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

[markrsmith83]

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.

In NJ, it's a 4th degree crime (read: felony 18 months) to have a scanner in your possession during the commission of a crime. It's also a 4th degree to USE a scanner in the commission of a crime. Ditto for using a scanner or other transmitter to interfere with police, fire, EMS or other emergency workers. Radar detectors are not included.

Otherwise, perfectly legal.

 

[markrsmith83]

Oh, and I got my first base scanner at age 13. My parents used to see me go flying up the stairs to my room whenever the fire siren went off.

I've had a handheld since college.

 

[knoxville]

Im from the UK and am getting a scanner in a few days and im 14!!!! (15 in January!)
Cant wait!!!!!! This site is good for finding out everything you need to know! Nice reading all your posts guys!

 

[Thunderbolt]

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.

I use to do the same exact thing when I was 9-10 years old. I actually made a cardboard dispatch console out of a long, narrow box and made it look like the local Sheriff's Dept. console, which just happened to be a 1959 Motorola Series "A" version. This really brings back a lot of memories for me.

73's

Ron

 

[Caesar]

yes, i started listening when i was probably 10 or 12 yoa myself, good hobby, but serioucly save an extra 50$ and get you a Pro 97, much better radio and just as easy to work with as the Pro 83, and easier to program w/ a pc if you get the cable...

 

[Thunderbolt]

Oh, and I got my first base scanner at age 13. My parents used to see me go flying up the stairs to my room whenever the fire siren went off.

I've had a handheld since college.

I did the same exact thing! One time I ran so fast that I slid on the carpet when the fire siren went off, I had some rather nasty friction burns on my legs. Never again would I do that. So I decided I needed to hear the scanner in other parts of the house.

After some thinking, I ran a remote speaker to the basement via the air vents. I would turn the volume up all the way and put my old Realistic speaker over the floor vent, and it was loud and clear coming out of the furnace vent in the basement from the second story. This proved to be very useful when we had tornadoes in the area.

73's

Ron

 

[scanfan03]

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.

I don't even think they have that right, unless it is against the law to have one in your car.

 

[jimyleg]

Thats what they said. Infact the cop told me to contact him the next day at the office so I did and got a 100 fine! So if a cop ever asks you to come back or talk to them later DON'T! they state wen't digital shortly after so... didn't hurt that much.

 

[brucewarming]

My Dad in the early 60's made (I believe it was) a heathkit? one knob tuner, from Radio Shack. Listen to the local cop on Halloween, thought that was great! Got my first 4 ch. chyrstal scanner at Montgomery Wards $49.00 Airline? Brand. Welcome to the informed world.

 

[kc8unj]

It is good to see youngsters get involved in the hobby

 

[knoxville]

It is good to see youngsters get involved in the hobby

Just ordered my Yaesu VR 120D from www.nevada.co.uk
Cant wait till xmas morning


Great site by the way!!

 

[kb2vxa]

Hey you young whippersnapper,

When I was your age (typical old fart remark) I listened to the New Hampshire State Police on a table radio tweaked up to 1710Khz. A couple of years later I came across a Hallicrafters tunable VHF receiver and stuck a groundplane antenna I made for it atop the TV antenna. Scanners were still a long way off and portables, well, Star Trek wasn't on TV yet either. (creak, groan, hit CR twice, next paragraph)

OK, there is no STATE law in NJ prohibiting mobile and portable scanners, it's just a copy of the federal statute but local ordanences can be tricky. One step across the G Dub and you're in New York where things get trickier still. Start with your own town and check out what's on the books and get a permit if need be so you won't get any nasty surprises when the man in blue you're chatting with on scene hears your scanner open up. If all else fails leave it home, you don't need the hassle.

BTW, a 105lb German Shepherd has no business bringing a scanner to obedience school! Now a smart dog like you should know better, schools make the rules, you don't. I found out real quick when I sassed the diciplinarian about my "rights" and he shouted in my face DI fashion (he was an ex Marine) "YOUR RIGHTS ARE WHAT I GIVE YOU, >>>NONE!<<<" My father agreed only he let his belt do the talking.

 

[Cobra_Commander]

I got my first scanner when I was 15 to. but my grandpa was into scanners to so i learned somewhat from him how to use it and tought him something about scanners to. So you're not alone here. My first scanner was the pro-79 and i still use it to this day.

 

[321cm]

I'm 15 and I love to scan, I got sick of seeing the Sheriff helo flying around and not know whats going on so I just had to get one.

 

[car2back]

I am 19 years old.... I have been listening to scanner since I was about 16. My first motivation was to hear where the cops were in my town so I could avoid them :twisted: here recently the scannig hobby has pursuaded me to apply for my current job: 911 dispatcher at a local Sheriffs Office! the really funny think now is I know more about the communication equipment and how it functions that my Supervisor!

 

[hcsd35-32]

I don't remember exactly when I got into scanning, it was probably around 12ish. The first scanner I ever used actually belonged to my father, a BC140. He just had it in the garage and never listened to it much. I brought it in to my room and programmed it for the local PD & SD. I bought the first scanner of my own when I was about 14 or 15, it was a RS Pro-92. Over the years I've had several scanners and radios.

If scanning is something you like, stick with it. It is a great hobby and it is a great way to keep up on what is going on in town. It also can be a very addicting hobby, but I have loved every minute of it. I now work on the other side of the radio as a dispatcher.

 

[safetyobc]

My son, who is 8 years old, has been begging for a scanner since June! Santa has one packed in his magic sack for him this year I got him a Pro-99 for Christmas (bought it used for $50 mint condition from the for sale thread here). I figure since it is his first that I wouldn't spend a great deal of money so I can see how he is going to treat the scanner. If he does good with it and wants to upgrade then maybe we'll talk about that around his birthday in July. It shocked me at first when he started asking for a scanner. I asked him why he wanted one and he replied, "So I can listed to you at the fire department, and I can hear people being arrested!" He also likes my shortwave ATS-909 radio. He enjoys it when we find a foriegn language program and trying to figure out what language they are speaking. Most of the time, he says it is Japanese even if it isn't.

On a side note, the Pro-99 is a nice reciever! It picks up VHF-High better than any scanner I have owned including, BC80XLT, BC250D, BC246T, and BCD396T. Maybe I should try a GRE product?

 

[crazyrob425]

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

Nah man you aren't the only one I am 20 now and have been scanning for 2 years....I have a Uniden 246t as my current main scanner and BearCat 210xl which I use to listen to the local PD, ambulance, and fire department.

I am studying for my HAM licence right now, so I can scan in NY from my car..

It is good to see youngsters get involved in the hobby

I know you

 

[K4APR]

As you can already see, you're not the only one. But I'll add in my 2 cents.

I started scanning and messing around with two-way radios in general around 10 years old, I'm 24 now. I got my amateur radio license at 12. Thats somthing I always encourage when I find another kid that shows interest in radio. Amateur radio is a great way to step up, while still enjoying scanning. My first scanner was a Radio Check 50 channel handheld, I still have it. Found it kind of hard to get rid of.

I ended up turning my hobby into a career. I'm a Motorola Two-Way radio technician now. I work on the radios I grew up listening to and now I'm building complex analog/astro conventional and trunking systems.

I just sold off about all of my older conventional and trunking scanners to upgrade up to some Astro capable trunking scanners since "times are a changing"

Keep it up.

 

[2wayfreq]

I was 19 and I bought a Pro-31 16 channel. I was hooked! My local Sheriff/PD was on VHF and Orange County Sheriff had UHF "Yellow" and "Blue" channels on Santiago Peak. I could hear them perfectly from riverside county. I quickly learned how to program and learned about the different bands. 18 years later, I'm still into it with my Pro-96 and ASTRO 2 way stuff. What fun!