Recommend Simplest to Use Scanner

[NeedtoKnow2]

There was probably a ton of traffic, but all on Lake County Public Safety Trunking System, Tavares, Florida - Scanner Frequencies which you'll need a digital scanner to receive (but make sure your channels of interest aren't marked as encrypted).

Thanks for the link. What is the best way to determine if those Lake County channels are encrypted? Home Patrol works on trunked systems, correct? But what are options for encrypted trunked systems?

 

[lep]

None. Encrypted channels can NOT be decoded by consumer scanners only by professional receivers programmed to receive the channel. Not only is it not technically possible it is against the Law.

Sometimes an Agency will only ENC a channel part-time and use the channel in a normal manner when the substance is not sensitive. Unfortunately in Florida that is an exception.

 

[SCPD]

To find out if they are encrypted, check the database, they were updated.

 

[NeedtoKnow2]

To find out if they are encrypted, check the database, they were updated.

Are you referring to the Radio Recerence.com data base? If so, I did not see or it is not clear whether those frequencies are encrypted or not. What should I look for? Will it use the word "encrypted" somewhere?

 

[SCPD]

Yes, when you bring up Lake County, scroll to the very bottom of the page and you will see Lake County Public Safety, Project 25 phase 1, click on that, anything E, is encrypted.

 

[NeedtoKnow2]

Yes, when you bring up Lake County, scroll to the very bottom of the page and you will see Lake County Public Safety, Project 25 phase 1, click on that, anything E, is encrypted.

Yup, most of Lake County is encrypted except Fire/Rescue which is D digital. Hardly makes scanners worthwhile anymore, huh?

 

[robertmac]

And to lep or Iep glad to see that you are up on the functionality of ham radio. And that was my point. There are a LOT of people going into ham radio today just for the "emergency" use when an emergency comes up. Unfortunately, many get licensed and never get on the air exept for the occasional net. NeedtoKnow2: "Don't worry, there are enough frequencies out there that we won't clog up the handful used for emergency communications at any particular location". The problem being is that a lot of these "for use in an emergency only" do not know WHAT frequencies to use, let alone if there are tones on the repeaters or simplex. Nor do they know the repeater coverage. Nor do they know how to set offsets. Nor do they know "how to operate" a radio. Ham radio, to some is, is just that a radio with an on and off button or knob. They think they can just pick up the mic and away they go. So basically, as I stated, Use it or Lose it.

 

[safetyobc]

I would suggest getting the Uniden HomePatrol-1. It is very simple to get set up and going. Just enter your ZipCode and you are up and listening with just a few presses of the on screen buttons.

Otherwise, if you don't want to spend that much money to get started, I would go with the Uniden BC125AT. You won't be able to listen to any trunked systems with it, or digital but it is a good scanner with some nice features for around $100.

There is tons to listen to, even with encryption. You will be surprised what all you can hear. Listening to aircraft is fun. As you stated, Fire/Rescue is also very interesting.