cell phone scanners

[mick53]

hi,

hypothetical question:
which of these RS scanners is would be better for monitoring cell phone calls? PRO-96 or PRO-2096?

thanks,

mick

 

[mick53]

hi,

hypothetical question:

which of these uniden/bearcat scanners would be best to use for monitoring cell phones?
BCD396T, BCD996T, B785D, BC796D, BC296D or the BCD250D?

thanks,

mick

 

[kmacka]

why hypothetical?

 

[amickey1979]

None

None of them are capable of doing it....period. All modern scanners are cellular blocked and illegal to make them otherwise. Secondly most cell phones exclusively in the digital band so any analog scanner would be out.

 

[wannabescannist]

why hypothetical?

Probably....hypothetically possible in easy modification of?

 

[mick53]

kmacka,

how's your big brother doing?

paranoid? me?

mick

 

[mick53]

... so which digital scanner is capable?

period.

thanks,

mick

 

[74596]

None of them are capable of doing it....period. All modern scanners are cellular blocked and illegal to make them otherwise. Secondly most cell phones exclusively in the digital band so any analog scanner would be out.

.....

 

[dougjgray]

Maybe a cell phone can be modified to recieve/monitor cell phones

 

[jimsokol]

The digital format used by cell phones is different than the format that the digital scanner receives (APCO-25).

 

[kg4pbd]

None of them are capable of doing it....period.

There's your answer. None.

 

[freqs]

hi,

hypothetical question:
which of these RS scanners is would be better for monitoring cell phone calls? PRO-96 or PRO-2096?

thanks,

mick

those two radios can not receive that set of freqs you need older radio like the pro 2006

 

[mick53]

none?

why do i find that difficult to believe?

they receive and they transmit. they must be capable of being monitored.

why are some people so uptight about this?

mick

 

[rckydenver]

Post #6 explains it very well.

 

[Grog]

none?

why do i find that difficult to believe?

If you did some research, you would not have to ask us. Prove us wrong :roll:

they receive and they transmit. they must be capable of being monitored.

They can be monitored, but if you have to ask how, you'll never figure it out :lol:

why are some people so uptight about this?

Because it's against the law in the US to listen to cellular phone conversations, and most of us don't want to be lumped in with law-breakers :roll: :roll:

 

[pappy1]

It is a violation of federal law to manufacture any equipment capable of receiving Cell phone transmissions in the U.S.A.
Therefore none is available here; only export models are able to do what you wish.

 

[garys]

none?

why do i find that difficult to believe?

they receive and they transmit. they must be capable of being monitored.

Not true. There are several different digital formats in use. TDMA, CDMA, FDMA, Iden, P25, Pro Voice, Open Sky, to name a few. Of these, scanners can monitor P25, IF it's not encrypted.

If you really want to listen to digital cell phones, I suppose you could buy a commercial service monitor to do it. Of course they probably cost over $25K, but if you have the money...

why are some people so uptight about this?

mick

Two reasons I'd guess. First, because this question seems to come up all the time. Second, because when people who know the answer give it, someone says something like
"they receive and they transmit. they must be capable of being monitored.", implies one of two things. Either people who spend a lot of time and have a lot of knowledge about the hobby don't know what they are talking about. OR we are a bunch of liars who want to keep you from hearing people on cell phones.

Neither speaks very well for you.

Gary

 

[garys]

It is a violation of federal law to manufacture any equipment capable of receiving Cell phone transmissions in the U.S.A.
Therefore none is available here; only export models are able to do what you wish.

Export models may cover the frequencies, but they won't have the capability to receive the digital modulation used.

Gary

 

[SCPD]

I believe what they're trying to tell you is that the scanners sold here in the U.S. cannot be easily modified, either by software, firmware, etc., to monitor cell phones. The ECPA (electronics communications privacy act) of 1986 made it illegal to monitor cell phones and, beginning in the early 90's, scanners had to be type accepted by the F.C.C. before they could be sold in this country. It's suppose to be illegal for a person to buy one in another country and "import" it into the country but people still do. If you ever see an advertisement for a new type of receiver being sold in this country you'll see, in small print, that it's awaiting F.C.C. approval for type acceptance, especially if it receives 800mhz.

In addition to that the modualtion type used by cell phones is different than that used by public safety agencies..... no need to design the receiver to listen to something that you're not suppose to listen to in the first place, right? Besides, if you really want to listen to someones cell call all you have to do is sit next to a person in a coffee shop, they're more than happy to share their conversation with you by talking too loud.

I find listening to the conversation of a soccer mom talk to the rugrats rather boring......

 

[n4voxgill]

since most cellphone calls are now in 2 GHz none of the old or new RS scanners will pick them up. Not to mention they are digital also.