Recent content by Kumba

You can find additional talkgroups (what a "channel" is called on a digital system) here at Radio Reference (great place to hang out for scanner info, hit the forums up if you've got any troubles with your particular scanner model): http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=2847 MSP and...

That's not a callsign, but instead law enforcement phonetic alphabet for saying "OK". State police agencies (MSP, DNR/NRP, MdTA Bridge Police) switched to the military alphabet (alpha, delta, november, romeo, tango, etc) a while back and abandoned the 10-codes (so "off duty" instead of...

Motorola doesn't sell those any more, I believe. What St. Mary's signed up for is a P25 Phase II system. The Phase II means it'll use TDMA on slots that are 6.25Khz wide (if I've got my tech right). This is the same system that PG and Loudon county both operate now and which cannot be fully...

They're still there: Charles County Trunking System, La Plata, Maryland - Scanner Frequencies However, unless you have a Uniden HomePatrol-1 (which gets its updates from RR), you'll have to program in a custom band plan in order for the scanner to properly track the new frequencies. Info on...

You shouldn't be stating this on an open forum, even if you didn't give away any identifiable names or places. You'd be surprised what happens when piecemeal bits of information, which are scattered out there on the internet, are sought out and assembled into a complete picture. That said...

Ah, that's good info. I've only ever heard one two-digit identifier before, and that was a "Charles-Ocean" one, which I assumed to be a corrections officer. I frequently heard it when they were entering/leaving the county and going straight to the detention center.

Ah, that explains a few things. Does the lower the identifier (like 1xx over 2xx) signify a higher rank, or is Coffey the exception as Car #1 (which I don't think I've picked up on my scanner before).

There is about a ~30 second delay between online audio feeds of scanners and the real deal. This is because of the encoding that needs to be done before a listener online hears the audio. A better computer serving up the online feed will encode faster (as well as using lower-quality encoding...

Not that I like resurrecting dead threads, but I actually have an answer for the sirens. I got curious about the one in Bryans Road, so I called Company 11 up and asked, and they said the sequence is generally: 1 short siren every Wednesday @ 12:00pm as a test. 2 long sirens is an EMS call...

Out of curiosity, does anyone have any info on Charles' call signs on their radio? I've figured out what an Adam (Patrol), Adam-Paul (acting sergeant), and Paul (sergeant) are. Traffic Ops is self-explanatory. I think "ID" is the investigative division, and Charles-Ocean is a corrections...

Charles is fairly easy to program and listen to. Police are divided into four districts: D1 - La Plata, D2 - Indian Head, D3E - Waldorf (East), D3W/D4 - Waldorf (West). Only two dispatch channels are active, though. D3E handles all calls for D3E and D3W/D4. D1 handles calls for D1 and D2...

That's about MSRP. Shop around, especially for used models (in good condition). I got mine on eBay for $460, and it was practically brand new. They're one of the more widely known shops for scanner gear. Others to look up are Universal Radio and Cheap Ham. Nah. They'll charge you...

GIS Dispatching? From what I hear, it seems like the comm center guys are pretty good at picking the station closet to an incident. I have noticed things get a little crazy when something big (e.g., gas leaks) pop up. They had a smoke/fire issue over near Marbury the other night, and...

Ah ha, good info! I assume Stump Neck probably just has a rescue engine and maybe a smaller truck or such? Both trucks in that small image on dcmilitary.com looked like rescue engines (although I admit I am not versed in vehicle types for fire companies at all). I'm looking to get this page...

Trying to scrounge for information here, but I've established that Indian Head's Fire/EMS (the Navy base) company # is 20, per info on RadioReference.com. Now I'm trying to figure out Stump Neck's. I think they're Company 21, per a posting on Tenth District's website (references to "Engine...