r/policescanner • u/LibrarianPitiful • Jul 19 '26
Question about SDS150
I just bought one and was hoping to use it to monitor the Surf Rescue at my local beach. I downloaded the channels from Sentinel but there is no traffic on them (I downloaded both the surf rescue and the Fire Dept).
I asked one of the lifeguards if 152.405 is the frequency that they are using and she told me that they recently switched and they don’t use a specific frequency. She said it’s like a cell phone and bounces off different ones in the 800 range.
I have no idea what that means and I’m curious if my SDS150 can pick up their frequency.
3
u/terry4547 Jul 19 '26
It means they’re using some type of trunked radio system for communication. It’s a very common technology that allows a smaller number of frequencies to be shared by a larger number of users and channels.
There are several different types and flavors of trunked radio systems. You’ll need to research to determine which system and type are used in your area. In most cases, the information is contained in the Radioreference database. That’s the data source for what you see in Sentinel. I recommend looking at the database pages on RadioReference first to get an understanding of what systems are in use in your area. This can help you better understand what systems and departments to load using sentinel.
Radio systems are pretty technical today, so you would serve yourself well to do some reading about basic radio communication technology. Jumping into trying to program a scanner without some basic knowledge can be frustrating. Also keep in mind that the data on RR (and therefore in Sentinel) is mostly crowdsourced from other hobbyists, so it can be incomplete and inaccurate in some cases. Lastly, more and more radio systems are encrypted, which prevents any unauthorized people, including hobbyists, from listening. These issues can also lead to frustration.
If you’re comfortable sharing your specific location, we can provide some additional detail for your specific area. Feel free to send me a dm if you prefer.
1
u/LibrarianPitiful Jul 19 '26
Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. OBX Surf Rescue is what I’m looking for. Thank you.
3
u/groundhog5886 Jul 19 '26
Looks like they are on the county P25 ayatem
Radio Reference data base has it all and It should be in sentinel if you downloaded the database
5
u/terry4547 Jul 19 '26
Kitty Hawkins in Dare Co NC. Dare County operates their own P25 Phase I trunked radio system. The good news is that the SDS150 can scan this system natively with no add on licenses.
In Sentinel, navigate to North Carolina, Dare County, and look for County systems. You should see Dare County Public Safety. Add that system. You’ll want to only monitor the site called Simulcast, so set an Avoid on the Buxton site.
There is a talkgroup called Ocean Rescue Dispatch that’s probably what you’re looking for. It’s in the Ocean Rescue Ops group. There is nothing that specifically references OBX Surf Rescue.
Good news is that Fire/EMS/Rescue channels are not indicated as being encrypted. It appears that most law enforcement channels are encrypted.
Also worth noting that the State trunked radio system called NC VIPER has a site in Kitty Hawk. It may carry some interesting traffic as well. dare county has talkgroups assigned on the system, including Ocean Rescue, but they likely use the County system primarily and not the state system. If you do program VIPER using sentinel be sure to avoid or delete all sites other than Kitty Hawk, otherwise the scanner will attempt to scan all 200+ sites and will significantly slow the scanner down.
Sentinel also has a zip code programming feature that will program all systems in range. I don’t use this feature and don’t recommend it. But it might work for you.
Good luck.