NXDN now in my county What do I do? I

[slicerwizard]

Dongles can be complicated to set up, especially for beginners,

Someone can walk the OP through it. Just depends on how bad he/she wants it.

plus a tapped scanner has much greater signal sensitivity than any dongle.

If the tap is done properly. Good luck troubleshooting that if it's not done right. And then what? DSD+ has to be set up. If that can be done, so can a dongle.

Bottom line: the OP isn't going to tap a scanner and the extra sensitivity may not be required anyway. A $20 investment in a dongle or a lot more for a Kenwood radio or an NXDN capable scanner. Maybe the OP can afford the US$550+ for a Whistler scanner plus programming. If money is no object, that's definitely his/her best route. Otherwise, it's pretty much the $20 dongle or do without. OP's call.

 

[wbswetnam]

Bottom line: the OP isn't going to tap a scanner and the extra sensitivity may not be required anyway. A $20 investment in a dongle or a lot more for a Kenwood radio or an NXDN capable scanner. Maybe the OP can afford the US$550+ for a Whistler scanner plus programming. If money is no object, that's definitely his/her best route. Otherwise, it's pretty much the $20 dongle or do without. OP's call.

To each his own... I've tried both and I've had much better luck with using tapped scanners than the dongle. I've had three tapped scanners: a RS Pro-96, a RS Pro-405, and a Uniden 142XL. The first two I managed to tap myself because the tapping point was extremely easy to access, but the Uniden 142XL I had done by a professional. I am glad that we have two major choices in how to approach the issue of decoding digital signals.

Here in the South it seems that non-P25 has become much more common than in the Northern states, so as long as us radio enthusiasts have some form of work-around to decode DMR, NXDN and other non-P25 signals I guess we're all happy.

If I were there living in Jessamine County, KY for sure I'd have my Uniden 142XL cranking away with DSD+ to monitor the local county radio traffic, but as I said before, to each his own.

 

[KG4EMJ]

I got on eBay and bought a new Kenwood portable still sealed in the box. I then (with help from wonderful forum members here) located the proper software CD on eBay ($20) and a cable to connect the radio to my laptop ($15) and I programmed the radio myself.

I now can monitor Fire, EMS, Board of Ed, utilities, highway dept, etc. and I'm loving it. The local PD encrypted their channels which I don't care about too much...if anything serious is going on EMS is usually dispatched anyway and I hear that.

Overall, this was the easiest way to do it. And, I have less money invested than you'd spend on a new scanner.

 

[mmckenna]

I think you guys are missing the point. The Original Poster stated that she had to pay someone to program her scanner originally. I doubt she's going to be able to purchase a suitable radio off e-Bay, find the software, cable and program it up herself successfully.