Do you ever have pure curiousity when you scan?

[RedPenguin]

I am one of those radio scanner enthusiasts, who besides police, fire, and EMS, likes to use his handheld to listen to stuff most people would never care about.

I do this mainly because, I've never listened to whatever is in question, so I figure, why not give it a whorl, maybe I will find something entertaining or something cool to listen to.

So when I am out and about, I may listen to Walmart or other retail stores, listen to fast food, a dairy I am near, whatever. Many times, if I found it interesting what I heard, I will jot down the frequency and tone (if any) in case I ever feel like listening again.

I even listen to my college security because I wanted to see if they use their radios a lot and if they do, do they actually get a lot of incidents?

Anyway, my question is, does anyone hear use their radios to hear things, that probably most people could care less about?

 

[K5RYA]

Thus is the joy of the hobby my friend!

 

[RedPenguin]

Yes

Thus is the joy of the hobby my friend!

I agree with you 100%, but the point of my thread was for if anyone cares to share stories or what they care to listen to that they think isn't what you would normally think of with a scanner.

I mean the majority of people I've ever met in person seem to think it's only a fire, police, and EMS device.

 

[K5RYA]

I listen to building operations and security at my work.

 

[tekshogun]

Yes of course.

I have been known to listen to rail. I haven't tried anything like the drive thru, department stores, etc. Never found much interest although I do understand that you may hear something interesting, but nothing like you do on the public safety stuff. I do like to keep a basic conventional scanner around like my Bearcat 55XLT 10 channel which is what I have the rail stuff on but they talk too fast and the signals are typically pretty faint, I'll need a better antenna than the rubber ducky I'm using.

In Guilford County, NC, all of the active stuff (utility, public transit, etc) operate on the public safety 800MHz so you'll either need to listen to the entire system without any lock-outs or have a separate scanner setup if you want to listen to the non-public safety as well as public-saftey.

 

[Astrak]

My scanner is pretty much tied up with providing a feed but I do take out the Moto and the UHF radio I have and listen in on some business stuff. I know a couple of managers at Walmart as well so it's always fun to drive by and say hello.

 

[kb9hgi]

Yes I listen to eveything! I have a BC895xlt programed with who know what. I put so much stuff in there and I don't even know but for sure it never shuts up. I really like listening to the taxi cab driver getting upset when its a no show. sometimes just police and ems can get boring. my theory is if I can receive I'm going to listen to it.

 

[hfxChris]

I find often I get more enjoyment listening to Natural Resources, Public Works and transit agencies than police and EMS.
Some days I'll go park by the water and just listen to marine and FRS.

 

[ecps92]

Exactly. There are so many different avenues for Scannists to pick-n-choose from:

Trains - Planes - Automobiles - Bus's - Taxi's - Tow Trucks
Marine - Aviation - Military
Police - Fire - EMS - Local Gov't
Federal Agencies
Business's - Walmart, Burger King etc, xyz Landscaping
Media
what have I forgotten....

o yea, Live on-Scene events [Sporting [MLB, CFL, NFL, NHL, NBA] , Concerts, Special Events]

Thus is the joy of the hobby my friend!

 

[Muskratt]

Police, fire, and EMS are what I listen to on the weekends and while I am driving. I have about 10 systems I listen to. But I have about 12 systems programmed for buses and taxis. That is what I like to listen to during the week and is what I am listening to right now. Even 20 years ago with my bc145xl 16 channel scanner, i would have 15 channels of police/fire/ems and 1 channel for taxi dispatch.

And even though I have more systems for bus/taxi than police/fire/ems, I still refer to the scanner as a POLICE scanner. I don't think I'd impress too many friends or co-workers if I showed them my BUS scanner....

Muskratt

 

[gewecke]

Public safety and amateur radio mostly,but I have curiosities to listen to stuff like all the business itinerants on weekends when employee's kids get hold of the radios,lol! All the college campus comms,and let's not forget the obscure stuff like various wireless mic's on vhf,and low power stuff on uhf.
....Nope,not bored!
N9ZAS.

 

[SquierStrat]

farmers in the fields are always entertaining, especially this time of year

 

[SKYNET156]

I listen to the weirdest things when scanning, sometimes i listen to the local school buses, or i just scan in the limit mode and just keep scanning, if i come across something i don't know, i go online and look up the frequency in the FCC ULS, and that usually answers my questions for me,
But i like listening to the things that no one else cares about, i like to scan for local businesses, school buses, transportations, ect, you do find some very interesting comms with that kind of stuff, I listen to the local mall security alot too, I always here things thurs - sat nights in the local mall, it gets crazy there,
Keep on scanning

 

[DocDaddy]

Auctions... I listen to auctions at work. There is an auction house a couple doors down from where I work... and they have a consignment sale once a week. There's always a real nice selection of merchandise. Trouble is.. I cant go to the auction every week and stand and wait to bid on items I want.

The auctioneer uses a wireless mic... and I have the freq programmed in my BCT15. I have a list of the items he is going to sell and I just listen.... when he gets close to the item I'm interested in, I dash over to the auction house... and I get there just in time to bid. I've picked up some real good bargains !!

 

[RedPenguin]

Correct!

my theory is if I can receive I'm going to listen to it.

That's my theory 100%.

I'm the kinda guy, if I see people using two-way radios somewhere, I think, "Wonder what frequencies these guys/gals use?" and "Wonder if they talk about anything entertaining/interesting?"

I make my own list of frequencies, for many of the local places in my area, just in case one day I feel like listening to them.

I found out a couple of times, it's great to know or have documented a lot of frequencies, because sometimes the radios can normally be boring, but something big can happen, and you will really want to know the frequencies in question.

Kinda like my college, it's boring to listen to them normally,.but the channel lite up like a Christmas Tree, the day Gov. Rendell arrived.

 

[w0fg]

Permit me to be the dissenter. I have absolutely no interest in Wally world, fast food restaurants, mall cops, farmers, school buses, taxis and the like. I listen to aircraft because I have been a pilot, I listen to PD/SO because, in another llifetime, I was a dispatcher. I listen to carefully selected other frequencies because of my current and/or prior professional involvement with other state and federal agencies. Although I have 3 or 4 scanners running 24-7, I personally don't give a rat's patoot about the rest, including amateur repeaters, though I've been a ham for nearly 50 years. To each his own.

 

[mciupa]

Living near a flight path, it is a "given" that I park my scanner on the Tower freq. , listen to the comm's and watch the planes from my backyard on their descent.
I also monitor Transit because they are the "front-line" of all things traffic related. They will report accidents as they happen and offer up alternate routes. On the flip-side, it is mildly amusing to hear a transit supervisor guide a rookie back on route when the rookie gets themselves lost. :roll:

 

[RedPenguin]

Yes, Sir/Mam....

Living near a flight path, it is a "given" that I park my scanner on the Tower freq. , listen to the comm's and watch the planes from my backyard on their descent.
I also monitor Transit because they are the "front-line" of all things traffic related. They will report accidents as they happen and offer up alternate routes. On the flip-side, it is mildly amusing to hear a transit supervisor guide a rookie back on route when the rookie gets themselves lost. :roll:

That's exactly why I love listening to local transit here.

I get to hear about stuff that is not broadcasted on the scanner hear. Like where sheriff and cop cars are they mysteriously are not broadcasting on the scanner.

Also, we have so many supervisors, it's funny to see each day who they will get to be the Roads/Detours guy.

Some guys seem to do a better job than the others.

Though sometimes the drivers know more of an area then the actual supers.

I often can figure out which route they will detour even before the supervisor broadcasts it, especially when it's my area, though of course I would know my own area.

 

[paperplate9]

I like listening to noise (yes, this is a serious post).

 

[APTN]

curiosity

Curiosity killed the cat. Just kidding. :lol: Seriously, sometimes I flip the scanner on just to see what I can pick up.