Looking for scanner

[renaldow]

Hi, hopefully you folks can help me.

I am not new to radios (SW listener and DXer for years), but I am thinking about getting a scanner for police/fire/ems. I used to be a police/fire/ems dispatcher, so I have some knowledge here, but as a user, not a listener.

Where I live, I should be able to get signals from (this is in Oregon) Multnomah County (BOEC), Washington County (WCCCA), Clackamas County (C-COM) and possible Clark County WA (CRESA). I should definitely get a good signal from BOEC, I'm about 3/4 of a mile from their tower.

I know modern emergency services radio is digital, possibly encrypted, and all kinds of other caveats. Is there a scanner I can get that will work out of the box? I know BOEC and WCCCA both lease scanners to the media (and anyone else who wants one), so I'm not sure their signals are available in a regular scanner.

So, before I buy anything I want to make sure that what I'm getting is going to be something that works. And in this arena, as a user I'm a total newb.

Help, advice and insults welcome here. TIA!

 

[fredva]

From looking at this database page, it appears that Washington and Clackamas counties primarily use an analog trunking system. When looking at the list of talkgroups (channels), you will see an "A" for analog in the Mode column: https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=3136

Multnomah County seems to be on the Portland P25 Phase 1 digital system. There is a mixture of encrypted and unencrypted talkgroups on the system. "E" in the Mode column means "encrypted" while a "D" by itself means it is digital unencrypted. https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=6830

Clark County is using a P25 Phase 2 digital system for fire and some law enforcement. There is a mixture of encrypted an unencrypted talkgroups. In this case, "DE" will mean it is encrypted: https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=9025

The analog systems will probably be phased out in favor of P25 Phase 2 systems in the next few years. So I would recommend getting a scanner that handles P25 Phase 2. As far as which specific model to buy, to be honest, one model might work best on one local system and then another model might work better on another county's system. You'll going to want input from people local to your area on what models work well for them. If you don't get feedback from people in your area soon, ask for your question to be moved to the Oregon state forum, where it will get more attention from locals.

 

[renaldow]

Thanks, I didn't see the states forums listed yet when I posted this. I've reposted there and gotten the help that I need.