New to scanning. Have some questions about Dauphin County scanning.

[liltechdude]

Hello everyone.

I am very new to scanning and have recently purchased a BCT8 scanner which I'm probably going to return anyway due to the fact that it's not digital.

Anyway, from looking around on these forums, it seems that Dauphin County uses the P25 trunked digital system. My question is, do the local police use this system as well. I went looking through the Dauphin County database and noticed that most of the PDs still operate their analog channels. For example, I am able to monitor Lower Paxton PD on 460.150 every now and again using analog, but I also think there are some digital transmissions coming across this channel because most of the time I hear the "band-saw" type of screeching. Now I know this could mean I'm trying to listen to an analog trunked band, but I cannot find anything in the database regarding an analog trunked system for the local police here (Lower Paxton PD)

Unfortunately, I got interested in scanning so that I could monitor Local and State Police. Didn't take me long to realize that most of the police forces in the state are moving over to OpenSky which as of right now looks to be unmonitorable (hopefully not for long). I'm hoping the information needed by scanner companies will be obtained so that we all can start monitoring these units.

I realize I'm kinda rambling on here so I'm going to list my questions:

1. What systems do Dauphin County Police Departments use (analog or digital)?

2. Is the P25 system used in Dauphin County easily monitorable by popular RadioShack, Uniden, etc.. scanners?

3. Is the proprietary EDACS ProVoice system used at all in the central PA area (have seen some references to it??)

4. Based off of your advanced knowledge, do you think OpenSky scanners will hit the market in the next year or two?

Thank You so much!

Liltechdude

 

[Mattsenft]

Answers to your questions.
1. Digital; all but dispatch is encrypted. P25 standard system
2. Yes, as long as its a P25 capable scanner.
3. Yes all law enforcement in Lebanon County uses ProVoice over EDACS.
4. Very unlikely they will ever hit the market period.

 

[liltechdude]

Thanks for your reply.

You say that it's unlikely OpenSky scanners will ever become available. Is your reasoning because of the possible low demand of them, or is it because the state is unwilling to release the specs for it? Also, is it known whether the transmissions over OpenSky are encrypted or not (hehe unless the whole OpenSky system is encrypted as it is)

Liltechdude

 

[ocguard]

OpenSky and encryption are not synonymous, however, OpenSky can support encryption if an added level of security is needed.

OpenSky uses a different of frequency usage than most radio systems. The platform is proprietary, meaning that it is owned exclusively. This is the primary reason for lack of likelihood that a scanner will be developed for OpenSky.