Looking to purchase a scanner

[stomp_442]

I was looking to purchase a scanner to monitor the first responders in my county, Lapeer County MI. I found the info on this site about Lapeer County and noticed it says encryption is in use. Does this mean that I'm outta luck for monitoring the first responders in my county?

 

[RaleighGuy]

If they are marked DE it is totally encrypted if it is marked De it is partial (sometimes) encrypted. It appears the police, fire and EMS are all encrypted based on the database, but interop and mutual aid tgs are not.

Another issue to consider is your county tower is simulcast, the only scanner designed to deal with that is the SDS series from Uniden.

Does this mean that I'm outta luck for monitoring the first responders in my county?

For the most part, yes, though there is a lot of other things you can monitor.

 

[stomp_442]

Thanks for the info. I was just interest in the police. I can get the fire call outs on an analog scanner.

 

[wtp]

the analog license

Expiration​

11/25/2023​

so it might not be on for long.

 

[pinballwiz86]

You’ll need the SDS100 to listen to the fire department. Looks like that’s all the first responders you’ll be able to snoop on thanks to the Motorola salesman selling your city/county newfangled radios with built-in encryption.

 

[fredva]

You’ll need the SDS100 to listen to the fire department. Looks like that’s all the first responders you’ll be able to snoop on

An SDS-100 won't help, unless the fire department is using an Interop talkgroup that isn't encrypted on a regular basis. All the other FD talkgroups on the digital simulcast system, including Dispatch, are encrypted. The dispatch is broadcast on an analog frequency, but as the OP pointed out, a less expensive analog scanner could be used for that, as long as the analog frequency stays in use.

 

[freqs]

I believe 151.1300 Fire pagers Freqs still are in use if so a $25 cheapy would do