WaveTalkers LIVE: Episode 82
Monitoring Public Safety Radio for Situational Awareness
Live Streamed: September 17, 2023
Terminology
- Scanner – A specialized radio receiver that sequentially listens to a series of pre-programmed frequencies, stopping when an active frequency is found.
- Lockout – The ability to eliminate an individual frequency from the scanning sequence
- Priority Scanning – One, or more, frequencies that receive priority in the scanning process.
- Conventional Frequencies – Analog, non-digital frequencies
- Digital Frequencies – Digital Schemes, usually P-25 in Public Service
- Trunking – A frequency assignment scheme in which available frequencies are not assigned to a specific group but are placed in a queue. When a member of a group keys their microphone, a computer selects an available frequency from the queue and switches all members of the group to that frequency.
- P-25 – A digital mode commonly used in public service radios. Other digital modes such as DMR and NEXDN are less frequently used in public service. Specialized scanners are required to receive digital frequencies.
- Encryption – A technique used to prevent unauthorized users from hearing transmissions. Encryption is becoming more widely used in public safety, particularly in law enforcement. Encrypted channels can not be monitored by scanners.
Links
Public Safety Radio Scanning Equipment
Below are Amazon Affiliate links to common Public Saftety Radio Frequency Scanners that you may want to consider for your own situational awareness. Before using any equipment to monitor public saftey frequencies, be sure to check your local laws for any legal issues related to monitoring such frequencies.
To help support WaveTalkers, you can follow these links and make a purchase direclty from Amazon. These links will not cost you any more money than searching for these products directly on Amazon, but following these links will provide a small return to WaveTalkers direclty from Amazon.
Getting Started With Public Safety Scanning
Less than $40 US
- SDR Dongle: RTL-SDR Dongle Amazon Affiliate Link
- Low Cost HT as a Scanner: Quansheng UV-K5 Amazon Affiliate Link
Hand Held Public Safety Scanners
- Uniden Bearcat BC125AT Handheld Scanner Amazon Affiliate Link
- Uniden SDS100 True I/Q Digital Handheld Scanner Amazon Affiliate Link
- Whistler WS1040 Handheld Digital Scanner Radio Amazon Affiliate Link
Base / Mobile Public Safety Scanners
- Preffered by W6AH Uniden HomePatrol-2 Color Touchscreen Digital Scanner Amazon Affiliate Link
- Preffered by NR6V Uniden SDS200 Advanced X Base/Mobile Digital Trunking Scanner Amazon Affiliate Link
- Uniden BC355N 800 MHz 300-Channel Base/Mobile Scanner Amazon Affiliate Link
- Whistler WS1065 Digital Desktop/Mobile Radio Scanner Amazon Affiliate Link
SDR Capable of Public Safety Scanning
- HackRF One Software Defined Radio (SDR) & ANT500 Antenna Set Amazon Affiliate Link
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