Age and years scanning poll

[mrkelso]

67 here

 

[6079smithw]

Talk about feeling ancient... turned 71 last December. Got hooked when I was around 11 or 12 via a multi-band Zenith tube console radio I got from a neighbor. (Had to repair the speaker cone with Elmer's Glue-All to get it going) International shortwave, AM DX, aviation, etc. First dedicated monitor radio was a RatShack PRO-2 I got around 1969 or so; lost count of the base units and handhelds I owned since then. As an OTR driver (mostly retired now) scanning was a never-ending source of information/education/entertainment that I could enjoy no matter where I was... been quite a journey from tunable to digital over the years!

 

[KevinC]

Are we talking physical age or mental age? Cuz some of the members here act like big babies.

 

[gmclam]

I am in my sixties, started listening when I was 10. All of my children (adults) are under 40 and none listen (but they all have scanners from dear old dad). My dad listens, although sporadically, he is in his eighties.

My first scanner wasn't a scanner, it was a converter. You placed in near an AM radio and it would pick up our single Police channel (VHF). Later the fire department got their own frequency and I upgraded to a two channel converter. But you had to manually select the channel to listen to. First scanner of my own was a PRO-77 which I later modified.

 

[IcomIcR20]

I'm currently 16 and have been on this site just browsing at first and later posting since I was just a wee little thing

I got into the scanning hobby when a VFD friend of ours gave me a little HT to play around with, and then it was all downhill (or uphill ) from there. Still having lots of fun listening in and discovering new frequencies, talkgroups, and systems. Finding new systems is a bit like a treasure hunt for me. It's a good feeling when you spend hours, days (or even months if it is a big network) mapping out, say, a NEXEDGE of CON+ system in DSD+ and pop the system into your scanner and it starts successfully receiving traffic.

 

[Bob1955]

I'm 64, started this hobby in 1973.

 

[nosoup4u]

I am 50, but started scanning when I was 20.

 

[CrabbyMilton]

54 and started in 1980.

 

[jafarm66]

55 but been scanner listener for 40+ years


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[darkness975]

There is a lot of scanner listeners that are younger than 25. I have ran into many but I have noticed 13 to 18 only 3 out of the 10 use a scanner for legit purposes the rest use it to avoid LE. This is from personal run ins on job.

That's disheartening. We dont need jerks making us look even worse. Which units are these kids using? Seems like an awful expensive investment for people that are not old enough to work yet.

My kids were born in the 80s. 1980 and 1982. But one is deceased

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

I am sorry to hear that. =[


Seems like there are some people around my age here after all! I thought I was all by my lonesome!

 

[bravo14]

41 here been listening since at age 15.

 

[TailGator911]

Mid-60s here. Been scanning since I was about 10. Loving it more and more. Local area scanning, shortwave listening, utility monitoring, milair/aviation, maritime, amateur radio, etc., I enjoy many aspects of this fantastic hobby. For those who claim the hobby is 'dying', I say the only thing 'dying' is their interest in the hobby. For me, basically, if it transmits I will listen

JD
kf4anc

 

[LEH]

Someone suggested a poll on how old we are as scanner enthusiast. I hope this works as I've also added how long you've been scanning. The poll limited me to 10 choices.

If this suddenly vanishes (I do have it set for 7 days to vote), it is because I really goofed in setting it up.

 

[LEH]

Hmm, seems to be working if no one skews the data (e.g., under 30 and scanning for more than 30 years.

 

[KevinC]

I merged the two threads.

 

[TailGator911]

Looks like us old fogies are winning at the ballot. This thread makes you sit back and take stock and realize just how long you've been in the radio hobby. Those of us in our 60s have seen a technical evolution that has surpassed all that we dreamed of when we first got into it. Digital has changed our lives in so many ways - for one thing, instead of rows and rows and stacks of LPs against a wall, I now have all of my music on a 2tb external drive that holds all 37Gs of my music in MP3s. Imagine all of that stacked in rows! Instead of crystals we now program our scanners integrated with computers. We actually fix and repair some issues with our scanners thru the computer. We have a world of knowledge at our fingertips with the internet, a reference library beyond comprehension. We 60-somethings have literally watched the world change right before our very eyes. When I look back at it all I think I have been alive in a very good time as far as man's progress in this world is concerned. Watching technical evolution broaden our horizons has been a wonderful experience. The integration between scanners and computers was something I dreaded at first (maybe out of fear of the unknown? who knows) but now I can't imagine one without the other. Of course, the bad always comes with the good, and our social pitfalls reflect the negative aspects of a society striving for digital perfection while spinning in our own moral decay, oblivious to the damages that we incur. If any old adage were ever truer, it would be that history repeats itself. A study of ancient civilizations will certainly open one's eyes to the realities of our own. Another adage comes to mind - enjoy it while it lasts!

We have seen so much change, but has it been for the better? Or, for the worse? You be the judge.

JD
kf4anc

 

[DJ11DLN]

I got bit at an early age, about 5 or 6. My parents had a multiband radio that covered VHF-LO and -Hi. Looking back I'm not sure why because neither were radio buffs but my mom got to playing around with it and started hearing some local LE and FD and of course mobile phones. A couple of years later dad bought her a Bearcat III and I was hooked for good. I never owned my own scanner until after I moved out...my first was another BC3, this one from a yard sale. Late '80s I got a BC560xlt and was amazed at its capabilities. Later got a Pro-2023 and was even more amazed. Then I missed out on what a lot consider to be the latter heydays of scanning due to being married to somebody who wouldn't tolerate scanners, then basically being broke for some years. Got back into it around 2012 and still enjoying it, hopefully I will keep listening as long as there's something out there worth listening to. BTW I'm 57.

 

[radioman2001]

Started at 16 or 17 with a 4 band AM/FM no brand tunable. This hobby became my career in both the military and civilian life along with PS. Soon to retire already past 65, so half a century monitoring.

 

[RoninJoliet]

Im 76 and been scanning since owning a tuneable, then crystals, and kept advancing ...I think the hobby actually has gotten too technical now for some of us geezers !!

 

[K2KOH]

I'm 59, been listening since I was seven years old with an old multiband radio. Spent 3 and a half years on the dispatch side for the NYPD as well back in the 80's