New member from AA county, needs help!

[CapitalPunishment]

First off, nice forum yall got here!

Im from AA county , specifically, the eastern district. I havent bought a scanner yet, so thats one of my questions.

Right now, im primarily concerned with listening to AA county police. (When are they suppose to switch over to digital?) What radio would i need to buy to listen to them? Im really trying hard to understand all this scanner stuff, as theres a WHOLE lot more to it than i thought. Ive been using CB's for a bit now, so hopefully all this wont be completely foreign to me. If yall can help me understand this stuff, i'd be forever grateful! Also, i'd like to know how much im gonna be spending on this scanner.

ps: Which counties are digital, and which are analog? Whats the difference between digital and analog?

Also, im putting this in my car.

-Dan

 

[SCPD]

If this is going to be your first scanner buy one with as many features that you can afford. They're like computers in a way, if you get the most features on a radio today the less likely it will be outdated in a few years. I've bought less expensive scanners in the past and later wished that I spent the extra money to buy the one I really wanted.

Right now several areas around you have recently switched to digital so it's unlikely that any of them will be doing serious upgrades for a few years. Check under the Maryland forums section and you'll find plenty of info for your chosen area(s).

IMHO scanners are like Fords and Chevys. Some people prefer one over the other for some reason or another. I lean toward the Radio Shack PRO-96 for portable digital use and the Unidens for mobile use. Check out the various forums on this site and you'll get some insight on who likes what and for what reasons.

 

[CapitalPunishment]

Thats what i want to know, which mobile uniden scanners will pick up what counties (AA especially).

 

[mlevin]

Well the difference between analog and digital is pretty simple. On an analog signal, the voice is modulated using either FM or AM. During a digital transmission, the radio turns the voice into a data stream of 1s, and 0s. The recieving radio then has to decode the data stream, and convert it back into regular voice.

The Co. that are digital in the area are Baltimore City, Howard Co, Montgomery Co. Counties that will be changing or are in the process of changing to digital are Baltimore Co, AA Co, and Harford Co.

While you can currently monitor AA Co. with any trunk tracking scanner on the market, I would recommend taking the plunge and going for a digital model. The digital models that are on the market are as folows


Uniden models:
BC250D (Digital card required) soon to be discontinued
BC785D (Digital card required) soon to be discontinued
BC296D
BC796D

RS Models:
Pro 96
Pro 2096 (coming soon!)

Note that the 250 and 785 will only trunk track systems with a 3.6k control channel.

 

[CapitalPunishment]

Allright, im starting to understand it now. I just cant fathom dropping 500+ on a scanner at one time. Cant i buy either a 898T or a BCT8, and then buy the digital chip later for them? Theyre more affordable. If i can buy one of them, i would buy the radio now and then buy the digital chip when AA county switched to digital. http://www.scanners-r-us.com/index....de01ca840275767f598178cd33758e26&id=57,64
Also, i dont think i want a handheld unit.

Note that the 250 and 785 will only trunk track systems with a 3.6k control channel.

So whats that mean? Will i not be able to pick up AA county?

Thanks for your help and patience, folks. I really do 'preciate it.

 

[ka3jjz]

Allright, im starting to understand it now. I just cant fathom dropping 500+ on a scanner at one time. Cant i buy either a 898T or a BCT8, and then buy the digital chip later for them? Theyre more affordable. If i can buy one of them, i would buy the radio now and then buy the digital chip when AA county switched to digital. http://www.scanners-r-us.com/index....de01ca840275767f598178cd33758e26&id=57,64
Also, i dont think i want a handheld unit.

Note that the 250 and 785 will only trunk track systems with a 3.6k control channel.

So whats that mean? Will i not be able to pick up AA county?

Thanks for your help and patience, folks. I really do 'preciate it.

In a word, no. There is no 'chip' or 'card' plug in capability with either of the 898T or BCT8. Once AA county goes digital - and I don't see that happening until *maybe* next year sometime, if the funding is available - all you'll hear is noise, noise, noise. The same can be said of Harford county as well as any of the current jurisdictions that are/will be digital.
Save your pennies nickels and dimes - that's the direction of public safety in this area, like it or not.

73s Mike

 

[CapitalPunishment]

Allright. So it looks like what im gonna do is go ahead and get the 785D now, and get the digital chip whenever AA county goes digital (Which hopefully, aint for a while). Sound good? Im still having a hard time spending 300... oh well, such is life.

Note that the 250 and 785 will only trunk track systems with a 3.6k control channel.

Still, whats this mean to me?

 

[ffjeff1984]

First off, nice forum yall got here!

Im from AA county , specifically, the eastern district. I havent bought a scanner yet, so thats one of my questions.

Right now, im primarily concerned with listening to AA county police. (When are they suppose to switch over to digital?) What radio would i need to buy to listen to them? Im really trying hard to understand all this scanner stuff, as theres a WHOLE lot more to it than i thought. Ive been using CB's for a bit now, so hopefully all this wont be completely foreign to me. If yall can help me understand this stuff, i'd be forever grateful! Also, i'd like to know how much im gonna be spending on this scanner.

ps: Which counties are digital, and which are analog? Whats the difference between digital and analog?

Also, im putting this in my car.

-Dan

Dan, Radio Shack has some very nice scanners you might wanna look into BSAFE-JLC

 

[TinEar]

Nothing you need to worry about in this area CapPun. Nobody in this listening area is using 9600 baud systems so the 785 will allow you to listen to all there is - at least all the analog trunked systems until you get the digital card later on. Since your primary concern is AA County, you'll be in good shape. You'll also be able to listen to neighboring Baltimore County along with dozens and dozens of fire/police freqs that are not trunked. You'll still be able to hear the fire dispatchers in all counties on the VHF/UHF bands also. All counties have left one or two freqs under the old systems even after going trunked. Good luck and good listening.

 

[Llwellyn]

Also, im putting this in my car.

-Dan

Check the laws first.

 

[ffjeff1984]

Also, im putting this in my car.

-Dan

Check the laws first.

CapPun----Are You in Police-Fire-EMS Work?a Civilian can have a Scanner
in Vehicle-BSAFE JLC

 

[mlevin]

Note that the 250 and 785 will only trunk track systems with a 3.6k control channel.

So whats that mean? Will i not be able to pick up AA county?

Thanks for your help and patience, folks. I really do 'preciate it.[/quote]

Sorry about that. In trunking there are two kinds of control channels.

(Control Channel- Frequency in trunked radio system that tells the radio what frequency to turn to.)

3.6k is the baud rate that the CC tranfers the data (similar to computer) most systems operate on this kind of system. 9.6k is more rare, and transfers the data faster. All of the other radios mentioned do both 3.6k, and 9.6k. Only those two models do 3.6k only.

Currently there are no 9.6k systems in MD. However rumor mill says, the new Harford Co. system will be 9.6k

 

[CapitalPunishment]

Wow, yall are good! I think ive finally figured out what im gonna do....

http://www.premiere-electronics.net/hand_held.shtml

250D WITH digital card for 350!

BTW, if anyone knows of a place offering the 250D with the digital card for less than 350, let me know... :wink:

I changed my mind about handhelds, i want a handheld now instead. I thought about it, and...itll be a heck of alot easier to take it out of my car when need be. For instance, when i go to the mall, i dont have to worry about it, just take it with me. I really dont like leaving valuables in my car...i work to hard for them. I already have a $130 CB radio in my car, But i keep a hawks eye out wherever i go.

I think i'll stick around this forum. Thanks for the help!

edit: No im not police or fire (i will be a police officer when i get out of college, though.) Im 17, finishing my senior year of high school.

And as far as i remember, scanners are legal to have in your car. Correct?

 

[ka3jjz]

And as far as i remember, scanners are legal to have in your car. Correct?

That's true here in Maryland however if you travel to other states, ask and do a little research. If you are going to be a cop, you generally will have no problems no matter where you go since most laws that restrict scanners in vehicles exempt law officers. I don't believe either Delaware nor Virginia have such laws.

73s Mike

 

[TinEar]

If you want to check the law for various states about the legality of scanners, radar detectors or using cell phones in a car, this is one site that has the info:

http://www.afn.org/~afn09444/scanlaws/

 

[ffjeff1984]

I don't believe either Delaware nor Virginia have such laws.

73s Mike

Delaware- Civilians Can have a Scanners in Vehicles
Virginia- Same as Delaware and Maryland
BSAFE-JLC

 

[CapitalPunishment]

Well folks, i finally ordered a radio.

http://www.premiere-electronics.net/hand_held.shtml

250D with a Free digital card for $350! 8) Whatcha think?

 

[TinEar]

You did well CapPun. Now you're going to want some software to load that thing since you will quickly learn that programming a 1000 channel scanner by hand with frequencies and descriptions is very time consuming. One of the most popular programs is the ARC250 from Butel. Their URL is:
http://www.butel.nl/
There are lots of others out there also but ARC250 is among the favorites. I'm sure you're going to enjoy the new scanner. Welcome aboard.

 

[ffjeff1984]

Who makes the 250D? BSAFE-JLC

 

[ka3jjz]

Who makes the 250D? BSAFE-JLC

That's a Uniden product. There are a couple of Yahoo groups devoted to it, and there's a forum board devoted to it at Strong Signals if you're interested.

73s Mike