Greetings from Suriname ! n00b here !

[suriname]

Hi all, thanks for the opportunity to have me post here and to be able to get feedback.
My name is Jorge and I am from Suriname, in South America.

I'm a Photographer and I also do Journalism.
I want to invest in Police/Emergency radio scanning equipment to be
able to monitor these services here in my country.

I have technical experience, but no experience with Scanner radio's.
I did read about trunking systems on Wikipedia, but that's all.

I woule like some information on how to find what is used here (or how I can find out),
also, what equipment I need to purchase (1 unit for now should be sufficient ?),
and how to operate the unit (radio) to monitor the police/emergency band.

Hope anyone can point me in the right direction or another forum, before I post there...

Thanks in advance !!
Jorge.

 

[suriname]

Anyone ?

 

[DickH]

Hello Jorge.
Before investing in an expensive scanner, try to find an older model on e-bay. Just be sure it can receive 800 MHz. Then use the search feature to search various frequency ranges. Some countries use frequencies that a scanner can not receive.

Also, it might be illegal to monitor police and fire frequencies in your country. Ask the local newspapers or TV station about it.

And you can visit a fire station. They might tell you what frequency they use. Or look at the antennas on the engines. If they are about 18" long it will be in the 150 MHz range. 6" will be in the 460 range. 800 MHz will be about 4" or longer with a coil in the middle.

 

[suriname]

DickH, you are too kind !

The <$250 scanners are within my range, what should one on eBay cost me, about half ?
I will try to visit the fire-station. Think I'll get lucky at the PD also ?

The frequencies you mentioned, are those in the *digital* range ?
And do I need a scanner capable of receiving trunking systems, or is that what I also have to find out first with the 2nd hand scanner ?

 

[whiskeytango]

dunno bout fd's in ur country but here in the us they dont know much about their systems. your best bet is to read as much as you can find on the RR wiki. digital can be in any range, but scanners typically can "hear" 30-1300 mhz. i would also suggest finding a local ham radio club as those guys will know about your specific location

 

[DickH]

DickH, you are too kind !

The <$250 scanners are within my range, what should one on eBay cost me, about half ?
I will try to visit the fire-station. Think I'll get lucky at the PD also ?

The frequencies you mentioned, are those in the *digital* range ?
And do I need a scanner capable of receiving trunking systems, or is that what I also have to find out first with the 2nd hand scanner ?

A used trunking scanner should cost between $50-$100 + shipping.
I would NOT ask the PD unless you have a friend there. The fire department might be glad to know someone is interested in what they do. But, I read it is a National FD, so they might be hostile. It's really hard to say.

 

[suriname]

Your first post gave me sufficient information regarding the frequencies, I'll check what I can find about the ranges they use. I'll post back here... Thanks !!

 

[DickH]

Your first post gave me sufficient information regarding the frequencies, I'll check what I can find about the ranges they use. I'll post back here... Thanks !!

Jose,
I found this about frequencies in Suriname. It looks as if everything is in the 47 to 75 MHz range. U.S. scanners do not cover those frequencies, so you need to get a European model. I think they can cover 68 to 80, but I'm not sure.
Try asking in the Europe Forum.

http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/study_groups/SGP_19982002/JGRES09/pdf/suriname.pdf

 

[suriname]

Are the brands like Uniden, GRE and Radio-Shack also available for the EU-market or in a EU-version ? As a former Dutch colony, we do get lots of equipment from the Netherlands still....

Is this of any interest ?
http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/study_groups/SGP_2002-2006/JGRES09/SURINAME.doc

Tnx again !

 

[DickH]

Are the brands like Uniden, GRE and Radio-Shack also available for the EU-market or in a EU-version ? As a former Dutch colony, we do get lots of equipment from the Netherlands still....

Is this of any interest ?
http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/study_groups/SGP_2002-2006/JGRES09/SURINAME.doc

Tnx again !

I know Uniden has European models. I don't know about GRE. Radio Shack uses Uniden and GRE scanners witrh RS name.
The only freqs. mentioned in that document are higher than any scanners, but they seem to be for attelite comms, etc.

 

[suriname]

TeleSur is the local Telephone company here. Because of the large distances here, we used Fixed Radio Telephony... I'm guessing that is what is mentioned in the doc. I will be doing more research to find out what the Emergency-services are using here... Thanks again !

 

[suriname]

So after almost 2 yrs, I took the plunge and got me a Uniden BC346XT ! ;-)
Any tips ?

I also found out almost all police transmissions can be heard on 864.9875 MHz...