phone 720 248-SCAN (7226)
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 Scanning Questions and Resources
Information is unofficial, and Denver Radio is not affiliated in any way with the agencies listed.

 

 
Mountain
News Net
Incident reporting system
 
If you are monitoring your favorite area (or not monitoring at all), and something happens in another area, how do you know?  If you have Mountain News Net, you'll get a text message on your cellphone or pager with all the details as they are available.  You can then tune to that area, and hear all the action.  Over 400 MNN members, and the local news media, subscribe to this great service.
 
  • To get complete details on the low cost, and start your service, just  e-mail Jim Richardson jimmnn@comcast.net and mention Denver Radio. 
 
  • You can also call 303 628-4601, press 2, and leave a message for Jim, and he'll call you back.  Just mention Denver Radio.
 
To see recent incident pages, and see what kind of information you'll get, just go to the MNN reflector site.

 

How can I listen to scanners in different areas?

 

Just go to RadioReference, and select the area of the country, or Colorado, you'd like to hear.  Of course, not every single area is available, but there are a lot of different audio feeds available, and it's free.  When you hear about a major incident in another area of the state or country, you can check for a feed from that area, and listen to the action, or just listen to a scanner feed from your favorite area.

 


 

 

Why did my scanner stop receiving Denver Police (and Fire and Ambulance)? 

What about Lakewood?

 

In August, 2008, Denver and Lakewood implemented a restructured control channel mode on each of their Public Safety Trunks, which are used for police, fire, and ambulance.  It's called ESK (EDACS Security Key).  This is to make it more difficult for unauthorized persons to program a two-way trunked radio to operate on these systems.  It also has the effect of shutting out many scanners from receiving the trunk systems.  The only radios which can receive an ESK trunk system now are:

 

  • GRE PSR-500 and PSR-600, and the Radio Shack equivalents, the PRO-106 and PRO-197
  • Radio Shack PRO-107/GRE PSR-700
  • Bearcat Uniden BCD-396T and BCD-996T, which must have have firmware upgrades 3.xx installed to track ESK. Denver Radio can install this upgrade for you.
  • The new Uniden BCD-396XT and BCD-996XT

The DIA trunk and the Denver Public Works trunk do not require an ESK-capable scanner.

 

See What Scanner Do I Need? for more information on scanners.

 

 

 

 

What the heck is this 'trunking', anyway?

 

 

 

You're not the first person to ask that question.  Trunking uses a pool of frequencies that are shared by all the users, and all the different 'channels' in the system are 'trunked'.  Each channel in the system rotates through different usages, so there are no dedicated frequencies for any use.  Trunking is used by just about all Metro Denver public safety communications systems, and the Colorado DTRS (Digital Trunking Radio System).  See Trunking theory for a simplified explanation.

 

 

What kind of scanner do I need to listen to police and fire?

 

That depends on the kind of radio system that's used in the area you want to monitor.  Some areas can use a very basic scanner, but many will require a more advanced model. 

 

Sometimes Radio Shack has a basic scanner model on sale at an attractive price, but it may not receive much of anything you want to listen to.  Don't spend your money on a radio that won't do what you want.

 

To see what radio you will need, check Denver Radio's What Scanner Do I Need? page, or call us at 720 248-SCAN (7726).

 

Where can I buy

a scanner?

 

In the Denver area:

  • Ham Radio Outlet

7800 E. Iliff Ave (east of Iliff & Quebec)

phone 303 745-7373

  • Radio Shack (stores listed in your phone book)

 

And how do the State Patrol callsigns and areas work?

  

 

CSP callsigns consist of their troop area plus their area number in that troop (except special units).  For instance, a car in Arapahoe County might be 1C6 (One-Charlie-Six).  This tells you he is working troop area 1C, and area number 6 of that troop area. 

 

Here's a link to a printable map (shown above) that shows the areas each CSP troop covers, and their callsign prefixes. CSP Troop Areas.

 

For even more detailed information on CSP callsigns, 10-codes, and other information, check RadioReference:  CSP information

 

 

Why can't I receive the State Patrol, or my favorite county, on the DTRS (Digital Trunked Radio System)?

 

The Colorado State DTRS has been 'rebanded'.  What this means, is that ALL of the frequencies in the system were changed.  This process was completed statewide in August, 2008.  If you haven't reprogrammed your scanner, it won't have the new frequencies.

 

In addition, many of the frequencies on the 700 MHz sites were changed in July 2010.  If you were relying on one or more of these sites for reception, such as in Adams County, you may have no reception, or weaker reception.

 

You need to contact Denver Radio for the latest reprogramming.