We'll be visiting Montana next month, starting with Missoula, then into West Yellowstone, Gardner, Bozeman, Flathead, Whitefish. I see some P25 systems, so I assume my SDS100 is a must. Do I need an 800 antenna, or is it mostly VHF?
The majority of the Montana State Trunked system is VHF, Bozeman, Great Falls have some 800 frequencies.
I was in Bozeman in March for 3 days and had no trouble with their 800 MHz frequencies, using an SDS100.
The database for the MT trunked system is pretty well up to date, although some new Talkgroups show every so often.
Enjoy your travels through Montana.
73, Rex
Gallatin County (Bozeman, Big Sky, West Yellowstone) has switched to their new 800mhz trunked system. However it is supposed to be patched to the state trunked system and existing VHF conventional repeaters. However, in the last few days the conventional VHF repeaters have seemed very quiet. Just a heads up that things may not be working great when monitoring Gallatin County on the existing conventional and state trunked system.