MERA upgrade nears conclusion

officer_415

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MCSO (including jail and courts) and Central Marin PD transitioned this morning.

Southern Marin PD is transitioning right now.
 
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officer_415

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Fire/EMS just transitioned, and it sounds like the Open Space rangers are transitioning too.

There is still some traffic on the old system including Marin County Transit (Whistlestop Wheels).
 

ErikVanR

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So, what scanners have people been monitoring the new system with? I've got Uniden BCD325P2, BCD996P2, and an SDS100. I started listening to the system on the SDS a few weeks ago. In the past few days, I've been listening on the 325, mainly on the East simul site. The fire traffic audio quality seems decent, as does the dispatch side of the law traffic. But the law field units seem to have a bassier, poorer quality audio.

Many years ago, I set up a lot of active and retired public safety personnel with PRO-96 scanners on the initial MERA system. Due to this, I'm now receiving quite a few inquiries on what new scanner to buy for Next Gen. I have no hesitation in recommending the SDS scanners, but many people balk at the price. If the BCD line of scanners can satisfactorily monitor the Next Gen simulcast system, I'd like to be able to recommend them as a lower cost option, especially for retired personnel.
 

ErikVanR

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...I’m using a Unication G4 which works great.
Interesting that you are using a Unication. I was looking at them a few months ago. It seems like the best solution for reliably monitoring a single simulcast trunking system. The main disadvantage, as with the SDS models, is cost. A lot of people are still stuck in the days of the $100-200 MSRP scanner.
 

officer_415

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Interesting that you are using a Unication. I was looking at them a few months ago. It seems like the best solution for reliably monitoring a single simulcast trunking system. The main disadvantage, as with the SDS models, is cost. A lot of people are still stuck in the days of the $100-200 MSRP scanner.

Yep, the Unication and SDS-100/200 are the only good solutions for P25 simulcast systems.
 
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