Your scanner May not work Anymore...

[alpinestars_2002795]

Got your attention, didn't I?


But it's true. If it hasn't happened already, in another year or so, your scanner may no longer properly track Motorola trunked systems.

The reason for this is a process called "rebanding." Rebanding is a process initiated by the FCC in response to many complainsts from government entities of major interference being caused to their 800MHz radio systems. This interference is being caused mainly by cellular-type business radio systems.

The origins of the problem begin in the way the 800 MHz band has been used. In general, each segment of the band has had a specific type of service using it, as follows:

851-854 MHz: Mainly small conventional and slow-growth trunked users.

854-861 MHz: Government and business systems (mainly trunked)

861-866 MHz: Primarily business systems (mainly trunked)

866-869 MHz: Government systems ( Conventional and trunked)

The problem began with the rise of the cellular-type business radio systems, primarily the well-known (and sometimes reviled) Nextel. Nextel began on a fairly small scale, but expanded nationwide largely by purchasing trunked business systems in major metropolitan areas. These systems used frequencies throughout the 800 MHz band, but were especially concentrated in the 861-866 MHz frequency band; a sizable percentage also used the 854-861MHz frequencies, and this is where the trouble began.

Prior to Nextel, trunked business systems were much like most public safety systems operating in the same band, generally a single-site system serving a fairly limited geographic area from tall antenna towers. After Nextel took these systems over, they were reconfigured into a more cellular-like system, with many short towers located much closer together. With normal cellular telephone systems this is not a problem, as they use frequencies above 869MHz. The new Nextel systems, however were using frequencies right along- side the public safety systems, with relatively high power from transmitters located much closer to the ground. This caused a great deal of (Harmfull Interference) to public safety systems, mainly in the form of desensitization ("desense") aka bleeding over channels due to not having a guard band to protect from bleed over into other radio bands in the radio spectrum, in which a signal on an adjacent frequency from a Nextel transmitter basically deafened aka bleed out/or over any nearby mobile or especially portable public safety radios.

The problem has been dramatically demonstrated several times during emergency incidents around the country when radios used by emergency responders where unable to communicate due to desense(bleedover) caused by nearby Nextel towers.

A very interesting chart located at http://www.davidschoenberger.net/cel.../apcotable.htm shows just a partial listing of these agencies that complained of said problem.


Now In my own personal opinon Is this so called Bad reception and not being able to contact Central Dispatch really All due to Nextel, or is it more the fact that the ignorant, arrogant public saftey officals demand to use a Digital frequency so that they may encrypt their signals. Which in essense i have heard more than once affect their transmissions on my bcd996t which is a very nice scanner i must add. The problem with Digital signals that most of these arrogant police officers neglect to realize is this.

All a digital signal means is that it is 1's and 0's 1 for on 0 for off's. So this would be a digital signal.

10101010101010101010101010101010.

Now there is your Wonderfull complex new era revolutionary digital signal that everybody "THINKS" being the key work here is so much "BETTER" when in realatiy when in radio communications unless a hardline is used or a OVER obudence of towers EVERYWHERE a digital signal is horrid. And here is why.

If you take one look at a digital signal It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that it is a weak signal. Because

1010 Right well what happens if this radio wave encounters a tree branch and you then have this 11. You would only then receive 50% of the data to the receiver which This is called a Digital Fade out, which im sure all of you have encounter on your so wonderfull DIGITAL cell phones, these things did not occur when cell phones where analog, for two reasons.

The 1's and 0's as I have explained above.

And Two because when they went digital they reduced their power/wattage output by up to 50%. Which created an even weaker signal.

Now why would they do this? When they know that the signal is already weak because it is digital? Stupidity.

Now Law enforcement is encountering the same issues with their in car radio's and yet they proceed to complain about it and want better radios yet again at your tax dollars and at your expense all because they want digital radios, so that they can encrypt and so that you the Citizen can't hear them. Digital encryption has already been beaten yes, a 14yr old in europe has already beaten the same systems that our CIA, FBI and other gov agencies use on a daily basis, so if osoma wanted to really hear you he could anyhow, so what is the point in encrypting radio signals other than to hide them from the public..?

My ? is what are they attempting to hide? What are they doing that is so wrong i as a citizen don't have the right to know? And if your one of those people that claims well it's national secutity i have two sentences for you to read. One the Paragraph i wrote above about it can be heard anyhow. And this one by Benjamin Franklin.

"Anyone that would give up a little liberty, for a little security, deserves neither liberty, nor security.

Also here is a List of the SCANNERS THAT WILL NO LONGER WORK AFTER THIS REBANDING and once the government once again allows the public saftey sector to go digital on the 700MHz band, and encrypt.

Even your Freedom of Information act of 1934 has now been Altered by your govenment so that they can not allow you to monitor them, although they can turn on the microphone in your cellphone without your knowledge and that is considered Lawfull Acording to Case Law! I wana know what judge authorized that obviously he didn't read Benjamin Franklin's thoughts on Cowards.

The list of Scanners that will not function is..

Pro 96 Digital---NO
Pro-94---NO
Pro-93---NO
Pro-92---? Maybe
Pro-91---NO
Pro-90---NO
BCT15---YES
BCD996T-YES
BC898T--YES
BCT-8---YES
BC796D--YES
BC785D--NO
BC780XLT-NO
BC895XLT-NO
BCD396t-YES
BR330T--YES
BC246T--YES
BC296D--YES
UBC300XLT--NO
BC245XLT--NO
BC235XLT--NO


AlPiNe~

[lugnuts]

so ones with YES next to them will still work?

[Jammer84_03]

great write-up, i will keep all that in mind when i get my scanner shortly

[MetalFlame]

Digital encryption has already been beaten yes, a 14yr old in europe has already beaten the same systems that our CIA, FBI and other gov agencies use on a daily basis.

That was years ago.Do you know from where those three 14y/o kids were from? From Zadar,CROATIA

[alpinestars_2002795]

Yes.. Yes means they will still work..

Croatia must be alot of electrotec children over there LOL i knew that because my Ham instructor informed me.

If it was made by man it can be beaten by man..



AlPiNe~

[Lucky225]

Yes.. Yes means they will still work..

Croatia must be alot of electrotec children over there LOL i knew that because my Ham instructor informed me.

If it was made by man it can be beaten by man..



AlPiNe~

21st century digital boy.

[bigalinwv]

Any idea about the Pro-83??

[bart99gt]

That's why when I was looking for a handheld, I didn't even bother with trying to find one that could monitor the local public safety stuff. Firstly, I found it was relatively useless for monitoring speed enforcement activities, second, digital scanners cost too much and the 700 MHz rebanding has been coming down the pike for quite some time. 700 MHz is why DTV was pushed so hard, that's basically where a good number of UHF TV channels resided.

You just have to enjoy listening to police traffic to justify buying the relatively high dollar equipment needed to listen to public safety these days.

[stray444]

My area using LTR trucking, Will it affect me or does this only apply to Motorola trunked?

[bart99gt]

System type isn't important. It really depends on what the agency's plans are. Some of the 700 MHz range is being sliced up for private uses as well, so everybody won't be going to 700 MHz. It would be safe to say that if a public safety agency just laid out $30 million in the past few years to convert to 800 MHz digital or even analog trunking, they're not going to make the move to 700 MHz.