Scanning in NE

Status
Not open for further replies.

johnella92

Newbie
Joined
May 17, 2020
Messages
1
Trying to decide on SDS100 or BCD435 for general listing of police, fire, medical, and Offutt AFB for Omaha Metro (Sarpy and Douglas County). Would the 435 be a good option or is the 100 the better option? TIA.
 

marksmith

Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2007
Messages
4,331
Location
Anne Arundel County, MD
If any of your systems are simulcast, the SDS100 is the one you want. I own both and at this point I would not bother with the 435. I know the SDS100 costs more, but is is very much more radio.
 

a29zuk

Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2005
Messages
853
Location
SE Michigan
It looks like the Elkhorn Tower in Douglas County and the Gretna Tower in Sarpy County are C4FM(not simulcast). The other tower in Douglas County is simulcast. You may want to ask a moderator to move this thread to the Nebraska Forum(report button on the bottom left) to get input from some local listeners.

Jim
 
Last edited:

W0JJK

Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2006
Messages
618
The OPPD sites are not simulcast. Those sites are mainly used by OPPD.

Douglas and Sarpy are both simulcast sites part of the ORION. Those sites are what you are interested in for public safety in both counties.

As for Offutt, I thought most of their traffic was encrypted but I have not checked in while. They are own system that is in the 406 to 410 MHz range.
 
Joined
Apr 3, 2010
Messages
4
What would be a new good scanner to buy that I should not have to replace for a few years? I was told a couple weeks ago by a traffic/news reporter that Sarpy is going to be updating their radio system again some time this year. Lately when I'm not working I'll turn on the phone ap but Sarpy doesn't always have voice. Since I don't listen that much I want to get something that will last a while. Any suggestions would be great.
Thanks
Stay Safe
 
Joined
Apr 18, 2009
Messages
6,169
Location
CT

NebraskaCoder

Member
Joined
Oct 26, 2016
Messages
325
Location
Omaha, NE
I use both the Uniden SDS100 and Unication G5 when scanning ORION when I'm not doing SDR from my laptop. The G5 is night and day difference from everything else but the Uniden has more features.
 

wbswetnam

Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2005
Messages
1,799
Location
DMR-istan
Aside from the SDS series of scanners, I recommend the 325P2 and 996P2 scanners from Uniden.
I'll second this. For what you're wanting to monitor, the Uniden 325P2 (handheld) or 996P2 (desktop / mobile) will serve you well and save you a few hundred dollars over buying an SDS100. I have both the 325P2 and the 996P2 (two of these, actually) and I love them. They do very well on my local C4FM towers on the AWIN system (Arkansas) and my little 325P2 does acceptably well on the Little Rock Simulcast system.
 

cm205

Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2008
Messages
84
I have a PRO 106, IMO, it still has plenty of use. it's a great entry level scanner, but getting hard to find. For what I need out where I am it works great. Unfortunately, it's doesn't handle the simulcast issue problem well, and limited to what you can receive.

Second this, the 106 has been my main mobile scanner for over a decade when I’m in Nebraska. Still works great on the NSRS, but is increasingly unusable on the ORION system due to simulcast and Phase II talkgroups coming online. Not unusual to have a hard time picking out conversations from garbled audio, and miss things completely with P2 that it can’t decode. Also no expansion for DMR, which a lot of the businesses have moved to.

My base is a BCD536HP, but that still suffers from the simulcast issues very badly.
 

N9JCQ

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Aug 30, 2005
Messages
861
Location
Lake Barrington, IL
Last time I was in Omaha at Christmas I took my 325P2. AS I recall, there is now quite a bit of P25 P2 transmitted on ORION , I think. The 106 won't receive that. I was in North/Northwest Omaha and my 325P2 worked perfectly for the systems and aviation.
 

scanomaha

Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2004
Messages
137
Location
Omaha, Nebraska
I am still scanning Omaha Police and Fire on a Pro-106 & Pro-197... ORION is phase 2 capable,,, BUT for now still broadcasting in Phase 1 ----I assume at some point they will flip the switch to phase 2.... making the older scanner deaf
 

cm205

Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2008
Messages
84
I am still scanning Omaha Police and Fire on a Pro-106 & Pro-197... ORION is phase 2 capable,,, BUT for now still broadcasting in Phase 1 ----I assume at some point they will flip the switch to phase 2.... making the older scanner deaf

It was my observation that many talkgroups - including OPD - are now mixed mode, in Phase 1 some times and Phase 2 other times.
 

ORION_NE

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 2, 2012
Messages
306
Location
Onawa, IA
When I've been in Omaha lately all of DCSO was phase 2 and a lot of OPD and OFD were also phase 2. It seemed like the Hospitals were phase 1.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top