Hi - I live in Fairfield, Ill and was wondering if someone in the area could recommend a scanner that can pick up local PD? I've been looking at a Homepatrol-2 but I donno if it'll pick up anything in Fairfield.. Thank in advance! Been out of scanning for a couple years..
Hopefully, someone closer to your area can provide more specific recommendations for you.
Looking at your county, Wayne, in the database:
Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference for Wayne County, Illinois (IL)
www.radioreference.com
Looking at comments on the county's page, I see that your Sheriff's Office is using DMR, which the HP-2 cannot receive. Their dispatch channel shows to be fully encrypted, which no scanner will ever be able to hear. However, comments, as well as the licensing as i
ndicated, suggest that possibly other S.O. channels may be using DMR, or might be converted to that. If there additional DMR channels in use, so far they are not listed in the database.
For your specific city, Fairfield, the page shows your P.D. is using NXDN, another digital format, for dispatch. It is not flagged as encrypted, but maybe someone near you can confirm that. The HP-2 cannot receive NXDN either.
While there is a site for the statewide system,
STARCOM21, in your county, at present the county database page does not indicate that any of your local agencies are using it.
For Fairfield, you may want to consider a scanner capable of NXDN. In the Whistler models, that would be the T
RX-1 (handheld), or
TRX-2 (a base/mobile model). Those scanners can receive both NXDN as well as DMR. As already noted, the S.O. in your county is using encrypted DMR, which nothing can receive. But if they have other DMR channels in use, that are not encrypted, then you may be able to monitor. These two would also let you monitor your city's PD, on NXDN, as long as they stay non-encrypted.
In the Uniden line of scanners, you would need a scanner that can utilize the paid upgrade for NXDN (if you want to be able to monitor Fairfield). Those models include (handheld) the
325P2,
436HP, &
SDS100. Base/mobile models include the
996P2,
536HP, or
SDS200. Any of these scanners can also receive the paid DMR upgrade, if you find other, unencrypted, channels are in use. The SDS series scanners would be overkill for your area, without any simulcast to deal with, unless you intend to travel to or through other areas where simulcast is used. While the two P2 series scanners would work for your area, presuming the database page is accurate, the 436HP & 536HP, being database scanners, would be easy to set up using the Sentinel software Uniden supplies (free) for them. While you can manually program any of these scanners via the keypad, including the 325P2 and 996P2, software makes it much easier and quicker, and also far easier to catch & correct any errors. The FreeSCAN software can program your basic channels in the P2 scanners, but cannot handle NXDN at all, nor does it correctly support DMR programming. You would be better off with
ProScan or ARCXT. ProScan can also handle the x36HP scanners, as well as the SDS models. In the ARC software, you would need ARC536 of using the 436HP/536HP, or an SDS scanner.
