Cheapest scanner

[joeychgo]

Im mostly only interested in the villa park channels so spending $600+ on something like a SDS100 seems a bit much. Is there a cheaper option?

 

[werinshades]

Simulcast Distortion - The RadioReference Wiki

wiki.radioreference.com

This is why the $600 scanner is recommended.

 

[fredva]

Villa Park is on a sophisticated radio system that is difficult for less expensive scanners to receive. An alternative to a $600 scanner would be setting up your own Software Defined Radio which can receive simulcast systems. Mine cost around $57 a few years ago. You would need to do a little IT-related work to get it going.

 

[jaspence]

Your cheapest path is finding out if it is available on one of the many scanners apps available.

 

[jgorman21]

And…if you want to spend $600 on another option, there’s always the Unication Pagers. Not scanners. But they can do a lot. And…they are terrific receivers.

 

[werinshades]

It's been reported that DuComm has delayed their encryption roll out, so that's always out there.

 

[W9WSS]

You won't see any DU-COMM or ACDC entities going encrypted (which includes ALL law enforcement talk groups) possibly until the end of Q4 2022, or possibly the 1st quarter of 2023. Still don't hold your breath. The political implications of various factors could change in a Minnesota (or in our case, Illinois) minute. Look what's happening with CPD? They're encrypting some of their VHF frequencies, and it was thought that the "new 800 MHz P25 trunked system" for CPD would be where all encrypted operations would take place.

Bottom line is that it IS going to happen. It might not be this summer, but it's a 100% certainty that all DU-COMM and ACDC law enforcement entities are going dark for us scanner enthusiasts at some point "soon."

And to throw this into the mix, most of us are aware, Naperville/Aurora Open Sky system is being converted to a P25 trunked system which will also continue to be 100% encrypted.

 

[ChrisABQ]

Villa Park is on a sophisticated radio system that is difficult for less expensive scanners to receive. An alternative to a $600 scanner would be setting up your own Software Defined Radio which can receive simulcast systems. Mine cost around $57 a few years ago. You would need to do a little IT-related work to get it going.

I second this, lot's of videos on Youtube and $35 for each dongle you would need. MUCH better than a scanner. I would recomment SDRTrunk and Trunking Recorder.