Other high school students interested in public safety monitoring?

KC9VZV · #1 (**permalink**) 03-03-2013, 11:48 AM

I am just wondering if there are any other high school students on here that are interested in public safety monitoring? I know some high school students that have a scanner specifically to monitor the PD or FD that their family member/friend works for, but is there anyone here that enjoys monitoring the police and fire departments as a hobby, collecting radios, and other nerdy stuff that we do?

I know that it is extremely rare to find someone that is in high school with an interest like this (such as I have), so I am curious if there is anyone else on the RR forums that is similar in this sense...

Thanks!

WAScanMan · #2 (**permalink**) 03-03-2013, 1:54 PM

I started scanning when I was around 14 but didn't own my own scanner until I was 17. (I'm 23 now and have 8 receivers) One of my buddies had a scanner and wanted to be a cop. I thought it was the coolest thing to know why a fire truck was running code or why there were 4 cops at the supermarket. The summer before my senior year of high school I worked for my neighbor for 15 hours a week to buy myself a Pro-97. I couldn't afford software or a usb cable so I learned to program it by hand which was beneficial in learning about the scanner, frequencies, tones etc. I think it's pretty awesome that you're in high school and already a licensed HAM and are interested in this great hobby.

Cheers

scanningisfun · #3 (**permalink**) 03-03-2013, 3:33 PM

I'm in high school, and I am also an amateur. I have a BCD396XT which is used extensively (~3,800 Channels Programmed), a Pro-79 (Which is what I started on), and a Moto XTS 5000.

Jacob

KC9VZV · #4 (**permalink**) 03-03-2013, 3:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scanningisfun

I'm in high school, and I am also an amateur. I have a BCD396XT which is used extensively (~3,800 Channels Programmed), a Pro-79 (Which is what I started on), and a Moto XTS 5000.

Jacob

Jacob-

Awesome! Yeah, it is a great hobby. I have a BCD396XT that I got so that I could monitor our state PD on their P25 system. What do you mostly monitor? Police, fire, ham, railroad...?

Have a good one!
Dan

KC9VZV · #5 (**permalink**) 03-03-2013, 3:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WAScanMan

I started scanning when I was around 14 but didn't own my own scanner until I was 17. (I'm 23 now and have 8 receivers) One of my buddies had a scanner and wanted to be a cop. I thought it was the coolest thing to know why a fire truck was running code or why there were 4 cops at the supermarket. The summer before my senior year of high school I worked for my neighbor for 15 hours a week to buy myself a Pro-97. I couldn't afford software or a usb cable so I learned to program it by hand which was beneficial in learning about the scanner, frequencies, tones etc. I think it's pretty awesome that you're in high school and already a licensed HAM and are interested in this great hobby.

Cheers

yes, that feeling of knowing what's going on when most of the rest of the public doesnt is so fun! Lol

scanningisfun · #6 (**permalink**) 03-03-2013, 3:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KC9VZV

Jacob-

Awesome! Yeah, it is a great hobby. I have a BCD396XT that I got so that I could monitor our state PD on their P25 system. What do you mostly monitor? Police, fire, ham, railroad...?

Have a good one!
Dan

I mainly monitor public safety.

Jacob

KC9VZV · #7 (**permalink**) 03-03-2013, 4:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scanningisfun

I mainly monitor public safety.

Jacob

Great! Thanks for replying to my post! Now I know that there are other people just as crazy as me!

WAScanMan · #8 (**permalink**) 03-03-2013, 5:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KC9VZV

yes, that feeling of knowing what's going on when most of the rest of the public doesnt is so fun! Lol

Absolutely! I have a question for you now. Do people at your school know about your hobby and if so what do they think of it?

KC9VZV · #9 (**permalink**) 03-03-2013, 5:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WAScanMan

Absolutely! I have a question for you now. Do people at your school know about your hobby and if so what do they think of it?

I don't try to keep it a secret, but I don't advertise it a lot. So yes, some people know but because I don't make a big deal about it, they dont either. It was nice though because the fire alarm went off at the school one morning before school started and I was still home with my scanner on, so I knew what was going on. The next day someone said that there was a fire yesterday morning and I told them that in fact it was a faulty smoke detector on the second floor.

Spitfire8520 · #10 (**permalink**) 03-03-2013, 6:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WAScanMan

I started scanning when I was around 14 but didn't own my own scanner until I was 17.

Interestingly enough, my background is similar to yours. I got interested in scanning around 14 as well, but it was due to me finding online scanner feeds such as ScanAmerica before it became RadioReference. I spent a lot of time on live feeds in high school before I became committed to getting a digital scanner at around 17 years old (99% of public safety communications in the area are digital). I put in a lot of time learning about TRS, digital, and how to hand program a Pro-106, and eventually picked a new one up on a Black Friday sale.

I actually still do not have software or a programming cable for the scanner as it has only been a couple of years since then. As for who knew, all my closer friends knew about my scanner habits and were fine with it, but not too many people outside of that loop knew about it. I did try to talk about it with other people I knew, but generally the reaction is the generic "Why would you need a police scanner? Isn't there a smartphone app for that?"

APORATH · #11 (**permalink**) 03-04-2013, 4:56 PM

I started when I was 13 (back in 1999). From 1999 to around 2011, there use to be plenty to listen to, Police, Fire, Municipal Government, and businesses. Sadly beginning in 2008, most of the municipal government and business communications have moved from two-way radio to cellular push to talk services leaving only Police and Fire to listen to. Then beginning in 2010, most of the low level police calls that I use to hear (family fights, vandalism) have went directly to the officer's MDT so most of the time the channel has been quiet. I put away my scanner a couple of years ago because there is hardly ANYTHING interesting to listen to but it was a fun hobby while it lasted.

fire42man · #12 (**permalink**) 03-04-2013, 5:10 PM

I am in high school, and I started scanning when I was 13 because I wanted to catch all the local FD's calls. A few months later I purchased a BC72XLT, which is my primary scanner for monitoring public safety. For christmas that year I got a Pro-163 to use as my base scanner, which I monitor public safety, amateur, and just about whatever else I can put on it. I'm not public about my scanning hobby, mainly just my friends from the fire department know about it, though it doesn't mean I haven't mentioned scanning on facebook.

chanman13 · #13 (**permalink**) 03-04-2013, 6:41 PM

I started when I was 13 with a Pro-163. I took that 163 on every road trip. That did me good for about 3 years, and this past Christmas got the PSR-800. Got into to scanners from my great uncle, having fun explaining all the new terms and how the newer systems work, great hobby, also hope to be a career firefighter/paramedic, so a good start.

jmbpudz · #14 (**permalink**) 03-07-2013, 5:11 PM

I am in high school and I own two scanners. I enjoy listening to police, fire, etc. in my area. I am also studying to get a Ham license.
I think that it is good that some people our age are interested in scanning, ham radio, etc., especially since most of my fellow students at school don't even know what a police scanner is (which is really sad).

WAScanMan · #15 (**permalink**) 03-07-2013, 7:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KC9VZV

I don't try to keep it a secret, but I don't advertise it a lot. So yes, some people know but because I don't make a big deal about it, they dont either. It was nice though because the fire alarm went off at the school one morning before school started and I was still home with my scanner on, so I knew what was going on. The next day someone said that there was a fire yesterday morning and I told them that in fact it was a faulty smoke detector on the second floor.

Gotta love this hobby! Another common misconception I've found is people think scanners only pick up police. I often get "why do you need 8 scanners to listen to the police?" If someone uses a radio, no matter how boring the subject matter, I wanna find the frequency, identify the user, then add it to my logs. This hobby opens up a lot of opportunities such as becoming a licensed HAM, a better understanding of the science behind it (radios, radio waves, propagation, etc) and possibly even some job opportunities using the hobby you love. I'd absolutely LOVE to be a radio tech someday!

Amtrak6904 · #16 (**permalink**) 03-07-2013, 7:41 PM

I'm in high school now, but I started out in Middle School in 7th grade with a BC95XLT for my railfanning trips. From there I discovered that I can listen to the public safety agencies, and I fell in to the hobby from there on. Now I own an HT1000, Spectra (For the car), MTS2000, and a JEM. I entered the GMRS world within the last year or so, and currently dispatch for IPN. Also, I became a police explorer in my local community recently. The hobby has opened up so many new pathways for me in the last 4-5 years!

Cody9412 · #17 (**permalink**) 03-07-2013, 7:55 PM

In High school here been listening to everything and anything with my Pro-404 and 164 since there's no major digital systems around me also a General class Ham studying for the Extra test. I always have my one of my scanners with me but rarely take it out. The admins are scared of things they don't understand and perceive as a threat to there radios.

WAScanMan · #18 (**permalink**) 03-07-2013, 7:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amtrak6904

I'm in high school now, but I started out in Middle School in 7th grade with a BC95XLT for my railfanning trips. From there I discovered that I can listen to the public safety agencies, and I fell in to the hobby from there on. Now I own an HT1000, Spectra (For the car), MTS2000, and a JEM. I entered the GMRS world within the last year or so, and currently dispatch for IPN. Also, I became a police explorer in my local community recently. The hobby has opened up so many new pathways for me in the last 4-5 years!

That's awesome that you got into the hobby with something other than public saftey. I don't hear about that too often.