I was wondering if someone could help me as far as scanner advice. I currently live in Sunbury, PA and have heard that Northumberland County is changing their system and going digital for the police and also just going high band for their FD's. This is suppose to be happening in the near future. Anyway my question is that I had got a Uniden BC355N to replace my older scanner which was pretty much the same thing only an older version. I want to get something that is trunk tracking and something that has all the bells and whistles so to speak to also be able to listen to further away places. I keep getting told to check this scanner and that scanner and I don't know specifically if it is what I am looking for. Right now from here with the basic scanner I can listen to the dispatcher of Bradford County with the antenna on my roof etc. I also want to be able to take the scanner in my vehicle kind of like I can with the one that I have. I want something that is going to last but not cost 500 to 800 dollars. If anyone could help, please let me know. Thanks again
Northumberland County Help
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dmg1969
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ff572: I do not know if it will be just the police who go to the digital system or not. But, it does not matter...you will need a digital scanner. From what I have seen, it will be an APCO25 Phase 1 (also known as P25 Phase 1) system. A new, P25 Phase 1 capable scanner will run in the neighborhood of $400+. You can probably pick up a used one for less.
There are NUMEROUS scanners made by Uniden, Radio Shack or GRE that are capable of doing P25. The NEWEST from Uniden are the BCD436HP (handheld) and BCD536HP (base/mobile). Both are capable of also doing the new APCO25 phase 2 digital systems coming online. There are slightly older Uniden models available as well that I'm sure others can talk about.
If you want to be able to take it from home into your vehicle, I would recommend either a handheld scanner (portable) or the Homepatrol HP-1. The new BCD536HP would probably be too big to use in a vehicle unless you had it permanently mounted in a console. I just bought an HP-1 about a month ago and I really like it. It is similar in build to a GPS rather than a normal base scanner. It can easily be used in the house using the stand included and then moved to your vehicle using the cigarette light adapter that comes with it. You would need some kind of a mount for it and I could help you with that. Regardless of what you decide on, you will probably want an external antenna for your vehicle. Some people use the HP-1 in their vehicle with the included rubber ducky antenna, but reception would be better with an external antenna.
As far as getting a scanner to listen to further away places, it is more so about the antenna...not the scanner. Unless you are referring to further away (digital) systems like Dauphin County. Hope this helped.
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There are NUMEROUS scanners made by Uniden, Radio Shack or GRE that are capable of doing P25. The NEWEST from Uniden are the BCD436HP (handheld) and BCD536HP (base/mobile). Both are capable of also doing the new APCO25 phase 2 digital systems coming online. There are slightly older Uniden models available as well that I'm sure others can talk about.
If you want to be able to take it from home into your vehicle, I would recommend either a handheld scanner (portable) or the Homepatrol HP-1. The new BCD536HP would probably be too big to use in a vehicle unless you had it permanently mounted in a console. I just bought an HP-1 about a month ago and I really like it. It is similar in build to a GPS rather than a normal base scanner. It can easily be used in the house using the stand included and then moved to your vehicle using the cigarette light adapter that comes with it. You would need some kind of a mount for it and I could help you with that. Regardless of what you decide on, you will probably want an external antenna for your vehicle. Some people use the HP-1 in their vehicle with the included rubber ducky antenna, but reception would be better with an external antenna.
As far as getting a scanner to listen to further away places, it is more so about the antenna...not the scanner. Unless you are referring to further away (digital) systems like Dauphin County. Hope this helped.
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I just talked to Northumberland Co the other day to verify a few UHF frequencies for Juniata's new radios and the dispatcher said they're going to a P25 Digital system, I'm guessing VHF from what I've heard. So as dmg1969 said above, there are multiple scanner receivers that are digital capable. It's all about features you want and/or cost. Look online for sales, eBay discounts, etc and maybe you'll land a cherry scanner for not so much money.
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