Western Ma State Police

[Pmac1775]

Good evening. I am very, very new to radios/scanners. I live in Berkshire County and while most of the local police departments I can get on my BC125AT, I’d like to be able to listen to the State Police out here. I unfortunately really don’t know much about their system, how to it works and what might be some options for scanners that will be able to pick it up.

It looks like they’ve switched Western Ma off a traditional system, but I just don’t know enough to know what that means.

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

 

[W1KNE]

Hey There. What part of Berkshire County are you in? I grew up in southern B.C., run the broadcastify feed there and still am a regular visitor to family and friends there. (Plus I do a bunch of contract work there.)

MSP in Western Mass is on the P25 CoMIRS system. A P25 trunked system. As of right now, all of the MSP radio traffic is on this system. B1 Lee and B4 Cheshire are on B PTL 2. (As is B5 in Russell and B8 on the Pike). You'll need a digital trunking scanner such as a 536hp. While there is simulcast out there, the sites tend to be spread out some. Look at the system here. B PTL 2 is on both the North and South simulcast zones. A 536HP or even a 996P2 would work ok. Depends on your locale.

Commonwealth Of Massachusetts Interoperable Radio System (CoMIRS) Trunking System, Regional, Massachusetts

Commonwealth Of Massachusetts Interoperable Radio System (CoMIRS) Trunking System Profile

www.radioreference.com

Also there is still a legacy site on Mount Greylock from the analog system. The coverage of this is very widely varied, due to the terrain and the location up on Greylock. You can also hear B PTL 2 here, but it is patched to the digital system, and frankly the digital sounds better b/c of that.

Massachusetts State Police Trunking System, Statewide, Massachusetts

Massachusetts State Police Trunking System Profile

www.radioreference.com

 

[Pmac1775]

Hey There. What part of Berkshire County are you in? I grew up in southern B.C., run the broadcastify feed there and still am a regular visitor to family and friends there. (Plus I do a bunch of contract work there.)

MSP in Western Mass is on the P25 CoMIRS system. A P25 trunked system. As of right now, all of the MSP radio traffic is on this system. B1 Lee and B4 Cheshire are on B PTL 2. (As is B5 in Russell and B8 on the Pike). You'll need a digital trunking scanner such as a 536hp. While there is simulcast out there, the sites tend to be spread out some. Look at the system here. B PTL 2 is on both the North and South simulcast zones. A 536HP or even a 996P2 would work ok. Depends on your locale.

Commonwealth Of Massachusetts Interoperable Radio System (CoMIRS) Trunking System, Regional, Massachusetts

Commonwealth Of Massachusetts Interoperable Radio System (CoMIRS) Trunking System Profile

www.radioreference.com

Also there is still a legacy site on Mount Greylock from the analog system. The coverage of this is very widely varied, due to the terrain and the location up on Greylock. You can also hear B PTL 2 here, but it is patched to the digital system, and frankly the digital sounds better b/c of that.

Massachusetts State Police Trunking System, Statewide, Massachusetts

Massachusetts State Police Trunking System Profile

www.radioreference.com

I am in Pittsfield. So kind of in the middle of both barracks out here. I’ll take a look at the suggested radio. I’m mainly looking for something handheld. I spend a bit of my day on the road, so something I can move between my house and car is ideal.

 

[garys]

The short version of what Mike posted is that your scanner is not capable of receiving the MSP digital trunk system. I also think that the 125 can follow trunking systems of any type.

If you want to listen to the MSP you will need a new scanner.

 

[garys]

That should say not capable of following any type of trunking.

 

[steve9570]

Too bad the 125AT cant do 800mz I still listen to MSP on 857.7125 and 856.7125 analog
on my scanners and Icom IC R-6.

 

[Pmac1775]

Hey There. What part of Berkshire County are you in? I grew up in southern B.C., run the broadcastify feed there and still am a regular visitor to family and friends there. (Plus I do a bunch of contract work there.)

MSP in Western Mass is on the P25 CoMIRS system. A P25 trunked system. As of right now, all of the MSP radio traffic is on this system. B1 Lee and B4 Cheshire are on B PTL 2. (As is B5 in Russell and B8 on the Pike). You'll need a digital trunking scanner such as a 536hp. While there is simulcast out there, the sites tend to be spread out some. Look at the system here. B PTL 2 is on both the North and South simulcast zones. A 536HP or even a 996P2 would work ok. Depends on your locale.

Commonwealth Of Massachusetts Interoperable Radio System (CoMIRS) Trunking System, Regional, Massachusetts

Commonwealth Of Massachusetts Interoperable Radio System (CoMIRS) Trunking System Profile

www.radioreference.com

Also there is still a legacy site on Mount Greylock from the analog system. The coverage of this is very widely varied, due to the terrain and the location up on Greylock. You can also hear B PTL 2 here, but it is patched to the digital system, and frankly the digital sounds better b/c of that.

Massachusetts State Police Trunking System, Statewide, Massachusetts

Massachusetts State Police Trunking System Profile

www.radioreference.com

Quite a bit of a late response on this. But any handheld options to listen to these frequencies?

 

[garys]

You're best bet is an Uniden SDS100.

Quite a bit of a late response on this. But any handheld options to listen to these frequencies?

 

[Pmac1775]

You're best bet is an Uniden SDS100.

Thank you! Quite expensive, I’ll be saving up for one of these options. Thanks again!!

 

[KC1UA]

+1 on the SDS100 as it will eliminate the simulcast problems you may encounter with anything else. Further, if you're going to spend the $$ on what Uniden is charging for the BCD436HP, you might as well take it a step further and get it over with, if you have the means to do so. It will also make a major difference for you if you ever decide to travel with the scanner. Many areas across the country are now using simulcast systems, which simply put makes it necessary to use the SDS models.

Check this link out for a simple explanation:

As it's a YouTube video you'll have to suffer through a short advertisement.

 

[garys]

Living as I do in an area with multiple simulcast systems, I've pretty much given up on my BCD325P2 and 536HP. As you know, moving the antenna as little as an inch can make a system unreadable and moving it an inch or so the other way will make reception clear.

I'm probably going to put both up for sale when I have a chance to take pictures and put posts in the classifieds here.

+1 on the SDS100 as it will eliminate the simulcast problems you may encounter with anything else. Further, if you're going to spend the $$ on what Uniden is charging for the BCD436HP, you might as well take it a step further and get it over with, if you have the means to do so. It will also make a major difference for you if you ever decide to travel with the scanner. Many areas across the country are now using simulcast systems, which simply put makes it necessary to use the SDS models.

Check this link out for a simple explanation:

As it's a YouTube video you'll have to suffer through a short advertisement.