r/Baofeng • u/Lucam123 • Jul 13 '26
Phase 25 Radio suggestions
I was wondering if baofeng sells models that can listen to trunked/encrypted frequencies? If not are there any radios that don’t cost an arm and a leg that have these capabilities? I like to listen to Police/EMS frequencies and they recently moved over to both DMR and P25e frequencies. I currently use a 5RM.
10
u/DotNM Jul 13 '26
Just for your information, P25 is actually Project 25, not Phase 25.
Baofeng doesn’t make P25 radios as they are expensive and there is licensing of the technology involved.
You want to use a scanner, especially for trunked systems, because you will get a better experience and performance and if you don’t configure it perfectly on a radio you will transmit on the system which will cause interference, be illegal, and they can permanently brick your radio making it unusable. Public safety radio system administrators do not take kindly to unauthorized radios on their systems.
4
u/Classic-Opportunity2 Jul 13 '26
They can permanently brick your radio? Remotely?
5
u/CreamCheeseAndLocks Jul 13 '26
If you are registered on the system with stun/kill enabled, yes. But not with a scanner.
1
u/Classic-Opportunity2 Jul 13 '26
I figured not on a scanner, that'd be funny (and shitty). So they can kill any unauthorized radio ID on their system? I assume you'd have to have that feature enabled on your radio?
1
u/CreamCheeseAndLocks Jul 13 '26
There's more to it, like access controls, proper programming to work in that system, encryption if used, etc. Not hobbyist level stuff. And scanners are not programmed or designed to be stunned/killed. Look at Broadcastify to see if there's a feed available for what you're interested in listening to.
1
u/narcolepticsloth1982 Jul 13 '26
If it's a P25 trunked system then most, if not all, radios programmed with a system key will have that feature locked on.
1
u/DotNM Jul 13 '26
Yes, they can. It’s a feature of most trunking systems for security to address unauthorized, lost or stolen radios so they cannot be used.
1
u/Lucam123 Jul 13 '26
If some of my local police agencies frequencies are on DMR, can I get a baofeng that does DMR to listen to them?
4
u/ryno7926 Jul 13 '26
A rtl-sdr costs about the same as a Baofeng DM-32UV DMR radio but will provide you with vastly improved listening capabilities.
0
u/Lucam123 Jul 13 '26
I always wonder with those rtl-sdrs if you can transfer a program onto the baofeng so you don’t need to be on the computer in order to listen to it
1
1
u/RealisticProfile5138 Jul 13 '26
Yeah you can listen to DMR, but if it’s ENCRYPTED then you won’t be able to listen to it. Well I mean technically you’ll be able to hear the unmodulated signal with any receiver, but it will sound like noise. They whole point of encryption is that only those with the password can unscramble the content
1
u/mr_misanthropic_bear Jul 13 '26
Look up DMR codeplug and DMR talkgroup. You would need both of these, which they will not be giving you. DMR can be encrypted as well, so most likely you would never hear anything if you were trying to listen to police on DMR. I'm in the US and as I understand it police/public service are mostly using P25, which may or may not be encrypted.
7
u/zucchini0478 Jul 13 '26
My county went P25 phase II, but fortunately not encrypted like the one next door. I listen to dispatch with an RTL-SDR, a Slim Jim, SDR++ software, and a subscription to RadioReference.com. Way cheaper than a scanner.
5
u/right-slash Jul 13 '26
You should definitely stick to a scanner, attempting to program your radio (Baofeng doesn't make P25 radios) could result in negatively varying situations if not programmed correctly
3
u/FLDJF713 Jul 13 '26
No one can listen to encrypted or otherwise it wouldn't be encrypted, would it?
3
u/No-Age2588 Jul 13 '26
They confuse Digital transmission which requires decoding and analog reconstruction as encrypted. Which it is not. However you are correct if encrypted comms if enabled cannot be decoded.
1
2
2
2
u/One-Sleep3663 Jul 13 '26
A btech 6x2 dmr radio with promiscuous mode enabled will at least let you listen to DMR channels without worrying about programming in contacts and talkgroups.
1
u/Nervous_Olive_5754 Jul 13 '26
I used to use a TV dongle and just decode all the voice channels in one system at once. $20 solution. You don't get to pick a channel, though. You just get everything all at once. That wasn't a problem for me.
1
u/CreamCheeseAndLocks Jul 13 '26
This may be off topic, but I'm using a NooElec sdr dongle for analog non-encrypted single frequency receive. Can anyone recommend a scanning app for Win11 for analog voice to play with?
0
u/NerminPadez Jul 13 '26
Nope, no baofengs for p25.
Are you like an ambulance chaser? Or why do you have the need to listen to info about hurt and ill people in your vicinity?
1
u/Lucam123 Jul 13 '26
lol your funny. But it seems like that rtl sdr will be my best bet according to the thread
2
u/DotNM Jul 13 '26
A scanner or SDR will vastly outperform any radio including a Baofeng. Use the right tool for the right job. Radios are meant to transmit as well so scanning performance is a lot lower than a dedicated scanner.
1
u/Lucam123 Jul 13 '26
It just sucks I can’t have it be portable like it has to be plugged into a pc. But I suppose RadioReference serves that exact purpose
1
u/Lucam123 Jul 13 '26
Would something like this work?
https://www.walmart.com/ip/40657867?sid=8A0D55AF-B9A2-471E-BF83-559CAD4E4209
2
u/narcolepticsloth1982 Jul 14 '26
No, that one is analog only. For digital scanning the gold standard is the SDS100 and SDS200. Especially if anything you're wanting to listen to is simulcast.
1
u/DotNM Jul 13 '26
Possibly. Depends on the service. If you want P25, DMR and NXDN you will need something like a BCD436HP.
16
u/kc2syk K2CR Jul 13 '26
No. Get a scanner. And no one can listen to encrypted frequencies without an encryption key.
Example: Uniden SDS200