What can I hear in Broward County?

[humeston]

Been a decade or more since I was into scanning. Man, everything has changed! I want to listen to police, fire, air. Will a Radio Shack Pro 2055 do the trick? I live in Pembroke Pines, Not far from Hollywood. I appreciate any help/guidance.

I have an old Pro 2006 but I guess its prtetty useless as it doesn't do trucking.....

Thanks agian.
Howard

 

[MNRotrMedic]

Broward County, FL

In Broward County it appears as though the RS PRO-2055 is a good option for you. Your County Trunked System which is where you'll hear most of the stuff that you're looking for does say that it is a P-25 common air interface which means that some of the talkgroups are/can be digital. The PRO-2055 cannot decode digital talkgroups or control channels.

The database here on RR does not indicate which (if any) of the talk groups are digital so there's no way of knowing how much (if anything) you'll miss out on by not having digital decode.

If you're interested in exploring other scanners, consider the BC250D by Uniden if you can get one with the digital card. It is an older scanner but you may be able to find one for about the cost of a new PRO-2055 but you'd be able to decode the digital talkgroups. Again, i can't really tell you if the digital is necessary or not.

If you do decide on the 2055 i would highly recommend that you invest in the programming cable and Win97 programming software. Simple things like text tags that can take forever to program by hand get done in a snap with the software.

I do have the handheld version of the PRO-2055 (the PRO-97) and the Uniden BC250D that i mentioned. They are both fantastic scanners.

 

[MNRotrMedic]

I must have WAY too much time on my hands :lol:

After checking on the capabilities of the RS PRO-2006 and double checking the database here on RR.com you may not need to buy another scanner at all.

If you only want to listen to fire traffic from your city of Pembrook Pines then the PRO-2006 is sufficient.

It looks as though any law enforcement traffic will be dispatched on the county TRS though.

I have about eight scanners so i'm obviously an advocate for utilizing multiple scanners.

 

[humeston]

Thanks much, you've been very helpful.

 

[sflmonitor]

Most of Dade, Broward and Palm Beach systems are analog. However, in Broward there are some TG's that are digital (Hollywood police and fire).

Joe

 

[W4KRR]

Matt and Joe are correct. Pembroke Pines police are dispatched on the Broward County Motorola trunked system, which is analog for the most part. There are some undercover and surveilance talkgroups that are digital, but most routine dispatch traffic is analog. The Pembroke Pines fire/rescue dept. uses 453 MHz analog conventional channels. Most any scanner should work fine for these. Hollywood police and fire/rescue are all digital, so you would need a digital capable scanner for listening to Hollywood.

 

[RevGary]

Not trying to be 'cute' but what can be heard in Broward County this afternoon is thunder from the severe thunderstorm bands moving through from the outer effects of Alberto.

Hope that everyone is doing OK with the flooding in the west central part of the state and the frequent lightning strikes throughout Central Florida. Take care and be safe!!