Scanner Help

[Senduhelp7]

Hello everyone,

I live near the Cumberland/Dauphin County border. I am looking to monitor both county frequencies. I know Cumberland is currently using the Open Sky but I would like the ability to program in the conventional 46.06 fire and EMS freqs just to monitor dispatch. I know the ops channels are not able to be received with the exception of ops 2 on 453.7 I suppose. From what I have seen Dauphin is on a P25 Phase II system. So I would like the scanner to also be able to receive that. I occasionally also listen to air frequencies as well. Can someone please recommend a scanner that would accomodate me being able to pick up these 3 things. Cumberland, Dauphin and Air Traffic Control. Thanks in advance.

 

[thescannerdude123]

For P25 Phase II I would recommend the SDS100 or SDS200 (portable or base). I used bcd436hp but couldn't reliably listen to simulcast

 

[Senduhelp7]

For P25 Phase II I would recommend the SDS100 or SDS200 (portable or base). I used bcd436hp but couldn't reliably listen to simulcast

Will that one also allow me to pick up the other convential frequencies that I am looking for?

 

[W3DMV]

Yes, the SDS100/SDS200 will work fine for your requirement. I'am using both with good results..

 

[hiegtx]

Hello everyone,

I live near the Cumberland/Dauphin County border. I am looking to monitor both county frequencies. I know Cumberland is currently using the Open Sky but I would like the ability to program in the conventional 46.06 fire and EMS freqs just to monitor dispatch. I know the ops channels are not able to be received with the exception of ops 2 on 453.7 I suppose. From what I have seen Dauphin is on a P25 Phase II system. So I would like the scanner to also be able to receive that. I occasionally also listen to air frequencies as well. Can someone please recommend a scanner that would accomodate me being able to pick up these 3 things. Cumberland, Dauphin and Air Traffic Control. Thanks in advance.

For your county, Dauphin, much of the public safety agencies are on this system:

South Central Interoperability Network Trunking System, Steelton, Pennsylvania

South Central Interoperability Network Trunking System Profile

www.radioreference.com

While the system is capable of P25 Phase II, the talkgroups used in your county are still P25 Phase I, but about half the rest of the talkgroups are Phase II, so I would stick with a Phase II capable scanner. Also, other than a small number of dispatch talkgroups, most all of the law enforcement TGIDs used in your county are encrypted. There is no scanner, nor will there ever be, a scanner than can decode encrypted transmissions.

The Simulcast site on the system has six tower locations, mostly along the western border of Dauphin county.



If you were in the middle of that group, then you may have to deal with Simulcast problems. There are several other non-simulcast sites in the county, so if you can receive one of them, you might dodge the simulcast bullet. But the other sites likely would not carry all talkgroups for the county, only the ones in their general area. The simulcast one probably encompasses everything.

 

[Senduhelp7]

Thanks everyone for your information. I had scanners many years ago before all of the digital systems came into being. Looking at the scanners available today they have really gone up in price. I guess due to the complexity of the radio systems they are monitoring now.

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

they have really gone up in price. I guess due to the complexity of the radio systems they are monitoring now.

Yup, that basically sums up why. System engineers don't build simulcast systems with the hobbyist (us) in mind and couldn't care less if our radios struggle to pick it up. Mitigating the effects of simulcast distortion certainly makes our hobby an expensive one