Help with Monitoring Maryland State Police

[vanseeters]

Ggod gosh, i have been a scanner fan my entire life almost and would rather just go back to purchasing a crystal for $5 from Radio Shack and plugging it into the corresponding hole that matched with that channel! All these new P25 systems and narrow banding mandates are not only confusing, they limit scanning abilities and cost the average user a FORTUNE.

I am trying to monitor Maryland State Police on JFK highway barrack and as of March of 2014 when they fully went to the new FIRST system in Maryland, i cant monitor them anymore.

Is it possible? How do i do it? Does anyone have the frequencies or the type of monitor and brand i would need to purchase?

Thanks

 

[mikewazowski]

Vanseeters, I've moved your post to its own thread in the Maryland forum as it's not really a database issue so it doesn't belong in the Database Discussion forum.

There's a lot of knowledgable people in this forum so you should get the help you need.

 

[SCPD]

Ggod gosh, i have been a scanner fan my entire life almost and would rather just go back to purchasing a crystal for $5 from Radio Shack and plugging it into the corresponding hole that matched with that channel! All these new P25 systems and narrow banding mandates are not only confusing, they limit scanning abilities and cost the average user a FORTUNE.

I am trying to monitor Maryland State Police on JFK highway barrack and as of March of 2014 when they fully went to the new FIRST system in Maryland, i cant monitor them anymore.

Is it possible? How do i do it? Does anyone have the frequencies or the type of monitor and brand i would need to purchase?

Thanks

Yes it's possible, I was up their a couple of weeks ago, in order to monitor FiRST, you need one of these scanners: Uniden BCD436Hp, BCD536HP, wait until the new scanner company Whistler comes out with their 2 Phase 2 capable scanners, the Whistler WS 1080 or 1095, or if you can get your hands on a discontinued GRE PSR-800, they'll do it.

 

[vanseeters]

Thank you

Thank you for replying. I appreciate it. I have never heard of "Whistler" monitors so I think I will wait for one of those to come out if I am going to put out the money for a new one. Are these new "Whistler" Scanner/Monitors a good device? Or are they brand new so no one knows about them yet? Are they related to Whistler CB radio's and Antennas?

 

[vanseeters]

I have a RADIO SHACK Pro-96 Digital Trunking Scanner now. Is this capable of scanning the new Maryland FIRST System in it's present state (which is how it was bought new)? Or do I have to upgrade the software? Or is it even possible at all? Thanks for the information.

 

[ocguard]

I have a RADIO SHACK Pro-96 Digital Trunking Scanner now. Is this capable of scanning the new Maryland FIRST System in it's present state (which is how it was bought new)? Or do I have to upgrade the software? Or is it even possible at all? Thanks for the information.

The 96 cannot scan FIRST, and no firmware upgrade will enable it to do such. You'll need a phase II scanner that the previous poster mentioned.

 

[vanseeters]

Thanks for your help

The 96 cannot scan FIRST, and no firmware upgrade will enable it to do such. You'll need a phase II scanner that the previous poster mentioned.

OK. Thank you for the information. I'll seek out a new scanner that will scan the Maryland FIRST system. Are any of their talk groups "Encrypted" or are they open so the newer type scanners with Phase II capabilities will pick up the transmissions?

 

[troymail]

OK. Thank you for the information. I'll seek out a new scanner that will scan the Maryland FIRST system. Are any of their talk groups "Encrypted" or are they open so the newer type scanners with Phase II capabilities will pick up the transmissions?

MSP on FiRST is clear (for now). Highway is very active on FiRST as part of the MdTA force. I believe some barracks have some alternate talkgroups on FiRST that are encrypted. It's unclear what the future holds for MSP (encryption) but the future is probably several years out. However, something to note is that MSP Leonardtown went encrypted when the new St. Mary's system came on line and St. Mary;s encrypted nearly all police activity on that system - including MSP. Western Maryland County police forces seem to be moving (and/or have already gone) towards encryption.

 

[MdListener]

Western Maryland County police forces seem to be moving (and/or have already gone) towards encryption.

MSP Hagerstown has been on the Washington County TRS for several years. They first shared TGs' with the sheriff's department, but I believe it was around the first of this year, switched to their own talkgroups. Unfortunately, all police (including MSP) in Washinton County are now encrypted. The good news is that MSP's main TG on the county system is patched to their lowband frequency (39.340) which, of course, is in the clear. We'll see what happens when FIRST finally makes its way to western Md.

 

[maus92]

Generally, ENC has been acceptable practice for smaller departments and jurisdictions where elected sheriffs have broad authorities. In larger local and state jurisdictions where departments and their leadership have been held accountable to executive and legislative authorities, ENC is less common. You might see compromises, where main channels are in the clear, while TAC channels are ENC, like in AACo. But due to knuckleheads in more urban areas that use cheap smartphone apps to advance their trade, even some large jurisdictions are moving to ENC - like MPD in DC - although it *could* be argued that the uniqueness of the NatCap area justifies its use...

 

[k3ygc]

similar question

I have been trying to monitor first from Essex, but using the radio reference download on my 396xt, all I get is thr various systems north/central etc. I should hear msp kennedy or mdta but only get systems repeatedly scanned.

 

[maus92]

I have been trying to monitor first from Essex, but using the radio reference download on my 396xt, all I get is thr various systems north/central etc. I should hear msp kennedy or mdta but only get systems repeatedly scanned.

The 396XT will not work with any organization that utilizes the FiRST system..

 

[k3ygc]

396xt/FIRST

ok..why won't the bcd396xt copy first? the download from radio ref seems to work...what am I mssing? It works on balto city, and aa ,Harford and balto counties.

 

[maus92]

ok..why won't the bcd396xt copy first? the download from radio ref seems to work...what am I mssing? It works on balto city, and aa ,Harford and balto counties.

While the 396XT can receive frequencies in the 700Mhz band, it cannot decode audio (voice) on systems based on the P25 Phase 2 CAI (standard) - which FiRST uses. Baltimore City, AA County POLICE, Harford and Baltimore Counties use the older (and more common) P25 Phase 1 CAI, and that's why you can hear them on your 396XT.

 

[k3ygc]

first

ok. I didn't realize FIRST was phase 2 ,bummer...will wait to hear how the whistler scanners work. just got the 396 about a year ago. .someone should make an add-on adapter for the 396, but of course they won't.thanks for your help.