The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department utilizes the trunk 800 MGHz trunked system SLATER. This trunked radio serves St Louis County, St Louis City, Jefferson County and other Agencies and counties in the St Louis Metro area. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department along with most Law Enforcement use encryption and can not be received.
The Uniden Bearcat 796D is a digital capable scanner for 800 MGHz trunked phase 1 systems. Jefferson County SLATER is a simulcast trunked system which most scanners have difficulty tracking. The issue is the multi-path distortion from numerous transmitters in a small geographical area. Whether a scanner receives is very dependent on location. The Uniden SDS100/SDS200 scanners are designed to operate in simulcast systems and are the best option but cost about $700.
Many trunked systems are using a combination of 700 MGHz frequencies and 800 MGHz frequencies in the same system. The Uniden Bearcat 796D does not cover the 700 MGHz band. The Bearcat 796D is capable of receiving the unencrypted Fire Department, EMS, public works talk groups if not affected by simulcast distortion.
I’ve tried using my Uniden Bearcat BCD996XT and BCD325P2 in simulcast systems with varying results. In some locations the scanners receive most traffic but in other areas the scanners didn’t receive at all. In some instances the signal was distorted and unreadable. You really won’t know till you program the system and try.
Here is a link to the SLATER system in the RR data base.
St. Louis Area Trunked Emergency Radio (SLATER) Trunking System Profile
www.radioreference.com
