BCD396XT/BCD996XT: P25 vs. P25 Phase 2

[Wthom100]

Hi Everyone,

I am getting back into scanning after a 6-7 year break. I have 996XT scanners and live in Arizona Maricopa County (Phoenix Metro). Trying to put together my equipment investment plan (equipment, scanning software, etc.). I know Maricopa Cty is P25 phase 2. I believe 996XT does not support P25 P2. So my question is: if I program all the Maricopa Cty frequencies into the scanner then there is no chance the scanner will monitor the frequencies - i.e confirming I have a useless scanner other than monitoring analog frequencies and/or other local P25 phase 1 systems.

I am thinking I may have to go with a SDS200 but wanted to confirm if my 996XT can be used in any extensive capacity.

thanks - Bill

 

[fredva]

So if you look at the database page for Maricopa County (Maricopa County (P25) Trunking System, Maricopa County, Arizona) and look under talkgroups, anything with a "T" in the Mode column is Phase 2 and your 996XT scanner would not be able to decode it. That's just about everything. I noticed one talkgroup (Probations) with a "D", which is Phase 1. Anything with a "TE" can't be monitored with any scanner because it is an encrypted talkgroup.

If you look at the site listing near the top, many of the sites are simulcast. An SDS 100 or SDS 200 would be a good choice for simulcast. There are other scanners that can decode Phase 2, but they often suffer from simulcast distortion when monitoring simulcast sites. For those scanners, the answer to the question "Will it work on simulcast?" isn't definite - if you are in just the right spot, you may get clear reception. But a lot of times, the transmissions are garbled or you may not hear a transmission at all. The SDS series of scanners are known to work because they were made for simulcast.

Unication pagers handle simulcast well but they were designed for EMS personnel and firefighters and don't have the exact same capabilities as scanners. They can only monitor one radio trunking system at a time, for example.

Another option that some people use is an SDR program on their computer. It's less expensive, but requires some IT work to get set up. Little bit of a learning curve. I happen to use OP25 but there are other programs out there as well.

 

[Wthom100]

Ok. Thx for the quick response. Looks like SDS200 will be the way to go. What a bummer, I spent good dollars on the 996xt (and RS Pro-197) and both are now basically outdated with P25 P2 now used extensively where I live now.

 

[enosjones]

Hi Everyone,

I am getting back into scanning after a 6-7 year break. I have 996XT scanners and live in Arizona Maricopa County (Phoenix Metro). Trying to put together my equipment investment plan (equipment, scanning software, etc.). I know Maricopa Cty is P25 phase 2. I believe 996XT does not support P25 P2. So my question is: if I program all the Maricopa Cty frequencies into the scanner then there is no chance the scanner will monitor the frequencies - i.e confirming I have a useless scanner other than monitoring analog frequencies and/or other local P25 phase 1 systems.

I am thinking I may have to go with a SDS200 but wanted to confirm if my 996XT can be used in any extensive capacity.

thanks - Bill

If you purchase a bcd996p2, and use arc-xt u can seamlessly transfer your setup and frequencies from the bcd996xt to the bcd996p2 with help from butels arc-xt software.. other scanners including homepatrol 2 bcd 436 and 536 hp and sds 100 and 200 scanners also can do the same thing..

 

[scannersnstuff]

Why even screw around ? . If you got the buck's,dump it on a sds100 or sds200. Better your simulcast tracking. Just my humble opinion.

 

[hiegtx]

Ok. Thx for the quick response. Looks like SDS200 will be the way to go. What a bummer, I spent good dollars on the 996xt (and RS Pro-197) and both are now basically outdated with P25 P2 now used extensively where I live now.

ProScan can import from the 996XT, and a large number of other Uniden scanners, and use that to create a Favorites list (programming) for the SDS or x36HP series of Uniden scanners.

 

[Wthom100]

All great comments confirming what a great forum and community is here on Radio Reference!

 

[wtp]

Wthom100,
i sent a PM with some uses for the 996 and a good price of $5 for it...

 

[mass-man]

The more scanners, the merrier! There’s gonna be analog something for a long time! 121.5, the air emergency freq is dead 98% of the time but wfhen an airliner declares mayday it gets interesting fast!