Clueless...if the internet did not exist

[WX9RLT]

I think if the internet did not exist, and people had to learn how to program their police scanners by hand.

I wonder just how many people would know, how to actually program their scanners by hand.
Instead of downloading databases, LOL

From a fresh start...Would you be able to program your scanner by hand...???

Don't forget to vote in the poll above

 

[mark40]

No, not in this day and age. The visuals help so much.

 

[cmjonesinc]

When you say downloading databases do you mean importing from the database to the scanner, or even just viewing the database or some sort of printed reference sheet to program by hand?

I mean I certainly could scan the entire band and be able to determine a p25 control channel. Then I would be able to make that control channel part or a system and set it to scan 'wildcard' or 'id search'. Then I could monitor and log talkgroups and slowly figure out who they belong to. None of that is super complicated, just very time consuming.

Programming by hand isn't necessarily difficult if you follow the instruction manual. It's even easier if you can look at a reference of identified talkgroups and control channels like you find here. I very regularly modify programming as i travel by hand. But i definitely would not want to have to enter allllllllll that information for a statewide system by hand if I could pay a few bucks and make a few clicks.

Even before the internet there were multiple publications of scanner frequencies available for purchase. I would gladly wait for a pamphlet to show up in the mail with all of my counties sites, control channels, and talkgroups in it for reference versus having to system map from scratch if the internet wasn't a thing.

 

[buddrousa]

I started out with crystal scanners in the early 70's and moved up when the 2067 came out I did all the programming by hand Trunking included then came software followed by this site that made it less time consuming but yes I still know how.

 

[WX9RLT]

When you say downloading databases do you mean importing from the database to the scanner, or even just viewing the database or some sort of printed reference sheet to program by hand?

If you had to program a scanner from scratch. As in you had NO knowledge of any frequencies. You had no databases to download from the internet. You would have to program your scanner, by having to scan the airwaves to find the frequencies you want to listen to. Then manually inputting the information into the scanner by hand.

I hope I answered your question correctly

 

[cmjonesinc]

If you had to program a scanner from scratch. As in you had NO knowledge of any frequencies. You had no databases to download from the internet. You would have to program your scanner, by having to scan the airwaves to find the frequencies you want to listen to. Then manually inputting the information into the scanner by hand.

I hope I answered your question correctly

You did 😄. I think I speak for a bunch of people... I could program and system map by hand, but man o man would it be a pain. If I'm traveling somewhere I will typically look up a control channel (which could be found doing a band search haha) and just let 'id search' run. Lockout anything irrelevant and use context clues to determine the agencies. I think trying to decipher ten codes from outside my local area is more difficult than programming the scanner to listen to them.

 

[buddrousa]

Radioshack sold books for regions of the FCC Database from the 1980's I know for sure.

 

[lwvmobile]

I still have one of those big blue Police Call books in my coffee table, I think its the 2005 edition. Even then I think some of the frequencies listed in that book were B.S., but probably only because I wasn't patient enough, or they had been added erroneously or I didn't have good signal. Actually, I have the PDF manual for my Radio Shack Pro-528 that I had to consult to see how to add an LTR trunking group into it. Programming a scanner isn't very intuitive, but once you've done it a few times, you kind of get the gist of how its supposed to be done.

 

[jeepsandradios]

Still have a few Polic Call books in my closet. A couple years it came with a CD also. Remember being at Radio Shack once a year waiting for the new book !

 

[chrismol1]

By conventional that'd be time consuming like the good ol days of finding something new. I'd start by scanning everything and picking out recognized businesses and roads that sound familiar and then start hearing the same unit numbers. Eventually maybe a day or so you could pen a list of frequencies of interest and maybe a week later have a solid list. Helps when units and dispatcher says the name of the channel - EMS Disp, Fire Disp, Sheriff Disp

Trunking? Pffff find a control channel and everything falls in line, same as above with less work of finding all the freqs, assuming every agency is on the trunked system

 

[lwvmobile]

Trunking? Pffff find a control channel and everything falls in line, same as above with less work of finding all the freqs, assuming every agency is on the trunked system

Depends on what kind of system you're talking about. P25, sure, just find the control channel and forget the rest. Some of us here in Florida are still trying to map out SLERS EDACS LCN frequencies just so we can listen to a whole bunch of encrypted nothing with a tiny hint of local Fire/EMS sprinkled in.

 

[Chronic]

Radioshack sold books for regions of the FCC Database from the 1980's I know for sure.View attachment 111071

I still have some of those books

 

[ladn]

Scanners were a lot simpler "back in the day" when programming meant:

• Tuning a dial
• Buying and installing a crystal
• Looking up a frequency, flipping some switches (or calculating the switch positions directly)
• Directly entering a channel number and frequency

Been there and done all of that, and still have some scanners that require these methods.

Thanks to guys like Bill Cheek, who cobbled together the early scanner ===>> computer interfaces, we no longer have to endure this finger cramping tedium.

Many modern systems have a lot more attributes besides just a channel number and frequency. Just coding alphanumeric identifiers from a DTMF-style keypad is a daunting task! Could I still do it, sure. Would I want to do it, hell no!

 

[trentbob]

I agree Rodger, first we turned a dial, next we installed crystals, and then flipped tabs or snapped off pieces of a metal comb. Then we got keyboards. Then we had trunking and pl tones, and we had object-oriented scanning and digital... excetera excetera.

And yes it couldn't be done without crb research, police call and Monitor America.

I too would not want to have to do it manually today but if we had to, we could.

 

[gmclam]

I have spent my life designing hardware, writing firmware and often writing the software too. So not only could I program one by hand, I could write the code to do so. I actually considered writing an app several years ago, but the audience is a moving target. Plus it's tough to monetize.

 

[krokus]

Trying to map out the talkgroups, especially on a large system, would be a major effort. It is able to be done, but would be a hassle.

 

[StoliRaz]

C- depends on the scanner.

My 436HP? LOL! No.
My 346xt? PSR-300? Absolutely.

 

[WX9RLT]

Could I still do it, sure. Would I want to do it, hell no!

I agree 1000000% LOL

 

[JamesWest]

when the Martian tripods begin to march I will be able to programs all my radios by memory.
until then it is download for me.

 

[belvdr]

Without a shared database system, I doubt anyone would have all the knowledge for what they desire to listen to. This "what if" question can go anywhere.