So, my finance is finding that she loves listening to the radios that I use for work, she enjoys using the scanner apps for her phone, and enjoys listening to my amateur radios...yes I know I am a lucky man...LOL. So for a wedding gift I would like to get her one of the high end scanners, but I have not owned one since the late 90's and a bit has changed. We are located in Mississippi, so obviously monitoring the state radio system MSWIN is big. We will be traveling, camping and doing outdoor stuff in surrounding states, so I need the unit to be somewhat portable. I was looking at the SDS100, then noticed another couple of units that stated they support P25 Phase II systems. I have read on here about simlucast towers and that they are an issue for some scanners. MSWIN is a P25, mostly phase II system, but I'm not sure if some of the towers are simlucast or not. Any help would be appreciated.
Which Scanner for Fiance
- Thread starter csimpson911
- Start date
- Status
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2007
- Messages
- 5,640
For me it would be a simple answer, because it's a wedding gift you want to get the best. Some will say it depends on what you listen to and it does but give her the best with the best display and make it a portable so she can carry it in her car and pocketbook. An sds100 from Uniden is a good choice. It's a steep learning curve and you'll have to program it for her and get familiar with it by reading radio reference.
Buy it from a reputable vender who has a money back guarantee like Scanner Master, Bearcat Warehouse or Maine Trading Company so if there are any issues you can return it or exchange it.
You are a lucky man.
Buy it from a reputable vender who has a money back guarantee like Scanner Master, Bearcat Warehouse or Maine Trading Company so if there are any issues you can return it or exchange it.
You are a lucky man.
Looking over the MSWIN system it appears that there are few counties using simulcast sites, even if they aren't in your immediate vicinity you could encounter them as you travel. The SDS100 would be a good choice being as it is portable and does handle simulcast better than most other handhelds. The only thing that I saw that might be disappointing is that the Highway Patrol is fully encrypted, so you won't be able to monitor them.
tvengr
Well Known Member
Travelling out of state, you will encounter many simulcast systems. Highway patrol may be encrypted in MS, but is clear in many states. If you want something to grab and stick in a cup holder, the SDS100 would be an excellent choice. You can use it on external power while in the vehicle. The SDS scanners are the only ones that will work with my local and surrounding simulcast systems.
Which county is the home county so we know what recommendations to make..
Be safe
Be safe
I am in Neshoba, but travel the state teaching and we will be traveling to surrounding states often.
Neshoba County is on MSWIN as well as most of the State. Several suggestions have been offered, all good.
Some of Neshoba County has DMR.
As slhbeard has noted, your home county, Neshoba, does have several DMR channels, including for the S.O. as well as county fire. They also have a few talkgroups on the statewide system, MSWIN.
While your home county does not appear to use a simulcast site, if you travel the state teaching, as well as some of the surrounding states, it's all but a certainty that in some of those areas, you will encounter simulcast. So, an SDS100, which is portable & can easily be taken with you, appears to be a good option. It can deal with simulcast in the areas where you might encounter it. And, being a database scanner, when you are in territory you are not as familiar with as you are when at home, you can simply enter a location, range, and selected service types and be monitoring that area's systems quite easily.
As already noted, there's no "workaround" for those agencies who use encryption, but you should still have many things that your fiance can hear. For your home area, the DMR upgrade would be useful/ However, don't pay the dealer to add it for you. Wait till you get the scanner, then when you're ready, purchase the upgrade directly from Uniden. Depending on the dealer, some of them add a markup of $15 to $25 (or more) to what the upgrade costs if you do it yourself. While I would not expect there will be an issue with the new scanner, it would be prudent to hold off buying the upgrade until you make sure you are happy with your purchase. If, for some unknown reason, you had to return the scanner, if you jumped the gun & immediately added the DMR upgrade, you would not be able to automatically transfer that to a replacement.
That is correct, I have a county radio for the fire side of things, the sheriff's department has moved to MSWIN. The city fire and police are moving to MSWIN from their DMR system soon. So I won't purchase the upgrade for now.
scanphreak
Member
SDS100 is certainly going to be the top of the line. I don't own one, but I have a BCD436HP I keep at home, and I carry a BCD325P2 because it's much smaller. I can pretty much monitor anything that isn't encrypted on these two scanners. But if I could justify the 700 dollar price tag, I'd get an SDS100. Bottom line, if the SDS100 can't scan it, nothing else will.
Just an update for the folks that responded. I purchased the SDS 100, set up some favorites lists, and turned my fiance loose with it. I now get multiple text updates throughout the day on events happening in her local area....so I would say it was a hit. I appreciate the assistance.
devicelab
Whacker Extraordinaire
@devicelab bahahahahahah....I'll get right on that
Enjoy your scanner and plz be sure to update the database with new talkgroups, it can be done anonymously
- Status
