Question, why should I spend a fortune for a scanner just to have it go dead at anytime? Just does not seem right that the scanner companys know this is coming yet they give no warning to the scanning public, I think that most scanners are sold to people who wish to listen to the police. I do know that the Ramsey County Sherrif in Minnesota does not like the encrption as they do get a lot of help from the citizens. Have a Great Weekend
Encrption
- Thread starter wisconsinjimmy
- Start date
Because scanners receive more than just police. Most scanners aren’t even specifically labelled “police scanner” anymore (unless you’re on Amazon or eBay, typically). It isn’t the fault of the the scanner companies, nor do they have to disclose anything about the entirely hypothetical possibilty that any agency- specifically person A, person B’s or your agency are going to encrypt.
There was a thread posted back in January(?) early this year that my county was going to “flip the switch very soon. Months went by, and they never did & likely won’t.
I’ll simply close with this: if you buy a scanner, know you are taking a risk. Your agency/agencies could encrypt. Or they might not. Enjoy your scanner while things are in the clear. That’s what I do, anyway.
There was a thread posted back in January(?) early this year that my county was going to “flip the switch very soon. Months went by, and they never did & likely won’t.
I’ll simply close with this: if you buy a scanner, know you are taking a risk. Your agency/agencies could encrypt. Or they might not. Enjoy your scanner while things are in the clear. That’s what I do, anyway.
That's why you do your own research and see what agencies are encrypted in your area before you buy. If they go dark there's nothing you can do and nothing Uniden or Whistler could have done to prevent it or see it coming. If you don't want to pay $400 for a scanner then buy a $30 SDR and use free software
MTS2000des
5B2_BEE00 Czar
AM/FM/TV stations go off the air, change formats, move transmitters so you think radio and TV manufacturers are somehow responsible?
Absurd.
It's impossible (and the onus shouldn't be) for a company to warn everybody everywhere when encryption is imminent in their area. Besides their best interest is their bottom line, not whether Johnny in PA can pick up his local PD. You know how ridiculous it would sound if a company said "Hey, XXX County, YY, your PD & Fire are all encrypted, don't bother buying our products"?? The seasoned hobbyist needs to be abreast of and take it upon themselves to do their own research right here on the RR forums regarding changes (be it encryption, changes voice modes, trunking, all of the above) Use your state/province/country's discussion forum & read up on trending threads there, search for discussions about your particular area(s)/agency(ies) of interest, you get the idea. Once the "big-E" finally drops, tune around and find other traffic to listen to. All hope is not lost in the scanning hobby, one just needs to broaden their monitoring horizons or simply find a new hobby if & when encryption comes to town.
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Then don't. Your choice.
wtp
Member
it all depends on how you mean outdated.
you might loose a system, but there are other things to listen to.
outdated, does not mean useless !
you might loose a system, but there are other things to listen to.
outdated, does not mean useless !
IC-R20
LoBand Nation
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2018
- Messages
- 490
In before the ole padlock get's thrown on once again.
That said though I've rarely ever listened to public safety stuff in my years of scanning and I live in a smaller city and still have enough to entertain myself with all the IG/YG stuff I love scanning. I've also gotten really good at hunting too which is really fun, I love doing all the database and computer investigation then going out with the portable to confirm. If I lived near a bigger city I could be busy around the clock with that if I want to. My town has one of the best business sections on the database here because of my tireless insanity.
That said there's plenty of curiosities out there to find, analyze, or try to figure out. If you don't want to spend a lot of money than you can just get a cheaper scanner, just the HAM bands alone have a lot of fun stuff to scan. I've found 900 MHz repeaters I didn't even know were there. Then of course there's aviation and mil-air stuff and Railroading and if you wanna get DXey with it now's the perfect time with solar maximum nearing the VHF DXing keeps getting better. I'm picking up distant 29 and 50 MHz repeaters on an daily basis.
That said though I've rarely ever listened to public safety stuff in my years of scanning and I live in a smaller city and still have enough to entertain myself with all the IG/YG stuff I love scanning. I've also gotten really good at hunting too which is really fun, I love doing all the database and computer investigation then going out with the portable to confirm. If I lived near a bigger city I could be busy around the clock with that if I want to. My town has one of the best business sections on the database here because of my tireless insanity.
That said there's plenty of curiosities out there to find, analyze, or try to figure out. If you don't want to spend a lot of money than you can just get a cheaper scanner, just the HAM bands alone have a lot of fun stuff to scan. I've found 900 MHz repeaters I didn't even know were there. Then of course there's aviation and mil-air stuff and Railroading and if you wanna get DXey with it now's the perfect time with solar maximum nearing the VHF DXing keeps getting better. I'm picking up distant 29 and 50 MHz repeaters on an daily basis.
Exactly! I’ve been a railbuff for years, so that’s the main thing I listen to. Recently I’ve also gotten into aviation a little more. So much so I made a couple threads here, bought a new scanner & got a subscription to Airnav Radarbox!
I listen to amateur radio, and more so during severe weather season.
Even if public safety goes dark, there are still so many facets of scanning out there.
You pays your money and you take your chances. It's up to the end user to decide if a product is suitable for their needs.
You could apply your logic to just about ANYTHING you are about to purchase. What if you're buying a cell phone that doesn't have 5G (or the next protocol)? Should you be told? You're about to buy a new digital TV that doesn't have the latest approved ATSC 3.0 tuner, should you be warned? The list is truly endless. It is, at least in part, where the term "buyer beware" comes from.
Live for today and not what may or may not happen tomorrow, especially when others completely control that tomorrow.
Very true! It also wasn't encumbent on the car manufacturers to warn you about the possibility of an Arab oil embargo in the early '70's before you bought that humongous fuel-sucking land yacht. But plenty of people did and then spent much of their lives in 1973 looking for a gas station who's tanks weren't dry.
Not everyone who purchases a scanner wants to monitor Police. I just sold one of my spare SDS100 scanners to a local Fireman who had ZERO interest in Police/Law Enforcement communications. All he wanted was Fire, EMS, and Emergency Management. And for the most part: they are in the clear for 99% of the United States currently. So it's not the responsibility of the scanner manufacturers to state that encryption is in use, but rather the buyer's responsibility to do their research (easy with this website to find out) and to inform themselves before making such a purchase.
MStep
Member
A few terms that most folks become aware of, not just with the hobby of scanning, but with purchases and decisions made as we navigate The Game Of Life (which is also a fun and classic board game).... caveat emptor and due diligence. Sometimes refined to "look before you leap".
Fortunately. you've come to the right place. and I would also suggest you check into the Minnesota boards here on Radio Reference to see if other scanner enthusiasts have any information that might help you make your decision.
Scanning is a great hobby, and I can only echo what others in this thread have suggested, that there is more to listen to than just police. And should the worst happen, there are always others willing to buy used equipment, so things are seldom a total loss.
I've been addicted to the hobby for decades, so maybe there should be a warning on scanner boxes--- but instead of "smoking can ruin your health", perhaps something like "scanner addiction can ruin your wealth".
Best of luck in your endeavors.
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I just jumped on the SDR bandwagon and I am shocked at how well it works for Anoka, Wright, Sherburne Simulcast in my local area. I spent about $35 bucks a piece on two dongles, installed some free software and good to go. Turns out I don't even need antennas on them but my 996XT was fighting for it's life even with ATT on to playback audio clearly. (Used a paperclip for an antenna, that got me the best results)
This will end up replacing my 996XT for my feed this weekend, for under $100 SDR is the cheapest but it requires a PC or Pi and an antenna with an SMA connection. I'm using two 3.5" magnet antennas and it works amazing.
If Wright County goes encrypted, I'll be happy knowing that I spent under $100 that is capable of so much more than just law enforcement. It's worth researching and there is a whole forum section on it that got me informed and motivated.
The plus side to this too is you can stream this to the internet (public or privately) and take your scanner with you. If this excites and intrigues you, make sure you buy the official RTL-SDR dongles and not the knockoffs and I recommend the program SDR-Trunk to pair it with.
This will end up replacing my 996XT for my feed this weekend, for under $100 SDR is the cheapest but it requires a PC or Pi and an antenna with an SMA connection. I'm using two 3.5" magnet antennas and it works amazing.
If Wright County goes encrypted, I'll be happy knowing that I spent under $100 that is capable of so much more than just law enforcement. It's worth researching and there is a whole forum section on it that got me informed and motivated.
The plus side to this too is you can stream this to the internet (public or privately) and take your scanner with you. If this excites and intrigues you, make sure you buy the official RTL-SDR dongles and not the knockoffs and I recommend the program SDR-Trunk to pair it with.
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