traveling to south carolina this summer

[dynamitesc03]

I will be taken a family vacation this summer to south Carolina. Will be either taking I-95 down to NC then back roads thru NC to South Carolina, or taking rt 13 to rt17 along the coast to SC. Currently have a pro-163, I know I can't receive digital which is fine, but what can I listen to while on the road thru the following states: Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, NC,SC. I'll be in the Horry & Georgetown county area and I know I can program those channels in that are needed.
I would assume that most of the state police thru most of these states won't be heard(from what I understand) may get some local PD and FD. Can I hear anything from the big cities for PD and FD.

 

[SCPD]

I would avoid Hwy 17 through VA, can be pretty congested at times, I-95, and then US 501 once you get into in SC, mind if I ask, what part of Myrtle Beach will you be staying in?

 

[brian]

It sounds like you're comfortable with your configuration for SC, but I'll reiterate just for fun.

Program the Palmetto 800 system for SC Highway Patrol and other state agencies. In Horry County, program sites 38 and 61. In Georgetown and lower Horry Counties, program site 37. You'll want to listen to SCHP Troop 5 talkgroups. They're all analog.

Use this Wiki link to figure out other Palmetto 800 sites you might want to program depending on your route. http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/SC_Interstate_Routes
http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/SC_Highway_Patrol/Department_of_Public_Safety_(SC)

Georgetown County public safety agencies operate on Palmetto 800 also, and most of their primary dispatch talkgroups are still analog, while some of their tac channels are digital. Georgetown City PD is digital. All of these talkgroups are carried on Site 37 but probably not on sites 38 and 61.

Horry County public safety agencies all operate on the Horry County trunked radio system. It's all analog. It should be pretty straight-forward.

SC DNR and Forestry operate on analog VHF repeaters throughout the state. SC DOT work crews operate on VHF Lo-band repeaters. There are 5 "ITAC" and 5 "SC TAC" 800MHz repeaters in use in various parts of the state for mutual aid purposes. They're listed on the SC Interoperability page.

Somebody else can chime in with details about NC, but you'll want to program appropriate sites for the NC VIPER system. It's still a Smartzone system so you're PRO-163 will track it, but most talkgroups, including NCSHP, are digital. Brunswick County SO operates on this system and their talkgroups are digital, but it looks like Brunswick Co Fire and EMS are still analog conventional.

Enjoy your stay in SC.

 

[dynamitesc03]

Will be in the murrells inlet/garden city area, have family that lives in Horry too so I know many of the back roads around to most areas. As far as 17 goes in VA will be there in the off traffic hours so won't be to bad, if I went 95 down would go as far as exit 92 or 93 in NC and jump on 701 take that in to SC avoiding the headache of 501.

 

[SCPD]

Murrells Inlet/Garden City is very nice, I think it's Murrells Inlet Station 76 or 77 on the 17 bypass that goes into Murrells Inlet, that station was very active, so was Horry County PD South and Surfside Beach