Trying to do my research

[phantomdaz]

on buying a scanner to answer my own questions but the recent announcement by Lexington UCG threw me a curve

-Lexington begins to unify public safety communications with the interoperable CORP25 network
Are the current radios compatable with this?

Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government Awards Cassidian Communications Contract for P25 Land Mobile Radio System - MarketWatch

I live in Richmond, am researching a hand held radio that will pick up KSP, Lexington and Madison County.
I would like to have a medium to high end scanner that will grow so it doesn't become obsolete next year.

Also, i was looking around at rebanding, I assume that has all been completed and the newer radios are not affected?

any Info from local folks is greatly appreciated.

 

[ofd8001]

There are some folks who like Fords and some who like Chevrolets. I've had great satisfaction with a Uniden 396XT as well as its predecessor the 396T. (You can still get 396T's but the better choice is the XT). I'm sure the Radio Shack models would work okay too.

Just be sure you get something that will do digital and will receive P-25 systems.

 

[phantomdaz]

Thanks for the reply

About an hour after my post, I was looking at several models and wound up ordering the
"Uniden BCD396XT Handheld TrunkTracker IV Digital Police Scanner"

I only found one marginal review about the P-25 on this unit that said it was choppy

I think I have a lot to learn. I am moving up from a BC200XLT !
Thanks for the input


Here we go

 

[ofd8001]

Yep. A lot has happened as time has gone along. Radio systems have gotten more complex going from conventional to trunking and then migrating into multi-site digital from analog. On top of that scanners are a lot more complicated to program.

Two pieces of advice: Be patient and anticipate you'll have challenges learning how to program modern scanners. That's because they do a lot of things. The cost is frustration until you get the hang of it. The biggest piece of advice, however is to use some form of computer software to program your scanner. Manual programming (keypad entry) is torture plain and simple. I use ARC-XT Pro and love it, though there are other programs around which are loved by others. Be sure you have a Radio Reference subscription so much of the information you need for programming purposes can be downloaded by whichever software you choose. That saves a whole lot of time and effort.

Once you get past the learning curve, I'm sure you'll be quite happy.

As far as the choppiness goes, that's a problem inherent to digital systems having multiple transmitter sites all within a local area (such as the 12 we have here in Louisville). I'm thinking all scanners will have the same issue. There's a lot of detailed discussion elsewhere in the RR forums on why this happens, so I won't re-hash that. When you get a little more advanced in your knowledge of the scanner, there are some settings you can tinker with that might improve that choppiness (which might not even be an issue for you in your area).

 

[phantomdaz]

Thanks, I appreciate the information
I am on my way to WI this morning and wont be back till Friday. Hope the scanner is here when I get back.

I will look at the software you mentioned. I also have heard that free Scan is good.
I will wait till I have my radio in hand and then sign up for RR

Thanks again, If you don't mind, I may ask to pick your brain on some Louisville settings. I have family there and visit a good bit

I grew up in Lyndon, went to Eastern and Westport...Wife went to Wagner

I love Louisville!