I live within a mile of several fast food places and I don't pick any of them up on any of my digital and analog scanners. I don't get it. Did they go to something else?
Fast food
- Thread starter Wally46
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You might need to get a whole lot closer than just "within a mile". Most of them are just throwing enough power ro get solidly to the menu board/speaker where you talk back and forth to them. My experience is that you need to be within about 100 yards or thereabouts to recieve them. This is probably because when you get a bunch of them reasonably close to each other they would interfere with each other. Take a look at the licenses. I expext they are all very low power. Take your scanner with you next time you go thru the drive-thru... you will hear it.
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OK thank you. I will try that
krw
Member
Most drive thru systems are now digital usually in the 2.4 Ghz range. The headsets transmit to a wall mounted receiver, which is usually mounted close to the drive thru window. The receiver is then hard wired out to the speaker box. I have had those headsets as far away as 100 ft with good reception, but not much further than that.
wtp
Member
even here
many have migrated to 2.4 it seems even the taco bell is quiet.
mcd's were in the 902-928 but not anymore
the best place was to go inside and scan then wait for the echo.
the kiosk used to be on 24/day last time they only came on for traffic.
i guess they all got tired of guys with radios transmitting to them.
many have migrated to 2.4 it seems even the taco bell is quiet.
mcd's were in the 902-928 but not anymore
the best place was to go inside and scan then wait for the echo.
the kiosk used to be on 24/day last time they only came on for traffic.
i guess they all got tired of guys with radios transmitting to them.
reconrider8
Member
All the stuff around my area is still lowband lol used to be able to get Wendy's hum for a good 3-4 blocks away but now I believe they have gone somewhere else other then lb but burger king is still lb
picked up dunkin donuts in 902-928 in wideband mode. taco bell moved to a frequency hopping, spread spectrum system. burger king was on 33.4 as recently as last year, couldn't pick up what they have now with the signal stalker on my gre psr 800 a foot away from the microphone
ecps92
Member
All varies by Store and Region
Some of my old Favorites are now 900 and Spread-Spectrum
Others are still UHF, but not the ole 457/467 pairs, and there are still some of the ole VHF Low/VHF High and then the newer are VOIP and then you have the ones where the person taking the order is not even in the store you are ordering from
Some of my old Favorites are now 900 and Spread-Spectrum
Others are still UHF, but not the ole 457/467 pairs, and there are still some of the ole VHF Low/VHF High and then the newer are VOIP and then you have the ones where the person taking the order is not even in the store you are ordering from
The reception and frequency usage depends on where you live. MCDs in my area can still be heard if I park within close range. Some fast food businesses can be heard more than a mile away. Long John Silvers had a strong signal in the area where I used to live. Overall, these businesses are not worthwhile listening. Very rarely will you hear something unusual. You are better off listening to something with action.
osros
Member
I will share a personal story that happened to me while scanning McD's as I was in their drive thru..........must have been like 1992 ish. I was in a security officer uniform (heading to/from work). At the first window I paid for my order (that person was wearing a headset). On my way to the food window I overheard "Oink, oink, coming your way".........at the second window was a person with a "shift manager" nametag AND a headset on. I calmly said "That Oink Oink comment was uncalled for". DUDE LOOKED LIKE HE JUST SAW A GHOST. He said to me, "No sir, I am sorry". He probably had no clue how I heard! It was classic!! Not the end of my story. I e-mailed McDonald's coroprate with my story. I simpy told them if they didn't have a "protocol" in place for these non-encrypted signals (where there is no expectation of privacy) and someone hears a comment that is offensive (i.e. this chick is a fat cow and the husband gets pissed), it could create a volatile situation INSIDE the store!! I wonder how long it took for McD's to go to headsets that are currently not monitorable by today's scanners? Does anyone know what year they switched?
It depends on the area and the McD. One of the locations I monitored was built in 2012. It is located near new home communities. The last time I monitored that McD was about a year ago. Another McD located just a couple miles away is a few years older and could still be monitored through at least midsummer 2014 (the last time I monitored it). So there is no complete changeover to headsets that cannot be monitored. Check the McDs in your area to see if they can be monitored.
In my defense, it was really the fault of the employees who were abusing the headset radios. I actually could have saved them (or others) from a serious a** whoopin' had they continued with that behavior.
scannermanner1
Member
The Wendys and a few micky Ds in my area are still monitorable...I even heard them talking about some antennas on someones vehicle LOL
The Mickey D's in Pasadena were on VHFLO 10 years ago because I lived within range. Didn't actively try to monitor them but every time I did a conventional search I had to lock it out. I guess the excitement of monitoring those orders was such that I have not had a reason since moving 10 years ago to realize all the new technology in fast food ordering process. Probably all the rebuilt one's have the new systems and the ones that have been there forever are on the old technology, depending on the era of original construction.
Our local McDonalds used to use 154.600 which is now a MURS channel. When they were on 154.600, I could hear them along with the people in their cars and the order takers well over a mile away going by the way the crow flies.
Then they changed to a more professional system around 33 or 35 MHz and you darn near had to be in their parking lot to hear them.
They changed again several years ago and are now using some form of digital system. I can hear them better when I'm sitting in the parking lot eating French fries than I can over any radio!
They are on a 900 MHz system now. It's in the ISM band and uses spread spectrum or frequency hopping from what I recall. One side was digital while those talking amongst themselves inside the store were analog. The order taker and car to order taker were both digital systems and used frequency hopping as could be seen on a spectrum monitor.
Oddly, the workers inside the store were on single channel analog ISM band channels. All very low power. So low that the signals from the analog radios vanished not much further than the parking lot. But the digital frequency hopping radios signal could be heard about 1/2 mile to mile away.
I used to monitor the digital signal when I was having radio problems with my wireless Davis weather station which also uses frequency hopping in the ISM band.
Today I have a new problem. It seems someone received a new Christmas present, a pair of 900 MHz wireless headphones or speaker set and they use a wideband (100 KHz or so) analog signal in the ISM band on a fixed frequency for good audio fidelity. That signal is also pretty powerful and was messing with my weather station reception at the indoor consoles. I fixed it by making a mini 900 MHz yagi for the outdoor transmitter. That allowed more of its minuscule RF power visible at the indoor consoles. It worked but barely. I still get only 90% reception which is acceptable but things like momentary wind gusts can be missed.
My next option is to install a pair of 1 watt ISM band radio modems. They also use spread spectrum and frequency hopping but the outdoor radio would need power to run. As it is now, a super capacitor will run the outside unit and its radio for several hours without the need for solar power or a lithium battery. The solar panel and 3 volt lithium battery will keep the outdoor unit running for about a year figuring you have many days of sunshine during which the solar panel takes over. The solar panel also keeps the super capacitor charged for nighttime periods if your lithium battery has failed.
But the 1 watt ISM data radio would not run with the current solar panel after the sun sets or on cloudy days. I'd need to install a larger solar panel and actual rechargeable battery.
Just when I get everything running perfectly, someone gets something new and messes up my toys!
Then they changed to a more professional system around 33 or 35 MHz and you darn near had to be in their parking lot to hear them.
They changed again several years ago and are now using some form of digital system. I can hear them better when I'm sitting in the parking lot eating French fries than I can over any radio!
They are on a 900 MHz system now. It's in the ISM band and uses spread spectrum or frequency hopping from what I recall. One side was digital while those talking amongst themselves inside the store were analog. The order taker and car to order taker were both digital systems and used frequency hopping as could be seen on a spectrum monitor.
Oddly, the workers inside the store were on single channel analog ISM band channels. All very low power. So low that the signals from the analog radios vanished not much further than the parking lot. But the digital frequency hopping radios signal could be heard about 1/2 mile to mile away.
I used to monitor the digital signal when I was having radio problems with my wireless Davis weather station which also uses frequency hopping in the ISM band.
Today I have a new problem. It seems someone received a new Christmas present, a pair of 900 MHz wireless headphones or speaker set and they use a wideband (100 KHz or so) analog signal in the ISM band on a fixed frequency for good audio fidelity. That signal is also pretty powerful and was messing with my weather station reception at the indoor consoles. I fixed it by making a mini 900 MHz yagi for the outdoor transmitter. That allowed more of its minuscule RF power visible at the indoor consoles. It worked but barely. I still get only 90% reception which is acceptable but things like momentary wind gusts can be missed.
My next option is to install a pair of 1 watt ISM band radio modems. They also use spread spectrum and frequency hopping but the outdoor radio would need power to run. As it is now, a super capacitor will run the outside unit and its radio for several hours without the need for solar power or a lithium battery. The solar panel and 3 volt lithium battery will keep the outdoor unit running for about a year figuring you have many days of sunshine during which the solar panel takes over. The solar panel also keeps the super capacitor charged for nighttime periods if your lithium battery has failed.
But the 1 watt ISM data radio would not run with the current solar panel after the sun sets or on cloudy days. I'd need to install a larger solar panel and actual rechargeable battery.
Just when I get everything running perfectly, someone gets something new and messes up my toys!
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