New here... Need guidance pls

[KellyCA]

Hi I'm looking for a scanner that I can listen to the local police in my area. I need to know what type of scanner I need and also what frequencies/channels I need to input into it when I do get one to listen to police in the Sacramento & Placer County areas of California. any help is appreciated. Thank you

 

[Vulcanccit]

Hello Kelly, one thing to do is start with the database here on the site...you can look up your county, and or state and it will show you everything. There are a lot of scanners available out there but not all of them can handle some of the different types of transmission systems. There are some very good FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) here that explain what some of all of this means... there are also some threads here comparing some scanners to other scanners, and some that are reviews. I joined this site back in 2017 just to ask a quick question but I just got back into it as I bought a new scanner. Before I bought it, I researched a lot of sections here on the site. Feel free to ask more questions, but I think when you read some of the FAQs here, it will lead you to some more concise questions

 

[ladn]

...I need to know what type of scanner I need and also what frequencies/channels I need to input into it when I do get one to listen to police...

I just did a quick look at the database. Looks like your primary monitoring target will be the Sacramento Regional Comm Authority which appears to be an 800 MHz , P25 , Phase 1 system. That's a good thing in that there are a lot of scanners that will handle P25 Phase 1.

I'll recommend the UnidenBCD325P2 (https://uniden.com/products/handheld-trunktracker-v-scanner). You'll also need/want programming software. I like Proscan software. It's full featured and well supported, including support here on RR. It can import the system information directly from the RR database which makes programming a trunked system a lot easier.

In addition the the Sac Regional Comm Authority, you'll probably want to monitor CalFire, which is VHF high band conventional and CHP which is (mostly) VHF low band conventional. The BCD325P2 will handle all of these.

Since you said you're new to scanning, I'll also recommend shopping around for whatever scanner you decide upon. Supplies are short and it's a seller's market. Stay with major name sellers and beware of any deals that sound too good. You can always ask here for merchant reviews. You may be more comfortable with this first purchase by visiting a brick & mortar store. I'm not familiar with merchants in the Sacramento area, but Ham Radio Outlet (HRO) is a well known and respected vendor and has its headquarters store in Walnut Creek.

 

[gmclam]

Hi I'm looking for a scanner that I can listen to the local police in my area. I need to know what type of scanner I need and also what frequencies/channels I need to input into it when I do get one to listen to police in the Sacramento & Placer County areas of California. any help is appreciated. Thank you

Hi. I'm local and been listening for decades. Indeed the stuff you want to monitor are on their respective trunked radio systems (Sacramento County, Placer County, Roseville). Because of the design of these systems (they are all Simulcast type), presently the only scanner models that will work properly are the SDS-100 & SDS-200. Prices are over $600 for new units.

There are "non-scanner" solutions but not ideal for portability. It involves a USB dongle on a (dedicated) PC and running some software. There are lots of threads here on RR related to these topics. Let me add; if you do get an SDS, it uses free Sentinel software for programming. I can share my programming if you'd like. Welcome

 

[daniel18522]

I'm not familiar with merchants in the Sacramento area, but Ham Radio Outlet (HRO) is a well known and respected vendor and has its headquarters store in Walnut Creek.

Ham Radio Outlet used to have a store in Oakland but that location closed and moved to Sacramento.

 

[Oakland_Tower]

listen to police in the Sacramento & Placer County areas of California.

You might consider posting this in the Sacramento Valley Discussion board. Some locals there may be able to tell you how reception from various agencies works in your home location. They may also have channels/talk groups of interest that are not listed in RR.