me in the right direction? Any help would be appreciated. I'm about at the giving up point. Thanks.

 

[W8RMH]

This is the new user forum so you are in the right place. I will try to get you off on the right foot but I have a limited knowledge of your area. In the future refer posts like this to the TN Forum under the U.S. Regional Radio Discussion Forums located further down the page.

The HomePatrol 2 in my opinion is the best scanner produced so I don't think it is the scanner. Touch the top box while scanning to hold. Touch the right bar to bring up the menu. Use next and previous to scroll through everything and be sure nothing is avoided. You can decrease the range to reduce reception of outlying counties which may be preventing the scanner from stopping on your local channels.

Be aware that Nashville PD, the hospitals, Metro Park Rangers, and most of Mt. Juliet are encrypted. No scanner can decode encryption.

Does Hermitage have their own police? Many times smaller agencies are dispatched on sheriff channels or patrolled by the Sheriff's Office or county police. If Hermitage is dispatched by Nashville or covered my NPD you are out of luck.

Scroll through the systems linked below for what you are looking for. Anything with an "E" in the mode column is encrypted and can not be heard.

Metropolitan Government Of Nashville & Davidson County (P25) Trunking System, Multiple, Tennessee - Scanner Frequencies

Davidson County, Tennessee (TN) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference

Also make sure you have the "Service Types" enabled for the services you want to hear.

Below is a link to an easier to read manual:

Easier to Read HomePatrol-1/HP-2 Digitall Scanner and Sentinel Manual

The best thing to do is use the Sentinel software to create favorite lists of what you want to listen to.

 

[RizzleSizzle]

No, NashvillePD covers Hermitage. I didn't know they were encrypted. Thank you for replying.

 

[ofd8001]

In addition to the above excellent advice, I'd suggest you bump up the Range value for your scanner to something like 25.0 miles. This casts a "wide net" for initial scanning.

As time goes along and you get a little more familiar with the scanner and how it operates, you can fine-tune the Range value such that it only "hears" that what you desire.

I also concur with creating a Favorites List. There are several "how to" YouTube videos. While it might be challenging to a new user, you can't hurt the scanner with bad programming.

 

[RizzleSizzle]

Thank you both for the advice.