I about to take a trip to the Dallas area and I was wondering if the information in the database for DPD was correct? I noticed that Dallas County has some DMR frquencies for public safety. I would like to monitor DPD and Dallas Co. SO as well as suburbs. Basically, I have to decide weather to bring the 436 or the HP-2. Any help is appreciated.
I am going to concentrate on Dallas PD, not the surrounding LE municipalities. Believe it or not, Dallas is still using analog conventional frequencies. I believe there is a plan in place for constructing a regional system, but again, I am talking about today.
You can download the various DPD from the RR DB; however, be aware of this system:
https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=18
I will be traveling to a Rammstein show in Dallas on the 29th. Dallas is fairly easy to monitor; however, it is a very dense climate for radio monitoring. I generally program the cities I am closest to in Dallas and let the full database handle the rest. I've tried to keep track of all the trunking systems in Dallas by programming many; however, it does get a bit trying to say the least.
Welcome to Texas.
Dallas (City) Public Safety (Police, Fire, EMS) use the Uhf channels shown in the
database. There also some talkgroups on the city's local government Motorola Type II system, which Ensnared
linked above. The TGID's are command & control at large incidents and events. Also, the Dallas PD Deployment groups use talkgroups on this system. These are teams of officers that, rather than doing normal patrol, are assigned to high crime areas, where there is a larger incidence of various thefts or burglaries, or drug dealing, than in other parts of their patrol division. The Wiki page accessible from the Dallas County database page has additional information on police patrol divisions, and other items, for both the City of Dallas and some of the suburbs.
The "DMR" you are seeing listed for Dallas County proper is for the jail and courthouse. I have not tried to monitor those frequencies, so cannot confirm exactly which mode (DMR, Analog, etc) they are using, and specific use. All of Dallas County public safety (Sheriff's Office, Constables, and Fire Service for unincorporated areas) use Vhf-high frequencies in analog mode. The database information is correct.
Highland Park, a smaller suburb northeast of Downtown Dallas, near SMU, uses a two channel DMR system. CareFlite, a very active EMS agency, uses the
Megahertz DMR TRS for dispatching their ground and air medical units. You'll hear medevac calls for multiple counties in the metro area being dispatched on that TRS.
Four of the smaller suburbs in SW Dallas County are using NXDN, which neither the 436HP nor HP-2n will receive.
Other than Highland Park and the DMR system that CareFlite uses, you would cover all the other local cities in the county with either your HP-2 or 436HP. The other exceptions being the four cities that use NXDN.
If you care to specify where in the area you will mostly be (such as your hotel or general area), I can give you more information on which systems are likely to be in range.
