Dang. I guess scanning as a hobby really is dying off. I just bought this new scanner, at a premium price for digital, and already won't be able to monitor one of our favorite things. This is sad since "we the people" are supposed to own these public systems. I know it's not encryted, but what general citizen can run a separate linux system?
Oh well. More lost freedom, more government control seems to be the norm these days.
Freedom to monitor radio systems was only afforded to citizens because the technology to encode/encrypt was costly, cumbersome, and only available from a few vendors.
It's 2012, this isn't the case anymore. Even "budget" radio vendors like Ritron and Midland offer digital radios.
If you want to vent frustration, how about at the scanner manufacturers who are more interested in selling consumer grade crap with fancy UI's and ergonomics versus real radios with performing front ends, superior DSP, and SDR to support the multitude of formats and codecs used in LMR today.
The excuse that "it costs to much" is nonsense if DSD can be run on a Linux computer with a simple discriminator tap. Kenwood sells NexEDGE radios for LESS than Uniden sells the HP1. It's simply the case as the scanner vendors aren't interested in putting real effort into building radios that properly decode digital modulations such as P25 phase 1 CQPSK, NXDN, Turbo and P-25 phase II because they can keep selling the garbage they are having pumped out of their overseas sweatshops at great profits.
So please get it right, your local governments aren't trying to hide school bus radio traffic with MotoTRBO, they are on their own mission to keep up with the needless mandates from Radio Spectrum Sales and Leasing aka the FCC.
