PRO-106 help needed

[nm15252000]

Hello, I am looking into purchasing the PRO-106 scanner. Can someone please help me and advise if this will work for Washington County Maryland?

Washington County Trunking System, Various, Maryland - Scanner Frequencies



Thanks a million!!!!

 

[RDGDigital]

That system is a Project 25 Phase I which the PRO-106 can decode just fine. However, keep in mind that it looks like all police departments in Washington County are encrypted, which no scanner can decode. The fire departments and other services should be fine.

I'm not in Washington County, so I have no experience with monitoring there. One other thing that could be an issue is with all the mountains in the county, reception could be spotty depending on you location and what channels you're trying to monitor.

I have a PRO-106 and while it is a great scanner for monitoring a P25 Phase I system, it is definitely an obsolete scanner. If you're purchasing it used, and for a good price, that may be fine. But otherwise, I'd recommend it's replacement the PRO-651, or better yet, the Whistler WS1040.

 

[ka3jjz]

Actually I would recommend neither, since neither is Phase 2 capable, which is what you will need down the road when FiRST - a statewide system - eventually makes its way out there.

There are several scanners that can handle Phase 2, and they are listed here;

APCO Project 25 - The RadioReference Wiki

And as a bonus, some of these scanners can also handle DMR / MOTOTRBO, a mode that is rapidly growing across the country, though not quite as fast here just yet. But give it time, it will...Mike

 

[MdListener]

I have a Pro-106 in Washington County. It works decently about 60% of the time, but simulcast distortion makes it painful to listen to sometimes. The experts can chime in, but I don't know how much this can be blamed on this particular scanner, vs. this problem affecting most scanners trying to monitor this type of system in our geography/topography. As a side note, I can receive Franklin Co., Pa.'s P25 system with a much more consistent strong and clear signal than Wash. Co. Frederick Co., Md not so much, likely due to South Mountain.

Like RDG said above, if you can get a Pro-106 for a really good price, it will do OK for Wash. Co. and several neighboring counties (Franklin in Pa., Berkeley in WV, etc.). But as ka3jjz said, you might consider a scanner that will work with Phase II systems, like the State of Maryland FiRST 700 MHz system, which will be probably be hitting Wash. Co. in the next few years.

 

[nm15252000]

Thanks everyone for your help! This is great!

 

[MdListener]

Also, RDG is correct that all law enforcement talkgroups on the Wash. Co. trunked system are encrypted. The only police stuff you can monitor is MSP on their lowband frequency of 39.34, which is not encrypted. Normally this would be a challenge on a handheld scanner with it's stock antenna, but since the troopers working out of the Hagerstown Barrack routinely use radios on the county trunked system, there is a patch between that system and the MSP lowband. All of the MSP traffic on the MSP-1 TG is simulcast on MSP's lowband transmitter on Fairview Mountain. This means you have a pretty good chance of hearing most MSP radio traffic from across the county, even on a handheld Pro-106.

 

[nm15252000]

I have a Pro-94. Will this work for Washington County? If so can someone help me..in how to program it? Im really new to all this and want to learn as much as I can