Am I the only teenager that wants to listen to a police scanner for fun?

[xpawel15x]

Recently I got an urge for a police scanner to listen to the police/ fire in my area. So I saved up some money for a handheld scanner particularly this one RadioShack PRO-83 200 channel scanner (the cheapest one they have). It has a service scan around the area so you dont need any frequencies so thats good since I don't know any yet. My question is am I the only 15 year old here that will buy a scanner to listen to my areas police, fire, ems just for fun? And will I be able to learn to use the scanner easily? I feel that scanning is too confusing for a teenager to use. Please help i need some advice im about to go to my nearest RadioShack and either buy the scanner. Thank you

 

[scanjunkie]

I'm sure you will be able to learn how to use any scanner. You can do anything if you put your mind to it...and this is the site to learn from!!

As far as buying a PRO-83...it all depends on what kind of radio systems are used in your area. The 83 may not do anything for you at all. Where are you from (State and County)? If we know where you are from we can help you to find the right scanner. Good luck!!

Don't feel that you are alone either...There are a lot of teenagers who enjoy the hobby!!

 

[Thunderbolt]

I was 10 years-old when I got my first scanner, but things were a lot more simpler back in the 1970s. Back then, scanners used crystals and you could easily follow the red LEDs as they flashed back and forth across the front. Likewise, It was really very easy to follow everything, since radio systems outside of metropolitan areas were not as complex as some of today's systems have become.

That said, it all depends on where you live at, what kind of radio systems are being used, and how complex the dispatch procedures are for each agency. Personally, if you love electronics and excel at something that is a challenge, then this would be a great hobby for you. Moreover, by the time I was your age, I had three scanners, and could quote any frequency used by every public safety agency with 160 kilometers of my house.

If you have any questions that you need to know, please feel free to use the forums here and I am sure that your questions will answered in a timely fashion. Also, welcome to the Web site!

73's

Ron

 

[emtcop]

it is good that you are getting in to scanner use you should beable to pick it up fast you can find frequencys here on this site and you will like the ablity to know what is going on in your area one worked of caution be fore you start taking your scanner with you in the car check to see what the laws in your area are and you may get a lot of question for the local police as to why you have it but as long as it is for fun and you are within the law don't worry have fun

 

[xpawel15x]

I live in New Jersey..bergen county. I read that scanners are completely legal here in nj, but are illegal if you commit a crime and you have it on you which means that you tried to use it against the police. Anyway i just joined the forums and posted my question and already so much answers. Thanks guys.

 

[phillip3225]

I will be turning 16 next week and I listen to the scanner all the time.

Phillip

 

[SCPD]

Yea, Im 14 and I love listening to the scanner.

-Dylan

 

[ffexpCP]

Listen, I had a 4 channel crystal moble scanner with external power supply on my dresser when I was in kindergarden. I also had a blown-up shop prints of the Motorola Centracom II console that was at my dad's station hangging on my wall so I could play fire/police station.

As far as I'm concerned- your normal.

 

[scanjunkie]

One of your best friends on this site is the database. Check it out... http://www.radioreference.com/modules.php?name=RR&ctid=1772 You can look up some of the most accurate frequency info on the internet right here. As of right now it looks like the 83 will work for you. However, it looks like the police are looking to switch to an APCO-25 (Digital) system in January of 2006. Digital scanners run in the neighborhood of $500. I wouldn't get a digital until the system is up and running and has all of the bugs worked out. Until then the 83 will work fine for you for quite a while I would think. You may even want to go with a PRO-99, or even a PRO-97. There some good Uniden models that would work for you too...Handhelds, BC72XLT, BC60XLT, BC80XLT, BC92XLT. Base/Mobile, BC350C, BCT8, and many others. Good Luck!!

 

[clbarker]

Believe me, you are defenitly not the only one. I'm 14 and I really enjoy the hobby. I listen to the scanner whenever I'm not doing anything else important. Most of the time it is always going in the background during homework, bus rides home, and many other things. Me and my close friend have even brought our scanners to the PD. One of the civilian employees askedu us who gave us radios...hahaha...the police aroud here actually think they are pretty cool. I'm glad you found the hobby, and welcome to the site!

 

[Ricka71]

I started scanning 32 years ago like some others, had a 4 ch mobile w/pwr supply.
Today there is advantages with search and programing. Back then if someone changed channels you had to rely on Radio Shack or someone else to get the freq. for you, order it and wait a week to plug that new crystal in and hope it was right. Or if you had friends on the PD they would help.

I don't know if they still have Police Explorers, if they do check them out. Also visit the local PD or FD, ask questions. Most will give you a copy of there 10 codes or signals. Also try looking into maybe ride-alongs. You will learn alot about what is going on between the radio traffic.

Just a few ideas and good luck with learning the programing. It becomes harder with age.LOL

 

[RBerezowski]

Recently I got an urge for a police scanner to listen to the police/ fire in my area. So I saved up some money for a handheld scanner particularly this one RadioShack PRO-83 200 channel scanner (the cheapest one they have). It has a service scan around the area so you dont need any frequencies so thats good since I don't know any yet. My question is am I the only 15 year old here that will buy a scanner to listen to my areas police, fire, ems just for fun? And will I be able to learn to use the scanner easily? I feel that scanning is too confusing for a teenager to use. Please help i need some advice im about to go to my nearest RadioShack and either buy the scanner. Thank you

I started in the hobby when I was a teenager. I started out with a Radio Shack multi-band radio that could tune in the VHF/UHF bands as well as Shortwave. I never regreted buying that first radio, and the scanners and shortwave radios after that.

Yes, the scanners are more complex these days, and you will have to read over the instructions several times. But, with some effort you will sort it out, and there are lots of people on the forum here that will help out.

Also, if you follow the regional forum for your area, you will likely find someone local that can help you figure out your local PD/FD systems, and provide frequencies and talkgroups for you.

There is also a certain joy in learning. There is a thrill when you find that unknown frequency, or identify the user of a talkgroup or frequency, or confirm the meaning of a 10 code.

Rob

 

[SCPD]

I also want to say welcome to the site!

I got interested in radio when I was in Cub Scouts and built a crystal radio. Not a scanner using crystals to tune in frequencies but a radio that does not use any power source other than the energy carried by the radio signals. There a many kids of 5-10 years old who have passed their exams for every class of amateur radio, from technician to advanced.

One of the benefits of listening to a scanner is hearing other people do their jobs. After a lot of listening you begin to have a great deal of sympathy for them. You may even become interested in a career after listening to the radio system of people in a particular career. A scanner can be used to "walk a mile in someone's shoes". I get interested in how an organization works and how they are managed based on what I hear on the radio. I then go to the Internet and look them up. This helps explain some of the radio traffic I hear. In addition you start picking up knowledge on a whole range of topics and can become a more rounded and knowledgable person.

I was a Boy Scout leader for 13 years and have been around a lot of boys your age. I see what peer pressure can do, often causing a person not to study quite as hard as they are capable of, and sometimes preventing a person from following an interest because they are afraid of being labeled a "geek". Being cool and popular often don't have much to do with the real worth of a person, and the things that people consider cool change constantly. Coolness then really "blows in the wind" and people trying to chase it are chasing their tails very often.

I know it seems like a long time now, but graduation from high school is just about three years away for you. Once you enter the workplace or go to college it can shock you how different the world becomes very suddenly. None of the crap about coolness is very important anymore and those who were curious and wanted to learn everything they could have quite an advantage, while those who chased coolness and popularity are often at a significant disadvantage. In my case most of the "first string" of the football team and their groupies ended up not going to college and getting jobs in the local area, while others were going to college in distant and new places leading to interesting careers.

I've been giving you a lot of stereotypes that have a lot of exceptions, but it is really the way I saw it as I went from teenager into my twenties. Many of the kids in my Boy Scout troop who were too cool to take part in what the Boy Scout program could teach them ended up in some dead end situations that most did not get out of.

Keep listening to that scanner! Life is not a video game!

 

[gatorhater]

Good for you. I bought me first scanner when I was 18 and getting ready for college. When I was younger I got a kick out of my fellow classmates getting pulled over and asking them about it the next day. I'm glad to see that there younger guys out there getting interested in the hobby. When I was 18, 1987, I had a scanner that was portable and had all of 10 channels. Now, you can buy a scanner that has 1000 channels plus. It came in handy in college too.
Happy Holidays!

 

[Blazer350]

Im 18 and i always listen to one. i have one in my truck, 3 in my house. People always call me or ask me when they want to know whats goin on, i can can tell them. My first scanner was a handheld 30 channel uniden. i have upgraded to bigger and better ones since then. Some people think scanners are annoying, but they always want to know what is going on when something happens

 

[pocho]

Don't worry, I'm 15 as well and listen to the scanner all the time... in fact it's on whenever I'm in my room. I got my first scanner (pro-79) on my 13th birthday, and I've been hooked ever since. My local agencies switched to digital a few months later, and after about a year I managed to save up enough to get the pro-96 (now ten months old). When I got it I had no clue where to start, I just stared at the screen! But after a while you get used to how it operates, and you'll eventually be able to navigate through the scanner without even looking at it.

 

[Chief71]

Recently I got an urge for a police scanner to listen to the police/ fire in my area. So I saved up some money for a handheld scanner particularly this one RadioShack PRO-83 200 channel scanner (the cheapest one they have). It has a service scan around the area so you dont need any frequencies so thats good since I don't know any yet. My question is am I the only 15 year old here that will buy a scanner to listen to my areas police, fire, ems just for fun? And will I be able to learn to use the scanner easily? I feel that scanning is too confusing for a teenager to use. Please help i need some advice im about to go to my nearest RadioShack and either buy the scanner. Thank you

Welcome to scanning xpawel15x!
I have been scanning since I was 12 (I'm 17 now) and I have learned so much in 5 years, I'm sure you will start to learn quickly too. Like the others said, just keep reading the RR.com forums and wiki pages, they are filled with info. A good book for beginners is Two-way Radios and Scanners for Dummies http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesTitle/productCd-0764595822,subcat-HOBBIES.html it explains how various radio systems work as well as scanners. I'm not familiar with RS scanners but if you have any questions feel free to give me a PM.

Good Luck!
Carl

 

[gg750]

I had some 2 channel thing the size of a VCR that my dad brought home from the fire department for me when I was 6. I've been listening ever since.

G

 

[n2ops]

Teen Scanner Site

How about a web site for teen scanner listeners? It could be fashioned after this site for teen ham operators. http://www.youthtech.com/hamradio/index.htm

I'd be glad to add a teen page to my site www.n2ops.net. I have an amateur radio forum on my teen site www.whenlifehurts.com.

I started listening at age 13 in 1965 with a Lafayette HA52A tunable tube receiver that covered 152-174 mHz and I'm still at it 40 years later.

 

[jimyleg]

HELL YEA MAN, I was 15 when I got my first scanner. Now I have a few. Particularaly the uniden 396t. You can do any thing with a scanner. Think about it. Any smart criminal would have one. So... the next time you rob a liquor store cus ya can't get a fake id just use ol pro 91 or whatever ya need.
KIDDING.



Ps. the school cop took my pro 91 away in junior year! I was enthralled with rage. ( i was in my car, I was being nice and friendly...) So don't get ur scanner taken away in the school parking lot.