LakeShark v2.2.0 Puts P25 Police Radio on a $100 Handheld (2026)

LakeShark v2.2.0, released in September 2026, is the cheapest path to digital police radio that we have seen, and it does not need a phone, tablet, or laptop to run. The firmware runs on a LilyGO T-Display P4 board (an ESP32-P4 microcontroller with a 4.1-inch touchscreen and GPS) and turns a USB-connected RTL-SDR Blog V3 or V4 dongle into a standalone receiver. It decodes P25 Phase I conventional and trunked voice, analog FM, POCSAG pagers, and 1090 MHz ADS-B aircraft data, with a spectrum display and waterfall for tuning, according to RTL-SDR.com and the project's GitHub repository.

What LakeShark v2.2.0 Decodes

Developer Samuel Reynolds (SAMS0N1TE) built LakeShark around one idea: a pocket-sized receiver that does the job of a desktop SDR setup. The v2.2.0 release covers:

• P25 Phase I conventional and trunked voice, the digital format most public safety agencies still run in the clear
• Analog FM, including mixed P25 and FM scan lists in the same radio
• POCSAG pagers, the paging traffic that many fire and EMS systems still use
• 1090 MHz ADS-B, the aircraft tracking band
• A spectrum display and waterfall for finding and tuning signals by eye

Trunked scanning is the part that matters for public safety listening. On a trunked system, voice channels are assigned dynamically, so a receiver has to follow the control channel and chase the grant. LakeShark follows those grants without a host computer attached.

Why a Phone-Free Receiver at This Price Matters

Until now, RTL-SDR software needed a Windows, Linux, macOS, or Android host to run. RTL-SDR.com notes that the ESP32-P4 now runs bare-metal RTL-SDR drivers on a commodity microcontroller, and that the sister project OrcSDR uses an M5Stack Tab5 instead. That is the shift: a phone-free P25 Phase I trunking receiver now lands at roughly $100 in parts, which puts digital trunking within reach of listeners who will not pay flagship scanner prices.

It is also a different kind of purchase. A standalone scanner arrives programmed and ready. LakeShark arrives as a build: you supply the board, the dongle, and the time to flash firmware and set up scan lists.

The Extras: Flipper Zero Control, Offline Maps, GPS Tracks

Reynolds built in more than decoding. The feature list includes mixed P25 and FM scan lists, sub-GHz pulse recording exported as Flipper .sub files, offline maps, and GPS track recording with GPX export. A Flipper Zero can control the receiver over Bluetooth, and a headless ESP32-P4 Nano build can sit in a bag as the radio while the Flipper does the tuning.

What Is Still Experimental in v2.2.0

Three features are flagged experimental, with limitations documented in the project wiki:

• Manually tuned P25 Phase II decoding
• HackRF support alongside the RTL-SDR dongles
• GPS-based scan filtering, which narrows what the receiver listens to by location

The stated next steps are live-RF validation and Phase II automatic call following. In plain terms: Phase II systems are not a hands-off experience yet. If your county runs P25 Phase II and you want automatic trunk following, this is not the tool to rely on today.

What LakeShark Cannot Do: Encryption

LakeShark does not decrypt encrypted talkgroups, and no scanner or SDR can. If your county's law-enforcement dispatch is encrypted, a P25 Phase I receiver will hear silence on those talkgroups no matter what you spend. That is the same wall that every listener hits, and we covered it in Police Scanner Encryption Explained: What You Can Still Hear in 2026. Fire, EMS, public works, and unencrypted police dispatch are where open P25 Phase I traffic still lives.

LakeShark vs a Standalone Scanner

If you want to listen tonight, a pre-programmed handheld is still the fastest start. A Baofeng UV-5R Plus police scanner arrives loaded with your county's conventional frequencies, costs less than most of the LakeShark parts list, and needs no firmware work. Where the two differ is digital trunking: the Baofeng covers analog VHF and UHF traffic, while LakeShark chases P25 Phase I trunked systems. Many listeners end up with both, one for instant listening and one for the trunked systems in their area.

For simulcast-heavy metro systems, neither is the answer. Simulcast distortion is a hardware problem, which is why we wrote up the Uniden SDS150 as the flagship option.

How Confirmed Is This Release?

One honest caveat. RTL-SDR.com did not print an exact publication date in the article body. The post's image assets sit in the 2026/09 upload path and the item appeared in this week's homepage feed, so we date it September 2026, not a confirmed day. The firmware version, the hardware list, and the feature set come straight from the article and the GitHub release.

FAQ

Is LakeShark a police scanner?

It is software-defined receiver firmware that turns a LilyGO T-Display P4 board plus an RTL-SDR dongle into a standalone P25 Phase I receiver. It performs the same job as a digital scanner for unencrypted systems, but you assemble and configure it yourself.

Can LakeShark decode encrypted police radio?

No. The project does not decrypt encrypted talkgroups, and that limitation applies to every consumer scanner and SDR.

How much does a LakeShark setup cost?

RTL-SDR.com puts it at roughly $100 in parts for the board and a compatible RTL-SDR Blog V3 or V4 dongle. You also need a microSD card and the time to flash firmware.

Does it follow P25 Phase II trunked systems automatically?

Not yet. Phase II decoding in v2.2.0 is manually tuned and listed as experimental, with automatic call following named as a future step.

Do I need a phone or computer to use it?

No. That is the point of the project: the ESP32-P4 runs the RTL-SDR drivers directly, so the receiver works on its own. A Flipper Zero can control it over Bluetooth if you want a second interface.

Which agencies can I actually hear with it?

Any P25 Phase I conventional or trunked system that is not encrypted, plus analog FM, POCSAG paging, and ADS-B. Encrypted talkgroups stay silent.

Bottom line: LakeShark v2.2.0 drops phone-free P25 Phase I trunking to roughly $100 in parts, which is the lowest entry price we have seen for digital police radio listening. It will not touch encrypted talkgroups, and Phase II support is still experimental. If you want to be listening tonight instead of building, a pre-programmed handheld is the shorter road, and you can add a trunking receiver later.