Everywhere suddenly going to P25 TDMA, now what?

[mmiller7]

Wonder if anyone here has a suggestion...seems like my scanning days may be abruptly ending.

I monitor (or used to) Fredericksburg, VA; Spotsylvania, VA; and Stafford, VA. Stafford got all fancy a while back and I could only hear a dispatch simulcast. Now Fredericksburg sounds like they have gone full-on to Stafford's system (can't even hear any simulcast). Spotsylvania has been "about to" flip the switch for digital.

I've also had the dispatch simulcast channels programmed in my ham radio gear for scanning when I'm out and about (even if I can't hear the incident channels I can hear where there are trees down, etc. in storms) but at least today I haven't heard anything on Fredericksburg (154.415) nor Spotsylvania (156.195) VHF dispatch channels. I can still hear Stafford's simulcast and King George loud and clear so I know my radios are working.

Being prepared, as RadioShack was going out I got a replacement for my good old Pro-97 -- grabbing one of the last Pro-651 P25 scanners, a bargain at $200 and another $30 on Win500 for remote control. Except now I'm learning these radio systems are all going to some specific new P25 called "Project 25 Phase II TDMA" that it sounds like my "new" radio won't do from what I can find on RadioReference.

Since I'm fairly sure I won't get $230 out of my now-mostly-useless Pro-651 and even then don't have another $300 on top of that to buy a new scanner...does anyone have a suggestion to scan these for say sub-$100?

 

[natedawg1604]

Wonder if anyone here has a suggestion...seems like my scanning days may be abruptly ending.

I monitor (or used to) Fredericksburg, VA; Spotsylvania, VA; and Stafford, VA. Stafford got all fancy a while back and I could only hear a dispatch simulcast. Now Fredericksburg sounds like they have gone full-on to Stafford's system (can't even hear any simulcast). Spotsylvania has been "about to" flip the switch for digital.

I've also had the dispatch simulcast channels programmed in my ham radio gear for scanning when I'm out and about (even if I can't hear the incident channels I can hear where there are trees down, etc. in storms) but at least today I haven't heard anything on Fredericksburg (154.415) nor Spotsylvania (156.195) VHF dispatch channels. I can still hear Stafford's simulcast and King George loud and clear so I know my radios are working.

Being prepared, as RadioShack was going out I got a replacement for my good old Pro-97 -- grabbing one of the last Pro-651 P25 scanners, a bargain at $200 and another $30 on Win500 for remote control. Except now I'm learning these radio systems are all going to some specific new P25 called "Project 25 Phase II TDMA" that it sounds like my "new" radio won't do from what I can find on RadioReference.

Since I'm fairly sure I won't get $230 out of my now-mostly-useless Pro-651 and even then don't have another $300 on top of that to buy a new scanner...does anyone have a suggestion to scan these for say sub-$100?

Yeah absolutely, OP-25 will handle Phase 2 systems wonderfully, and it's a free program. You just need a single rtl sdr dongle, linux and (most importantly) the time and patients necessary to install OP-25. For further info. consult the official OP-25 support thread.

 

[Spitfire8520]

Since I'm fairly sure I won't get $230 out of my now-mostly-useless Pro-651 and even then don't have another $300 on top of that to buy a new scanner...does anyone have a suggestion to scan these for say sub-$100?

As Nate noted, the only option at that price is the Software Defined Radio route unless you can really score something on the used market. The downside of this is that it will require a computer with Linux and is therefore not very mobile friendly.

 

[pb_lonny]

This is why we all need to move on to different areas of the radio hobby. Our local police have been unscannable for many years now.

 

[dlwtrunked]

digital.
I've also had the dispatch simulcast channels programmed in my ham radio gear for scanning when I'm out and about (even if I can't hear the incident channels I can hear where there are trees down, etc. in storms) but at least today I haven't heard anything on Fredericksburg (154.415) nor Spotsylvania (156.195) VHF dispatch channels. I can still hear Stafford's simulcast and King George loud and clear so I know my radios are working.

They are still trying to get the P25 system working. Right now I am monitoring its control channel and 156.195 an I have seen no FD activity--likely no calls. 156.195 and the EDACS with SO were both in use last night and SO is still using the EDACS system as I type.

 

[marksmith]

The only radios that will receive phase 2 are in the $500 range. The hp2, 536, 436, W1080, W1095, W1088, W1098, TRX 1 and some older discontinued radios such as the GRE PSR800.

Mark
WS1095/536/436/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/325P2/396XT/PRO668/PSR800/PRO652

 

[NC1]

The only radios that will receive phase 2 are in the $500 range. The hp2, 536, 436, W1080, W1095, W1088, W1098, TRX 1 and some older discontinued radios such as the GRE PSR800.

Mark

I think the RS Pro-668 is P25 phase II also.

And I believe the bottom is dropping out of the used market because some insignificant upgrade is not being released by Whistler - which is the manufacturer of the 668.

 

[johnk9deputy]

if you really want to see something and I will l call out the black choppers look in look at lake county florida and you will see it makes you wonder whats next

 

[Blackswan73]

A RS Pro 668 can still be found on eBay, and elsewhere for $225-$250. It will decode P25 phase 2(TDMA), quite well. In fact, it is the same radio as the Whistler 1080, but minus the DMR update. If you don't need DMR, it is a good, inexpensive choice.