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New Digital Radio System for Great Falls Police Department

By KFBB News Team
By Kara Kirtley

Story Created: Feb 4, 2012 at 12:06 AM MDT

Story Updated: Feb 4, 2012 at 12:06 AM MDT

Next week, the Great Falls Police Department will be changing their radio system.

They will now be using a digital system, and if you're wondering what that means for you: if you currently use a traditional scanner to monitor radio traffic,you will no longer be able to hear police communications.

The new scanners are VHF scanners, which are only compatable with other VHF scanners and are more expensive to buy.

Officials say this change will enable the police department to more effectively communicate with different agencies and even police departments across the country.

The police also caution us that the long term plan involves trunking the radio system, which would mean everything from the police department would be scrambled over the scanner, and the public wouldn't be able to hear anything.

The change is mandated by the F.C.C, who is requiring radio users to convert to a narrow band system by the end of the year.

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Marie said on Saturday, Feb 4 at 8:52 PM

This is just dumb,dumb, dumb.

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