Bedside listening post getting smaller...

[trentbob]

... as my area has completely gone dark now including my own County and surrounding counties, my bedside listening post has gotten smaller and smaller. Here is a series of photos documenting the progression. The photos indicate 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. The last photo shows what I use in the car now as I removed a sds200 and a bcd536hp. I do have another area for Non scanning radios in a different location secondary to those antenna leads. Thought this might be interesting to see... most people grow their Shack, not reduce it LOL. Thanks for looking... Bob.

 

[JimD56]

The friggin dreaded "E". I'm guessing.

 

[trentbob]

Yes we had progressively gone dark in the surrounding counties and my County was the last to go. No police. I listen to a lot of different things but without the core police dispatch and not having the situational awareness of what's happening in my own neighborhood I'm sort of losing interest in other things. Been listening a long time so it's an adjustment. Suffering withdrawal at this point. LOL.

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

I take it from the final APX photo you were relegated to sleeping in the car?

 

[trentbob]

Nah, just thought I would throw a mobile install picture in. I take it in and out of the car since I permanently removed the 200 and the 536 from the car. I don't need the apx by the bedside anymore so... to be honest the two radios left by my bedside is one too many LOL.

 

[joeyperillo]

... as my area has completely gone dark now including my own County and surrounding counties, my bedside listening post has gotten smaller and smaller. Here is a series of photos documenting the progression. The photos indicate 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. The last photo shows what I use in the car now as I removed a sds200 and a bcd536hp. I do have another area for Non scanning radios in a different location secondary to those antenna leads. Thought this might be interesting to see... most people grow their Shack, not reduce it LOL. Thanks for looking... Bob.

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Very sad - me 50 years listening.....also losing interest without LE...freedom of information quickly becoming a quaint phrase of halcyon days of yore......

 

[trap5858]

Really sad! I am sure I will have to begin thinning the herd soon too.

 

[hippieman556]

still a nice looking setup even if it's been reduced

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

I have been lucky so far that my county and city have not gone with the E that cannot be mentioned. That said the county to the south has, and often their BOLOS are broadcast from VHF intercity in the clear. So there are other ways,

 

[trentbob]

Well when inquiries were made to the county the Radio Room director made a point of quoting the FCC law that it was illegal to reproduce encrypted transmissions. Cutting off anybody at the pass who's wheels were turning.

Started as a kid in the mid-60s listening to my VHF low band police frequency and then listened uninterrupted for the next 55 years. By the time I was sixteen and driving I had my own darkroom and I was stringing for the local daily as a photog, listening to police calls give me a rewarding career as a newspaper photog, reporter, editor. I'm retired now but still miss the situational awareness of knowing exactly what's going on in my area. I'm lost without it.

I've been listening to FM music on my sds200. It's obviously going to have to go, I will be selling it. Yes there are many other things to listen to and I did. But without that central core of local police dispatch I can't get over the feeling that I'm missing something... because I am.

 

[spongella]

trentbob, very well said.

My county and local responders still use analog and I'm very happy about that. A BC125AT is all I need to keep abreast of what's happening. I hope they never go digital. When/if that occurs then my scanning days are done. Started way back in the '60's with Lafayette monitoring radios that you tuned manually.

 

[trentbob]

Yep I used the Radio Shack slide rule dial tunable radio. Built like a brick shthouse. GRE Japan made them for Radio Shack in the 60s.

 

[mtindor]

An answer to lack of things to listen to on the scanner is to get into amateur (ham) radio. Lots of stuff to do there. Of course if you don't have money or decent options for putting up a wire antenna or vertical in your yard, it's probably not worth it -- unless you want to be a Baofeng repeater junkie lol.

 

[trentbob]

An answer to lack of things to listen to on the scanner is to get into amateur (ham) radio. Lots of stuff to do there. Of course if you don't have money or decent options for putting up a wire antenna or vertical in your yard, it's probably not worth it -- unless you want to be a Baofeng repeater junkie lol.

take a closer look at the screen on the 200 in the 2021 photo.

 

[mtindor]

take a closer look at the screen on the 200 in the 2021 photo.
View attachment 97515

Admittedly, if one loves this hobby like most of us do, it's hard to find a suitable substitute. But it is nice to have amateur radio as a fallback. I hadn't paid close enough attention to your screenshot lol.

Mike

 

[mitbr]

Hi Bob.... it sucks to have your area go encrypted. You could always move to another location if you can. Thanks for sharing!
Tim

 

[TailGator911]

I dread the oncoming E squeeze here in my neck of the woods, if it is going to happen. No word yet. Most things are in the clear while some are not. As of right now only narcos and a few other channels are affected (Tac 2, supervisory, etc). Having other monitoring interests helps a lot, especially in the amateur radio spectrum. But, if you really get down to it, although we are somewhat dependent on daily LE monitoring, there really is more to listen to than your local police. A couple of years ago I read a very good article on what the author called 'peripheral monitoring' - i.e., listening to other agencies (non-LE) that will give you an indication of what is going on in your area. Very informative article.

 

[trentbob]

I dread the oncoming E squeeze here in my neck of the woods, if it is going to happen. No word yet. Most things are in the clear while some are not. As of right now only narcos and a few other channels are affected (Tac 2, supervisory, etc). Having other monitoring interests helps a lot, especially in the amateur radio spectrum. But, if you really get down to it, although we are somewhat dependent on daily LE monitoring, there really is more to listen to than your local police. A couple of years ago I read a very good article on what the author called 'peripheral monitoring' - i.e., listening to other agencies (non-LE) that will give you an indication of what is going on in your area. Very informative article.

I finally got the time to get back to you JD... Good to see you on. Yes I always used peripheral monitoring to supplement PD Dispatch. Always trying to gather as much as information as possible as that was my job as you very well know.

When there was an incident of some type then that's when you listen to everything... fire, duty tow, EMS Hospital notification, news Chopper air-to-air aviation frequencies, TV station news desk dispatch, Crime Alert Networks from neighboring counties who might have more information than the local police released.

The reason I had so many radios is I would listen to a lot of things like Amtrak police as I live on the Northeast Corridor, forest fire fighters from the state, Marine Channels 13,16, 22, 81 and CG 121, as I live on the water. State Police Marine Bureau, Aviation Bureau, Interstate Bridge Commission police and others.

As long as I can remember I always felt like I was hearing it all. My listening post was covering everything. If anything big was to happen, I would know it.

Yeah well.

Thanks again for your support JD. I hope everything is going well and we will catch up soon.

 

[snerd]

At one time, the airwaves and radio spectrum belonged to ‘we the people’. What happened there?! They serve us. We have every right to listen to the frequencies we pay for and own! Has anyone ever contested these .gov agencies going E?!

 

[danesgs]

Even though almost all the FEDs in DC are encrypted, most local counties are just P1 or 2 digital for now. I have dedicated radios into select listening groups. A Uniden 895XLT for Ham only, A 895XLT for MIL air and conventional VHF air, a PRO-2096 for county P1 systems, A GRE radio for P25 Phase 2. A GRE PSR 800 for nothing but local military NCR 380 Mhz land mobile. A few other handhelds with nothing but GMRS/FRS and MURS. and an AOR 8000 for everything in-between. Then you have the computers.......