Digital switchover - how will it affect scanning?

[Wildfire]

I understand there is to be a switch to digital transmissions in 2009. How will this affect scanning? Will our current scanners be useless?
Bob

[TwentyTwo-Zero]

99.999% of transmissions by police, city and government are already digital. Most scanners produced in the last 10 years or so have digital capability, so unless you have a very old scanner you won't see any change in your receive capabilities. Even then, it may not effect you. As far as I know, the transition to digital is related to TV broadcasts.

[TX_Dj]

Not only that, but it only affects broadcast TV, i.e. over-the-air signals.

If you have cable or satellite, you don't have to do anything, I think.

If you get stuff over the air, there are companies that sell conversion boxes so you don't have to upgrade your TV... But if you're going to upgrade your TV, there are HD units for reasonable price, they'll get you all the HD channels and the digital channels.

[Midlander]

For many years tv signals have been transmitted using analog radio signals, by 2009 the US and Canadian governments will be switching over to an all digital signal. This means that if you pick up air tv using rabbit ears you will need to purchase a digital box that converts the digital signal. More information on this can be found here.

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As for scanners and picking up ambulance, police, fire... As mentioned above most have already gone digital, some scanners can pick up the signals but older ones can not. In some cases it is imposable to pick up digital due to encryption. Many police stations are using the digital modes to encrypt their voice traffic. In areas where there are lots of mountains and obstructions, digital creates many challenges and in most cases these areas will never go digital due to the strict requirements of digital radio communications.

[Circuit Breaker]

99.999% of transmissions by police, city and government are already digital.

I'd say that number is a bit high. If you look, a vast majority still have analog trunked systems. I'd say only about 40% of the radio systems out there are actually digital (i.e. P25 or ProVoice).

[TX_Dj]

Not to mention the countless rural areas who aren't even trunked... or digital...

[Foxhunter]

For many years tv signals have been transmitted using analog radio signals, by 2009 the US and Canadian governments will be switching over to an all digital signal. This means that if you pick up air tv using rabbit ears you will need to purchase a digital box that converts the digital signal. More information on this can be found here.

More Information
[Please login or register to view this link][Please login or register to view this link]

As for scanners and picking up ambulance, police, fire... As mentioned above most have already gone digital, some scanners can pick up the signals but older ones can not. In some cases it is imposable to pick up digital due to encryption. Many police stations are using the digital modes to encrypt their voice traffic. In areas where there are lots of mountains and obstructions, digital creates many challenges and in most cases these areas will never go digital due to the strict requirements of digital radio communications.

There's already fierce competition for the additional bandwidth freed up by the TV conversions with the extra airspace. I wonder who will get it?

[TwentyTwo-Zero]

I'd say that number is a bit high. If you look, a vast majority still have analog trunked systems. I'd say only about 40% of the radio systems out there are actually digital (i.e. P25 or ProVoice).

Okay...after browsing through my frequency allocation book I'll adjust my number......to 99%. If you live in a major metro area chances are pretty good they switched over to digital YEARS ago. I had to purchase a new scanner back in '97-'98 when they switched over to digital trunking around here - and we were behind the times. About the only places that haven't are (as mentioned) little rural areas or areas where the terrain inhibits the use of digital. Those areas are in the minority. Sure, a lot of the metro areas still hold leases on the old analog frequencies, but that doesn't mean they use them. I occasionally scan them from time to time (I still have a bank in my scanner dedicated to them) but they are DEAD. Anyway, the "digital switch" scheduled for Feb. '09 relates to TV broadcasts - not radio - so it will not interrupt your scanner listening pleasure...

[Circuit Breaker]

Okay...after browsing through my frequency allocation book I'll adjust my number......to 99%.

I think that number is still high. Where I live, the only system that is digital is Polk Co. Hillsborough County, the City of Tampa and St. Petersburg are all simply analog trunked systems. Also, these major cities are still analog trunked:

Seattle - Motorola Type II
Portland - Motorola Type II
San Francisco - Motorola Type II
Los Angeles County - Still uses a conventional UHF system, although LAPD is digital
Riverside County (CA) - EDACS
Clark County (Las Vegas) - Motorola Type II
Reno PD and FD - EDACS
Tucson - Still uses conventional VHF system with plans to go to a P25 system
Salt Lake PD and FD - Motorola Type II
Albuquerque - EDACS
Denver - EDACS
Dallas - Still uses a conventional UHF system...majority of surrounding cities use Motorola Type II
Wichita - Motorola Type II
Kansas City, KS - Motorola Type II
Kansas City, MO - EDACS
St Louis, MO - Motorola Type II with plans to go to a P25 system
Boston - Motorola Type IIi hybrid
New York City - PD still uses a conventional UHF system. EMS uses a Motorola Type II
Philadelphia - Motorola Type II
Pittsburgh - Motorola Type IIi hybrid

There are a lot more metro areas that aren't digital...this is just a sampling. Many cities just don't have the funding to switch over to a digital system, but the number of digital systems is growing. There are some locations where the entire state is switching to a digital system and ALL agencies will be on it. That's kind of nice...although it sucks if they choose to go with an EDACS Pro-Voice system. No scanner in the world can demodulate that.

[Shaft]

There's already fierce competition for the additional bandwidth freed up by the TV conversions with the extra airspace. I wonder who will get it?

From what I have been reading in my trade magazines is that they are looking to use the old TV band for some types of internet services. But that is just speculation.

[Midlander]

In my area and in the sou rounding area the system are still analog simplex and rptr communications. The radio traffic for all of the communications here are not encrypted. Most of the traffic is using CTCSS tones for rptr use.

I'm lucky, and hope it stays that way