The nearest Baltimore City transmit sites to Howard County are on the roof of St Agnes Hospital, and a 270' freestanding tower off of Edmonston Ave in West Baltimore. The city uses 75W transmitters at these sites, whereas a county site might use a 100W transmitter. Each of those sites is roughly 12 air miles from Howard General Hospital, and probably farther to where you live. So, you probably won't have much luck receiving the city system from where you are, but you *might* be in a good position to receive Montgomery County (before they migrate to a Phase 2 system.) As far as radios go, if you want to buy a scanner and you live in Maryland, buy a SDS 100 or SDS200 - you will require it in the near future as the systems surrounding your home migrate to P25 Phase 1/2 systems.