P-25

[wisconsinjimmy]

I am not sure where to post this so here goes, what scanner should I purchase to scan the new P-25 system I live in Polk County, WI and counties around me are Burnett to the North, Barron to the East, St Croix to the South and to the West is Chisago County, MN. I have two old scanners one is a Bearcat, Radioshack, today while reading the news paper an article caught my eye, Burnett County has been ordered by the FCC to switch by August first of 2014 but a glitch has come up with the local Indians over the right to access one of the antennas. I believe Polk is right behind. Will the new scanners be able to catch both conversations dispatch and car?
Thanks
Jim

 

[Spitfire8520]

I am going to attach a list of all the P25 scanners on the market, including both Phase I and Phase II scanners. I don't know the current situation of your area communications system outside of the database so I would highly suggest you also as around the Wisconsin Radio Discussion Forum as well as do a bit of research on your own regarding what you think is needed for the job. There are plenty of resources on this forum and around the web so you should be able to get a firm grasp on what is available for you. Each offers its own individual features and options as well as pricing that may influence your decision. There really isn't a correct answer in terms of digital scanners.

That being said, the only P25 system I see for your county and the counties around it are P25 Phase I systems that include Wisconsin Interoperable System for Communications (WISCOM) Trunking System and Allied Radio Matrix for Emergency Response (ARMER) Trunking System. This means that most of the scanners on this list may be able to track your system, but some of the older discontinued scanners may need additional working with. The Phase II scanners are backwards compatible with Phase I and add the benefit of in the event that the systems upgrade to Phase II. You should be able to hear all traffic on the systems with the exception of anything that is encrypted.

Current Model P25 Phase II Scanners:
Uniden BCD436HP (Handheld)
Uniden BCD536HP (Base/Mobile)

Current Model P25 Phase I Scanners:
Uniden BCD396XT (Handheld)
Uniden BCD996XT (Base/Mobile)
Uniden HomePatrol-1 (Base/Mobile)

Special Case P25 Phase II Scanners:
The following model is discontinued but may still be found online. Will eventually be resold under a different name in the future.
GRE PSR-800 [Future Whistler WS1080] (Handheld)

Special Case P25 Phase I Scanners:
These following models are discontinued but may still be found in local RadioShack stores and online. Models will eventually be resold under a different name in the future.
RadioShack Pro-106 [Future RadioShack Pro-651 & Whistler WS1040] (Handheld)
RadioShack Pro-197 [Future RadioShack Pro-652 & Whistler WS1065] (Base/Mobile)

Discontinued P25 Phase I Scanners:
GRE PSR-500 (Handheld)
GRE PSR-600 (Base/Mobile)
RadioShack Pro-18 (Handheld)
Uniden BCD396T (Handheld)
Uniden BCD996T (Base/Mobile)

Older Discontinued P25 Phase I Scanners (Lacking 700 MHz):
RadioShack Pro-96 (Handheld)
RadioShack Pro-2096 (Base/Mobile)
Uniden BC296D (Handheld)
Uniden BC796D (Base/Mobile)

 

[ofd8001]

Yes they should, with some caveats. If they use some form of encryption, no scanner can deal with that. If they use a format like NXDN or Mototrbo, you'll be out of luck too.

For the Minnesota side, you should be okay. Many folks are using Uniden x96 series scanners to receive the ARMER system there.

In Barron County, they are using some P25 technology already.

St. Croix County should be okay, though nothing listed as P25 - all conventional VHF, which your current scanners should pick up.

Another "player" is the Wiscom system. All the Wisconsin counties you mentioned have been assigned talkgroups in this sytem. How much use is unknown. I've been reading in the Wisconsin forum that the State Patrol is beginning to migrate to this system though they might not do a lot of talking on the radio.

As far as hearing dispatch and car transmission, check the database section for these counties. In the "Type" column, you'll be looking for "R" meaning this is a repeated channel. That means you'll usually hear both sides of the conversation.

 

[N8IAA]

I am not sure where to post this so here goes, what scanner should I purchase to scan the new P-25 system I live in Polk County, WI and counties around me are Burnett to the North, Barron to the East, St Croix to the South and to the West is Chisago County, MN. I have two old scanners one is a Bearcat, Radioshack, today while reading the news paper an article caught my eye, Burnett County has been ordered by the FCC to switch by August first of 2014 but a glitch has come up with the local Indians over the right to access one of the antennas. I believe Polk is right behind. Will the new scanners be able to catch both conversations dispatch and car?
Thanks
Jim

As someone else posted, go to the Wisconsin state forum and ask there. After looking at the RR database, your county presently has only two TGID's. Any scanner that receives Phase I will work on WISCOM. For the present, any analog, conventional scanner will work, with the exception of hearing the main sheriff's dispatch, which is P-25 conventional.
HTH,
Larry