Cheap P25 scanner???
 

Could anyone recommend a reasonably priced scanner that can pick up APCO
PC25 digital transmissions? My hometown's PD & FD recently switched over to
that mode - so with my "old" scanner, I have NO idea what's going on in town
anymore! Reason for wanting a cheapie is that EVERY OTHER department in the
area is analog and I can monitor them just fine with my Bearcat 9000XLT
(which I love!). So, basically looking for a 2-channel P25 unit - heh.
Thanks in advance.

John B.

Cheap P25 scanner???
 

"John B." wrote in message
...
Could anyone recommend a reasonably priced scanner that can pick up APCO
PC25 digital transmissions? My hometown's PD & FD recently switched over
to
that mode - so with my "old" scanner, I have NO idea what's going on in
town
anymore! Reason for wanting a cheapie is that EVERY OTHER department in
the
area is analog and I can monitor them just fine with my Bearcat 9000XLT
(which I love!). So, basically looking for a 2-channel P25 unit - heh.
Thanks in advance.

John B.



What's your idea of "cheap"? Also you need to make sure they can still be
monitored. Just because they went digital does not mean you can pick them up
with a Digital scanner. Unless you can find another person in your area it's
hard to know for sure. perhaps the best way would be to go to a local radio
shack and see if they have a digital scanner to demo. then see if you can
pick up the local PD.
--
"Everything in excess! To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites.
Moderation is for monks."

[Lazarus Long]

Cheap P25 scanner???
 

"Evan Platt" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 19 Sep 2006 14:40:44 -0400, "John B."
wrote:

Could anyone recommend a reasonably priced scanner that can pick up APCO
PC25 digital transmissions? My hometown's PD & FD recently switched over
to
that mode - so with my "old" scanner, I have NO idea what's going on in
town
anymore! Reason for wanting a cheapie is that EVERY OTHER department in
the
area is analog and I can monitor them just fine with my Bearcat 9000XLT
(which I love!). So, basically looking for a 2-channel P25 unit - heh.
Thanks in advance.

For digital scanners, cheap doesn't go together.

You're looking at $400 or so. Granted I haven't kept up with non
Uniden scanners, but anything Uniden and digital is going to be $400
or more.

And so I'm gathering in doing further research online. The P25 card to pop
into one of these high-end Unidens is almost $200 alone! There are a few
used P25-ready scanners on eBay going for around $200 --- that's probably my
best bet.

John B.

Cheap P25 scanner???
 

"Alex Clayton" wrote in message
...
"John B." wrote in message
...
Could anyone recommend a reasonably priced scanner that can pick up APCO
PC25 digital transmissions? My hometown's PD & FD recently switched
over
to
that mode - so with my "old" scanner, I have NO idea what's going on in
town
anymore! Reason for wanting a cheapie is that EVERY OTHER department in
the
area is analog and I can monitor them just fine with my Bearcat 9000XLT
(which I love!). So, basically looking for a 2-channel P25 unit - heh.
Thanks in advance.

John B.



What's your idea of "cheap"? Also you need to make sure they can still be
monitored. Just because they went digital does not mean you can pick them
up
with a Digital scanner. Unless you can find another person in your area
it's
hard to know for sure. perhaps the best way would be to go to a local
radio
shack and see if they have a digital scanner to demo. then see if you can
pick up the local PD.
--
"Everything in excess! To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites.
Moderation is for monks."

[Lazarus Long]


Good point and great idea of going to Radio Shack in town. I'm sure others
have gone there looking for the same.

John B.

Cheap P25 scanner???
 

"John B." wrote in message
...

Good point and great idea of going to Radio Shack in town. I'm sure
others
have gone there looking for the same.

John B.



Hope you can find the info you want. If it turns out they have gone to a Non
encrypted digital you can hear, I would get a Uniden if you want to listen.
They will run around $500.00 for one that will pick up the Digital, but they
have a nice one that fits in a shirt pocket.
--
"Little girls like butterflies, need no excuse".

Lazarus Long

Cheap P25 scanner???
 

"Evan Platt" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 20 Sep 2006 08:48:01 -0400, "John B."
wrote:

And so I'm gathering in doing further research online. The P25 card to
pop
into one of these high-end Unidens is almost $200 alone!

Be careful - a good number of the scanners are Digital already. Only a
few (they will generally say "P25 READY") need the card.

There are a few used P25-ready scanners on eBay going for around $200 ---
that's probably my
best bet.

"Going for" - you mean currently at $200 with 3 days left to go?

The majority of the bidding is done in the last hours or even minutes.

They run close to $500.00 new. If you see one on Ebay that is a buy it now
or is won for $200.00 I would be VERY surprised if it actually worked when
you got it. If you really want to take a chance, make damn sure you pay with
a Credit Card. At least then when you get it, if it does not work you will
get your money back. If the seller will not let you pay with a Credit card
don't even consider it.
--
"Little girls like butterflies, need no excuse".

Lazarus Long

Cheap P25 scanner???
 

John B. wrote:

Good point and great idea of going to Radio Shack in town. I'm sure others
have gone there looking for the same.

John B.

Will anything from RS even survive rebanding???

Cheap P25 scanner???
 

On 20 Sep 2006 23:45:46 -0700, wrote:

Will anything from RS even survive rebanding???

Since no one (not even Motorola) knows exactly how rebanding will end
up, no one can know what scanners can or can't survive it.

Cheap P25 scanner???
 

wrote in message
ups.com...

John B. wrote:

Good point and great idea of going to Radio Shack in town. I'm sure
others
have gone there looking for the same.

John B.

Will anything from RS even survive rebanding???


Who knows. I would not recommend buying anything from them, just use it to
see if you can actually hear what the PD is sending. It's real iffy asking
around. Someone may "tell" you it's something you can pick up, but if you
buy a Digital Scanner then find out they did not know what they were talking
about, you are sitting there with an expensive scanner that will do you no
good. We have a P-25 system here, but I have never been able to find out for
sure if it can be monitored or not. I have found that the only way to know
for sure is find a Digital scanner and try it. If a Pro-96 will pick it up,
then you can thank them, go out and buy a Uniden.
--
Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. --Benjamin
Franklin

Cheap P25 scanner???
 

John B. - have you checked www.radioreference.com to see what type of
digital system is in use? As far as I know, you can
monitor/decode/trunk track any digital and/or trunked system unless it
is encrypted, OpenSky, Passport, or ProVoice. (I am sure there are
exceptions to this "rule".)

Peter Sz

Cheap P25 scanner???
 

In article , alexx1400
@yahoo.com says...
wrote in message
ups.com...

John B. wrote:

Good point and great idea of going to Radio Shack in town. I'm sure
others
have gone there looking for the same.

John B.

Will anything from RS even survive rebanding???


Who knows. I would not recommend buying anything from them, just use it to
see if you can actually hear what the PD is sending. It's real iffy asking
around. Someone may "tell" you it's something you can pick up, but if you
buy a Digital Scanner then find out they did not know what they were talking
about, you are sitting there with an expensive scanner that will do you no
good. We have a P-25 system here, but I have never been able to find out for
sure if it can be monitored or not. I have found that the only way to know
for sure is find a Digital scanner and try it. If a Pro-96 will pick it up,
then you can thank them, go out and buy a Uniden.



Then realize you liked the Pro-96 better and take it back.

BDK

Cheap P25 scanner???
 

"zerg90" wrote in message
ups.com...
John B. - have you checked www.radioreference.com to see what type of
digital system is in use? As far as I know, you can
monitor/decode/trunk track any digital and/or trunked system unless it
is encrypted, OpenSky, Passport, or ProVoice. (I am sure there are
exceptions to this "rule".)

Peter Sz


The RR site is sometimes great, but I have found for the system here it's of
no help. The info is outdated and has not been brought up to date. I and at
least one other person tried to help, but they were not interested so I gave
up. It's a great site for info, but I would not recommend buying a $500.00
scanner just because it said it would work unless you could confirm it.
--
"Everything in excess! To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites.
Moderation is for monks."

[Lazarus Long]

Cheap P25 scanner???
 

Al Klein wrote:
On 20 Sep 2006 23:45:46 -0700, wrote:

Will anything from RS even survive rebanding???

Since no one (not even Motorola) knows exactly how rebanding will end
up, no one can know what scanners can or can't survive it.

My comment was based on this statement on the Grove site:

Getting The Most From The New Uniden Scanners
by Paul Opitz

"The major impact of rebanding will be on all Motorola analog using the
BC-235/245/895/780/250D/785D scanners and P25 systems using the
250D/785D scanners. The fore mentioned scanners cannot be used when
rebanding plan is implemented and cannot be flash upgraded. The
customer will have to buy a new scanner to monitor any system that
changes frequencies due to rebanding. "

Cheap P25 scanner???
 

On 7 Oct 2006 10:03:58 -0700, wrote:

Al Klein wrote:
On 20 Sep 2006 23:45:46 -0700, wrote:

Will anything from RS even survive rebanding???

Since no one (not even Motorola) knows exactly how rebanding will end
up, no one can know what scanners can or can't survive it.

My comment was based on this statement on the Grove site:

Getting The Most From The New Uniden Scanners
by Paul Opitz

"The major impact of rebanding will be on all Motorola analog using the
BC-235/245/895/780/250D/785D scanners and P25 systems using the
250D/785D scanners. The fore mentioned scanners cannot be used when
rebanding plan is implemented and cannot be flash upgraded. The
customer will have to buy a new scanner to monitor any system that
changes frequencies due to rebanding. "

That doesn't say that certain other scanners WILL be flash-upgradable
- it only addresses whether those 8 will be, and they won't,
regardless of the final outcome of rebanding.

Whether any current scanner will be upgradable - by flashing or
otherwise - after rebanding remains to be seen. If, for example,
channel numbers can be arbitrarily assigned to frequencies (there's
equipment that can do that now), you won't be able to program a
scanner unless you have that assignment list - which would probably be
closely guarded.

We're all - users, designers and manufacturers - in the same boat.
We'll just have to wait and see. And you can bet that it's going to
take longer to arrive at the final solution than it's supposed to.
When has a government job ever come in early or for less than
originally planned?

Cheap P25 scanner???
 

Al Klein wrote:
On 7 Oct 2006 10:03:58 -0700, wrote:

Al Klein wrote:
On 20 Sep 2006 23:45:46 -0700, wrote:

Will anything from RS even survive rebanding???

Since no one (not even Motorola) knows exactly how rebanding will end
up, no one can know what scanners can or can't survive it.

My comment was based on this statement on the Grove site:

Getting The Most From The New Uniden Scanners
by Paul Opitz

"The major impact of rebanding will be on all Motorola analog using the
BC-235/245/895/780/250D/785D scanners and P25 systems using the
250D/785D scanners. The fore mentioned scanners cannot be used when
rebanding plan is implemented and cannot be flash upgraded. The
customer will have to buy a new scanner to monitor any system that
changes frequencies due to rebanding. "

That doesn't say that certain other scanners WILL be flash-upgradable
- it only addresses whether those 8 will be, and they won't,
regardless of the final outcome of rebanding.

Whether any current scanner will be upgradable - by flashing or
otherwise - after rebanding remains to be seen. If, for example,
channel numbers can be arbitrarily assigned to frequencies (there's
equipment that can do that now), you won't be able to program a
scanner unless you have that assignment list - which would probably be
closely guarded.

We're all - users, designers and manufacturers - in the same boat.
We'll just have to wait and see. And you can bet that it's going to
take longer to arrive at the final solution than it's supposed to.
When has a government job ever come in early or for less than
originally planned?

Scanning used to seem so simple : )

Bill

Cheap P25 scanner???
 

On 8 Oct 2006 06:49:43 -0700, wrote:

Scanning used to seem so simple : )

So did getting on an airplane - times, they are a'changin.