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I know very little about radios. I am a fisherman, and I am trying to figure out how to descramble what other fisherman are saying to each other on the radio. Most of them now are working on expanded scrambled channels. Is it possible to descramble their communications with each other, and be able to listen in?

More information is needed.....
Are they also on a ham band, or VHF Marine.....?
If they are talking on VHF Marine radios, there is no scrambling of the signal unless they are using an outboard device which is illegal on that radio service. And if that "is" the case, you would need to know what type of scrambling device they are using in order to de-scramble their signal.
However chances are if you are hearing them on VHF Marine, and you believe they are scrambled, it could be you do not have their frequency programmed in exactly correct, 5 or 10 Kc's off frequency would make their signal appear scrambled.

If they are on the 2 meter ham band, again I do not believe scrambling devices are allowed, CTCSS or DCS tone encoding is, but if that's what they are using, you'll see a signal strength reading on your "S" meter with no audio at all....

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37OH - SSV - O773H

Voice Scrambler - Standard Horizon Accessories - Standard Horizan VHF Radio

This is what we have in our radios to scramble.

However, I am looking for a way to figure out other peoples scrambler codes to listen in on their conversations.

I just did a complete search on the Vertex - Standard website, doing a search of "FVP-31" resulted in this coming back....

No other information concerning what it does, how it does it, or how to install it.

The CVS-2500 shows up as an optional accessory for the higher end fixed mount VHF Marine radios, but clicking on it only brings up a blurry photo of it, no information as to how it works, or how to install it.

The site is very illusive concerning this device, and I'm not absolutely positive, but I believe it is not legal under FCC rules to scramble a VHF Marine radio transmission, however I could be wrong on this, but it would explain why Standard-Verizon is so damn illusive about showing, explaining, or even advertising this device. The site you posted "Capt. Joe's" may or may not know this, it's the first I've hear of such a thing, I'm a life long coastal resident and boater, I've owned many portable and fixed mount VHF Marine radios over the years, and I've never heard of a voice scrambler, or heard a scrambled voice transmitted over the VHF Marine frequencies.
Obviously this is something new, and not out there in any great numbers, most fishermen I know are too cheap to buy a new radio when they need one, let alone add another $112.00 to $130.00 dollars to the cost for a voice scrambling device. Anymore lately I don't even bother listening to the channels the fishermen frequent, too much nonsense, cursing, and false reports to throw everybody else away from where the fish are really biting. I just listen to the U.S.C.G. frequencies to hear when vessels are in distress.

I assume if voice scrambling is actually legal under FCC rules, then this thing might catch on in time, but I wouldn't be in any hurry to go out and get one, besides you need one of the Standard-Verizon radios that is equipped with the circuit board that accepts this plug-in device, and from what I gathered, it's the intrinsically safe model.....$$$$$

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37OH - SSV - O773H

Looking a little deeper I found that the voice scrambler option for a hand held is only available on the Submersible and intrinsically safe HS370S model.

Looked it up on the West Marine site.....

That's 300 bucks for just the radio, add another $112.00 for the voice scrambler.....

The radio can also be programmed for land mobile frequencies, but you would have to buy the radio from an authorized Standard-Verizon radio dealer....(not a discount outlet like West Marine)....show proof of the proper FCC license to have them program it.
Now this might make the radio worth a look see if you are a ham and a boater, and assuming it will program down into the 2 meter band, you could have a VHF Marine radio with 2 meter repeater frequencies complete with CTCSS or DSC tone encoding, and a voice scrambler......

BTW....from what I read, the voice scrambler only has 4 code settings, so if you got one it would only be a matter of listening to the other fishermen, and changing the settings until you found the one they are using......

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37OH - SSV - O773H

Ah....so it's the fishermen who have all the money!

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WW....

There's 3 kinds of fishermen around here....
Us poor bastards that fish from the beach, rock jetties, bridges, sod banks, and free public fishing piers....

The guys with just enough money to get themselves a 20 foot or under center consul with an outboard, that fish the back bays, under bridges, and on really calm days just out front in the ocean.....

Then there's the rich sportfishing yacht owners, the guys with mega bucks who buy 40 something foot Vikings, Hatteras', Posts, Buddy Davis', and Bertram's, equip them with big tuna towers and outriggers they never use, adorn those towers with the latest array of antennas, radar devices, GPS, wireless internet, satellite TV & phone, a complete set of custom made trolling rods outfitted with top of the line reels.....and most of these vessels just sit at the dock all summer and never move......

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37OH - SSV - O773H

Or the 4th group, the people who fish for a living.

We have the radio that scrambles and we have scrambled channels set up between our friends, but I'm trying to figure out a way to get the codes of other fisherman's radio groups.

There are pages and pages of codes and possibilities and I need a way to sift through all of these and find the correct one.

So this is a commercial fisherman thing with the signal scrambling. I really do not know anymore about it other than what I was able to find on the Standard-Verizon website, and that wasn't much....

As for commercial fishing, I have mixed feelings, I was once involved in the industry many years ago working on a small trawler out of Ocean City and Cape May NJ. I'm strictly a recreational fisherman now, and have a hard time accepting some of the regulations that impose strict catch limits on rec fishermen while allowing the commercial guys to continue to rape the oceans clean of fish. I know you guys have to have the ability to make a living, but it shouldn't come at such great expense on the recreational guy's....but I digress......

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37OH - SSV - O773H

Try asking someone who's a member of one of these other "groups". Maybe they don't want anybody listening, whether they have the right radio or not.

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