A Few Questions

[darkasia]

Hello. I am new to the world of scanning, And am quite pleased to see such a healthy community dedicated to this craft. I do have a few questions Regarding monitoring transmissions in my community. I live in Medicine Hat, Alberta, And according to this site, I read that the police use "Conventional P25" And that it is not a "Trunked System". Im guessing that this is a digital signal then? And some other groups use "PACS Repeaters". What does this mean? Im going to be purchasing a scanner of course, (Prefferably a Uniden) And at the moment im only interested in tuning in to the police here, And would like to know which one would be the best for my location, According to what im asking. I apologize for my inexperience lol.
My second question, And i apologize if it is displaced, Is regarding software used to program a scanner. Which one would be the most user friendly? Does it depend on the scanner? And if so, According to my first question then.

Thank you very much!

 

[Pigshanks]

I just picked up a PRO 96 from a fellow on this site. Police and fire are all I have in it and it works great. I used to monitor quite a bit before the switch to digital, and was extremely suprised to find out the Hat is not as quite as they'ed like us to believe.

 

[darkasia]

I've heard about the Pro 96, And we live in the same city so im going to look into this scanner more.

 

[avgas]

I have a Pro 96 and it works well here in Medicine Hat. It would be nice if it was a little smaller but what can ya do.

 

[Jay911]

according to this site, I read that the police use "Conventional P25" And that it is not a "Trunked System". Im guessing that this is a digital signal then?

That's correct - a digital, non-trunked (a.k.a. "conventional") system. One channel only.

(Actually, they may have multiple channels, but all on one frequency, but that's something yet to be discovered about the Hat.)

And some other groups use "PACS Repeaters". What does this mean?

PACS is just a system name - Province of Alberta Communications System. It's just regular conventional radio channels.

 

[darkasia]

avgas, do you have a 396? if so, whats that like around here?

 

[avgas]

I have a Pro 96. I am sure it dont matter what you get for a scanner as long as its digital it will work around here. I didnt have good luck with my Pro 96 at first but since I got a new one on warranty its been good to go. It did take 2 times of returning the radio. I think it was just bad luck.

 

[mark2117]

I was just in Medicine Hat yesterday and my 396 worked excellent there, thought I'd give it a try while I was up there since I'm moving there in a few weeks.

 

[Jay911]

Someone with a GRE needs to head to the Hat and see if there are multiple channels on their Fire and Police frequencies. NACs are like PL/DPL codes ... if for example MHPS even has multiple divisions like general patrol, traffic, investigations, etc., I'd be astonished if they didn't have their comms separated somehow.

 

[mark2117]

Yeah all I heard was police, but then again I didn't have the scanner on for very long.

 

[Pigshanks]

From what I hear, all police comms are on their main channel. For the most part you can hear everything, but every now and then the do encrypt when sensitive items are discussed.

 

[avgas]

I hear everything on the 3 police channels. They mainly use channel 1 for day to day operations and channel 2 for chit chat with each other. Channel 1 and 2 have never been encrypted that I have ever heard. Channel 3 is almost always encrypted. It sounds to me like every one uses channel 1, From photo radar to bylaw to patrol units.