- Joined
- Nov 23, 2020
- Messages
- 12
Hello! Let me start by stating I have been scanning for 35 years, however only had the need for conventional scanning. I have owned a trunking scanner for many years but never had the need to program it as my listening was only local stuff with occasional air band and such.
I recently moved and my beloved RS Pro-2052 was dead silent in my new neighborhood. Turns out, they switched to a P25 system which my scanner could not recieve nor did I know how to program. I thought maybe I'll just retire that old childhood hobby of mine as these new scanners are expensive. Something though has been missing from my life and I realized it was my scanner. Been listening since I was ten!
Well I couldn't justify spending $700 on an SDS200 which had me drooling all over my keyboard, so I originally went for a Home Patrol II thinking my old a** is never going to get this trunking thing down but I felt like I was buying a toy. It didn't seem like a traditional scanner and it was expensive too! So, I canceled my order and went for the BCD996P2 which got great reviews and it does everything I like about scanning. I just had to watch a million videos and read a ton of forums and such to learn more about trunked radio.
I understand a enough to get my scanner to come to life with some chatter but I have a few questions if you can please help (in laymans terms if possible!)
The network I want to monitor is Essex County on the NJICS network in New Jersey and I have a paid account with RR and program through FreeScan. I don't want to monitor every town in this system. I looked at the Sites that would serve my area and chose "West Orange Simulcast". For the Groups I chose Essex County. I locked out every other town except for my own in the software which leaves me just 4 talkgroup IDs to listen too but its dead quiet (especially at night). I get chatter every once in awhile, but this town can't be that quiet. It is easily 7x the size of my old town and I got chatter constantly, whether it was for EMS or the police (quieter in the evenings though). If I leave the other talkgroups unlocked I get more chatter, but not really any more from my town that I can tell unless I'm staring at the radio. I have other systems I would like to monitor as well and have them programmed (EMS, State Police) which I have set quick keys for. I try to monitor only one system at a time. Am I doing something wrong so far? I will attach my file from freescan if it helps. I'm 99% sure I'm picking up the control channels ( I can hear them if I step through the frequencies) I get WX and other conventional stuff no problem. I have two antennas, the original base antenna and a peel and stick "all band" mobile antenna. I have full signal bars using either antenna. I live in an apartment so my antenna choices are limited to indoor or window only.
Also, I think I understand why some folks have more than one scanner now. If you are trying to monitor two different trunked systems, you are constantly dropping your control channels, correct? Which will cause you to miss calls I would imagine as the scanner needs to reconnect to the channel and get info, no?
Sorry for the long winded story, just wanted to give as much info as I thought would be needed. Thank you for any help you can provide!
I recently moved and my beloved RS Pro-2052 was dead silent in my new neighborhood. Turns out, they switched to a P25 system which my scanner could not recieve nor did I know how to program. I thought maybe I'll just retire that old childhood hobby of mine as these new scanners are expensive. Something though has been missing from my life and I realized it was my scanner. Been listening since I was ten!
Well I couldn't justify spending $700 on an SDS200 which had me drooling all over my keyboard, so I originally went for a Home Patrol II thinking my old a** is never going to get this trunking thing down but I felt like I was buying a toy. It didn't seem like a traditional scanner and it was expensive too! So, I canceled my order and went for the BCD996P2 which got great reviews and it does everything I like about scanning. I just had to watch a million videos and read a ton of forums and such to learn more about trunked radio.
I understand a enough to get my scanner to come to life with some chatter but I have a few questions if you can please help (in laymans terms if possible!)
The network I want to monitor is Essex County on the NJICS network in New Jersey and I have a paid account with RR and program through FreeScan. I don't want to monitor every town in this system. I looked at the Sites that would serve my area and chose "West Orange Simulcast". For the Groups I chose Essex County. I locked out every other town except for my own in the software which leaves me just 4 talkgroup IDs to listen too but its dead quiet (especially at night). I get chatter every once in awhile, but this town can't be that quiet. It is easily 7x the size of my old town and I got chatter constantly, whether it was for EMS or the police (quieter in the evenings though). If I leave the other talkgroups unlocked I get more chatter, but not really any more from my town that I can tell unless I'm staring at the radio. I have other systems I would like to monitor as well and have them programmed (EMS, State Police) which I have set quick keys for. I try to monitor only one system at a time. Am I doing something wrong so far? I will attach my file from freescan if it helps. I'm 99% sure I'm picking up the control channels ( I can hear them if I step through the frequencies) I get WX and other conventional stuff no problem. I have two antennas, the original base antenna and a peel and stick "all band" mobile antenna. I have full signal bars using either antenna. I live in an apartment so my antenna choices are limited to indoor or window only.
Also, I think I understand why some folks have more than one scanner now. If you are trying to monitor two different trunked systems, you are constantly dropping your control channels, correct? Which will cause you to miss calls I would imagine as the scanner needs to reconnect to the channel and get info, no?
Sorry for the long winded story, just wanted to give as much info as I thought would be needed. Thank you for any help you can provide!
