Digital or Analog scanner, in and around Burlington

mitch28

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Looking to get a scanner to monitor police, fire etc. for Burlington and surrounding towns.
How/where do I find out if they are digital or analog? Thanks!

Mitch
 
I would make two recomendations.
First I would call Scanner Master in Holliston. They are local and probably the most knowledgeable scanner people in the country and they are local.

Second if you want to do it on your own, the Home Patrol scanner does everything you will need and is on sale right now for 399. It is not a great scanner for someone who wants to frequency search and stuff like that but it programs from an online database and picks up pretty good.
My brother has one and it works well. I am not a huge Uniden scanner fan but if you are a novice this scanner does everything you will need.
you will need a computer to get the frequencies loaded into it.
I highly recommend the people at Scanner Master, they were awesome the couple times I have dealt with them. All they sell is scanners.
 
I would make two recomendations.
First I would call Scanner Master in Holliston. They are local and probably the most knowledgeable scanner people in the country and they are local.

Second if you want to do it on your own, the Home Patrol scanner does everything you will need and is on sale right now for 399. It is not a great scanner for someone who wants to frequency search and stuff like that but it programs from an online database and picks up pretty good.
My brother has one and it works well. I am not a huge Uniden scanner fan but if you are a novice this scanner does everything you will need.
you will need a computer to get the frequencies loaded into it.
I highly recommend the people at Scanner Master, they were awesome the couple times I have dealt with them. All they sell is scanners.

I have one, it's easy to set up and run. I didn't have the time/interest to program the frequencies and this was a good compromise.
 
Assuming you mean Burlington, MA

Over the summer they switched to P25 (digital) for PD. You will need a digital scanner to monitor. Also need digital if you plan to monitor NH State police. If you are only interested in Fire/EMS then a lower cost analog non-trunking scanner will do fine or use the live feed: http://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/18395 or via App like Scanner Radio for Android.

If you are looking at Uniden digital trunk tracking models I would stick with 396XT or 996XT for the moment and avoid the very newest X36 models as those seem to have a number of unresolved issues and undelivered features. Radioreference and scan-net.net are good resources.

VT
 
I'd start with a cheap Analog Trunking scanner - see if you're actually going to use it. I got my BC346XT for $100 on Craigslist. Pretty much brand new, and a steal considering they go for $100+ on eBay. Cambridge and State both Simulcast on analog for now. BPD is on analog as well - so there's still plenty for me to listen to.

But it looks like if you're interested in listening to Burlington PD - youre at the mercy of Digital, and praying they don't go encrypted. My local PD has a couple of talkgroups on Cambridge and we're looking at refurbing their radios to get the encryption chips or buying APXs, and going encrypted 100%. Our tech channel is already 100% encrypted.
 
Forgive my ignorance. What exactly does the repeater do?

Does it receive a transmission from one radio/scanner and "repeat" the signal out further so the initial radio/scanner signal goes longer distances? Like skipping a rock on the water?

Where is an ideal repeater located? Lets say I'm in Malden and want to get my signal further. Do I figure out how far my radio/scanner goes and then look for a repeater around that area or do I find the closest repeater to me with the strongest signal and use that to send the signal further? I obviosuly have no idea what I am talking about but the missus got me some Baeofengs for xmas and it's all mumbo jumbo to me. I've already ordered the study guide and intend to take the technicians license when I am ready.



google search: scanner frequencies

find this site

http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?stid=25
 
Forgive my ignorance. What exactly does the repeater do?

Does it receive a transmission from one radio/scanner and "repeat" the signal out further so the initial radio/scanner signal goes longer distances? Like skipping a rock on the water?

Where is an ideal repeater located? Lets say I'm in Malden and want to get my signal further. Do I figure out how far my radio/scanner goes and then look for a repeater around that area or do I find the closest repeater to me with the strongest signal and use that to send the signal further? I obviosuly have no idea what I am talking about but the missus got me some Baeofengs for xmas and it's all mumbo jumbo to me. I've already ordered the study guide and intend to take the technicians license when I am ready.
Yes in a nutshell that is what the repeater does. Generally located on high terrain they allow better than normal line of sight communications. There are listings of repeaters on the internet. Google is your friend. They will list the frequency, frequency offset + or - offset and PL tone
 
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