Scanning MARCS

[acjfd315]

Looking to get a cheapish handheld scanner that will cover Northwest Ohio. Not really familiar with the intricacies of the MARCS system and need some advice on what I should get. Any help would be appreciated

 

[W8RMH]

All Public Safety agencies in Lucas County use the Northwest Ohio Regional Public Safety Simulcast System. Simulcast systems are difficult to receive due to multipath distortion and may require expensive radios like the Uniden SDS100 or Unication G4/G5 which all run about $650.

If you don't have any simulcast MARCS sites in your area you should be able to get by with any P25 Phase I scanner, like a BCD396XT, which you can find used on ebay or the RR classifieds. Cheapish is a relative term. How much are you willing to invest?

 

[acjfd315]

I went with a WS1040. I was able to finally get what I wanted programmed in and scanning, but nothing is coming through. When it comes to this new digital stuff and scanning, I have no clue what needs to be turned on and off and what not. What would be causing the signal to be blocked? Im sitting here with my scanner on, and a scanner app open on my phone and as TFD is getting dispatched to a call, ntohing is coming through on my scanner.

 

[mharris]

I went with a WS1040. I was able to finally get what I wanted programmed in and scanning, but nothing is coming through. When it comes to this new digital stuff and scanning, I have no clue what needs to be turned on and off and what not. What would be causing the signal to be blocked? Im sitting here with my scanner on, and a scanner app open on my phone and as TFD is getting dispatched to a call, ntohing is coming through on my scanner.

If you have programmed your 1040 correctly, you are most likely not hearing anything due to Simulcast Distortion. Unfortunately, the 1040 will not work. You will need to invest in an SDS100 or a Unication G4 or G5 in order to decode the system reliably.

 

[W8RMH]

If you have programmed your 1040 correctly, you are most likely not hearing anything due to Simulcast Distortion. Unfortunately, the 1040 will not work. You will need to invest in an SDS100 or a Unication G4 or G5 in order to decode the system reliably.

Well that sounds familiar doesn't it.

 

[W8MAL]

Do you have the software or did you manually program it? If your user name is indicitive of a department affiliation, I’m extremely local to Station 36. Perhaps we could meet up and see if it’s truly a programming issue or if it’s on the RF side of the equation.

 

[acjfd315]

I was on station 36 when I first got on this sight. I’m thinking it’s the distortion thing. I’ve got like two channels that are somewhat coming through right now. My problem is, this isn’t a hobby for me. I really can’t afford to spend $700 on a piece of electronics. I honestly was getting it to carry around in the truck at work, so we know what we are getting ourselves into when we respond with the county on runs. We are on the VHF system and can’t hear Toledo and Sylvania traffic. Would a base model work ok as a cheaper alternative??

 

[acjfd315]

Would the BCD436HP be a viable option then? I found out that for what I want to listen to, I would need coverage for both the MARCS phase 1 and the Regional Public Safety system. Again, I am 75% illiterate at best when it comes to this radio stuff. I know when I push the button in my truck, and it beeps, 50% of the time it goes through to Lima. That’s it. Lol

 

[budevans]

Would the BCD436HP be a viable option then? I found out that for what I want to listen to, I would need coverage for both the MARCS phase 1 and the Regional Public Safety system. Again, I am 75% illiterate at best when it comes to this radio stuff. I know when I push the button in my truck, and it beeps, 50% of the time it goes through to Lima. That’s it. Lol

From your posts your primary issue is trying to monitor Simulcast systems. The BCD436HP is not designed to handle Simulcast systems. So it's performance would most likely be similar to the 1040.

Currently there is only one scanner that handles Simulcast. That's the SDS-100. It's current price (from most vendors) is $650.

There is another option. A pager company makes two models of pagers that will monitor P25 Simulcast. Their costs are in the $650 range.