Monitoring MetroSafe in Louisville

[thedustybrownie]

I currently have a portable Radio Shack & Uniden digital scanner, but have been unable to track Louisville's MetroSafe trunking system because of their simulcast setup. The voice is always modulated and robotic. I've tried different settings to no avail.

Does anyone in Louisville have a recommendation on a scanner that tracks well with Louisville's simulcast system? I'm thinking of buying a new scanner but wanted to make sure the one I bought actually worked with Louisville's radio system.

Thanks!
Dustin

 

[Charlie1068]

Your best bet is an SDS100 a Unication pager or if you have a decent computer get an RTL-SDR dongle and get DSD plus fast lane or get SDR trunk

 

[Charlie1068]

Your scanners will work it’s just the simulcast reception

 

[thedustybrownie]

Thanks, I appreciate the info and recommendation. There's no good fix to improve simulcast reception on Radio Shack Pro-106 or Uniden BCD325P2, right? That's what I currently have.

 

[Remington12G]

I would suggest a SDS-100 or a Unication G4/G5

 

[Remington12G]

Thanks, I appreciate the info and recommendation. There's no good fix to improve simulcast reception on Radio Shack Pro-106 or Uniden BCD325P2, right? That's what I currently have.

I just sold my Uniden BCD325P2 because of the Simulcast distortion. You could try a Yagi antenna

 

[pjscott51]

I currently have a portable Radio Shack & Uniden digital scanner, but have been unable to track Louisville's MetroSafe trunking system because of their simulcast setup. The voice is always modulated and robotic. I've tried different settings to no avail.

Does anyone in Louisville have a recommendation on a scanner that tracks well with Louisville's simulcast system? I'm thinking of buying a new scanner but wanted to make sure the one I bought actually worked with Louisville's radio system.

Thanks!
Dustin

I have the Radio Shack Pro 106, Uniden BCD536HP and 436HP. I never use the Pro 106 to listen to LMPD because of the problems you and others have stated. As for the 536HP and 436HP they works great when listening LMPD. I hope this helps. Paul

 

[ofd8001]

The SDS 100/200 are your very best options. I do not have any problems listening to the MetroSafe system with my SDS 100. I understand that Unication may also be a contender though the number of channels it can scan might be limited. Also I don't know if Unication will support 3 sites (Jefferson, Oldham and the eventual Bullitt).

I also have a couple of 536s and a 436 which are kind of iffy. There are places around town where reception is clear, but unfortunately at home, I'm in line with 3 sites, so there are problems.

My 996XT and 396XT (on which the 325 is based) are horrible.

 

[Remington12G]

The SDS 100/200 are your very best options. I do not have any problems listening to the MetroSafe system with my SDS 100. I understand that Unication may also be a contender though the number of channels it can scan might be limited. Also I don't know if Unication will support 3 sites (Jefferson, Oldham and the eventual Bullitt).

I also have a couple of 536s and a 436 which are kind of iffy. There are places around town where reception is clear, but unfortunately at home, I'm in line with 3 sites, so there are problems.

My 996XT and 396XT (on which the 325 is based) are horrible.

Unication pagers will allow multi-site trunking, like a Motorola. When you are driving around or moving the pager will pick up the nearest site with the best range & strength. Most of the time you just need to be creative when programming a unification pager as it isn't a scanner but a professional receiver.

 

[ofd8001]

Unication pagers will allow multi-site trunking, like a Motorola. When you are driving around or moving the pager will pick up the nearest site with the best range & strength. Most of the time you just need to be creative when programming a unification pager as it isn't a scanner but a professional receiver.

Does the Unication disregard the other sites in this situation? If so, that might be an issue depending on monitoring preferences. I an able to receive all three sites where I am. However there are talkgroups that are not permitted to affiliate on every site. So if I am "locked in" on Bullitt County, for example, I may not hear LMPD1 or FIRE 5 because those talkgroups are not permitted on the Bullitt County site.

 

[Remington12G]

Does the Unication disregard the other sites in this situation? If so, that might be an issue depending on monitoring preferences. I an able to receive all three sites where I am. However there are talkgroups that are not permitted to affiliate on every site. So if I am "locked in" on Bullitt County, for example, I may not hear LMPD1 or FIRE 5 because those talkgroups are not permitted on the Bullitt County site.

So the way the Unication pagers work is you can put in all 4 sites and then you put in there RFSS & Site ID's. You can then put in a wildcard and monitor the whole system or program certain talk groups on each knob.