Scanners

[Ltlabner]

Looking into upgrading my scanners. I have several decent hand-held units but would like to invest in a nice base unit so I can monitor the suroundings and keep my ear to the ground for impending SHTF.

What are some good base units?

What are issues to consider regarding scanners?

I've heard that some police departments have stopped broadcasting on "scannable" frequencies....is this true?

What can I expect to pay?

I'll look around on my own, but any advice you guys might have would be appricated.

[mitunnelrat]

I'm running into the same problem with scanners. There seems to have been a nationwide push for the 800mhz systems and now my equipment is obsolete. It seems that to get a decent unit for this I'll be spending about $500. However, they are able to transition from a base configuration to portable depending on your needs. I haven't nailed down all of the manufacturers yet, but do know that Uniden is one of them, as stated in the last post.

[ptannjr]

most are moving to the scrambled digital signals. i know that many of the officers here dont even use the radios for alot, they get info via IM on the laptops. Much more secure. The old school scanners are going to be useless if the JBTs come rolling out.

[Alredneck]

Would they be on any of the GMRS freqs, I have 2 Motorola GMRS base station radios one with built in scanner (GM360, GM160 ) used to be used by the GOVT but they are goin to ICOMs. I havent hooked them up yet cause I need a ANT for them but supposedly still have the last fill in them before being turned in. Even with out comsec would the scan feature pick anything up? I was planing on using them for internal comms and picking up some handelds off the auction as well to work with them. I am also looking for the comsec cd to do the fill to change at different intervals. Any ideas?

[alpmco]

I moved over to a trunking scanner when the locals went that way. Then they started going digital ... now digitally encrypted.
Forget about monitoring them once they go encrypted.

[DEFCON1]

right now the only agencies encrypted to my knowledge are
Winter Park PD
Orlando PD
and FHP

Orlando FD is digital but not encrypted.

Orange county is going encrypted digital in 2009..

Until then.. Enjoy this link fellas.. while it lasts.. works great on my PC and My Sprint PDA.

i let it stream via WINAMP on my pc. and my Centro cell phone plays it automatically when the link is input.

http://heliosj.iddings.us:8000/seminolescanner.m3u
Current Talkgroups Scanned:

* Orange County Fire
* Seminole County Fire
* Seminole County Sheriff Department
* Ocoee Police Department
* Altamonte Springs Police Department
* Winter Springs Police Department

[BobS]

There are ways to get the new freq's decoded and scanned, but I don't believe anyone on here would be happy with the price of admittance (the cost-used).....

http://www.dxing.com/rx/hf1000.htm (this model is not for vhf/uhf/microwave, but an illustration of what WJ makes-and the fedcops use in certain instances)

Best regards,

Bob

[madmyk]

I wouldn't bother investing much in the way of scanners at this point. While you will have some(still quite a few at this time) local (city/county) agencies using "plain old radio" the future has arrived. In FL all state LEO, and even some other agencies, have gone to digitally encrypted VOIP. Short of hacking into a VERY secure computer network, you will not be scanning anything. The fed is onboard, many state/county agencies are onboard. They will all be going this way most likely. It has been claimed the reason for this is to ease communications between agencies. Get everyone on the same system and you do not have to worry about group a not being able to talk directly to group b.