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police scanner on the internet, King and Spokane Counties

Nosrac

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Cool. If I had a scanner(which I started to look for at one time) I would hook it up and feed it off my old school computer that now basically does nothing but play online lego games for my son and acts as a print server.
 

Alwayspacking

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I have been looking at an online scanner some time ago but it never worked for me for some reason.

Thanks for the find, thisIt saved me some money, I do not have to buy a scannernow. But as I listen to this I see how much crazy stuff these LEO deal with, these men are brave. They never know what they willrun into on a giving call. I may just stat shaking more LEO hands and thanking them for their duty.
 

quentusrex

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I'm interested in buying a scanner, but I'd want something that I can take with me and get decent range(such as in my car). But also something that if I took it inside my house I could attach to a different antenna and get much more range.

I'd hope to find something that could pick up most if not all of North Seattle, Ballard, U-district, Greenwood areas.
 

911Boss

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quentusrex wrote:
I'm interested in buying a scanner, but I'd want something that I can take with me and get decent range(such as in my car). But also something that if I took it inside my house I could attach to a different antenna and get much more range.

I'd hope to find something that could pick up most if not all of North Seattle, Ballard, U-district, Greenwood areas.


You'll need a trunking scanner, used Radio Shack models sell in the $100-$150 range on ebay.

I'd suggest a base, but a handheld would work also. If you buy new you are going to be in the $225-$250 range, I'd recommend the Uniden BCT15.

Any of them will pick up the entire area, as well as the rest of Seattle and most of the unincorporated area of King County.
 

jchen012

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I have a Radioshack Pro-97. I got it off ebay for about $150 and it came with the 800Mhz antenna (helps with the trunking system here in Seattle).
 

quentusrex

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What size antenna would get what amount of range? I'm pretty sure some of the smaller handhelds won't pick up Redmond from the Greenwood area.

I guess this is a physics question now...
 

quentusrex

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If possible I'd love to get something that I could connect to USB and control it from a computer. I'd love to be able to get one of my linux servers to remotely control the scanner.
 

911Boss

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quentusrex wrote:
If possible I'd love to get something that I could connect to USB and control it from a computer. I'd love to be able to get one of my linux servers to remotely control the scanner.

I know some of the Uniden scanners can be controlled by PC, not sure which ones or what can be controlled. The Radio Shack ones dont have the ability.

As far as antenna, Depending on your terrain, you would probably need an outdoor antenna to reliably pick up the EPSCA control channel for Eastside agencies.
 

kparker

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quentusrex,

The antenna issue isn't so much size, but rather height over terrain. At 800 MHz, a half-wavelength antenna measures a mere 7 inches, but those frequencies are fairly directional so elevating the antenna above ground gives you better coverage.
 

.45ballers

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Cool site, makes me want to blow the dust off my scanner and reprograme it..
 

quentusrex

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911Boss,

You recommended the Uniden BCT15, would that work for Pierce county as well? Such as the Tacoma/Lakewood/Fort Lewis area?

I haven't purchased it yet.
 

911Boss

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quentusrex wrote:
911Boss,

You recommended the Uniden BCT15, would that work for Pierce county as well? Such as the Tacoma/Lakewood/Fort Lewis area?

I haven't purchased it yet.

Last I checked, Pierce CO was still using VHF, and not yet on a trunked system. So the BCT15 would still work, in fact a cheaper scanner would work as well.

Eventually I imagine they will be trunked though, so you would still be good in the future if you buy a trunking scanner now.

Here is some frequency info for Pierce CO.

http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?inputs=1&ctid=2984#cats

Trunked scanners will also do VHF, UHF, etc, so no worries.
 

grishnav

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quentusrex wrote:
What size antenna would get what amount of range?
That is a hugely complex question relying on a ton of different factors. I'll dispel one myth for you right quick though: Bigger isn't necessarily better. Once you get to a certain point, making an antenna longer actually makes it less efficient, and you have to look at other techniques to improve gain, like balancing the system impedance, raising the antenna height, using more efficient cable or switching to antennas with non-omni-directional/focused radiation patterns.

I'm pretty sure some of the smaller handhelds won't pick up Redmond from the Greenwood area.

Redmond police and fire is on (or at least rebroadcast on) the S-KCPS (Seattle-King County Public Safety) 800MHz Motorola Type II Trunking system, so you can listen to them anywhere you can hear one of the system's simulcasts. You can hear at least the Seattle and King simulcast from Greenwood, and probably the ESPCA silmulcast as well, so you should have no trouble monitoring Redmond with any handheld scanner capable of monitoring Moto Type II, even if you can't directly hear the Redmond-area fill-ins. If you want I can drive out there and verify; I live in Lake City near Northgate so it's just a hop across the freeway. ;)

Now, if you want to listen to other stuff in Redmond, like security or ambulance companies, it might be a different story.

edit: Oops, I may be wrong about this. Seattle is set up a little different than Portland and I'm still learning the ins and outs. Looks like you may have to listen to the ESCPA simulcast, and its likely to be pretty marginal where you are on a handheld. Not that you couldn't attach a better antenna...

I guess this is a physics question now...
Nope, thank's the advant of trunking technology and the desire of system implementers to use wasteful silmulcasts when they are totally unnecessary, we can listen to anything, anywhere!
 

TechnoWeenie

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911Boss wrote:
quentusrex wrote:
911Boss,

You recommended the Uniden BCT15, would that work for Pierce county as well? Such as the Tacoma/Lakewood/Fort Lewis area?

I haven't purchased it yet.

Last I checked, Pierce CO was still using VHF, and not yet on a trunked system. So the BCT15 would still work, in fact a cheaper scanner would work as well.

Eventually I imagine they will be trunked though, so you would still be good in the future if you buy a trunking scanner now.

Here is some frequency info for Pierce CO.

http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?inputs=1&ctid=2984#cats

Trunked scanners will also do VHF, UHF, etc, so no worries.

Tacoma/Puyallup ARE trunked, he WILL need a trunking scanner. Some talkgroups are digital as well, so a digital scanner is best, although expensive @ ~400$
 

grishnav

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Looks like I'm wrong. I'm not hearing Redmond on Seattle or King simulcasts; only EPSCA. I'll drive out to the greenwood area and see how well it comes in there.
 
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