Hello! I am familiar with the region of interest, so let me give you the run-down:
- Macon County: Mostly analog FM conventional at this point. Some departments have radios on the MMCCD P25 Trunked System for interop with surrounding counties, but primary ops mostly remain on their analog repeaters. Notasulga PD has recently switched to MMCCD though. I am not sure what the rest of the county's long-term plans are.
- Lee County: A mixed bag. Auburn is on the MMCCD P25 system and is almost fully encrypted, so you will not hear much from them. Opelika is on the statewide AIRS P25 Trunked System. You can monitor Opelika FD, but PD went encrypted last year. The rest of the county uses analog FM repeaters for now, but the long-term plan is for them to eventually migrate to AIRS after they add some new tower sites. Some county agencies can be patched to MMCCD, but these are not full-time patches.
- Elmore County: Most law enforcement is now on MMCCD and is 100% encrypted. I think only Tallassee PD is left in the clear. Fire departments are a mix of analog FM and MMCCD right now. The analog repeaters and MMCCD talkgroups are patched together so everyone can talk to each other. Elmore County recently had a license approved to add additional MMCCD sites in the county to improve coverage.
- Montgomery County: Most agencies are on the MMCCD system. City fire is 100% encrypted, but the county VFDs are not and use a mix of analog FM repeaters and talkgroups on the MMCCD system. As in Elmore County, the analog repeaters are patched to their respective MMCCD talkgroups. Montgomery PD dispatch can be successfully monitored on MMCCD, but most of their non-dispatch talkgroups are encrypted. The sheriff is on MMCCD and is not encrypted at this time.
- Tallapoosa County: Tallapoosa operates on their own DMR CAP+ Trunked System. I do not monitor them much, but as far as I know everyone has migrated to that system and there is little to no encryption in use.
- I will also note that the state troopers use a mix of analog FM repeaters and talkgroups on MMCCD. The repeaters and talkgroups are all patched together.
There are no MMCCD or AIRS sites in Macon County, so your ability to listen to these systems will depend on your exact location and antenna. You might be able to pick up signals from sites in neighboring counties, but there are a lot of variables that will determine your success.
The MMCCD sites in Auburn and the city of Montgomery are simulcast, and it looks like Elmore County will soon be moving to a simulcast as well. Many older scanners struggle with Simulcast system, so if you plan on monitoring MMCCD, the only scanners I feel conformable recommending are the Uniden SDS100 or SDS200. You can also use an SDR with an appropriate software (such as SDRTrunk) if you are comfortable doing so. This might be somewhat more affordable, but there tends to be a bit of a learning curve, and it is less portable since you are relying on a computer, of course.
