Outdoor Adventure USA

I'm wondering how to pick up the police helicopter communications on my uniden bearcat scanner. I have the digi card and can get all the cop stuff, but every time there is a police helicopter flying around my house i can never hear anything from them, or the main dispatch to the chopper. (two choppers buzzing around and it smells like fire right now) Knowing how to tap into the news helicopter communications would also be great. I'm far from knowing a ton about using the scanner, but i got the banks and group thing mostly figured out (i think). I had some guy program the scanner for me a few years ago. I can post the excel file if that might help.

Also, how come the radio net stuff is not in the communications section? Whats a net? I have a 2M and will try and listen in tonight, but no license yet. I'm not sure if i have to do anything special to tap into the repeater. Once i was playing with it and heard some people out in el cajon (I'm in serra mesa) so i figured it was on the repeater. Yeah, i'm a super newb when it comes to radio stuff but will appreciate any help i get.

Maybe they are using a trunked system, or an analog system. Different departments use different system. Do you have a public service scanner directory?


The net is on Keller peak at 7:30. Tune in to
146.385 mHz
+ offset
PL 146.2 Hz
not sure if you can hit it from Serra Mesa. You can try my secret spot near SDSU if you want. I'll send the coordinates.

I listen to San Diego scanners from a web site and get the bird on there. I hear them when they fly around North Park all the time. I sent you a PM with some scanner information that might be helpful.

jgorm wrote:I'm wondering how to pick up the police helicopter communications on my uniden bearcat scanner. I have the digi card and can get all the cop stuff, but every time there is a police helicopter flying around my house i can never hear anything from them, or the main dispatch to the chopper. (two choppers buzzing around and it smells like fire right now) Knowing how to tap into the news helicopter communications would also be great. I'm far from knowing a ton about using the scanner, but i got the banks and group thing mostly figured out (i think). I had some guy program the scanner for me a few years ago. I can post the excel file if that might help.

Also, how come the radio net stuff is not in the communications section? Whats a net? I have a 2M and will try and listen in tonight, but no license yet. I'm not sure if i have to do anything special to tap into the repeater. Once i was playing with it and heard some people out in el cajon (I'm in serra mesa) so i figured it was on the repeater. Yeah, i'm a super newb when it comes to radio stuff but will appreciate any help i get.

Hey jgorm:

I think I can help on some of your questions.

On the helicopter question, I think there may be two different sets of frequencies involved. You mentioned news choppers and police choppers. They each use different frequencies - private vs government. Law enforcement agencies use different frequencies from city to city. Otherwise neighboring cities would get unwanted interference from other cities. I know the police and fire for my city (506MHz)but that won't do you any good, as they are most likely different than your community.

I will not be able to help you out at all with the Bearcat, having never used one. I will tell you that most of the Ham rigs these days have a very effective scan function and finding active frequencies is a simple matter, whether it be police, fire or ham.

The Net stuff is not with the communications section as it is a different topic. I guess a description of a net would help. For OAUSA, and most nets in general, a Net is a type of round table discussion on any topic and it offers hams a chance to listen and participate on subjects of interest. Our nets obviously are focused on outdoor subjects. We have a variety of guest speakers who have specialized knowledge of outdoor topics and whose experience can be useful to our members as they enjoy various trips or activities. You can listen to any of the past nets by going to the home page and clicking on the archive section.

To listen in, since you are not licensed, all you need is the frequency, 146.385. If you are on Skype, let us know and we can get you a courtesy check-in. We start at 7:30 PM and if you aren't hearing us, you may need to get a better location or adjust your antenna. Good luck!

Thanks for the info and the PMs!

DaveK wrote: I will not be able to help you out at all with the Bearcat, having never used one. I will tell you that most of the Ham rigs these days have a very effective scan function and finding active frequencies is a simple matter, whether it be police, fire or ham.

The Net stuff is not with the communications section as it is a different topic. I guess a description of a net would help. For OAUSA, and most nets in general, a Net is a type of round table discussion on any topic and it offers hams a chance to listen and participate on subjects of interest. Our nets obviously are focused on outdoor subjects. We have a variety of guest speakers who have specialized knowledge of outdoor topics and whose experience can be useful to our members as they enjoy various trips or activities. You can listen to any of the past nets by going to the home page and clicking on the archive section.

To listen in, since you are not licensed, all you need is the frequency, 146.385. If you are on Skype, let us know and we can get you a courtesy check-in. We start at 7:30 PM and if you aren't hearing us, you may need to get a better location or adjust your antenna. Good luck!

So a "net" is just a certain topic that people will tune into? (you guys and your crazy forum organization structure ) Thanks for all the info! Maybe i'll just try the scan function on the bearcat next time. It blasts thru frequencies, but i used to get pissed when they were trunked and i couldn't hear half of it. It also stops on lots of modem type noise, and mexican stuff. I'm not on skype.

jgorm wrote:I'm wondering how to pick up the police helicopter communications on my uniden bearcat scanner. I have the digi card and can get all the cop stuff, but every time there is a police helicopter flying around my house i can never hear anything from them, or the main dispatch to the chopper.

The reason is that many agencies are not only using trunked digital signals, but also encrypt them for safety / security concerns...so even if you manage to program the trunking correctly (very difficult) and have a digital decoder (very inefficient), you won't be able to decyphter the encrypted signal...

The reason nets are structured the way they are (i.e. check ins, traffic, and round table) is also so we can practice the same format to is used to communicate during an emergency.

In the San Diego area, your older (I assume) Bearcat scanner will have limited usefulness. Nearly all agencies are on the 800MHz Motorola trunked system (all fire agencies countywide and most other government agencies). Some agencies are on the DIGITAL trunked system (many police depts. and Sheriffs Dept.). Still others are on the ENCRYPTED Digital trunked system (like border patrol). You can't get encrypted traffic on any scanner. For the trunked system, you need a trunking scanner (about $250). For the digital trunked, you need a digital trunked scanner (about $500). The only agencies (of interest) that I know that use conventional frequencies (non-trunked) are State Parks (Cuyamaca, Palomar, Borrego, Beaches) and US Forest Service.

If your scanner can recieve digital trunked, you can hear the police and sheriff helicoptors. My suggestion would be to buy a new scanner guide. Frequency allocations and "channel" names were changed last year, so you want one that is current. In addition to the cop and sheriff channels, the helicopters use their own channels for their ops. The law enforcement helicopters use the channel 'Law Air." Fire helicopters us 'Fire Air.' Medical helicopters (like Mercy Air) use 'Med Air.' Law Air is a digital channel. Fire Air and Med Air are trunked. There are additional channels for air to ground comms, and the aircraft also use the air traffic control radios as well. All of the channels and frequencies will be listed and explained in the scanner guide. Some of those helicopters have 4 or 5 radios in them.

I recommend the ScannerStuff Southern California Frequency Directory, available at HRO. It has very good explanations of the systems in use, as well as all frequencies for programming. I don't know if it is current with the recent changes in SD County, but I would think it is. Programming your scanner with only the frequencies you want to listen to will eliminate much of the noise and spanish language interference. Most of the noise you are experiencing are the trunked system control frequencies, which communicate with the mountain top sites to select the actual voice frequency being used.

A 'net' in the ham radio sense is a structured meeting on the air. The OAUSA nets generally are structured around a predefined topic selected by the net control operator.