I'm looking to find a cheap & inexpensive way to decode P25 and DMR hopefully under a hundred bucks and can't exactly carry around an SDR and laptop everywhere and I'm having enough trouble getting that configured correctly as it is so I was trying to look into scanners to find cheap ones somewhere and I've noticed some of the radioshack ones are somewhat cheap but I don't know where to get the best deal on one or much about them so I really wouldn't even know where to start on it or where to find those or others that decode p25 and DMR for cheap and it would be nice to either have a base unit that I can maybe hook up in the car or even on my desk or a handheld one would be really ideal and more what I'm looking for so if anyone has any ideas on that I would be greatly appreciative of any advice. I'm not stuck completely on $100 can go up slightly but not by much... I'm trying to keep it under $100 at all possible which I know is a long shot but maybe some of you know some places or scanners that I can pick up cheap somewhere or something like that so let me know if you do! Thanks you all!
What are the most inexpensive P25 and DMR scanners?
- Status
marksmith
Member
SOL. What you are looking for does not exist. Best I can do as a cheap contender is a BCD325P2 at something just north of $325 if you shop around.
A used one on ebay runs in that neighborhood.
If you give up phase 2 capability you can go down another hundred but I have no recommendations for a phase 1 only as systems with phase 1 are going to phase 2.
A used one on ebay runs in that neighborhood.
If you give up phase 2 capability you can go down another hundred but I have no recommendations for a phase 1 only as systems with phase 1 are going to phase 2.
Expect to pay between $300-350 minimum for a second hand receiver with both capabilities. Otherwise the SDR and laptop may be your only option. Digital modes (and the more a scanner can decode) really drive the cost up
The cheapest you might get is $250-$300 for an upgraded GRE or Whistler 1080 or 1095
For P25, you can find it pretty cheap, if you look for a PRO 96 or 2096, one of the very early P25 scanners. The audio won't be very great, but you'll hear words out of it. DMR, is as the others in this thread have stated.
Yeah I was actually thinking about getting a raspberry pi and an SDR but I can't seem to get any of the software to work on even my laptop or understand it I guess and I have a degree in computers which is crazy that I can't seem to understand these programs or get them to work correctly but I guess it's a patient's thing and maybe there isn't really any clear instructions out here that are easy to follow I guess. If I could get it configured that would be awesome I even went and bought one of those Patriotwaves sdrs which I found out are kind of junk but I do have one and it's got two radios in it which they say you need two for the trunking or something like that I just figured it would be easy to configure if I bought one of those but the thing already fell apart and I haven't even had it for a week and it won't pick up anything else so I don't know what to do but it's one called The dark tower on that Patriotwaves sitethat I've got I just have no clue how to get it configured and I've tried to follow the directions that were sent and even looked up things online and can't seem to get it right for some reason on my laptop cuz a raspberry pi would be my next best bet as far as a p25 decoder goes cuz I can just hook an SDR to that and get a little touch screen case or a small screen and just build my own but my laptop is actually a dual boot with Windows 10 and Parrot linux so if anyone has some good instructions on how to get these decoders figured out or programs the easy way or the best most easy to understand software I should say whether it's Linux or Windows I would definitely appreciate the instructions cuz I can't seem to find anything that I can easily get set up without having issues on this laptop for some reason it's just hard to understand how to set up these programs but I have the VB cable program purchased and everything so if anyone has better instructions than I seem to have found one easier program to use I would appreciate the link to it or instructions since I can't seem to follow the ones that they have out on the main sites like dsd+ and things like that I seem to be having issues with cuz there's so many different things going on and I do have ADHD a little bit LOL which is probably why it's a little difficult for me to follow but I mean there's like a bunch of programs to install and his instructions that came with that Patriotwaves sdr we're kind of hard to follow to say the very least and I don't know but it doesn't seem to pick up anything else for some reason like just regular unencrypted transmissions such as my local EMS dispatch or anything but I know my old SDR did from nooelec ended up getting wet a few weeks ago I had to buy the new one but I don't know what the issue is there maybe it's just cuz it's two radios on one cable I don't know it's kind of strange but if nothing else maybe someone can direct me to better setup instructions for this one i have thats easier to follow or an easier to use programthat has less things involved and less programs you have to get going and running even if it's windows or Linux I should be able to get it set up hopefully I'm just not sure what would be the easiest to configure or best software for it that's not got tons of programs you got to open and batch files you got to write and things like that just to get it going....
If it has to be a scanner chepeast will be, as marksmith said, BCD325P2 for around $325. It does have downsides: its not the great on simulcast systems. The DMR upgrade is $60 after you purchase the scanner.
If it dont have to be a physical scanner, look at a RTL SDR with DSD Plus. You would need a computur or laptop to run it. RTL SDR Combo was $32ish on amazon and DSD is $25 (one time) for lifetime updates. If I could do it over again I would go with the sdr first because the less simulcast problems, and the option to do more digital modes then the 325P2 without upgrades.
If it dont have to be a physical scanner, look at a RTL SDR with DSD Plus. You would need a computur or laptop to run it. RTL SDR Combo was $32ish on amazon and DSD is $25 (one time) for lifetime updates. If I could do it over again I would go with the sdr first because the less simulcast problems, and the option to do more digital modes then the 325P2 without upgrades.
www.bluetailtechnologies.com
Look not further.. $259.00
It does Am, FM, P25 Phase 1 and 2, DMR and NXDN all for the same price.. EXCELLENT LSM Reception !!!!
Look not further.. $259.00
It does Am, FM, P25 Phase 1 and 2, DMR and NXDN all for the same price.. EXCELLENT LSM Reception !!!!
OP said he wanted it to be portable and not SDR
That was the longest sentence I have ever seen
bb911
Member
" The P25RX can be a totally portable P25 listening solution when used with a portable USB supply and speaker / headphones."
kb9mwr
Member
Yep, mount it all in an old desktop scanner.
Attachments
Paco-Jerte
You Member, Member!
of course you can .. i bought a used TRX-1 that gets P25 DMR NXDN here at the classifieds that had battery damage. Deep deep cleaning made it work once again.
forums.radioreference.com
Whistler TRX-1 w/leaked battery damage
I have a TRX-1 that I hadn't used in awhile and discovered a battery leak when it wouldn't turn on. Duracell batteries are to blame. Anyway, I have no interest at this point in trying to recover the scanner (even tho it probably is recoverable)...
n1das
Member
n1das
Member
A Pro 96 would do nicely for P25. I had a Pro 96 back in the day and got lots use out of it and also beat the crap out of it. GRE's P25 audio is better than Uniden's P25 audio (not including the SDS100/200) and has AGC in the P25 audio that works well. The audio AGC function can be turned on or off and is on by default.
Okay so an SDR is my definite best route here as far as a budget-friendly p25 and DMR decoder which I already have definitely tried that route and have this Patriotwaves dark Tower SDR which is probably the issue in itself because it's two sdrs in one if that makes sense on a Y USB cable and I don't know what I could be doing wrong but setting up DSD+ twice and getting the batch files written twice and having to do everything twice on here to get this damn thing going is probably the issue I'm having to tell you the truth because I don't know what the hell I'm doing with it but I can't get it to work and I don't know if you even need two of everything like that but that's what the instructions kind of say maybe I'm not reading them right but it looks like you need two dsds two batch files too VB cables andyou know come to find out you don't even need to sdrs to pick this crap up and don't even know why it's sold like that or why there's two here and maybe I just don't understand the whole DMR and p25 thing but I do have a degree in computers and follow technical instructions quite often and instructions on how to do things like DIY projects and things like that but this **** is insanely hard to follow and I have tried so many times now and can't even get support from the guy who sold it to me so maybe someone on here can figure it out or know something about it cuz I know I sure can't get it going with two of everything like freaking Noah's ark or something in my computer cuz nothing's playing together right and something is not working correctly and I do believe it's quite possibly could be the batch files but I could also have to not put two of everything on there but I don't really have a clue and I mean I do computer repair not right batch files although I know someone how they work but the ways he has it written doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense and sure doesn't work and nobody really knows much about these damn sdrs that he's selling but if anyone has any experience with that or knows what I'm doing wrong here or can even write these damn batch files or show me how to write them correctly I would appreciate it cuz maybe it's that and maybe I'm not supposed to have two of everything cuz it didn't look like I was supposed to have something in twos but I wasn't really sure what was going on with this thing or even had to set it up and didn't know you actually didn't need a two SDR setup to listen to p25 & DMR but I did buy this SDR early on into my research into trying to pick up these protocols and things and thought maybe you needed two like he was saying and regardless the promise of helping customer service was a big selling point but I can't seem to get that or even an answer back from him so I mean either he's not standing behind his product or maybe even the feebies get this door in or something for listening to the wrong **** but hey I'm pretty sure a lot of us are on watch lists especially listening to this protocol and things like this or military communications in general but yeah if anyone has any advice or can help me figure this damn **** out I would appreciate it and it's not like I have a goofy weird laptop or anything that I'm trying to set this up on it's literally an Asus flip book 14 I do believe it's called and it's just one of the newer touch screen laptops so I mean it's not some custom job or some weird laptop to where it's going to have bad driver issues or set up weird or anything it's just trying to get them best files right and these dual programs for everything is just insanely confusing to say the least and with the crappy support on the product it doesn't help nor do his instructions that don't really tell you specific specific things but I did follow them precisely and the batch file crap is really the part that's not working at all because I got to get both of them running are both chips in this SDR evidently cuz you can't just use one supposedly when it's on a y cable and I don't even know how that works but that's how this thing is set up so hopefully I can get some help with it on here since he won't help or whoever the hell sells this thing but I do think I'll try him again maybe he's out of the feds or something by now LOL
It really isn’t a good idea to buy the least expensive scanners to monitor these systems.
- Status
Similar threads
BCD436HP/BCD536HP:
'Unscannable' trunked system or just me? Shift DMR Australia
