Hello from Currituck - Advice requested

[ronpp]

Hello from Currituck NC! Interested in listening in, on a very occasional basis, the local Sheriff or Fire/EMS. On the frequency listings here ( Currituck County, North Carolina (NC) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference ) the deputies are at 460.45000 and ems at 155.05500. Are these considered trunking systems and do I need a high end unit or can I purchase a used one (like off ebay) as long as the specs cover the listed frequencies? For instance, I can pick up a Pro-95 pretty inexpensively ( Pro-95 - The RadioReference Wiki ).

Also I wouldn't mind, since I'm right near it, to listen to Chesapeake, VA ( Chesapeake Trunking System, Chesapeake, Virginia - Scanner Frequencies ) but really just interested in Currituck.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[rescue674aa]

They are not trucking freq but they are switch to to the state 800 MHz digital in a couple of months and as far as Chesapeake my dad is a cop there they are 800 MHz digital and you would need a digital scanner. So I would get a digital scanner for 700/800 MHz so you good when they both switch systems

 

[ronpp]

Great. Thank you very much for the quick reply and advice. Any suggestions on an inexpensive digital for a newbie to try out before jumping in head first?

 

[Drafin]

Great. Thank you very much for the quick reply and advice. Any suggestions on an inexpensive digital for a newbie to try out before jumping in head first?

Unfortunately an inexpensive digital scanner does not exist yet. They are all around 500 bucks but read up on the Uniden 396XT, the GRE PSR 500 (and it's identical counterpart the Radio Shack Pro-106) and the Uniden Home Patrol.

Those will be your main players in the scanner wars. Some people will try to sway you to one manufacturer or the other but basically they are all really good pieces, I've seen all of them work well on NC Viper and other digital systems.

Draf

 

[rescue674aa]

Scanner

Ummm I don't know search I have xts3000 digital radio I will be using so idk

 

[KM4WLV]

Hey Ron,

First, welcome to RR. I'm sure that you will find here in the NC subforum that you will find some of the most helpful people on RR.

If you are getting into this hobby there is a lot of conventional stuff out there that you can monitor but as you've seen if you are going to make the investment a digital capable unit is the best way to go. You can by all means buy a "regular" trunking scanner & it will work for the time being, but you will eventually have to buy a digital unit and by then you've spent twice the money.

Most agencies that are moving to VIPER, or even moving onto other trunking systems are going digital. NCSHP dispatch TG's on VIPER are still in analog (non-digital), but they already have digital TG's in place and it won't be long before they move to them.

If you need any help with programming please let us know. Marshall (KE4ZNR here on RR, and the NC moderator) is kinda "The Man" when it comes to VIPER programming and I know he will be glad to help too.

Again, welcome aboard !!!