Need help getting started (anyone in the Lake County, IL area??)

[ManyReason]

Hello!

I'm ManyReason and I am in the Lake County, IL area. I want to get into radio and monitoring fire/ems/police scanners but I do need some help getting started. I've tried researching the best I could using my county's frequencies, but I'm still confused on whether or not my county has some frequencies that are encrypted. I've used https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?ctid=639 (Lake County, IL frequencies) and it shows me the frequencies and that most the frequencies here in Lake County moved to STARCOM21 which is a trunking radio here in IL. I want to be able to listen to virtually all the fire/ems/police audio in Lake County, but I want to make sure all of them are non-encrypted, so when I get a scanner I'll be able to listen to audio. In the past, I was able to listen to many local police departments and the Lake County Sheriff's Office using broadcastify, but recently those feeds disappeared so I'm wondering if they are encrypted or if there is just not a streamer for those frequencies.

Can someone help me clarify if the frequencies here in Lake County, IL are non-encrypted and what type of scanner I need? I think I need a digital trunking scanner but I'm not sure about the specifics and technical stuff about them and any help would be gladly appreciated (also, Lake County is directly north of Chicago, IL so I'm sure there has to be someone that is near me that is familiar with the area's frequencies and stuff )

I was looking at handheld and digital scanners like the Uniden Bearcat BCD436HP/536 scanners. I want to make sure the scanner I'm getting will be able to listen to all of my county's public safety because it would be a pain if I get one, only to find out something is missing.

Any help would be appreciated!

ManyReason

 

[simmsrep]

Go here to STARCOM21 https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=2324,
Scroll down to Lake County. Look at the talkgroups you would like to listen to and under the mode if it shows a DE or TE then that talkgroup is encrypted and you wont' be able to hear it. Looks like most in that county is.

 

[FFPM571]

Most of Lake Co police have gone to Starcom and they are encrypted as of now Round Lake area PD's are not and still VHF though that could change at any time.. Fire is still analog VHF for the foreseeable future. Gurnee PD is 800mhz conventional

 

[K9DAK]

First of all... welcome to RR! I've been scanning in Lake County for over 40 years... and yes, as the others have said, a couple years ago most LE in the county have moved to StarCom and encrypted. Aside from those already mentioned, about the only things left to hear are FDs and some village and township public works and highway departments (well, and businesses, railroads, aviation, etc.). If you want to try anyway, you'd need a digital scanner capable of P25 Phase II decoding, as most of the unencrypted TGs on StarCom are Phase II; and, Lake County is a simulcast site so reception will be difficult depending on your location unless you use a Uniden SDS series scanner.

 

[ManyReason]

First of all... welcome to RR! I've been scanning in Lake County for over 40 years... and yes, as the others have said, a couple years ago most LE in the county have moved to StarCom and encrypted. Aside from those already mentioned, about the only things left to hear are FDs and some village and township public works and highway departments (well, and businesses, railroads, aviation, etc.). If you want to try anyway, you'd need a digital scanner capable of P25 Phase II decoding, as most of the unencrypted TGs on StarCom are Phase II; and, Lake County is a simulcast site so reception will be difficult depending on your location unless you use a Uniden SDS series scanner.

Hey K9DAK this is late but I'm looking actually to get the SDS100 so I can listen to everything possible and with good reception. I have a question with the battery. I see there are rechargeable lithium ion batteries but also standard disposable AA batteries I believe. Does the rechargeable battery come out of the box with the option to use disposable? I am looking to use disposable because they are comfortable for me and I am looking for heavy use


EDIT: Nevermind I'm dumb, the battery is Rechargeable standard. Do you think I should get expert programming for lake county or is the zip code programming out of the box sufficient to scan every FD and PD available in the county?

 

[ManyReason]

Most of Lake Co police have gone to Starcom and they are encrypted as of now Round Lake area PD's are not and still VHF though that could change at any time.. Fire is still analog VHF for the foreseeable future. Gurnee PD is 800mhz conventional

Hello,
Had a quick question about the ProVoice, DMR, NXDN soft ware upgrades... How do I know if a certain department uses these special upgrades in Lake County? Under what is the info on when I go to lake county frequencies?

 

[FFPM571]

No Public safety agencies are using those formats in Lake county. Schools and Hospitals are some users

 

[ManyReason]

No Public safety agencies are using those formats in Lake county. Schools and Hospitals are some users

Thank you!

 

[WB9YBM]

Hello!

I'm ManyReason and I am in the Lake County, IL area. I want to get into radio and monitoring fire/ems/police scanners but I do need some help getting started. I've tried researching the best I could using my county's frequencies, but I'm still confused on whether or not my county has some frequencies that are encrypted. I've used https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?ctid=639 (Lake County, IL frequencies) and it shows me the frequencies and that most the frequencies here in Lake County moved to STARCOM21 which is a trunking radio here in IL. I want to be able to listen to virtually all the fire/ems/police audio in Lake County, but I want to make sure all of them are non-encrypted, so when I get a scanner I'll be able to listen to audio. In the past, I was able to listen to many local police departments and the Lake County Sheriff's Office using broadcastify, but recently those feeds disappeared so I'm wondering if they are encrypted or if there is just not a streamer for those frequencies.

Can someone help me clarify if the frequencies here in Lake County, IL are non-encrypted and what type of scanner I need? I think I need a digital trunking scanner but I'm not sure about the specifics and technical stuff about them and any help would be gladly appreciated (also, Lake County is directly north of Chicago, IL so I'm sure there has to be someone that is near me that is familiar with the area's frequencies and stuff )

I was looking at handheld and digital scanners like the Uniden Bearcat BCD436HP/536 scanners. I want to make sure the scanner I'm getting will be able to listen to all of my county's public safety because it would be a pain if I get one, only to find out something is missing.

Any help would be appreciated!

ManyReason

I've been told all police have gone, or will shortly go, to encryption. Since it's level 2, we won't be able to hear it. (And in case you're curious, there are three levels of encryption: level 1, simple speech inversion, lowest level of security, used for civilian applications like taxi cab services; level 2 = mid-level security, used by government, and level 3 = highest security protocol and is used by the military.) A secondary question is which trunking system is an organization (like the department of transportation) using--GE or Motorola? this will determine which scanner to get.
Some of the more modern scanners I've seen will automatically look for activity--either via their programming--or grab it off the Internet is you enter the zip code of the area you're in. I like the first type of frequency search better since quite often the frequencies I've seen listed just show what's on the FCC data base which does not guarantee the frequencies are active. I hope this helps...