Help in Duluth

[silverbk]

I am a ham but I have been inactive for a few years. The technology has passed me by.

I have a request from a buddy located in Duluth. His parents ran an old school ambulance service in his youth, where they always had a scanner going.

He wants to buy a scanner simply to listen to police, fire and ems dispatch. I am aware that Duluth is on the statewide trunked system.

My question is what is the cheapest way to get him listening? Are there vhf simulcasts he can put in a cheap scanner or radio? Or is he stuck with buying a trunked scanner?

Is there a specific model of scanner to buy for Duluth?

Is there a portable commercial radio I can program to scan the system?

Budget is an issue and he would be looking for the cheapest route just to listen to dispatch.

My qth is not in Duluth so I cannot test things ahead of time.

Thanks in advance.

 

[n0esc]

Here's some ideas. Truly cheapest would be to use Broadcastify to listen. There is a Calls feed for St Louis county and Duluth. The Calls platform is quite flexible and can be set up like a scanner, by picking exactly what you want to listen to, as long as the person providing the feed is uploading those talkgroups. Obviously this will require the use of another device. Desktop, laptop, or tablet. It will work on a phone mobile browser, but there is no app support for the Calls system yet.

Node 1039: Allied Radio Matrix for Emergency Response (ARMER) (Site: Duluth Simulcast) - Live

BCFY Calls Node: Node 1039: Allied Radio Matrix for Emergency Response (ARMER) (Site: Duluth Simulcast) - Live

www.broadcastify.com

The next cheapest option would to buy a SDR dongle (USB stick). Kinda a high learning curve here, depending on how technological he is, but for $40ish dollars, and some free software, then he would be in complete control of exactly what to monitor and ensure that you aren't relying on someone else to maintain that access. https://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Defined/dp/B0BMKB3L47/

I can't speak to specifics of the layout of the ARMER (Statewide system) towers in the area, or depending on where he lives, how or if it would have a major impact, but one thing to consider is that the towers in the Duluth area simulcast within the ARMER system itself to provide good coverage for users due to the geography. This absolutely can wreak havoc on most "cheaper" scanners if you are between two sites and pick both of them up similarly. Most people will recommend the Uniden SDS100 or SDS200 as the only real commercial scanners on the market that handle simulcast. $650-700 range for these.

In between those numbers is kinda a wasteland. Back on the tech side is the P25RX-II from Bluetail Technologies. Another software learning curve, but able to be set up and work as a standalone scanner once it is programmed. Currently on sale for $400. They handle simulcast very well and have all around solid reviews. P25RX-II

Also I'm no help regarding any UHF to VHF patch simulcasting that goes on. There certainly is more up north than there is down in my neck of the woods, due to distance and geography, but I would suspect if anything it would be limited to fire pagers and the volunteer departments. Anything in the city or covered by Gold Cross/Mayo will be on ARMER only.

 

[silverbk]

Thank you for your detailed response.

 

[DVINTHEHOUSEMAN]

My SDS worked perfectly when I was in Duluth last month. Sure, it's a bit expensive, but you won't be disappointed with simulcast performance. I brought my PRO-96 along as well and it could barely copy the system. It could tell it was P25 but it only had a 5% decode rate at best, and there were a lot of areas where it just wouldn't read it at all. Definitely not suitable. Of course, I didn't have the DSP 1.4 upgrade installed at that time (which is supposed to copy CQPSK/simulcast better) so it could be different with that installed over 1.2.

As for LE and Fire/EMS, they're pretty much ARMER exclusive. I didn't hear anything public safety conventional on the MN side while I was in Duluth.

For the cheapest route with hardware, it seems like an SDR with a trunking program would be the way to go. If he has to have a real radio though, then you're pretty much stuck with the SDS unless you'd want to take your chances and get a receiver that potentially won't work in that environment.

It kinda just is what it is.

 

[bearcatrp]

My Icom R30 did real good last time I was up there with P25. No longer made but used ones come up from time to time. A 436 will work but not as good as the SDS100 with simulcast.

 

[ToddWilkinson]

In St.Louis County its Simulcast, sds100, sds200, or RTL Dongles. I run 3 on the Armer System, with SDRTRUNK

 

[BruceMN]

I've been using a GRE PSR-600 to monitor the ARMER system in Duluth for years with out any issues with Simulcast. This is the same scanner as the Whistler WS 1065 that can be found for $250-300 on Amazon. I also use an RTL Dongle with Unitrunker software (version 2) to monitor the ARMER system but that can be a steep learning curve and the audio is not as clear as the PSR 600. If your friend buys a Whistler WS 1065 scanner I can program it for him for the Duluth area.