[Scan-DC] Baltimore county digital switchover

[mike agner]

As of this Saturday, Baltimore county will be changing over from their 
legacy analog trunk system that has been around for years, and moving to 
a digital P25
system. This wiki article has links to the database entry at RR, the FCC 
entry and some great system detail as supplied by one of the members;

http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Baltimore_County_(Project_25) 
<http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Baltimore_County_%28Project_25%29>

As for programming the digital scanners for this, PRO-96 and 2096 owners 
should note that they can put in both North and South sites (if needed) 
in the same bank, provided they are separated by one (unused) 
conventional channel, as documented in the programming shortcuts (linked 
here)

http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Programming_Your_Radio_Shack_Scanner

There are specific tips in the county article above for the object 
oriented scanners, and the PC driven scanners (such as Home Patrol, 
PSR-800 and PRO-18) would need to download and install the new data from 
the database.

As for the DMA scanners, I've had success with my 396 by programming the 
system as Mot Type II/P25 and my site as Mot 800 Standard Type II. 
Recall that the 396 cannot handle multiple sites, so I would have to 
define a separate system for both the North and South sites. The 996, 
396XT and 996XT don't have this restriction. Also keep in mind that P25 
systems are defined somewhat differently in the XT world. The thread in 
RR that discusses this topic is below

http://forums.radioreference.com/maryland-radio-discussion-forum/219410-new-baltimore-county-p-25-system.html

There's been erratic testing in the last couple of days - I expect that 
to continue until the actual live date.

best regards..Mike