The RadioReference.com Forums - General Scanning Forum

State Laws for Electronics Use in the Car

gmclam — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:53:45 GMT

This site might be of use to you. I have not checked each state to see if scanner use is listed, but it is certainly a good start:

DigitalTips: State Laws

Livesportsradio

Flintstone4680 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:53:18 GMT

I was at a football game and bought a LiveSportsRadio to hear the play-by-play. It works great, they retransmit the regular station carrying the game throughout the stadium for perfect reception. I checked their website though (Live Sports Radio Website) and it says they need to be re-programmed every season and they charge extra. I was thinking if I know what freqs they used I could try to pick up their transmissions with a scanner instead. So anyone know what freqs it could be on?

Help with Scanner and Software

ctc1958 — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:33:38 GMT

I am looking to monitor public safety frequencies, specifically fire station alarms, in multiple counties and hopefully record these when I am not at home on my PC or some other device. Can someone recommend a scanner, as well as any and all software I need to load the proper frequencies and link same to my computer for recording those calls.

I have no experience in this area, so one ignorant newbie.

Thanks in advance for your help.

HAM overlaping Public Service band

Waterfreak2009 — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:47:31 GMT

This is the second night that I have noticed this. Never noticed it before though. I am in Blackford CO. Indiana, and I am hearing this on the police dispatch channel 151.04 When the police o dispatch keys up, I hear them and HAM people talking at the same time. As soon as police or dispatch clear the air, I don't hear either again. To hear what I am saying check the archive on my feed Hartford City and Montpilier Fire and EMS Dispatch, Fireground, and County EMA Live Scanner Audio Feed Archives its on 11-19-2009 at 12:29am. I am using a pro-2018 hoked up via an audio cord to my computer to stream. I cant help but think it has something to do with the computer since I have never heard this before, and my feed is new. Any ideas?

Encryption starting to bum me out.

wise871 — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:36:07 GMT

Yesterday the local Military Fire and Police (DOD P25 380-400) in my area decided to switch over to encryption. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I’ve been monitoring them for over two years and I have 95% of the talkgroups Identified, when at 0850 Monday morning I hear a call on ATG for Fire and Police to switch over all radios to encryption at 0900. Needless to say I was hoping I heard them wrong, but I wasn’t. I’m really starting to hate encryption,:mad:. It’s bad enough the Florida Highway Patrol is on MACOM EDACS (SLERS) and the adjacent county will be switching the Fire and Sheriff over to SLERS soon. With the DOD system I still have tons of talkgroups to monitor but who is to say the others won’t follow suite later on. Police and Fire were the best ones to monitor.

scanner programs on 'netbooks'?

screenersam — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:20:51 GMT

I'm thinking about buying one of those 'notebook' laptops. is it possible to download a scanning program and hook the scanner up to it?
my Bearcat 898T screen stopped working. want to hook up to a computer to see screen and keep log.

Legality of retransmitting public service comm. on FM

user422 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:44:03 GMT

Is it legal in the US to scan police/fire/ems then retransmit on an available FM frequency? The goal would be to provide my local area with open access to these transmissions. Streaming online would be nice but not nearly as convenient for most people and also not mobile.

i think i know the answer but i ask anyway

swstow — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:33:24 GMT

i have been tasked to write a scanner program for a local citys admin / my question is this, some of the channels are encripted, they will be using the new 996xts, if the gave me the encripted info can it be installed in the scanner and make those channels listenable, they are on a rebaned 800 digital system
they have radio tech on staff so getting the info will be easy, just wondering if it was possible

btw thanks upman your idea worked great for my other problem

Scanners on Planes

rkillins — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:45:42 GMT

Has anyone any experience, or advice, in respect to listening to a scanner aboard a US Airlines domestic flight? I tried to find some policy at their website, but came up empty. I am trying to avoid checking my bag. It's small enough for carry on, but it will have my scanner in it. Even if I can't, or don't discretely monitor it while in flight (if anything to hear anyway), could it be considered suspicious enough that I may get a hassle?

Interference problem

izzyj4 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:31:14 GMT

I need a little help here. I recently installed two antennas in my attic (an modified RS mag mount and a Diamond D-130J). I ran two separate RG-8X cables down from my attic to my listening post in my basement. Both cables are run side-by-side coming down from the attic to my shack. I have a 780XLT hooked up to the RS antenna and a 996T hooked up to the Diamond lead. I'm getting interference on the 33MHz band to the 996T and it varies which frequency the RF comes in on (I'll get it on 33.50 and 33.56 but not 33.52 or 33.54). If I turn the squelch all the way up I still get the interference.

Same thing with the 780XLT but it RF comes in around 46.16 up to about 46.22 but if I cut the squelch the interference is squelched. I then took each scanner and hooked them up to the other antenna. Same results with the opposite scanner. Also if I turn the squelch down I do get the interference on both 46 & 33 MHz ranges s previously described.

The scanners are near my computer and I have traced the majority of the interference on the 33MHz band to the computer. However once I disconnect the coaxial lead to either scanner and run it without an antenna, I do not get any interference even if I have the squelch just barley up. I put a wick antenna that comes with the scanners on it and I get the interference back. t seems that with running both scanners with their wall warts and having the coaxial hooked up to the ANT jacks, I get the interference. SO for ha-ha's, I decided to run an extension cord from another room's outlet (different electrical circuit in the house) had the 780 and 996 hooked up to the original antennas as I state above and got the interference again.

Now here's the kicker, I have a portable scanner (396T) and I ran it on batteries and was able to trace the 33MHz interference to the computer and also my monitor (CRT). I would have to put the antenna sort of close to either unit to recreate the interference. I think the 46MHz interference may be coming from by cable modem or router (hard wire only) but I couldn't replicate this interference with the portable radio.
So then I hooked the portable scanner up to each of the leads and ran them for a while and did not get any interference over it, basically picked up everything okay during a service search of the VHF and UHF bands.

I'm at a loss. Any suggestions???

Izzy

Whats The Best/Cheapest Digital Trunking Scanner

Waterfreak2009 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:50:45 GMT

I am located in Blackford County Indiana. This county and the majority of the surrounding counties police have gone to digital talkgroups. I am just getting back into scanning and neither of my scanners are capable of receiving digital trunked systems. What is the CHEAPEST scanner I can get that is a digital trunking scanner? After looking briefly through Amazon, the REALLY high price of $500 is stuck in my head. I was thinking more like $300 or less. Maybe wishful thinking on my part, but I figured it couldn't hurt to ask. I am new to the digital scanner era so an easier to program scanner wouldn't hurt any.

Is there such a Scanner?

dragon_slayer79 — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 09:09:45 GMT

Please forgive my ignorance on this, but I'm still realitively new to the scanning world. Ok... I know this is probably a dumb thought but, here's my delima. I live in a fairly rural part of Iowa. I use an outdoor antenna that I have about 25 feet off the ground. I know that frequencies start to over lap every 50 miles approximately and I'm picking up transmissions from about 75 miles from my location that I've been able to identify so far. Here's what got me to thinking about this... the other night I heard my local dispatch call back to an officer to check on him cause his mic got accidentally keyed and it showed her his ID. Which got me to thinking... Is there such a scanner, software or combination of both that allows you to program a frequency and (like the officers radio did at dispatch) show which department, town or anything of the like for that transmission? I'm fiding it very difficult to be able to Identify the transmissions based on peoples voices. I have learned our local dispatch and some of the officers but the other towns don't say this is happyville, ia in such and such county. I've been googling addresses that get called in for things like EMS trying to get an idea of where they might be coming from but then it's just a guessing game from there to which town might be the main for that area or what not. Any thoughts short of buying a crapier antenna so I don't pick up as much would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time.

I'm currently using a radio shack Pro-82 handheld scanner that I have attactched to the outside antenna.

Is this worth it?

FLRAILMAN — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 01:01:10 GMT

Looks like one of those buff notifier set-ups. The ad says that they are in partnership with RR however I can't find any connection. Anybody familiar with this?

EdgeRift - Emergency Radio

FLRAILMAN

New Player Enters the Scanner Market

lars128 — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:39:46 GMT

Well sort of.....

Check this out, the Rigid jobsite radio, ipod dock and 450-470 MHz SCANNER!

I know it's not really intended to scan police and fire calls on the jobsite, but it's still interesting nonetheless. And if you don't like the built-in scanner you can plug in your portable and use the 12v port to charge it.

scanner recording portable

CATCHMEIFUCAN — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:46:42 GMT

has anyone ever tryed using one of those mini digital voice recorders for recording with a scanner they look like they would work good an even better the ones with the mic input then you could have a portable recorder wherever you go too. just wondering if it has ever been used an the results.

MotoTRBO Question

wb0wao — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:42:48 GMT

Yes, I know that there is no currently available scanner that will receive and "decode" this and this is also not a plea for the manufacturers to make one. My question is more of an "operational issue". Did Motorola produce a "dual mode" mobile radio that could operate as a standard analog radio and also operate in MotoTRBO mode as well?

The reason that I ask is a local agency normally operates in the clear on analog, but does on occasion operate some type of digital system for "privacy". The closest thing that I have found that sounds like what I hear is a MotoTRBO signal. Both types of signals are on the same frequency.

Just curious if they produced such a rig and if they did could this agency be utilizing this function as a "privacy" mode?

Dennis

20/20 hindsight

whiskeytango — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:30:16 GMT

got my scanner bout 2 months ago...now that i got it all figured out im itching to reorganize all banks. when i got it i stuffed it full of freq's just to get listening, so im all spread out...banks 1/2/7 are chp, 3/4/5 open, 6 norcal so's, 8 sac county trs, 9/10 open, 11-13 reno and nv, 14 sac air traffic. someday when i have some free time ill redo it, but goin at it old skooooooool without a pc program makes it a little daunting. how do u all have your banks set up

Could a cheaper scanner be all you need?

tanger32au — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:23:37 GMT

Could a cheaper scanner be all you need?

Over the last 11 years while I have been involved in the scanning hobby I have used a number of different scanners. These have ranged from a simple 20 channel hand-held to multi-mode base units with 4 digit price tags, in all this time I have struggled to find what is the best unit for me that suits my needs.

Nobody can argue that we are lucky to have such a wide range of scanners to buy and some have a great range of features which I have myself made good use of in the past but the longer I am in the hobby and the more scanners I use the more I see that for me a simpler unit is better for a number of reasons.

Scanners like most things are always getting better and having new and different features added but really who could fill all the 6000 channels in one of the latest Uniden trunk trackers and given that most police communications are now unscannable is it really worth paying the extra for APCO25 digital and trunking when in most cases it will not get used much if at all.

In my cases I have found a simple 200 channel hand-held does everything I need and more, sure it might not have 1000 channels or trunking but for what I listen to day to day it suits me well.
I do have an expensive multi-mode wideband hand-held with 1000 channels and lots of features but more often than not I pick up my simple 200 channel hand-held to use as I get more enjoyment for it and spend less time changing settings and more time enjoying it.

Maybe something to think about?

Launceston Radio Scanner Guy

350-390MHz???

Thunderbolt5 — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:23:00 GMT

Can anyone tell me what this chunk of freqs are allocated for? I can't seem to find anything other that an obscure reference to aircraft....

Thunderbolt

covert ear monitor

KD8EYF — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:17:09 GMT

i am looking for a earphone that would take the shape of a smal earplug but would not be very visible to others. what options do i have? i was thinking about taking a actual earplug and putting a small speaker in it. Would also like the unit to work wireless. any one point me to a product or a diy plans?

question about speaker for handheld scanner

FV43FC — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:25:19 GMT

i got a radio shack..hook outa older lapel speaker volume is very low. got one from a buddy it does same thing. do they make a amped lapel mic. or any way to make it louder. thanks for the help

Web Sites Closing

digitalanalog — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:02:29 GMT

scannerantennasource.com and scannerinforsource.com will be closing.

Things in life change and so do the times.

I hope one or both of the sites have helped some of you with antenna choices or any other
information available on the two sites.

I have no actual closing date (godaddy kinda hard to figure out some times)

It's been fun and i have enjoyed the hobby.

Scan on people........................................
Jim

GRE/RS Vs. Uniden RID/UID Poll

DaveIN — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:57:59 GMT

Let's get ready to rumble...:twisted:

What does PSN mean?

toastguy — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:21:27 GMT

I've been searching for the meaning of this police code/Abbrv.: PSN

It's often used in the context. "I'm coming back with a negative PSN"

It might also be PFN, PFM, or PSM

What is your code/signal for "Person Armed"

b7spectra — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:48:58 GMT

Person is armed (with weapon). What is your signal/code?

Cobb County - Person is 69 with gun/knife/tire iron/frozen squirrel. Yup! In Atlanta, they put out a call that a person was armed with a frozen squirrel!

Help decide on Receiver, SDR, SA combo

osros — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 01:27:57 GMT

Help decide on Receiver, SDR, SA combo OR how to spend $3,000. :)

I been monitoring for some time now but always been light on the equipment using older stuff and portables. I was big into HF Monitoring a while back and like to get back into that again.

I am looking to get a wide band receiver and also like to use the computer and other hardware for a spectrum analyzer. Im trying to get the most bang for $3k. I narrowed it down to two setups for RX and why. I like to know what you all think or can offer other ideas I have not thought of. My main interest is Utility Monitoring and I will have a Tech Lic soon so may want to TX at some time.

My RX options:

ICOM R8500 and RF Space SDR-14. This setup seems to cover everything and my top choice.

Or

AOR SDR200A Freq Monitor. This looks interesting but no HF, but its more portable.

For TX:

I dont know yet. I like to find a Transceiver that will handle my RX needs and allow me to TX as a Ham and be able to do more as my needs grow as a Ham.

Any useful input is welcome to help me decide or go in another direction.

Thanks

question bout pl tones

whiskeytango — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:45:45 GMT

ive read a million things on it but it doesnt seem to click for some reason...its basically for a radio to determine who it wants to transmit to or what?> and does it matter for just a scanner user? tia

choosing a reasonably-priced mobile scanner

w2edv — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:48:47 GMT

Hi Everyone - if this is a duplicate, I apologize. I wrote and posted, but cannot find my original.

At home I use a 996T which I bought, programmed and use. It works well, though I am not a scanner hobby expert. I want to use a scanner in my car, but not the 996T. I was hoping to get some advice on a reasonably-priced and appropriate unit and antenna for my car. I wish to monitor police, fire, ems and HAM and WX service would be nice. I'm a Skywarn spotter and having a scanner in my car would be helpful. I stow my dual-band transceiver and GPSr when I exit the car, so I thought perhaps a hh unit would suffice - one to which I can attach and detach power and antenna cables. I can mount it on the dash.

Do I *require* a digital trunking scanner? I live in northern NJ. With my VHF/UHF unit, I have a hatch mount for my vertical whip. I was envisioning using the same type mount (PO/PL259) on the other side of my hatch, for the scanner.

Any thoughts or recommendations are greatly appreciated.

earl
w2edv

Analog v Digital Scanner Frequencies

mmagras01 — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:09:39 GMT

The local police department in my area recently switched to a digital trunking system. I own a Pro 94 and was wondering if I will still be able to listen to transmissions on my analog scanner or if I should upgrade to a digital scanner, and if I do, if I will be able to listen in or am I just wasting my money.

US frequency allocation - detailed explanation ?

onetrueboo — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:33:37 GMT

No doubt many of you are already familiar with the US frequency allocation chart:
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/osmhome/allochrt.pdf

I'm looking for information on who(m) and for what use on all the various allocations ( < 2 GHz ).

For example, what does 'FIXED' mean?

Is it possible to determine who 'owns' a given piece of the spectrum, and what it's being used for?

The chart leaves a bit to be desired in this respect.