I have done a little research on this and it seems that most departments have upgraded to something I think they call “trunked” frequencies. I think that is a form of frequency hopping but I’m not sure.
It also seems that there are radios (scanners) available that can handle trunked freqs but I can’t really tell if this lets you listen to all police bands or just some.
My last personal experience with this was in the early 90’s. I don’t recall why I lost interest, but it’s something I was thinking of getting back into.
Most public safety agencies that are going digital trunking are going to Motorola P25 systems. Scanners that will pick this up, provided it is unencrypted (most of them aren’t encrypted) cost several hundred dollars but are available.
If you do indeed need a scanner that does digital trunking, the Radio Shack Pro 106/197 are two models that will do that (I have a Pro 106). Bearcat aslo makes models but I’m not familiar with them.
Fubaya: Thanks very much for pointing me to that site. It is a fantastic reference. They don’t have the cop channels I want but the do have tons of info.
**aceplace57: **I checked out the trunking scanners at the shack and that turned out to be a good call - see below.
Speaking as someone posting from Northern Ireland the concept of the general public listening to police transmissions is frankly bizarre. Aren’t there security and safety implications regarding that?
To use a prosaic example couldn’t bank robbers listen to the police net and work out how far away the cops are?
I have a very similar scanner (a PSR-500, which is the same thing with the speaker in a different location and a different logo on it), and I like it. The only thing you need to consider is that RS doesn’t include an AC adapter or programming cable with the 106. While it can be programmed by hand, it’s monumentally easier (both physically and conceptually) to do it on the computer.
Thank you. that’s an important consideration. I’m going to check what accessories they have but I suspect I can get a better deal by going with aftermarket accessories. Do you have any recommendations? thank you.
Well, I did some research, and honestly I’m a little upset with Radio Shack.
Apparently, when you buy the cable, it comes with a trial or crippled version of the software you need. After digging through the manual I found that it’s the ARC500 software from a company in the Netherlands called Butel.
You also need a subscription to the radioreference site mentioned earlier. Altogether, it adds up to about another $100 on top of the $290 sale price. So I think we can safely call that $400.
Even so, I’m still very tempted. I’m going to sleep on it and go back to see what the comparable bearcats come with. They are around $450 which I though was pretty steep by comparison. I really should have come to expect these sorts of tricks by now.:smack:
There’s also Win500 and PSRedit500. (I use Win500.) Arc500 and Win500 both have 30-day trials (PRSedit might too, but the site isn’t forthcoming), so you can shop around and see which one you like best.
You don’t need it. The software still works without it. The subscription just allows you to import frequencies straight from their database. I got by for a while by copying and pasting things into a spreadsheet, arranging them around, and then copying and pasting into the software. (I know Arc500 and Win500 both allow you to paste data in. I don’t know if PSRedit500 does.)
While bank robbers aren’t that sophisticated, it is known around here that if you were to call 911 about gang activity, especially near a known gang residence where an affiliate or other member may be inside listening to police bands, you should request a “silent call” with the 911 operator, so dispatch knows not to give details over the air. Available units call in for instructions, or they use a different channel the “listeners” don’t know to switch to.
I follow a blogger who occasionally lists what kinds of calls he heard over his scanner over a particular evening, and there are some police band listeners who post on Everyblock, too, about activity in the area that people might be posting questions about.
In my area a lot of the police SWAT / tactical / narcotics / anti-gang type units do use encryption. General dispatch does not (although I think most of the routine police dispatch is done by computer). Most mobile to mobile is not encrypted. Fire, EMS, dogcatcher, etc. are never encrypted. I’m not sure if it’s the expense of adding an encryption option to thousands of radios, or if it would hinder emergency communication. One of the motives for going to P25 (besides increased capacity issues with digitial trunking) is so everyone: police, fire, EMS, the local dogcatcher who’s driving home from work and happens to be the first on the accident scene, can talk to each other. In the old days everbody’s frequency would be different.
For what it’s worth, it seems to me Radio Shack has Kohls type “sales” where the “sale” is the real price and they jack up the price temporarily and then lower it back down again. I bought mine on the last day of a sale, and then I noticed it was on sale a month later.
There is the interesting site http://youarelistening.to/ which combines police feeds of major cities with ambient music for some nice background listening. It gets the feeds from radioreference.com. Montreal is nice if you want something relaxing but Chicago is extremely frantic, vernacular, and sometimes really funny.
