Picking up Charles County Public Safety from Lexington Park area

Jeff

Jeff

Stop Staring!!!!!
I looked into picking up Charles County's Public Safety frequencies with a police scanner. I see Charles County uses one of the newer Digital Systems.

To the best of my knowledge there are no other Digital Systems I can hear from the Lexington Park area so it may not be worth it for me to buy a Digital Scanner unless I am sure I can receive Charles from the Lexington Park area.

I have a Rooftop mounted Radio Shack Discone, chimney mounted on a 10' mast feed by 50' of Beldin 9917 F7 Flex COAX ran through a Stridesburg Active Multicoupler.

Is there anyone owns a digital scanner that has tried to receive Charles County from the Lexington Park area, and was successful? I don't want to purchase a digital rig unless I know I can pick this system up.
 
CableChick

CableChick

Loved
Jeff, do you know if Charles County ( or any county for that matter ) encrypts their signals once they go digital?
 
oldman

oldman

Lobster Land
CableChick said:
Jeff, do you know if Charles County ( or any county for that matter ) encrypts their signals once they go digital?
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I listen the Charles County digital transmissions and to my knowledge none of it is encrypted. Like right now the police are at Thomas Stone High because of a bomb threat and I'm picking it all up.
 
Jeff

Jeff

Stop Staring!!!!!
CableChick said:
Jeff, do you know if Charles County ( or any county for that matter ) encrypts their signals once they go digital?
Click to expand...

As far as Digital Systems in this area you have Charles County which uses a Analog and APCO-25 Common Air Interface system. Police on this system do have the capability of going encrypted when needed. Calvert and St. Mary's do not have digital Systems but there are 'supposedly' a coulple talk group channels available to them through the system which allow encrypted capability.

NDW does have an APCO-25 Digital System and I am told does use their encryption quite often.

As for Charles county, I would love to buy a Digital Scanner and try to see if I could pick it up but 500 bucks as a bit of cash to put out just to try something and not be sure I can even pick it up from the Lexinton Park area. I think you can see by the age of this thread that it does not appear likely that many users in the Lexington Park area are able to pick up Charles County.
 
CableChick

CableChick

Loved
Jeff said:
As far as Digital Systems in this area you have Charles County which uses a Analog and APCO-25 Common Air Interface system. Police on this system do have the capability of going encrypted when needed. Calvert and St. Mary's do not have digital Systems but there are 'supposedly' a coulple talk group channels available to them through the system which allow encrypted capability.

NDW does have an APCO-25 Digital System and I am told does use their encryption quite often.

As for Charles county, I would love to buy a Digital Scanner and try to see if I could pick it up but 500 bucks as a bit of cash to put out just to try something and not be sure I can even pick it up from the Lexinton Park area. I think you can see by the age of this thread that it does not appear likely that many users in the Lexington Park area are able to pick up Charles County.
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I want to know if I do drop $500 for a scanner I'll be able to pick up the digital channels. So yeah, I feel your pain! :lol:

Sorry you didn't get any replies.
 
Jeff

Jeff

Stop Staring!!!!!
CableChick said:
I want to know if I do drop $500 for a scanner I'll be able to pick up the digital channels. So yeah, I feel your pain! :lol:

Sorry you didn't get any replies.
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If memory Serves, I think you are in Calvert aren't you??
 
O

OldHillcrestGuy

Well-Known Member
Jeff said:
As for Charles county, I would love to buy a Digital Scanner and try to see if I could pick it up but 500 bucks as a bit of cash to put out just to try something and not be sure I can even pick it up from the Lexinton Park area. I think you can see by the age of this thread that it does not appear likely that many users in the Lexington Park area are able to pick up Charles County.
Click to expand...

I think you may have trouble picking up Charles from the Lex. Park, I have the $500 Radio Shack portable scanner and live in Charlotte Hall, can get Charles really good no problems, but St Mary's doesnt come in as well as I would like, can get PG much better then St. Mary's, Calvert comes and goes sometimes can hear sometimes I can't.
Seems I can pickup Charles fireside better then police, when Im down toward California/Hollywood area but that seems strange since they are on the same system.
 
Jeff

Jeff

Stop Staring!!!!!
OldHillcrestGuy said:
I think you may have trouble picking up Charles from the Lex. Park, I have the $500 Radio Shack portable scanner and live in Charlotte Hall, can get Charles really good no problems, but St Mary's doesnt come in as well as I would like, can get PG much better then St. Mary's, Calvert comes and goes sometimes can hear sometimes I can't.
Seems I can pickup Charles fireside better then police, when Im down toward California/Hollywood area but that seems strange since they are on the same system.
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I may get around to playing with it here one day. Last week I punched in a few MSP analog/conventional freqs and was actually picking up Charles barracks rather clearly. I was very suprrised. And I would assume that the Trunk System antenna Sites are even Higher than the MSP towers so I am starting to be a bit more optomistic about receiving it. 'BUT' Charles County never really has been something I really wanted to listen to. SO I may just wait and see if a few other counities i the area ever plan on going Digital before I take the $500.00 jump. Unless $500 just jumps out of the couch cushions at me.
 
Jeff

Jeff

Stop Staring!!!!!
CableChick said:
You are correct.
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If you have a scanner right now. Plug in:

39.06000 KGA916 BM 110.9 PL A11 Barrack H Laplata (Charles County)

If you can hear Charles Counties MSP Barracks you 'may' be in a location where you can pick up their Digital Trunked System.
 
CableChick

CableChick

Loved
Jeff said:
If you have a scanner right now. Plug in:

39.06000 KGA916 BM 110.9 PL A11 Barrack H Laplata (Charles County)

If you can hear Charles Counties MSP Barracks you 'may' be in a location where you can pick up their Digital Trunked System.
Click to expand...

:bawl:

No, I don't! Santa must have thought I was naughty for the past 4 years! :shrug:
 
oldman

oldman

Lobster Land
On second though, Charles County very well may have encrypt capability. Recently they thought they had a guy contained in his house and that operation went to tach 1 for the initial set up. Later it went to "s tach 1". I'm thinking it may have been "special tach 1" and encrypted. That's the first time I've heard of s tach 1 since they went to digital though.
 
CableChick

CableChick

Loved
oldman said:
On second though, Charles County very well may have encrypt capability. Recently they thought they had a guy contained in his house and that operation went to tach 1 for the initial set up. Later it went to "s tach 1". I'm thinking it may have been "special tach 1" and encrypted. That's the first time I've heard of s tach 1 since they went to digital though.
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I'll have to talk w/ the person at Radio Shack. According to a friend this person knows all about this stuff. If most of the channels on digital are going to be encrypted ... why waste the money.
 
oldman

oldman

Lobster Land
CableChick said:
I'll have to talk w/ the person at Radio Shack. According to a friend this person knows all about this stuff. If most of the channels on digital are going to be encrypted ... why waste the money.
Click to expand...

But like I said, this was the first time I'm aware of that they probably went encrypted. It's a very unusual experience and probably reserved for VERY special events. I still hear almost everything else going on, and here in the county it's normally pretty busy.
 
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