HELP WITH SCANNER PURCHASE

[captbrettmsause]

WHAT IS THE BEST SCANNER TO BUY. I AM ONLY AFTER HEARING POLICE & FIRE FOR AACO, AND TALBOT CO.

TO INCLUDE TALK GROUPS, AND FIRE GROUND.

 

[Enforcer52]

The area you are in is a Simulcast area so you would need a Uniden SDS 100/150/200 scanner, none of the others do simulcast.

Talbot police are encryptd, AACO police are not encrypted. Looked at the two counties on the listing below for what you can received. In the Mode column a capital E in encryped, a little e is part time encrypted, any where in the mode column.

First Responders Interoperable Radio System Team (FIRST) Trunking System, Various, Multi-State

First Responders Interoperable Radio System Team (FIRST) Trunking System Profile

www.radioreference.com

 

[WG3K]

Anne Arundel County Police ARE encrypted. You can find Anne Arundel County's radio system at Anne Arundel County Trunking System, Various, Maryland.

 

[captbrettmsause]

WHAT IS THE BEST SCANNER TO BUY. I AM ONLY AFTER HEARING POLICE & FIRE FOR AACO, AND TALBOT CO.

TO INCLUDE TALK GROUPS, AND FIRE GROUND.

THANKS ALL, SO I AM NEW TO ALL THIS, WAS A VERY ACTIVE SCANNER LISTENER YRS AGO. IS THE NEWEST BEARCAT HH OVERKILL FOR WHAT I WANT ? IF THE FEQ IS ENCRYPTED THAT MEANS ? YOU CANT HEAR THEM? IS THAT EVER ???

 

[tvengr]

IF THE FEQ IS ENCRYPTED THAT MEANS ? YOU CANT HEAR THEM? IS THAT EVER ???

No scanner can receive encrypted transmissions. It is illegal to do so. You will need a SDS100, SDS150, or SDS200 to reliably receive the Anne Arundel County system due to the simulcast sites. Depending upon your location, you will most likely experience simulcast distortion with any other scanner which results in missed transmissions and garbled audio. The SDS scanners were specifically designed to overcome the effects of simulcast distortion. I will be happy to share an Anne Arundel County favorites list with you. Besides AA County, it also includes the Maryland Aviation Administration, BWI air traffic control, the Annapolis Naval Academy, and Fort Meade.

 

[captbrettmsause]

No scanner can receive encrypted transmissions. It is illegal to do so. You will need a SDS100, SDS150, or SDS200 to reliably receive the Anne Arundel County system due to the simulcast sites. Depending upon your location, you will most likely experience simulcast distortion with any other scanner which results in missed transmissions and garbled audio. The SDS scanners were specifically designed to overcome the effects of simulcast distortion. I will be happy to share an Anne Arundel County favorites list with you. Besides AA County, it also includes the Maryland Aviation Administration, BWI air traffic control, the Annapolis Naval Academy, and Fort Meade.

thank you very much.
so the scanner SDS100 , 150, 200. is this a bearcat? Is Talbot county encrypted as well ??

 

[Brales60]

thank you very much.
so the scanner SDS100 , 150, 200. is this a bearcat? Is Talbot county encrypted as well ??

Yes, Uniden SDS scanners are the old Bearcat.

 

[R8000]

Most counties in Maryland are now served with P25 digital simulcast trunking.
The only receivers that can reliably work with simulcast systems are the Uniden SDS100 and SDS200, Unication G5 pager and SDR based PC receivers and software.
In the world of digital simulcast, there are no more cheap scanners. If you buy a cheap P25 scanner and experience poor performance, you were warned.
Digital simulcast is different from encryption. Encryption (scrambled) is just that, not scannable. If the agency you want to monitor is encrypted, you will be unable to listen in with any scanner. Simulcast is the technology that launches the same information from multiple tower sites within microseconds of each other.

 

[tvengr]

What appears to be a single site on the Anne Arundel County trunked system actually consists of 22 subsites throughout the county all transmitting the same information on the same frequency at the same time. The signals all arrive at your scanner at slightly different times which degrades its ability to properly decode the control channel. If you are close to one of the towers, the signal may be able to override the out of phase interference from the other towers. I am unable to receive the Baltimore County system, which also uses simulcast sites, at my home location using any scanner other than the SDS scanners. All other scanners fail miserably. Sometimes, you may be able to receive a simulcast system with other scanners if you are on the fringe of its coverage area where you are able to receive only one or a couple of the towers. If you are surrounded by towers, good luck!

 

[maus92]

Prepare to strap in as these new scanners are complex devices that require a computer to efficiently program and update. If you are not computer-savvy, find someone who is to help you with your new radio. Just to be clear, county police and sheriff agencies in the areas you mention (Anne Arundel and Talbot counties) have encrypted their talk groups ("channels') meaning they are impossible for scanner users to receive. However, the state police do NOT encrypt their routine communications meaning their dispatch talk groups can be heard.

 

[Citywide74]

Encrypted Police Dispatch in Maryland
Anne Arundel
Baltimore City (Field Units only, you can still hear dispatchers)
Calvert
Caroline
Cecil
Dorchester
Frederick City
Harford
Kent
Montgomery
Queen Anne's
Somerset
St. Mary's South Dispatch
Talbot
Washington
Wicomico
Worcester/Ocean City
Natural Resources Statewide