How many scanners does it take to screw in a light bulb?

[Firebuff66]

I use all the XTLs on the bottom for 1 channel and the scanners are broken up into different areas and talk groups

 

[KC1UA]

Plus it allows you to go outside and get a little sun from time to time!

I have a question....

Were you sitting outside in the sun when you started this thread?

 

[n1chu]

I have a question....

Were you sitting outside in the sun when you started this thread?

Uh, no. You may be on to something!

 

[jmp883]

My listening post consisted of 5 scanners. All were identically programmed with various FD, PD, RR, and Aviation frequencies. Normally one radio was set to FDNY, one was set to my local FD’s, one was set to my local PD’s, one was set to Newark International Airport, and the fifth one was hooked up to a recorder. If something caught my attention on one of the other 4 radios I’d use the fifth scanner to record it.

I’ve been a dispatcher for the last 31 years and have learned to listen to multiple frequencies at the same time. I like the look of multiple scanners. I have thought about single frequency receivers but I like being able to hear everything. Currently my listening post consists of just a Bearcat HP-1. Hopefully I’ll get my multi-radio post back up and running.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

I would like to get a dedicated (not PC) multi channel recorder with instant recall as I don't listen continuously and when I hear police or fire activity from Nextdoor, FB or simply sirens, it would be nice to recall beyond the 3 minutes my 536 provides, assuming it was switched on. As far as dedicated receivers, small conventional synthesized scanners are so cheap on used market that you could pack a half dozen in 2 RU's of space.

 

[N9JIG]

I would like to get a dedicated (not PC) multi channel recorder with instant recall as I don't listen continuously and when I hear police or fire activity from Nextdoor, FB or simply sirens, it would be nice to recall beyond the 3 minutes my 536 provides, assuming it was switched on. As far as dedicated receivers, small conventional synthesized scanners are so cheap on used market that you could pack a half dozen in 2 RU's of space.

Before I retired I had an opportunity to get a 64 channel digital voice logger identical to the one we had in our comm center. Basically they are a Linux PC with a bunch of storage and a couple audio interface cards with Windows based recovery access. To this day I regret not snagging it. It was the sales guy’s demo unit and was almost brand new and I could have had it for next to nothing.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

Before I retired I had an opportunity to get a 64 channel digital voice logger identical to the one we had in our comm center. Basically they are a Linux PC with a bunch of storage and a couple audio interface cards with Windows based recovery access. To this day I regret not snagging it. It was the sales guy’s demo unit and was almost brand new and I could have had it for next to nothing.

I have been checking out ebay for an Eventide or Nice. Looking for a older model that does not require a lot of software support.

 

[N9JIG]

I have been checking out ebay for an Eventide or Nice. Looking for a older model that does not require a lot of software support.

Ours was an Eventide VR725. It was easy to install and to get the recovery software working. You purchased cards with 12 or 24 channels each (IIRC) and it could hold up to 96 channels with the card slots full. You could add recording capacity by adding larger capacity hard drives. It was all-in-all a simple and reliable piece of hardware.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

Ours was an Eventide VR725. It was easy to install and to get the recovery software working. You purchased cards with 12 or 24 channels each (IIRC) and it could hold up to 96 channels with the card slots full. You could add recording capacity by adding larger capacity hard drives. It was all-in-all a simple and reliable piece of hardware.

I just found one on Gov Deals. They claim it was working, however the hard drives were removed. I wonder if SW is recoverable from the system, or if it needs to be scrounged.

 

[N9JIG]

I just found one on Gov Deals. They claim it was working, however the hard drives were removed. I wonder if SW is recoverable from the system, or if it needs to be scrounged.

Not too sure, it has been over 8 years since I played with one. I think the OS was on a smaller capacity drive and the storage drives were in pairs, probably some sort of RAID array. There is also a license issue, we had a 5-seat license, we could install it on as many computers on the network as needed but only 5 could be active at a time. There were times a supervisor would leave it running and some other supervisor would not be able to log in as 5 computers were already logged in. I don't recall if the license was a file or a dongle.

 

[JimD56]

Like most guys on here, I can listen to multiple systems/cities/towns/agencies at once in a metro area of more than 5.5 million.
I am not a "Ham Talker" even though I have my Ham Ticket.
My 3 Motorola XTLs and Kenwood TK790 are just my agency, switching between dispatch and tactical channels as needed.
XTLs were all bought cheap from RR members or eBay. Cheaper and "easier" than running multiple scanners.
My 2 SDS200s (yes I need 2) are for all the surrounding Simulcast, 1 is set to FD/EMS, 1 for PD and the SDS100 is a backup at home and for on-the-go.
2 of the BCT15xs are for Brodcastify feeds and 1 BCT15x is for Fed Govt and aviation.
3 SDRs running SDRTrunk same as the SDS200s to not miss anything.
Portables like the 125 and XPR7550e are just for misc.

So to answer your original question "How many scanners does it take to screw in a light bulb?" I would say 15

 

[K3YGX]

Answer to the joke?

None, they have leads that need to be soldered to a pc board.