Help picking a scanner

[gmclam]

I spend a fair amount of time traveling in the Pacific Northwest (including northern California). I find it interesting to be at some Federal location where they are P25, yet literally everything else around me is VHF analog. I take no less than 3 scanners with me on trips, and usually have 2 running simultaneously. It depends on where I am as to how I divide the traffic among the scanners.

I believe in having a solid analog unit that can decode CTCSS/DCS properly. For that I use the PSR-310. My favorite digital scanner is still the PSR-500, but it can't handle Phase II and simulcast systems, to name 2 things. However, when out where most people RV, these are not issues. Then to handle metro areas and all the newest systems, I am using the SDS-100. I have my radios programmed in a similar manner but only enable certain things on each radio. If there's an incident (seems like there always is), then I can park/scan radios as needed to monitor.

 

[gregbart]

Thanks guys,
After reading all I could find about P25, I can see why agencies are going that direction. And, I'm guessing the number of agencies employing Phase 2 will only grow. I also see the value in using simulcasting. So, I will be saving my nickels (a lot of them) and will be getting an SDS100.
Again, thanks for steering me toward the info I needed.
Greg

 

[jazzboypro]

i don’t think it has been mentioned and it might not be of importance to you in your particular situation, but quite a lot of P25 traffic is encrypted. No scanner will decode that unless your radio is programmed with the decryption key. In my area a lot of the police/fire/ambulance traffic is encrypted.

 

[doctordialtone]

unless your radio is programmed with the decryption key.

There's no place to enter a key in a scanner.

 

[ladn]

There's no place to enter a key in a scanner.

Nor any circuitry to handle decryption.

 

[pb_lonny]

Scanners won't handle encryption, they lack the hardware / software to do this...