newbie question pleae help me!!!!!!!

[pyrodush17]

hey guys
i have a very old radio shack basic 10 channel scanner and am looking for a new one. i was looking at the uniden BC246T. you think this is a good choice. i live in edison, i want to pick up there frequencies and surrounding ones. which ones around there can only be picked up with truck tracker. does edison need truck tracker to be heard?????? and how far away does it pick up other places. from edsion in middlesex central nj, can i pick up all of new jersey and any new york??
thanks any feedback would be great!!!!

 

[PM08203]

DOES THE 246 DO DIGITAL?

 

[LEH]

no the 246 does not do digital, see the official 246 forum and the newer 346 forum for the gory details.

 

[DJ88]

The BC246T should fit your needs for the areas you want to listen to. There are no digital systems in Middlesex County but there are numerous trunked systems, and the 246 can receive all of them. These are the municipalities that operate on on trunked systems:

East Brunswick - Motorola Type 2
Edison Twp. Public Safety - Motorola Type 2
Middlesex County - EDACS Standard
Old Bridge Twp. - Motorola Type 2
Piscataway Twp. - Motorola Type 2
Sayerville - Motorola Type 2
South Brunswick - EDACS Standard

The rest of the municipalities operate on conventional systems. As for the digital aspect, as I said, there are no digital systems in Middlesex County at the present time, but none of us knows what the future holds. The 246 should be just fine for you now.

How far away you will be able to monitor ? I can't help you there. However, you should be able to receive New York City fire frequencies without a problem. I live in Brick Township, Ocean County, and can receive them with no problem at all; very powerful VHF frequencies.

If you haven't already done so, check out the database for Middlesex County, on this site. You will find alll of the system and frequency information you need for all of the municipalities in the county.

Good luck and enjoy your new scanner.

 

[robbinsj2]

The BC246T should fit your needs for the areas you want to listen to. There are no digital systems in Middlesex County but there are numerous trunked systems, and the 246 can receive all of them. These are the municipalities that operate on on trunked systems:

Edison Twp. - Motorola Type 2
Edison Twp. Public Safety - Motorola Type 2
Middlesex County - EDACS Standard
Old Bridge Twp. - Motorola Type 2
Piscataway Twp. - Motorola Type 2
Sayerville - Motorola Type 2
South Brunswick - EDACS Standard

Edison is NOT analog, it is mixed-mode (analog and digital). Generally speaking, police talkgroups are digital encrypted (no scanner will work), fire/EMS is digital clear (BC246 won't work). Fire and EMS multicast dispatch over an analog conventional channel, but check the database and determine whether other digital talkgroups are critical to your monitoring. If so, get a digital scanner.

A lot (most?) public safety will eventually go digital, but you have plenty of time yet. The BC246 would still be useful in 5-10 years, even if you do have to get a digital scanner down the road. And digital/trunking is changing too, so don't get a digital scanner now unless you'll need it within the next 12 months.

 

[DJ88]

Jim

Thanks for clarifying the information, reference Edison's system. I failed to check the "System Voice" listing on the database, here. A "rookie mistake" I definitely should not have made. The last thing I want to do here is give anyone the wrong information, especially when it has to so with the type of scanner they would need. My apologies, indeed.

So it looks like the 246 is not a good choice for pyrodush17, as he lives in Edison and does want to monitor their system. He'll have to fork out some bigger bucks for a digital scanner in order to do so.

 

[RocketNJ]

Again no scanner will be able to modify the normal PD comms in Edison as they run encryption on the PD talkgroups.

 

[elk2370bruce]

Middlesex County's EDACS has digital for all law enforcement (Sheriff and Prosecutor + a couple of Hazmat Tactical TG's. Remainder is Analog. Believe the digital is PROVOICE (?) so much is unintelligible.

 

[pyrodush17]

hi
i see now i need digital to scan edison but if i cant scan then its ok....dont have the $$$ for a digital, but i can afford a trunk tracker....so in edison what channels with active talk can i pic up?how far is it gonna pick up the pd's, can i get bergen countys pd from edison, what is the distance the 246t can get.....and will i be able to hear any newark airport transmissions with the 246t scanner from edison???
thnaks for the help guys.

 

[elk2370bruce]

Consider the Rat Shack PRO-95. Current price is $ 149. Will handle Motorola and EDACS trunked systems and you can create your own alpha tags. Prefer Rat Shack because you can use rechargeable AA batteries rather than the crummy, short-life Bearcat battery packs. You will not receive Bergen County from Edison on a Rubber Duckie. An outside antenna - high up will be needed. Newark Airport cop shop is on Port Authority Trunk System which I can receive here in East Brunswick. Aircraft ops are duplex channels so transmit on one freq, receive on another. Forget ground ops. Never hear diddly. Hpe this info helps.
Bruce

 

[robbinsj2]

I'm pretty sure the BC246 has everything the Pro-95 does and then some, with the sole exception being the $150 price tag. Note what is included with the Uniden scanner, though, as they often come with accessories (batteries, cables, power supplies) that aren't included with Radio Shack scanners.

The 246 uses AA batteries, has alpha tagging, PL/DPL squelch, "Close Call" (frequency counter-type feature), a much larger memory and a different memory management system. No more 10 or 20 banks of ## channels. It is a very nice scanner, and may well be worth the premium over Pro-95. Again, depends upon your priorities.

Go to the Edison entry, http://www.radioreference.com/modules.php?name=TRSDB&sid=757 The 246 and 95 will get only the talkgroups marked with mode "A" (analog). A digital scanner will get those plus the ones with "D" (digital). No scanner can receive the ones marked "E" (encrypted).

 

[NESN]

Monroe Township is another trunked system in Middlesex County.
500 Mhz Motorola Type II townwide system.

 

[elk2370bruce]

And Monroe TRS is monitorable as a Motorola Analog system.

 

[Tsch6373]

Does anyone have the new 246T yet? I just bought mine yesterday and I cannot figure out how to program it! I did my homework, listed what I want where I want it etc, but when I try to program it . . . at this point, the older ones are much easier and I've been scanning for 30 years. For now, I'll keep using my 250D and the 780 until someone with more knowledge than I can simplify this. The instructions keep referring to different pages, it gets so confusing. Please help.