What's in the air
around here?

What We Monitor

NCISS monitors the Iowa Statewide Interoperable Communications System (ISICS) P25 Phase II trunked radio network from nine sites in central Iowa. The talkgroups below represent traffic we can receive from those sites. Green rows are actively streamed — red rows are encrypted and cannot be monitored by anyone outside the issuing agency — everything else is monitored but not currently fed to a public stream.

A note on the Patch / DX only tag you'll see on some sections below: ISICS routes a lot of interop and patched traffic through our sites that doesn't originate anywhere near Greene County. We identify these talkgroups for our own record-keeping and so they show up by name instead of a bare number in Recent Activity — not because we're actively monitoring those counties or agencies. Traffic on a tagged section is transient at best; some of it we may hear once a month, if that. If you're looking for reliable, regular coverage of a specific county, check whether it has its own dedicated stream on the Listen Live page — that's the difference between "we caught this on a patch" and "this is what we actually cover."

List updated July 2026. Additional counties and talkgroups added as monitoring capability expands. Don't see what you're looking for? Contact us.

Tune In Now

Choose a stream below. No app or software required — works directly in your browser.

About This Site

NCISS is a privately owned site, operated by a scanner enthusiast and ham radio operator in Greene County, Iowa.

I started this for two reasons. First, I wanted a way to listen to my favorite scanner feeds when away from home — without lugging around a handheld scanner. Second, I wanted something easier to use than what other services offer. I built it for myself, then figured others might want to listen too. Thus, NCISS was born.

This site is free to use. All you need is a web browser on any phone, tablet, or PC — and you're listening to the same traffic I pick up at my house. You can also use an app like Scanner 5-0 Radio Pro+ and add a custom feed. That works very well, though that app isn't free. Still, it's a solid option if you want more features.

The feeds on NCISS are ones I've curated. Members can also request their own private custom feed — built around the specific talkgroups they want to hear, for a nominal monthly or annual fee. If it's in the talkgroup list on the Signals page, I can build a feed for it. Custom feeds are fulfilled manually within 48 hours of request.

Everything you hear is picked up by SDR dongles connected to an Omni-X antenna. I'm currently monitoring 7 ISICS sites, with more to follow as capabilities expand.

I hope you enjoy the site. If you have feedback, drop me a line on the Contact page.

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How is NCISS Different?

There are other ways to listen to scanner traffic online — Broadcastify and CALLS being the most well-known. Both are excellent platforms, and if you're looking for broad national coverage, they're worth checking out. NCISS is different in a few important ways.

First, NCISS is locally operated. I live in Greene County. I know the geography, I know the agencies, and I'm actively monitoring and expanding the system. When something changes (a new talkgroup, a new site, a feed issue) I know about it because I'm listening too. I watch what's coming across the air and make notes of what I'm seeing so I can have the most accurate feeds possible.

Second, the feeds here are curated. I don't just dump everything into a stream and walk away. I monitor what I'm picking up, organize it by county and agency, and make decisions about what's worth streaming publicly. But I also recognize that what I'm streaming might not match up with what you want to listen to. That's where the next point comes in.

Third, members can request a custom feed. Want just Guthrie County roads? Boone County Landfill and Greene County Schools? For a small monthly or annual fee, I'll build a custom feed for you — private, not available to anyone unless you share it. If it's in the talkgroup list, I can add it for you. Learn more about membership.

I'm not a face in the crowd. I don't dump my feeds into a huge national system. I live here, I work here, and I support the local economy and those who also live here. This is about the citizens of North Central Iowa who want to know what's happening.

Welcome to NCISS.

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Future Plans

NCISS is actively growing. Membership is live — subscribers get access to a 7-day recordings archive and can request custom private feeds built around their preferred talkgroups. On the infrastructure side, expansion continues as monitoring capability grows.

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What NCISS is not

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The Honest Case for SDRTrunk

I own an SDS-200. It's a great scanner. It also costs around $600 these days. It sits on my desk and it stays on, but lately, I seldom get as much use from it as I used to. Why?

A few months ago I started down the SDR rabbit hole. "Software-Defined Radio." A $45 RTL-SDR V5 dongle, paired with the software SDRTrunk. What I found surprised me. For monitoring P25 Phase II trunked systems (the kind Iowa and many other states run for public safety), a well-configured SDR setup doesn't just match a dedicated scanner. In a couple of important ways it beats one.

Here's what I've learned from running NCISS — currently monitoring nine ISICS sites across central and north-central Iowa, 24 hours a day:

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Where a scanner still wins: portability, mobile use, instant on. If you're listening in your truck, a scanner is still the right tool. There's something to be said for a single-use appliance that just turns on and works — though "just works" is doing some heavy lifting these days. Programming a modern scanner with software like Sentinel isn't the simple plug-and-play it used to be either. Plenty of people give up on that step too.

But if you're at a desk, at home, wanting to catch everything happening across multiple talkgroups in real time, in all honesty, SDRTrunk is worth the learning curve.

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What I Offer

I built NCISS from scratch. I operate it every day. Hardware selection, antenna setup, SDRTrunk configuration, playlist building, stream management, all of it. I've crashed PCs figuring out the limits. I've cooked dongles learning about airflow. I've spent more hours than I'll admit building and validating talkgroup playlists by hand.

You don't have to repeat that process. I'll shortcut it for you.

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Get Started

Ready to get your SDR setup working? Send me an email and tell me what you're trying to do. I'll let you know if I can help, what I'll need from you, and how to get started.

A few things worth knowing upfront:

I'm based in Greene County, Iowa. I'm very familiar with Iowa's geography and systems. I'm open to working with other states, but I'll need your help in determining the best systems and taking geography into account. I can assist with that research, but you will likely end up being the expert. If it's something unusual I'll tell you honestly before taking your money.

Payment is via PayPal or Venmo before delivery.

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News & Updates

What's happening at NCISS — new streams, coverage updates, and occasional notes from the air above north-central Iowa.

Get in Touch

Questions about the system, signal reports, or general feedback. This is a one-person operation — response times vary, but I do read everything.