That 700 mhz rumour is old as the hills. Forget it - the state simply hasn't got the money for it. Most barracks are now either getting 800 mhz radios (MSP Berlin barracks has them, for example) or working through a patch to have a talkgroup (or more than one in some cases) on their respective county's 800 system (Anne Arundel and Howard counties, for example - I hear both on a regular basis).
Apart from that, the 39 mhz system used by MSP is simplex only, so it's tough to hear, especially with an indoor antenna, unless you are reasonably close to the action. If you have an attic you can use, putting a ScanTenna or discone (or even one of those DPD antennas, if the attic is big enough) is going to help tremendously. If not, probably the best you can do is to get one of those wide band mag mounts and put it on something metallic, then get it as near to a window or outside wall as possible. You may need to move it around somewhat to find the sweet spot....73 Mike
