Hope to scan for analog and digital FM repeater traffic on ham bands 10M and up

[KE7RXD]

I want to scan for analog and digital FM repeater traffic on these ham bands: 10M, 6M, 2M, 1.25M, 70cm, and up. I would input repeaters by groupings (individual clubs or organizations), and I would continuously scan those groupings for traffic. If I have access to closed repeaters, my groupings would incorporate those repeaters. Digital FM repeater traffic would hopefully include D-STAR, DMR, System Fusion, etc. I desire to search only the ham bands; I don't need police, fire, air, RR, etc.

I thought of purchasing a dedicated base station scanner, so that I could easily cover all those bands and groupings, yet not tie up my own dedicated radios. Hardware: I'm eyeing the Uniden BCD536HP and the Whistler TRX-2. Software: Scanner Master offers its ARC536 PRO Software for the BCD536HP (Scanner Master Software: BCD536HP); ProScan offers its software, too (ProScan Software). I have not yet located scanning software for the Whistler TRX-2.

How to accomplish this? Thoughts or ideas? Many thanks!

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

While the Uniden BCD536HP and similar are great for listening to digital systems, they don't make for very easy operation for general scanning purposes. I would look at an ICOM receiver with VFO or a general purpose scanner for analog stuff.

 

[KE7RXD]

While the Uniden BCD536HP and similar are great for listening to digital systems, they don't make for very easy operation for general scanning purposes. I would look at an ICOM receiver with VFO or a general purpose scanner for analog stuff.

Fair enough. So the BCD536HP, etc work "great for listening to digital systems". By "digital systems", I mean ham radio: D-STAR, DMR, System Fusion, etc. By "digital systems", you mean--I think--encrypted and non-encrypted digital systems used by police, fire, air, RR, etc. I wonder whether available software could repurpose the digital capabilities of the BCD536HP, etc for digital amateur radio. Worth a question to Scanner Master and ProScan.

You comment that the BCD536HP, etc "don't make for very easy operation for general scanning purposes." Can you explain? You suggest "an ICOM receiver with VFO". Great idea, but aren't dedicated scanners much faster? You recommend "a general purpose scanner for analog stuff." Do you have any models in mind?

 

[n5ims]

Most scanners won't do what you want. D-Star is basically ICOM (with the odd Kenwood). System Fusion is Yaesu. DMR is more open, but the typical ham companies won't have them unless you move to CCR models (there are some good brands that have DMR radios along with various commercial radios that are good DMR radios). Some scanners will do DMR (perhaps as an extra-cost option) but generally most don't. For the most part, you won't find a single radio that will work on them all. There are some hot spots that will handle one or more ham related digital modes, but those are generally fixed frequency equipment and don't make scanning easy.

One option that might work (but isn't very plug-and-play) is using one of the various SDR dongle and associated software. The best way to explore that option is to look for Youtube videos that show you how to assemble and configure the correct mix of hardware, software, and configuration options. Please note that the videos are generally very specific on what hardware (e.g. specific model of dongle and computer OS and configuration). You might need heavy knowledge of Linux or Windows (depending on which OS you plan to use) to get things to work or even understand the information in the video. With the correct knowledge, it can be pretty easy but without that knowledge, it may seem impossible.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

Fair enough. So the BCD536HP, etc work "great for listening to digital systems". By "digital systems", I mean ham radio: D-STAR, DMR, System Fusion, etc. By "digital systems", you mean--I think--encrypted and non-encrypted digital systems used by police, fire, air, RR, etc. I wonder whether available software could repurpose the digital capabilities of the BCD536HP, etc for digital amateur radio. Worth a question to Scanner Master and ProScan.

You comment that the BCD536HP, etc "don't make for very easy operation for general scanning purposes." Can you explain? You suggest "an ICOM receiver with VFO". Great idea, but aren't dedicated scanners much faster? You recommend "a general purpose scanner for analog stuff." Do you have any models in mind?

Aside from whatever digital modes that the BCD536HP can receive, 90% of the VHF/UHF amateur radio and ~ 50% of the commercial radio systems still use FM analog and there are far cheaper radios that will tune those frequencies with much easier operation. So basically, I would use the '536 for the digital stuff and buy a different, potentially better radio for general purpose FM reception.

As far as "faster", old school crystal controlled scanners are blisteringly fast compared to any modern scanner. Some of the Uniden Turbo scan models might come closer.

 

[KE7RXD]

Uncountable thanks for your collective wisdom. I ended up ordering:

• Uniden BCT15X: BCT15X BearTracker 9000 Channel Analog Scanner
• Scanner Master ARCXT Pro DL software: ARCXT Pro Download | Scanner Master

The BCT15X covers the 2M (144-148 MHz), 1.25M (220 MHz), and 70cm (420-450 MHz) amateur radio bands. I look forward to a new adventure in the world of scanning. Onward!

I use the Comet CX-333 tri-band base station antenna: Tri-band | Comet Antenna. My next challenge: antenna isolation for the scanner and my transceivers.

 

[mass-man]

The BCT15X is analog only…guess you’ll know if a digital repeater is active by the warble/dweedle/zap sounds!!!
Enjoy…

 

[KE7RXD]

The BCT15X is analog only…guess you’ll know if a digital repeater is active by the warble/dweedle/zap sounds!!!
Enjoy…

Thanks for the reminder. I should have mentioned that I plan to monitor analog amateur radio traffic only. Digital amateur radio traffic--namely D-STAR, DMR, and System Fusion--lies beyond my reach, as far as I can tell. Very sad.