Analog and Digital Scanners

[MJW89519]

I want to pick up a basic mobile scanner to listen to analog air frequencies when my son is flying. I see the Uniden SR30C and several older models, $100-$300. Any recommendation?

And should I upgrade to a digital capable scanner? For example, a Uniden BCD325P2 and a number of other choices in $300-$600. What do I gain and/or what might I find of interest or value for the extra cost?

Thanks

 

[Gullwing]

Damn I had something like that eight months ago, I think it sold for like ten bucks or I gave it away. Check ebay might get lucky, or other auction sites.

 

[NYECOGunsmith]

If you also want to listen to the local Police, Fire, Highway Patrol, etc. go with the combination digital and analog, most agencies are switching to trunk tracking digital and you won't hear anything from them with a straight analog receiver.

 

[TheSilverWind]

If you also want to listen to the local Police, Fire, Highway Patrol, etc. go with the combination digital and analog, most agencies are switching to trunk tracking digital and you won't hear anything from them with a straight analog receiver.

Las Vegas Metro is one of the 2 or 3 police departments in the nation that have encrypted radios. It happened after the Mandalay Bay shooting, when people recorded some of the police transmissions, that raised a lot of questions about the event. You won't hear anything with an analog or digital scanner. I might be wrong, but I have several scanners and I can't understand anything on the police frequencies like I used to 10 years ago

 

[NYECOGunsmith]

Nye county S.O. uses encrypted trunking for our tactical channels, same as metro, without the encryption key you don't hear anything intelligible.

 

[MJW89519]

Thanks. Do you have a recommendation on radios? If your money, which would you get? And, are there others beyond Uniden to consider?

 

[NYECOGunsmith]

Any of the Uniden Trunk Trackers in either the hand held or larger mobile base stations
versions will work well. I use a Trunk Tracker III mobile here at home.

 

[MJW89519]

I've gone ahead and ordered a Uniden BCD325P2. As supplied antenna are often limiting, any recommendations for a 3rd party replacement?

 

[NYECOGunsmith]

Most any extended scanner antenna with a BNC connector will improve reception when portable, as the larger the capture area the better the signal reception.
Not necessarily this one, just like it I mean...
Bingfu Police Radio Scanner Antenna 20-1300Mhz 7 Sections Telescopic BNC Male Antenna Ham Radio Handheld CB Radio Antenna For Uniden Whistler Police - Search Shopping

For use in a car, a mag mount roof scanner antenna will be the way to go, and at home,
again, not necessarily this one, but something like it,
Bingfu 20-1300Mhz Police Scanner Antenna Radio Magnetic Base HF VHF UHF Two Way Ham BNC Male Compatible With Uniden Bearcat Whistler Shack - Search Shopping

For home use, a good roof mounted Discone antenna like this works very well, and can be used to transmit on some ham and GMRS bands as well.
Tram® Scanner 25mhz-1,300mhz Vhf/uhf Super Discone Base Antenna - Walmart.com

You can always buy adapters to adapt the BNC connector to a SMA, Reverse SMA, or PL259 for ham use.

 

[MJW89519]

Any recommendations on programming software for the BCD325P2?

 

[NYECOGunsmith]

Proscan, free trial download, and not expensive if you decide to go with it. I think it's $50 now.

 

[MJW89519]

Okay, I installed ProScan and upgraded my existing Radio Reference account to premium so I can download frequency data. I installed the latest firmware for the radio. Also did a reset to clear any data.

I downloaded three sets of data (my names)

1. RNO - which has selected Reno airport frequencies
2. NV P25S - 59 TGIDs (police, fire, etc.)
3. NV EDC - 82 TGIDs (police, fire, etc.)

When I scan, either from Proscan or from the radio, all it cycles through is RNO. I cannot figure out how to scan the others, even switch to one, or whether they are not scanning because they are not configured correctly.

Surprisingly, I cannot find any useful intro or getting started videos, nothing that seems explain any of this. The manual for the BCD325P2 is lots of detail but not much for step 1, 2, and 3. At the point of beating my head against a wall.

Any suggestions? Step by step?

 

[MJW89519]

Figured it out. I'll open a new post to discuss programming.

 

[Px4Shooter]

Las Vegas Metro is one of the 2 or 3 police departments in the nation that have encrypted radios. It happened after the Mandalay Bay shooting, when people recorded some of the police transmissions, that raised a lot of questions about the event. You won't hear anything with an analog or digital scanner. I might be wrong, but I have several scanners and I can't understand anything on the police frequencies like I used to 10 years ago

Not true at all.... Agencies have been using encryption for quite awhile. Metro was slow to the program due to transparency and media complaining about locking them out.

While I liked open radio freqs and transmissions, broadcasting people's name, DOB, SSN, plates, criminal history, etc. was something that needed to be stopped. There were already channels that were non-repeater so the scan range was limited too, so not every transmission could be heard on a scanner.

After 9/11 and inter-agency comms was pushed, it took decades before stuff really reached a good level. Trying to buy into junk systems and cheap options, while testing technology, created delays in actually having functional systems. Everyone thought the mil was the best testing ground, but that isn't the same thing. Tyco/Harris was a joke of a system. Granted, tech improved and CAD systems transitioned to cell based options over radio based.

IP based systems have really opened the door to sharing comms and making it much easier to encrypt and control access.

Personally, we had A LOT more fun before the full digital kicked in. The ability to say things whenever and not be tracked was awesome. Now, every radio is a GPS pod that tracks everything you do and say. Tracks when it is on, what channel and so on. It was tracked that day on 10/1 just to see if the system properly handled all those radios operating on a single channel.