What scanner is best for Greensboro police?

[funsutton]

Hi everyone. I'm new here and this is my first post.

I used to work at radio shack many moons ago (in the 90s) and I had portable scanner back then that I used to quite a bit. It was 800mhz capable and I would listen to cell phones (I assume that's not possible nowadays) and police broadcasts on the lower 150-160 mhz range. This was around the time that 800mhz trunking systems were getting started.

It appears that a lot has changed since then and I feel like a fish out of water. I see a lot of chatter about P25 and simulcast systems, as well as which scanners are best suited to pick up those types of broadcasts versus non simulcast systems.

I realize there is much I don't understand and I'm sure I'll figure it all out eventually. But the bottom line for this post is me trying to figure out exactly what is used in my area, which is Greensboro, and which scanner is best suited to pick up Greensboro police as well as Guilford County.

I know Greensboro uses P25 Phase I which is in the 800mhz band, but I have no idea what this means. Also, does Greensboro police use simulcast? I've read that SDS100 is better for picking up simulcast than the BCD436HP. Is that true for Greensboro?

And I see this VIPER term being discussed. Is that applicable for Greensboro Police and is one scanner better at listening to this than the other?

I apologize for all the newb questions, but it's not so easy for a fish out of water to find these answers with so much foreign technical lingo out there, so I figured I'd try the direct approach.

Thanks for any help.

 

[jake_Braker]

It looks like they use 2 different simulcast "sites" on their system with about 2-3 towers a piece along with a standalone site. VIPER uses 3 standalone towers in the county as well for SHP and other state agencies (Triad Park , Riverdale Rd, and Greensboro A & T )
Honestly, in my opinion, you can choose between a (going off of base scanners) a BCD996P2, BCD536HP or an SDS200. It just depends on how many features you want your scanner to have such as full screen customizability
If you need any further assistance, please feel free to let us know!

 

[fredva]

Because the primary agencies you are interested in use simulcast, it would be best to invest in a scanner designed for simulcast. That would be the SDS-100 or SDS-200. The issue with simulcast is that it is location-dependent: If you are lucky enough to be in a "sweet spot", an older generation scanner might do OK on simulcast. But that's often not the case. And forget about taking it mobile because you are going to go into areas where the scanner won't perform well, even if it works fine at home. The best bet is a scanner made to handle simulcast, even though it will cost more than other options.

Simulcast has an adverse effect on scanners not made for it because digital transmissions are coming from multiple towers on the same frequency simultaneously. Because those towers are usually at different distances to the scanner, the signals arrive at the scanner out of sync with each other, causing distortion if the scanner isn't designed to handle the situation. In some cases, you hear garbled voices. Sometimes, you don't hear the transmissions at all.

 

[KB4SHP]

I would only look at the SDS100 or SDS 200 they are the only scanner that will pick Guilford/Greensboro system where you can hear it anything else may or may not. Also it works great on viper

 

[funsutton]

Ok this helps tremendously. I'll look into getting my hands on an sds100.

Also, do outside antennas for home really help with these scanners, or are they even necessary? I live in central North Greensboro about 10 minutes from downtown.

 

[jake_Braker]

Ok this helps tremendously. I'll look into getting my hands on an sds100.

Also, do outside antennas for home really help with these scanners, or are they even necessary? I live in central North Greensboro about 10 minutes from downtown.

I have a directional (Yagi) antenna on the outside of my house on my 996P2 and I've noticed little to no issues on a 3 site simulcast in the area. I would imagine they do. However, since you said you want to get a 100 (handheld) I would recommend a Remtronix REM-820s

 

[funsutton]

Thanks for the advice. I'll definitely go with the Remtronix.

I actually saw a couple in the classified I'm interested in, but I'm unable to contact the sellers. So not sure how to go about buying them. I guess I'm too new.

 

[jake_Braker]

Thanks for the advice. I'll definitely go with the Remtronix.

I actually saw a couple in the classified I'm interested in, but I'm unable to contact the sellers. So not sure how to go about buying them. I guess I'm too new.

Your message score might be too low right now. It's just a spam prevention measure RR has implemented.

 

[BigLebowski]

The main "Greensboro" site (Site A) is a simulcast of multiple sites (including Burlington) that cover all of Guilford County. Thomasville has their own site (Site C). High Point is no longer part of the system.

In the coming months much of the Greensboro PD traffic other than dispatch will be strapped secure.

 

[funsutton]

In the coming months much of the Greensboro PD traffic other than dispatch will be strapped secure.

Just to clarify, you are saying that Greensboro PD will be going to mostly encrypted channels in the coming months? Meaning, it might not be a good idea to spend a bunch of money on a scanner?

 

[BigLebowski]

Just to clarify, you are saying that Greensboro PD will be going to mostly encrypted channels in the coming months? Meaning, it might not be a good idea to spend a bunch of money on a scanner?

Dispatch will still be in the clear along with a few operational talkgroups like Conference and Ops. LE TAC's will be strapped secure along with anything related to any special teams or investigative talkgroups.

 

[Chris0516]

Believe it, or not(Uniden says it doesn't). I can pick up simulcast with my BCD325p2. But, If you can get the SDS100/200. That would probably be better. Because of the increased capabilities.

 

[WRQS621]

Believe it, or not(Uniden says it doesn't). I can pick up simulcast with my BCD325p2. But, If you can get the SDS100/200. That would probably be better. Because of the increased capabilities.

I agree, I have a BCD325p2 it picks most of what you would want to listen to. Most simulcast system I run into in NC are DE (Digital Encrypted) for Police. I also run Unitrunker w/DSD+ and two cheap SDRs. I find SDRs are useful in finding new frequencies.