Police radio question.

[skunkhaze]

I recently went on a ride-along with a Police agency. I really enjoyed how much clearer and louder the Motorola radio was in the car, it wasn't as garbled like listening in with a Bearcat 996T or my Pro-106. I think the car had a Moto Spectra in it. Which had the home button, and the scan features.

Question is, could I buy a Motorola XTS and program it with local trunk groups and be ok? I have a buddy who claims it would be foolish, because the radio's I.D. would show up on a trunk system's network and dispatch would be suspicious of it? The system is San Diego County RCS which is a 800mhz/Smart zone type II.

My intention is just to listen only..


Thanks,

 

[n5ims]

I recently went on a ride-along with a Police agency. I really enjoyed how much clearer and louder the Motorola radio was in the car, it wasn't as garbled like listening in with a Bearcat 996T or my Pro-106.

Question is, could I buy a Motorola XTS and program it with local trunk groups and be ok? I have a buddy who claims it would be foolish, because the radio's I.D. would show up on a trunk system's network and dispatch would be suspicious of it? The system is San Diego County RCS which is a 800mhz/Smart zone type II.

My intention is just to listen only..


Thanks,

Possible, yes. Chance you'd do things so you won't show up on their system and likely get your expensive radio bricked, rather small. Your buddy's correct that unless you're extremly careful on how the radio is programmed it can be seen by the system and may be sent a "kill signal" to disable the radio, causing it to need a trip to Motorola for reactivation (and only if you can provide a good reason as to why it was on the system when not authorized). Also a scanner can scan literally thousands of channels/talkgroups rather quickly while the typical Motorola radio can only scan about 16 channels/talkgroups and does so rather slowly.

See the sticky on this for the details --> http://forums.radioreference.com/mo...ou-want-monitor-trunked-system-moto-read.html

 

[skunkhaze]

Possible, yes. Chance you'd do things so you won't show up on their system and likely get your expensive radio bricked, rather small. Your buddy's correct that unless you're extremly careful on how the radio is programmed it can be seen by the system and may be sent a "kill signal" to disable the radio, causing it to need a trip to Motorola for reactivation (and only if you can provide a good reason as to why it was on the system when not authorized). Also a scanner can scan literally thousands of channels/talkgroups rather quickly while the typical Motorola radio can only scan about 16 channels/talkgroups and does so rather slowly.

See the sticky on this for the details --> http://forums.radioreference.com/mo...ou-want-monitor-trunked-system-moto-read.html

I read the sticky. What a shame, I guess a system admin/dispatcher could see the radio I.D. show up on the trunked system. It's like trying to low crawl through a mine field without a explosion going off around you lol.

I guess the scanner just decodes the 800mhz /P25 signal and turns into voice, but the Moto radio's require you have authorization first before listening in. Not to mention it's a felony apparently, not worth it in my opinion.

I did read you can put the spectra radios on " do not affiliated". Which should put you in the clear?

 

[scnnr]

As long as the radio is programmed to monitor only and the PTT is disabled with the radio not affiliated to the system you should be fine for monitoring the police. Lots of folks use older used digital Motorola and other digital receivers as their monitoring radios.

 

[FFPM571]

Unless done properly by someone who knows what they are doing its not worth trying to do it on your own Stay with a scanner

 

[scnnr]

Unless done properly by someone who knows what they are doing its not worth trying to do it on your own Stay with a scanner

Good advice.

 

[russianspd]

Could upgrading the antenna alone for the radio help with the reception/scratchyness/clearness?

As an aside, I have an AUX cable that plugs into my scanner when i'm on the go and I run that through my cars stereo system. Sounds just about the same as when i'm sitting in their cars. It might just be your have a scanner ear tunned to the tone of just coming from the scanner and not from the scanner through an audio speaker in a car.

 

[W2NJS]

Legalities and technicalities aside, the reason the radio you heard sounded so good was that it was designed and installed as part of a system to work only on a few frequencies. The scanner you can buy and use has to cover a much, much wider range of frequencies so some design compromises have to be made. It's been this way for years. Maybe you remember getting into a radio taxi years ago and hearing that great FM audio coming from the speaker. Same thing back then; a radio system designed to work on a certain frequency with all components optimized for that setup.

 

[scottyhetzel]

I have a kenwood tm-281 for ham but I can listen to fire freq. and Fire sounds waaaaaaaaay better than my uniden 15x scanner. I understand the sound you are looking for....try some of the Motorola rakers on eBay....you might be really happy.

 

[zz0468]

Question is, could I buy a Motorola XTS and program it with local trunk groups and be ok? I have a buddy who claims it would be foolish, because the radio's I.D. would show up on a trunk system's network and dispatch would be suspicious of it? The system is San Diego County RCS which is a 800mhz/Smart zone type II.

It can be done, but it takes some knowledge of Motorola trunking systems to keep the radio absolutely silent. It also takes system keys, a small piece of computer code, to allow the software to even think about programming a trunking system into a radio, and those are not given out by system managers.

So, really comes down to this: Yes, it can be done. If you have to ask here at RR, then you're already in over your head, and should stick to a scanner.

 

[mkewman]

I do not mean this as an attack, just a PSA with love...
I'd also be careful posting on the internet about getting a Motorola radio programmed to law enforcement frequencies when you have a username of "Skunk Haze" ;-)

 

[mmckenna]

To improve your audio, get a good external antenna and a really good remote speaker. Your scanner may not have enough kick to power a big enough speaker, so you may need to add an amplified speaker. As for your question about adding the antenna, yes, if done correctly, it will improve "scratchiness"

Keep in mind what others have said about not messing with a trunked system unless you really know what you are doing. You'll spend money on the radio, the programming and if you are doing it legally, the software. When you do it wrong and the system admin kills your radio, you'll be out that money.
Yes, it can be properly done to prevent this, but it's not something for a beginner to try without a lot of serious guidance.

Scanners are designed to work across a wide slice of the spectrum, this usually comes at a trade off. A dedicated radio designed to work on the band you need will sound better. Best thing to do would be to get your amateur radio license and set yourself up with a good VHF and UHF or dual band radio. Install an external antenna on your vehicle/home and a nice big external speaker. Don't go cheap on the external speaker. Having the ham license will give you some capabilities with the radios so you are not just wasting money on a 2 way radio that you'll never transmit with.
Other choice would be to buy a used radio, Motorola, Icom, Kenwood, etc, and just have the channels programmed for receive only.