Advice on scanners for monitoring Newberry, Fairfield, Lexington, & Richland counties

[Iwanttolisten]

Hello,
I'm new to the forum and have some questions about a new scanner. I would be grateful for recommendations on what would work best for us. Most of our time is spent in the following counties - Newberry, Fairfield, Lexington, & Richland counties. My primary interests are, Sheriff, Police, Highway Patrol, EMS, Dominion Energy, and any other business or government agencies I may receive. For the desktop, I was thinking about the Uniden SDS200. I would like to have a handheld (Hoping less cost than the SDS100) to at least receive local law enforcement for Newberry County like Sheriff.

Thanks for your help.

 

[brian]

Welcome to the forum.

The Palmetto 800 system is a P25 digital trunked radio system, and currently all talkgroups operate in Phase I mode. The system may start transitioning to Phase II talkgroups at some point in the not-too-distant future.

Many of the Palmetto 800 sites in more urban areas of the state -- including most of the counties you mention - employ simulcast technology. This means that multiple tower locations transmit the same audio on the same frequencies simultaneously. This type of arrangement is challenging for most consumer scanners to decode reliably. The SDS100 and SDS200 are the only traditional scanners that are designed to decode simulcast systems reliably. Any other traditional scanners are risky with simulcast sites.

There are some sites in the areas you listed that are not simulcast and will be able to be received fairly reliably with a scanner other than the SDS models. Sites that don't have the word "Simulcast" in the site name are not simulcast.

You'll want to consider which sites you can receive from your location. Many agencies' communications are carried on multiple sites which gives you some flexibility. But as an example, Lexington County agencies generally aren't carried on the Richland Simulcast site, and Richland County agencies generally aren't carried on the Lexington Simulcast site.

Take a look at the Palmetto 800 database page and review the talkgroup listings for the agencies that interest you. Palmetto 800 Trunking System, Various, Multi-State

Note those talkgroups that show "DE" in the mode column. Those talkgroups are encrypted, and cannot be monitored by any scanners or receivers commonly available to hobbyists. So that includes Lexington Co Sheriff, Richland Co Sheriff, SLED, SCPPP and several other law enforcement agencies. Columbia PD is in the clear (for now), as is SCHP, municipal PDs in Lexington County, and Newberry County Sheriff. Fire and EMS in the counties you listed are also in the clear.

Fairfield County uses a mix of radio systems. Fairfield Co Sheriff and Winnsboro PD uses Palmetto 800, but Fire and EMS use the Fleettalk system. That's a different flavor of digital radio system from Palmetto 800 - it uses the NXDN format. You'll need a scanner that supports NXDN to listen to those agencies.

I hope this helps give you some things to consider as you choose a scanner. If you have other specific questions, post in the forums and someone will help answer them for you.

 

[Iwanttolisten]

Welcome to the forum.

The Palmetto 800 system is a P25 digital trunked radio system, and currently all talkgroups operate in Phase I mode. The system may start transitioning to Phase II talkgroups at some point in the not-too-distant future.

Many of the Palmetto 800 sites in more urban areas of the state -- including most of the counties you mention - employ simulcast technology. This means that multiple tower locations transmit the same audio on the same frequencies simultaneously. This type of arrangement is challenging for most consumer scanners to decode reliably. The SDS100 and SDS200 are the only traditional scanners that are designed to decode simulcast systems reliably. Any other traditional scanners are risky with simulcast sites.

There are some sites in the areas you listed that are not simulcast and will be able to be received fairly reliably with a scanner other than the SDS models. Sites that don't have the word "Simulcast" in the site name are not simulcast.

You'll want to consider which sites you can receive from your location. Many agencies' communications are carried on multiple sites which gives you some flexibility. But as an example, Lexington County agencies generally aren't carried on the Richland Simulcast site, and Richland County agencies generally aren't carried on the Lexington Simulcast site.

Take a look at the Palmetto 800 database page and review the talkgroup listings for the agencies that interest you. Palmetto 800 Trunking System, Various, Multi-State

Note those talkgroups that show "DE" in the mode column. Those talkgroups are encrypted, and cannot be monitored by any scanners or receivers commonly available to hobbyists. So that includes Lexington Co Sheriff, Richland Co Sheriff, SLED, SCPPP and several other law enforcement agencies. Columbia PD is in the clear (for now), as is SCHP, municipal PDs in Lexington County, and Newberry County Sheriff. Fire and EMS in the counties you listed are also in the clear.

Fairfield County uses a mix of radio systems. Fairfield Co Sheriff and Winnsboro PD uses Palmetto 800, but Fire and EMS use the Fleettalk system. That's a different flavor of digital radio system from Palmetto 800 - it uses the NXDN format. You'll need a scanner that supports NXDN to listen to those agencies.

I hope this helps give you some things to consider as you choose a scanner. If you have other specific questions, post in the forums and someone will help answer them for you.

Thanks for all this information. This answers most of my questions. I live in Newberry County so I'm mostly interested in Newberry County Sheriffs' department, Highway Patrol, and Newberry county EMS & Fire. Would a Whistler 1065 work for my area or a cheaper Uniden scanner? Sounds like spending $700 for the top-of-the-line Uniden may be overkill. But then again I had a member of the Newberry County Sheriffs' department tell me that by 2015 they will be going Phase II and the Whistler would not work. If he is right then I would spend $350 for a scanner that would work for only 2 years. But if I get a Uniden SDS200 and spend twice as much then hopefully be several years before it is obsolete. Let me know your thoughts and thanks again.

 

[brian]

All of Newberry County's public safety agencies, including City of Newberry, operate on Palmetto 800. All of their channels (talkgroups) operate in P25 Phase I mode currently. However, we know that Palmetto 800 will transition to Phase II in the next few years. It's not commonly known how that transition will take place, or precisely when it will take place. It could be something that happens all at once (one day the system is Phase I, the next day it's Phase II) or it could be something that's a gradual change, with some talkgroups Phase II while others remain Phase I for a while. If you're starting out with a new scanner and you anticipate it being usable for more than 18-24 months in Newberry County, you should choose a scanner that supports Phase II.

The other issue of concern is simulcast. The primary Palmetto 800 site that covers Newberry County and carries most of its traffic is a simulcast site. TO monitor this site reliably. you'll want to choose a scanner that supports simulcast. Currently, that's the SDS100 or SDS200. And yes, they are expensive.

There are some sites on the edges of the county that are not simulcast (specifically Prosperity, Joanna, Chappells). Whether these sites ALWAYS carry ALL of the Newberry County agency's radio traffic is not clear. Nor is it guaranteed that you'd be in range to receive one or more of these sites at your specific location. On the Palmetto 800 database paged (linked in my previous post), find the menu icon for the "Sites and Frequencies" section and select "Site Locations Report". This will show you a map of site locations that you can study (this might be a feature that's only accessible to premium subscribers).

I can tell you that when I pass through Newberry County on I-26 with my Whistler-equivalent scanners (like the WS-1065), they struggle significantly with the Newberry simulcast site. Heading southeast, I try to monitor the Joanna site as long as I can, and then change to the Prosperity site. I miss some Newberry County radio traffic along the way. Simulcast is a very location-sensitive thing, and with a favorable location and antenna arrangement, you might get lucky with minimal simulcast challenges. You won't know until you try it. Many hobbyists don't want to take that risk, and they spend the extra $$$ for the SDS radios that overcome those challenges.

There are other radio options that fall outside of the "traditional scanner" realm that can also overcome simulcast. But they each have limitations that may cause them to be inappropriate choices for you. SDR dongles + software is one, Unication pagers are another, BlueTail Technologies devices are yet another. For hobbyists that want a self-contained, battery-powered, portable device that scans more than one trunked system or a combination of trunked and conventional channels simultaneously, the traditional scanner route is the best choice.

Hope this helps.

Brian

 

[Iwanttolisten]

All of Newberry County's public safety agencies, including City of Newberry, operate on Palmetto 800. All of their channels (talkgroups) operate in P25 Phase I mode currently. However, we know that Palmetto 800 will transition to Phase II in the next few years. It's not commonly known how that transition will take place, or precisely when it will take place. It could be something that happens all at once (one day the system is Phase I, the next day it's Phase II) or it could be something that's a gradual change, with some talkgroups Phase II while others remain Phase I for a while. If you're starting out with a new scanner and you anticipate it being usable for more than 18-24 months in Newberry County, you should choose a scanner that supports Phase II.

The other issue of concern is simulcast. The primary Palmetto 800 site that covers Newberry County and carries most of its traffic is a simulcast site. TO monitor this site reliably. you'll want to choose a scanner that supports simulcast. Currently, that's the SDS100 or SDS200. And yes, they are expensive.

There are some sites on the edges of the county that are not simulcast (specifically Prosperity, Joanna, Chappells). Whether these sites ALWAYS carry ALL of the Newberry County agency's radio traffic is not clear. Nor is it guaranteed that you'd be in range to receive one or more of these sites at your specific location. On the Palmetto 800 database paged (linked in my previous post), find the menu icon for the "Sites and Frequencies" section and select "Site Locations Report". This will show you a map of site locations that you can study (this might be a feature that's only accessible to premium subscribers).

I can tell you that when I pass through Newberry County on I-26 with my Whistler-equivalent scanners (like the WS-1065), they struggle significantly with the Newberry simulcast site. Heading southeast, I try to monitor the Joanna site as long as I can, and then change to the Prosperity site. I miss some Newberry County radio traffic along the way. Simulcast is a very location-sensitive thing, and with a favorable location and antenna arrangement, you might get lucky with minimal simulcast challenges. You won't know until you try it. Many hobbyists don't want to take that risk, and they spend the extra $$$ for the SDS radios that overcome those challenges.

There are other radio options that fall outside of the "traditional scanner" realm that can also overcome simulcast. But they each have limitations that may cause them to be inappropriate choices for you. SDR dongles + software is one, Unication pagers are another, BlueTail Technologies devices are yet another. For hobbyists that want a self-contained, battery-powered, portable device that scans more than one trunked system or a combination of trunked and conventional channels simultaneously, the traditional scanner route is the best choice.

Hope this helps.

Brian

Brian,
Thanks again for taking the time to share this detailed information with me. I will be purchasing the SDS100 or SDS200. Would like the desktop version to take advantage of the huge display but then I also like the portability of the handheld. Is it worth it to pay the Uniden Bearcat Warehouse to have the scanner programmed for my area? Do you know if Uniden has most of the available public published channels for my area? What base station & Vehicle antennas do you recommend?
Take care.

 

[brian]

You're very welcome. I hope you find the information and advice to be appropriate.

Uniden has free programming software (Uniden Sentinel) for the SDS scanners. The information contained on the scanner itself includes the entire RadioReference database, so everything you see on the database pages on this site are included in the data in the scanner. You can scan the database or create custom lists based on the database information. There really are not any other comprehensive, publicly available sources of radio information available. The vendor you pay for programming will use RadioReference data as well.

Most folks find that learning to program the scanner is better in the long run. Things change in public safety radio, quite a bit. And your listening interests will change over time. So I'd recommend forgoing the cost of programming by someone else and suggest you learn to do it. There is an overwhelming amount of information on this site and videos on YouTube that can help you learn. Fair warning - there will be a learning curve to overcome.

Regarding antennas, my recommendation would be to wait and see how the included antenna works for your area before you invest in separate antennas. Reception is completely dependent on your specific location, but it's very likely that you'll have no problem monitoring local agencies and Palmetto 800 sites with the included antenna. Once you use the scanner a while, and learn what you and are not interested in listening to, you'll figure out what you cannot here. That can then guide your choice for an antenna. Installing permanent antennas, whether mobile or at home, can be quite an involved and expensive undertaking.

Hope this helps.

Brian