gippersdad
Member
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2008
- Messages
- 10
Hi all! New to the board/new to radio scanning...be kind to me if I ask stupid questions! But I need help, I really do.
I live just outside of Winston Salem, NC. I bought an old police scanner within a week of a tornado taking away a house just up the street from me. I did not like that happening, without me even knowing my family was in danger...so I began to set up my emergency station in the basement...all of it battery powered in case of power failure.
Anyway, so I bought this old scanner. I know nothing about scanners. It gets the Fire and EMS radio, but NO Police. Lengthy Internet searches tell me that all of the frequencies for Forsyth County and Winston Salem police on this site are wrong. But no other site has the right ones, and most...point a guy straight back here.
I also found out they are wrong because Winston Salem and Forsyth County Police both went to 800 MHz a few years back, and this site still has all of the old 400 MHz frequencies. So no problem...right? I'll just sell this old scanner, and get one that goes up to 800...or so I thought.
Just before buying, I ran across something that told me both Wonston Salem and Forsyth County Police...are communicating on a DIGITAL system. So, I don't know what to do, or what to buy.
Does anyone know if they are still simulcasting on Analog...even if they are up in the new 800 Mhz frequencies? I can't check...because my current scanner only goes up to 512. I'd hate to buy yet another one, only to find out it won't work either.
And then there are all of these different systems...trunking, not trunking, smart, dumb, supercalifragilistic, APCO, Motorola II...I don't even know what any of that means!
I just want to be able to listen to the Sherriff in my town, and the Police from Winston Salem. Can anyone tell me what I need in order to be able to do that? Do I have to buy a digital scanner to do it where I live? I am thoroughly confused by all of this, and all help will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Kennedy
I live just outside of Winston Salem, NC. I bought an old police scanner within a week of a tornado taking away a house just up the street from me. I did not like that happening, without me even knowing my family was in danger...so I began to set up my emergency station in the basement...all of it battery powered in case of power failure.
Anyway, so I bought this old scanner. I know nothing about scanners. It gets the Fire and EMS radio, but NO Police. Lengthy Internet searches tell me that all of the frequencies for Forsyth County and Winston Salem police on this site are wrong. But no other site has the right ones, and most...point a guy straight back here.
I also found out they are wrong because Winston Salem and Forsyth County Police both went to 800 MHz a few years back, and this site still has all of the old 400 MHz frequencies. So no problem...right? I'll just sell this old scanner, and get one that goes up to 800...or so I thought.
Just before buying, I ran across something that told me both Wonston Salem and Forsyth County Police...are communicating on a DIGITAL system. So, I don't know what to do, or what to buy.
Does anyone know if they are still simulcasting on Analog...even if they are up in the new 800 Mhz frequencies? I can't check...because my current scanner only goes up to 512. I'd hate to buy yet another one, only to find out it won't work either.
And then there are all of these different systems...trunking, not trunking, smart, dumb, supercalifragilistic, APCO, Motorola II...I don't even know what any of that means!
I just want to be able to listen to the Sherriff in my town, and the Police from Winston Salem. Can anyone tell me what I need in order to be able to do that? Do I have to buy a digital scanner to do it where I live? I am thoroughly confused by all of this, and all help will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Kennedy