San Diego / Imperial Co Regional Communications System Update Thread

[N6XAX]

N6XAX, Thanks for taking the time to respond with your feedback, sharing your experience with the SDS200, providing guidance on what to expect in North County and the tips for programming. I appreciate it and will likely be purchasing the SDS200 (or SDS100) soon and look forward to learning how to operate it. Have a good one!

Good luck, let me know how you make out!

 

[shinkley]

Hi N6XAX, I live in South OC and on occasion was getting Calexico (I think) radio traffic on the San Diego/Imperial Digital system., but zilch for anything else. I have a BCD436. I'm assuming the sentinel "include all the services function/toggle" will work on the 436 and may open things up for SD?. Also, think the problem is dealing with the simulcast(s). With a outside antenna the 436 gets some LAPD and SO & Camp Pendleton, so maybe more experimenting is needed to get some North SD traffic? I do travel regularly to all parts of SD county for work and am really struggling on purchasing a SDS100 or 200, but because of the future of encryption as experience here in the OC, (not just with LE, but all FDs as well), having difficultly justifying the cost.

 

[N6XAX]

Hi N6XAX, I live in South OC and on occasion was getting Calexico (I think) radio traffic on the San Diego/Imperial Digital system., but zilch for anything else. I have a BCD436. I'm assuming the sentinel "include all the services function/toggle" will work on the 436 and may open things up for SD?. Also, think the problem is dealing with the simulcast(s). With a outside antenna the 436 gets some LAPD and SO & Camp Pendleton, so maybe more experimenting is needed to get some North SD traffic? I do travel regularly to all parts of SD county for work and am really struggling on purchasing a SDS100 or 200, but because of the future of encryption as experience here in the OC, (not just with LE, but all FDs as well), having difficultly justifying the cost.

Hello shinkley - yes, I did go back and select all of the service types, and that seemed to help. The key for SD-Imperial RCS NextGen is making sure that you can receive Northcom dispatch; that's where you can hear all of the outbound calls. But the real trick is deselecting all of the other channels; I only have two other channels enabled. Since so many other channels in RCS Next Gen are encrypted, if you're trying to scan all of RCS NextGen you're just going through hundreds of channels that you can't decode. Which means your scanner is too busy digging through a massive haystack and you end up missing out on everything that you can decode. Calexico is on RCS NextGen so I suppose you could hear them, though I don't have them enabled. The BCD436 should work fine; I believe that's the handheld version of the 536HP? When I asked Bearcat Warehouse which radio would work best for SD County, they told me that the 536HP was an option: " The next step up would be the Homepatrol-2 & BCD536HP, the HP models come with a pre-programmed zip code scanning feature additionally they also include programming software." They do offer an upgrade program so perhaps you can trade in your 436 and apply it towards a SDS100/200?

 

[Sjoe]

Hi Sjoe - yes, I am very happy with the SDS200, and there's plenty to listen to in North County. I set up a few different scanning lists, mostly based on an increasing x-mile radius around my location, which allows me to expand my listening area or switch it out altogether for a different area. I've gotten comfortable with the programming and would recommend it (as others have on this forum) - the best way to learn how to use your new scanner is to program it yourself. I'm also not sure there's much benefit to having it preprogrammed initially, as 1) preprogramming it for all of San Diego County pulls in tons of channels - some I want to listen to but many I do not, so I would have had to reprogram it anyway; and 2) because these scanners have tons of options, they are intricate - I'm still learning about different features and will be for some time. So you'll need to get up the learning curve, might as well start right when you unbox it. There are plenty of resources (such as the Easier to Read SDS200 manual mentioned above) and many folks on the forum here that are willing to help out. Another note: if, like me, you're interested in public safety in smaller towns/cities in North County, know that those entities just don't transmit as often as the larger cities (say Escondido) or anything in the City of San Diego. So if you're scanning all SD County+City, the bigger burgs will swamp the smaller areas and you'll miss all of the local traffic. Dial the scanning area in tight to start and then open it up as you go.

Hi N6XAX, are you able to comment on what type of non-encrypted, public safety communications you are able to hear in your local area with the SDS200? (Security/Patrol/Fire/EMT/Etc.) Thanks again for your insight on what to expect with the radio.

 

[brendan3]

North county with the SDS100 here -- What I want to listen to... and can pick up... without a problem is NorthComm/Metro/Heartland Fire/CalFire/Hospitals/Mutual Aid/Camp Pendleton Fire as well as aircraft. If I have a good LOS I can even pick up SD city Fire. I have programmed most of my favorites lists to currate what I want to hear but the SDS100 can easily pickup any of this out of the box by entering your zip and setting service types to what you want, and avoiding the miscellaneous.