Scanner Frequencies for Rocky Mount, NC

Info

Above are frequencies for your typical police scanner radio for the Rocky Mount, North Carolina area. Most of the local frequencies have been verified as still working as of October 2023. You can find more frequencies listed on other websites, but most are no longer in regular use, except I have not included frequencies here that I cannot currently check, so there certainly are more frequencies that you can hear outside of the normal scanner bands.

I think most law enforcement and some of the other local government activity (and even some ham traffic) have moved to the trunked NC VIPER system, which I imagine requires a trunking scanner or maybe good SDR to hear, but some dispatches and emergency communications can still be heard on VHF. For more information on VIPER, try the following websites.

NCDPS.gov
Radio Reference

To pick up more activity, consider changing the location of your scanner or antenna, placing it near a window for example, or maybe connecting it to a better or different antenna such as a rooftop TV antenna, which makes a good directional wideband UHF and VHF antenna. A good ground connection might also help some radios. Be sure to avoid sources of interference such as laptops, phone chargers, and other electronics.

Reference

ITU Band Names

Ham Bands

The 2-meter ham band (144-148 MHz) is one of the more interesting bands to check out on a scanner because you get to hear real conversations instead of quick messages of codes and ailments and such. Some of the repeaters are on transmitter towers used by major TV stations, and 2 meters propagates well and just works, so I think you can hear some of the ham repeaters in this band for 40 or 50 miles without much effort on your end.

Repeaters on towers allow for longer range communication, but "simplex" frequencies are used for communication without a repeater in cases where the local repeater frequencies are unknown or an operator chooses not to use them for whatever reason. 🤨

FRS / GMRS

FRS is for Family Radio Service, a modern alternate to CB radio and old-fashioned walky-talkys, used by businesses and individuals without a license. While CB is around 27 MHz, FRS is in the 460s of MHz.

GMRS is the acronym for General Mobile Radio Service, which is for licensed use by businesses. It shares some frequencies with FRS but allows more power and bandwidth. More bandwidth means more of the high frequencies are transmitted and reproduced, which usually means more clarity. (But more bandwidth with antennas means more frequencies can be received well.)

MURS is for Multi-Use Radio Service, another alternative to CBs that requires no license, this one using frequencies around 2 meters wavelength.

See Also:
📻 Radio Guide for Rocky Mount
📻 Shortwave Frequencies
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