Simulcast digital distortion - The RadioReference Wiki
The only true scanners that work well on simulcast, regardless of location, are Uniden's SDS100 (handheld) & SDS200 (base/mobile). Occasionally, when first programmed for a local system, reception is not as good as expected, but in most cases it can be much improved by tweaking the filters for the scanner on a per system basis.
The Unication pagers (usually the G4 & G5 are referenced in posts, but I don't own either), also work very well in simulcast areas. However, those two models are not true scanners. While you can program more than one system and one site, you can only monitor a single site at a time. I've seen comments that Unication has been creating firmware updates that allow more "scanner like" features, such as holding on a talkgroup. If you only were interested in one system & site, that would work. But with the SDS100/-200 you can program and monitor multiple systems & sites.
From where I live, in Dallas, there are numerous systems with simulcast sites in the area. But, my location is far enough outside those systems that the simulcast does not affect me, and I can use any number of other scanners, such as the 325P2, BCD436HP, and536HP, and still monitor them. If Dallas & Dallas County ever complete and switch to their planned P25 Phase II system, then likely simulcast will affect me at home. That's one big reason I purchased the two SDS series scanners. The SDS200 is used at home. When I'm out & about, I have the SDS100 with me, and can monitor those simulcast systems even when I'm in known "problem areas" as reported by other scanner owners.
Depending on your location in Dallas (far North Dallas, near Carrollton or Plano?) you might be far enough outside Denton County to monitor either the Lewisville or Denton County simulcast sites.
Map for the Denton Simulcast sites
Lewisville Simulcast site on Denton's P25 system
I have a friend that lives in Grapevine, that I usually see about twice a month. From her house, I can monitor the Denton system on both the SDS100 as well as a 436HP. I can also monitor the
Northeast Tarrant County Simulcast from there on either scanner. I gave her my old 996T, and she can listen to the
Northeast Tarrant site on
FWRRS with it. For Northeast Tarrant, the Grapevine site is about half mile or less from her, so that strong signal overrides the out of synch transmissions from the other sites. For my 436HP, monitoring Denton County, their Grapevine area site is just north of Grapevine Lake, so it works.
Location is very important for whether or not you can hear a simulcast system with scanners other than the SDS series scanners. If you are very close to one of the sites, the strong signal may wipe out any problems. Or, if you are far enough away, the other signals are too weak to matter. While I'm out of range to hear Denton from home (unless & until I get an external antenna replaced), I can hear the
Metrocrest system, even though many people in one of the member cities have problems with the
simulcast. In some cases, even moving the scanner a few feet in one direction or another can help reception. While you can also use a directional antenna, such as a yagi, to aim at one specific tower of a simulcast site and enable reception, you are pretty much limiting yourself to just that system, unless other systems' sites are close or strong enough to be received even though the directional antenna is not aimed at them.