Newbie needs help, Hunterdon County

[SUPZ]

Hi all. I am new to the forums, and have been looking to purchase a police scanner for quite some time (handheld) but have had many questions which I couldn't find answers to, so I haven't bought one yet. I am located in Hunterdon County, more specifically Readington. I need to be able to pick up the Readington Police Department on whatever scanner I purchase, yet when I was beginning my second attempt at research thismorning I've found these results:

Readington, Township of

Frequency Tone Description Mode Tag
155.85000 Police Private FM
151.92500 245 DPL Whitehouse Rescue Squad Private FM

Because the police have a private channel, will I not be able to ever listen to them?
Thank you for your time,
Larry

 

[SUPZ]

also, is theirs a digital system?

 

[dun34]

Readington Police (22 Cars) primarily use Hunterdon County Police North (154.785) along with the other north-county departments. They use their "private channel" as a car-to-car channel when they don't need the whole county to hear what they are doing. Both channels can be monitored on any scanner.

 

[SUPZ]

awesome - thank you very much for the info! Are you saying that the car-to-car channel can be monitored also eventhough it is private?

 

[dun34]

Yes I am.

 

[SUPZ]

thanks for your all your help dun34!

I'm looking into purchasing a radio-shack Pro-91 (As per recommendation from a friend)... hopefully this can pick them up from roughly 6 miles out. Would this handheld also be reliable in a moving car for reading Readington township (When I am IN readington township)?

This is my last series of questions, I promise!

 

[dun34]

You shouldn't have a problem hearing them 6 miles out. The transmitter is actually located in the Flemington area. Also, you shouldn't have a problem hearing them in town for the same reason.

 

[fineshot1]

He may have problems trying to hear the private channel comms in and around town depending on where he is and the mobile units are - if I am not mistaken they are on simplex and that may be a problem.

 

[SUPZ]

unfortunately it seems as if there's no way to tell without purchasing one

 

[dun34]

He may have problems trying to hear the private channel comms in and around town depending on where he is and the mobile units are - if I am not mistaken they are on simplex and that may be a problem.

Sorry, I should have clarified that.

 

[fineshot1]

unfortunately it seems as if there's no way to tell without purchasing one

I agree with that. My purpose in this post was just to advise dun34 of the possible pitfalls.
SUPZ - I would go ahead with your plans anyway. I still think it will be fun and educational at the same time for you to tinker with things to improve reception if you have problems...

PS - happy easter all

 

[SUPZ]

thanks Fineshot1,
can anyone explain briefly what simplex is/does/can do?

=)

 

[fineshot1]

thanks Fineshot1,
can anyone explain briefly what simplex is/does/can do? =)

Simplex = transmit and receive on the same frequency but not at the same time.
Also known as "talkaround" or "direct" or "private" and probably some more slang
I cant think of right now.

Duplex = transmit and receive on two different frequencies but not at the same time.
Also known as "half duplex". IE: Some taxi cab companies do this so the drivers can
not chat with one another.

Full Duplex = transmit and receive at the same time on two different frequencies.
This is what a repeater does. It receives the mobile freq and transmits out on the
repeater output frequency so it can be heard by all the mobiles/portables. This
allows you with a portable to talk a much greater distance than using simplex.

 

[SCPD]

Whatever you decide, I would get a scanner capable of trunking and digital. Hunterdon has a slew of newly licensed 400MHz channels.

Don't know if they will be digital, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

 

[hoser147]

We got a member up in your county havent seen a post from him in a while, he is a pastor at a church there. Hoser

 

[ctrabs74]

awesome - thank you very much for the info! Are you saying that the car-to-car channel can be monitored also eventhough it is private?

The "private" channel in this particular parlance refers solely to the fact that the channel is used only by the Readington police and not part of the county-wide system.

 

[SUPZ]

thanks to everyone for the replies and advice. In regards to the new 400 mhz channels registered in Hunterdon county, unfortunately digital scanners are out of my price range at the moment, so I suppose I will settle with a lesser expensive model that offers trunking for now, and if I need to upgrade in the future I can always do so. I will probably go with the Radio Shack Pro91 (older model but offers Trunking) on ebay until further notice...

If there are there any less expensive digital scanners (that work well) < $200 I certainly could use a reccommendation.

Thank you,
Larry

 

[W2SJW]

The Pro-91 isn't worth your time. If you can't afford digital, I would at least look for a model that can handle narrowband FM & can set PL & DPL codes on regular channels (so as to block out co-channel users you don't want to hear).

At the least, I would look for a nice used Pro-97, or a Uniden 246.

The Pro-91 can only do 800 MHz. trunking & doesn't even have alpha tags - hold on to your money a little while longer...

UPDATE: Look at this for only $100!!!

 

[SUPZ]

unfortunately someone grabbed that one before I could, but I'll keep an eye out, thanks

still I think the 91 would be OK for me because I only really need it for close-range transmissions and dispatch. I'm using it for leisure, not as part of a job or anything.

I certainly may be incorrect though

 

[DJ88]

I only really need it for close-range transmissions and dispatch.

If you don't buy one that is PL/DPL capable your close range transmissions may very well be interfered with by strong signals coming from other agencies using the same frequencies that your local/close range agencies are using. You'd be very surprised at how far some signals travel, especially when atmospheric conditions are just right. If nothing else at all matters to you, PL/DPL capability should be a priority.