Newbie here with Uniden BC125AT

[Braddavis84]

Good morning all, I tool around with my Tecsun PL-330 shortwave but am new to scanning. We live out in the country so when emergency vehicles roll by its nice to know what's going on. I used to jump on the Scanner Radio app on my phone but its not broadcasting any more. My location is Blakely GA in Early County:

Early County, Georgia (GA) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference

Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference for Early County, Georgia (GA)

www.radioreference.com

On my new Uniden BC125AT I have the local Fire (156.135) and Sheriff (154.650) are added to bank 1 channels 1 & 2 and am scanning. But when a transmission is received its all scrambled static. The signal strength shows all 4 bars. I have read that this might be encryption or the departments went "digital". There is not a lot of money for those kind of things in the local community and I have seen local shops that are scanning the frequencies just fine.

Any help here would be appreciated.

 

[sallen07]

On my new Uniden BC125AT I have the local Fire (156.135) and Sheriff (154.650) are added to bank 1 channels 1 & 2 and am scanning. But when a transmission is received its all scrambled static. The signal strength shows all 4 bars. I have read that this might be encryption or the departments went "digital". There is not a lot of money for those kind of things in the local community and I have seen local shops that are scanning the frequencies just fine.

You made a good choice posting in the Georgia forum; hopefully someone local will weigh in.

If you look at the database (at the link you provided) you will see this:

4.650

WQAL784

RM

CC 2 TG 70 SL 1

Early Sheriff D

Sheriff: Dispatch

DMR

Law Dispatch

Looks like the Sheriff department has, in fact, "gone digital" and is now using what's called DMR. That's why you hear a buzzing noise on that frequency.

The fire channel, on the other hand:

156.135

WPVS223

RM

146.2 PL

Blakley Fire

Fire Dispatch

FMN

Fire Dispatch

That's analog, and your 125 should be able to pick that up. I do notice that there is not a listing for a county fire dispatch but since I know nothing of where you live that may not be unexpected. On the other hand, perhaps the county uses that same frequency but has converted to DMR? Keep in mind that the database is built from submissions from people who are monitoring a given area so if no one submitted that it won't be in the database.

So the bad news is that your BC125AT won't decode DMR. The good news is that Uniden did release a new scanner last year (the BCD160DN) which can monitor DMR frequencies like that. At around $250 it's about twice as much as a BC125AT but still a lot cheaper than many of the other 'digital' scanners.

 

[Braddavis84]

Looks like the Sheriff department has, in fact, "gone digital" and is now using what's called DMR. That's why you hear a buzzing noise on that frequency.

Thank you. I have the BCD160DN on the way. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[K9KLC]

Thank you. I have the BCD160DN on the way. I'll let you know how it goes.

Good luck! Please report back, I have two departments here in areas I travel to on occasion for work, and I'm pondering the purchase of the 160. Would love to hear how it works out.

 

[Braddavis84]

Good luck! Please report back, I have two departments here in areas I travel to on occasion for work, and I'm pondering the purchase of the 160. Would love to hear how it works out.

Its working out great for me. I noticed on digital transmissions that going to settings and choosing DRM instead of all was the way to go. Sometimes on all I was still hearing a jumbled mess.

I am still not hearing anything on 154.725. If anyone knows a known good Blakely Police frequency please let me know.

Frequency	License	Type	Tone	Alpha Tag	Description	Mode	Tag
154.725	KTN282	BM		Blakley Police	Police Dispatch	FMN	Law Dispatch
156.135	WPVS223	RM	146.2 PL	Blakley Fire	Fire Dispatch	FMN	Fire Dispatch

154.650

WQAL784

RM

CC 2 TG 70 SL 1

Early Sheriff D

Sheriff: Dispatch

DMR

Law Dispatch

 

[K9KLC]

Its working out great for me. I noticed on digital transmissions that going to settings and choosing DRM instead of all was the way to go. Sometimes on all I was still hearing a jumbled mess.

I am still not hearing anything on 154.725. If anyone knows a known good Blakely Police frequency please let me know.

Frequency	License	Type	Tone	Alpha Tag	Description	Mode	Tag
154.725	KTN282	BM		Blakley Police	Police Dispatch	FMN	Law Dispatch
156.135	WPVS223	RM	146.2 PL	Blakley Fire	Fire Dispatch	FMN	Fire Dispatch

154.650

WQAL784

RM

CC 2 TG 70 SL 1

Early Sheriff D

Sheriff: Dispatch

DMR

Law Dispatch

Thanks I appreciate it. That thing is still on my radar. You just put in the frequency and the scanner "just gets it " on DMR correct ??

 

[Braddavis84]

Thanks I appreciate it. That thing is still on my radar. You just put in the frequency and the scanner "just gets it " on DMR correct ??

Yea, its loud and clear on the 2 DMR frequencies that were scrambled before. I think the local police changed theirs to a different frequency. I am not hearing anything on 154.725.

 

[tvengr]

Try this:
Blakely Police WROG911
159.1425 Repeater Output
Licensed for NFM and DMR

 

[Braddavis84]

Try this:
Blakely Police WROG911
159.1425 Repeater Output
Licensed for NFM and DMR

That did the trick. Thank you!