Niagara region FD assistance for newbie

[NiagaraRocks]

My father is interested in listening to Niagara region fire department activity again (nostalgia, he used to do this for years using crystals before digital).

Main area of St. Catharines, grimsby, Niagara Falls, welland. With discussion of new systems and updates to airwaves, may you please recommend a "safe bet" handheld scanner for him?
I see that some are using the uniden BCD436HP successfully. Have also heard reference to the unification G5 unit as well. I don't mind taking time to get the updates, programming type of activity set for a unit as long as it is somewhat set and forget since this is not my main hobby. I'm handy with computing, and willing to do further research investment once you provide the main direction.

This forum is a wealth of information for sure, just a little overwhelming with the different terms and updates to systems. Your recommendations would be much appreciated as I want him to be happy listening for a while. I also don't want to invest $500+ only to learn of needing to upgrade 1-2 years later. Any possible sustainable suggestions? And is an outdoor antenna typically needed?

Having police, ambulance etc would be an added bonus, but main purpose is fire depts.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Unforgiven_AF]

You sound a lot like I did last week. I started reading the Wiki (Main Page - The RadioReference Wiki) here. There is a lot to learn, but after a fair bit of reading you'll know enough to select the right scanner for your needs. On the top right of that page are links for newcomers. There is a ton of great info in there.

I cross referenced info from the database (https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/) with the terminology in the wiki's to figure out what I needed. On top of that, I'm sure some of the other friendly folks here will help you along as they did me.

Good luck!!!

 

[kirk23]

My father is interested in listening to Niagara region fire department activity again (nostalgia, he used to do this for years using crystals before digital).

Main area of St. Catharines, grimsby, Niagara Falls, welland. With discussion of new systems and updates to airwaves, may you please recommend a "safe bet" handheld scanner for him?
I see that some are using the uniden BCD436HP successfully. Have also heard reference to the unification G5 unit as well. I don't mind taking time to get the updates, programming type of activity set for a unit as long as it is somewhat set and forget since this is not my main hobby. I'm handy with computing, and willing to do further research investment once you provide the main direction.

This forum is a wealth of information for sure, just a little overwhelming with the different terms and updates to systems. Your recommendations would be much appreciated as I want him to be happy listening for a while. I also don't want to invest $500+ only to learn of needing to upgrade 1-2 years later. Any possible sustainable suggestions? And is an outdoor antenna typically needed?

Having police, ambulance etc would be an added bonus, but main purpose is fire depts.

Thanks in advance.

NiagaraRocks,,

1st of all the Niagara Regional Police are fully encrypted so NO scanner can monitor them.
as for the local Niagara Region Fire Depts... the Falls @ St.Kitts are both combined CONVENTIONAL & Single Channel P25 so the Uniden BCD396XT (Motorola Phase 1 only) ... HP436HP & BCD325P2 (Motorola Phase 1 & 2) are Handhelds/Portables you can use and BCD996XT.(Motorola Phase 1 only)..BCD996P2 & HP536HP (Motorola Phase 1 & 2) are the Base/Mobiles.

With any of the above mentioned scanners you with also be able to listen to the OPP..MOH & MOT on the Fleetnet System.. there has talk of the OPP moving to a new system for a year already but it still hasn't happened yet but it certainly will at some point..so whether or not we will still be able to hear them after is yet to be determined.

Hope this helps you...

 

[NiagaraRocks]

Kirk and Unforgiven,

Thank you for your quick and informative replies. This is good information and also aligns expectations for what he will likely to be able to listen. Sounds like the fire dept should be good for a while which is great news.
Based on all of these different models that were presented, that base station BCD996P2 or the handheld BCD325P2 seem most appealing. Assume that either of these units would work sufficiently well to listen to the fire dept activity?

 

[kirk23]

Kirk and Unforgiven,

Thank you for your quick and informative replies. This is good information and also aligns expectations for what he will likely to be able to listen. Sounds like the fire dept should be good for a while which is great news.
Based on all of these different models that were presented, that base station BCD996P2 or the handheld BCD325P2 seem most appealing. Assume that either of these units would work sufficiently well to listen to the fire dept activity?

they ARE a good choice...
the 1 difference between these 2 and the 436HP & 536HPs you should be aware of is the 436\536HPs work with a built in SD card that gives you full access to the complete DATABASE that you can access by using the postal code/Zip code at all times where as the 2 "P2's" only work with the frequencies/systems that you program into them..
I am NOT telling you which are better..that is your decision..Because as for me..I don't use the built in DATABASE...