Oh boy.. I obviously have no idea what I'm doing. How do I even see if I'm monitoring Minneapolis N-S or City Center? I'm pretty close to just throwing in the towel and sending the scanner back.
Well. . . The Minnesota ARMER system is probably the most robust radio system around. It is also the most complex system I've seen, especially in the Metro area. If you can grasp how this works, you can handle anything.
There are many subsystems that work together to provide responders with radio coverage. Minneapolis N-S is a subsystem, as is Minneapolis City Center, as is Hennepin East, as is Hennepin West.
Minneapolis N-S is the backbone subsystem for the city of Minneapolis talkgroups. Talkgroups like Minneapolis PD and FD will use this as their preferred subsystem. It is designed to have a footprint that is limited to Minneapolis city limits. (If Minneapolis units get outside the city, they may be "allowed" to use other subsystems.
Minneapolis City Center is the backbone subsystem for state agencies such as state patrol, DOT and also medical units. You should NOT count on this system to receive Minneapolis agencies.
Hennepin East is the backbone subsystem for the eastern part of the county. You'd hear Richfield, Bloomington on this one.
Complicating reception on any of these subsystems, they are simulcast which means they have multiple towers using the same frequencies, to improve in-building signal at at lower transmitter power.
The HP series of radios can have problems decoding simulcast signals. It is kind of like two people saying the same things to you, but a little out of sync - you have trouble understanding. Scanners will either be silent or garble in this situation. The SDS series of scanners is much better at decoding simulcast systems.
You get St. Paul okay because you are not between towers for this subsystem (Ramsey). Conversely, if you were to go over to St. Paul a little ways, you might hear Minneapolis better. That's the fluky nature of simulcast.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it will take some patience and a lot of luck to do any enjoyable scanning with an HP model scanner. I go to Minneapolis most every year to visit family and always bring a scanner. Only when I got my SDS 100 did I get decent decoding of simulcast every other digital capable scanner left a lot to be desired (796D up to the x36 models). (The signal was/is good, the problem is in the decoding of the digital signal).
Even more bad news - Minnesota is one of them "cranky" states when it comes to scanners in vehicles. You must have a state permit or FCC amateur license to legally use a scanner in a vehicle.