Hiding a scanner on public property

[redbeard]

I also need to do this "unattended" which was my reason for setting up a radio and leaving it.

I'm reading a lot of wants and no actual needs. If the property adjoining is public, then you have every right to be there. Unfold a chair and sit there and listen. The fact that you don't want to be seen by anyone at this 'company' implies way more intent than just casual monitoring and frequency identification.

Oh and here is the source of that Denver USPS camera for anyone interested: HyperFire Cable Box | Reconyx

 

[ShyFlyer]

Mysterious spy cameras collecting data at post offices | FOX31 Denver

Good example. However, Law Enforcement has a legit need to conduct such "cloak and dagger" type operations from time to time. Now whether or not this particular operation was legit is for another thread.

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It's one thing to search publicly available databases for frequencies and licenses and then listen to whatever is out there, but to have to go to extraordinary lengths to determine frequencies in use just to satisfy your curiosity is totally another. Unless the OP is conducting some sort of investigation on a company that may be conducting nefarious types of business, I think it's best to just forget the whole thing.

It's antics like this that paint the hobby in a negative light.

 

[bob550]

In this country, unidentified packages found lying around generally get blown up by the local bomb squad. If that's what you want for your scanner, be my guest. That said, I suspect there's a lot more to your story than you're willing to share with us. So, while there may be many forum members more than qualified to help you, I'd think it best for them to resist the temptation to do so.

 

[mmckenna]

Please post links to your local media outlets and when you plan on doing this. :wink:

Yes please. This should be interesting.

 

[pb_lonny]

please tell us the general type of business your trying to monitor. why don't you just go there and act like your applying for a job?

It is a transport business.

A bit of background: when I started scanning in the late 1990's, they had a licensed frequency of xx.xxxMHz which was registered to them "John Smith Transport".

In around 2003/2004 this frequency went dead. A few years later I found them using a shared repeater on xxx.xxxxMHz. This was licensed to "ABC Communications" but was being used by "John Smith Transport". I spent a lot of time listening to them to confirm this.

In the past year, this frequency has also gone dead, I suspect they have moved to a UHF simplex frequency which was used by another company which they purchased a couple of years ago, I can't confirm this.

Their depot is located at the end of a public road with no other businesses anywhere close by. Due to the nature of what they transport they get very nervous about anybody hanging around. If I had an easy way to do this I would be taking that path.

 

[pb_lonny]

Unfold a chair and sit there and listen. The fact that you don't want to be seen by anyone at this 'company' implies way more intent than just casual monitoring and frequency identification.

I don't have the time to sit around all day waiting for them to maybe use the radio and as per my last post, it is not an area you could be "hanging around".

 

[pb_lonny]

That said, I suspect there's a lot more to your story than you're willing to share with us. So, while there may be many forum members more than qualified to help you, I'd think it best for them to resist the temptation to do so.

Nothing else to it, I am trying to find what frequency a business is using when the frequency they were using in the past has gone dead.

 

[RayAir]

What are you really trying to do?

Seems a bit overboard with regards to your covert ops planning just to monitor a "transport" business.

 

[pb_lonny]

What are you really trying to do?

Seems a bit overboard with regards to your covert ops planning just to monitor a "transport" business.

I am trying to locate the frequency of a business who have stopped using their previous frequency. This is what I do. I don't really care about the contents of the communications, just who is using what frequencies. It is something I have done for many years, this business is just turning out to be a harder target.

Here are some examples of me doing this:
VKPC7PB: Article - Hunting out new and exciting frequencies - Updated September 2016

VKPC7PB: Update on Penny Royal

VKPC7PB: Close Calling LED Signs

VKPC7PB: Launceston Tip Radio Usage

VKPC7PB: New Active Frequency - 471.700MHz

VKPC7PB: 462.100MHz Officeworks Launceston

 

[bpckty1]

Perhaps they have moved to MDTs or cell phones.

 

[KevinC]

Moved to the Tavern since this really isn't about scanning, it's about hiding a piece of electronics.

 

[pb_lonny]

Perhaps they have moved to MDTs or cell phones.

Both very possible, other users have done this. I just want to be sure before I stop scanning their frequency.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

Your 162.500 MHz LED signs reminds me of a problem I investigated about 30 years ago. Motorola sold a $6 million system to a city and could not get final acceptance because of an interference problem that was nasty and annoying. Many had tried including my self but failed to find the source after many weeks. The signal was weak, fleeting and blocked by high rises. It also appeared to be coming from many directions as once. Finally a helicopter was furnished and I got to bring my equipment way above building height. I had a partner on the ground in a mobile similarly equipped. Finally I got a good hit and was able to point the other guy in the direction of a parking lot. He identified the vehicle involved and approached the driver. It turns out Motorola made a low cost 800 MHz mobile called the MOSTAR that had a 53.9 MHz IF. This placed its receiver LO precisely on the two channels that affected the City. This news of course meant that Motorola 1) Was the cause of the problem 2) Motorola had sold thousands of these mobiles in the county and surrounding counties and 3) Motorola had to make $ystem change$ (Specifically ones I had suggested to management weeks earlier) to make the system less susceptible to the problem. This news of course was received coldly and skeptically in Schaumburg. So I spent an afternoon parked at an intersection that I had found would be a good choke point for commercial vehicles using these radios. I set up my test equipment and photographed the names on all the dozens of commercial vehicles that raised the signal. They all had this particular Motorola Mostar.

 

[bill4long]

Due to the nature of what they transport they get very nervous about anybody hanging around.

Sounds like you're asking for trouble.

Why are you obsessed with this? If you suspect illegal activity, report it to the proper authorities and let them handle it.

Otherwise, your shenanigans are likely to get a can of whoop-azz opened on you, esp if they're "nervous."

 

[Dog]

Do a search for "ammo can repeater"...

 

[lucky43113]

Sounds like you're asking for trouble.

Why are you obsessed with this? If you suspect illegal activity, report it to the proper authorities and let them handle it.

Otherwise, your shenanigans are likely to get a can of whoop-azz opened on you, esp if they're "nervous."

safe or not i can see where op would be curious and they say curiosity killed the cat but at least he knew before he died

 

[pb_lonny]

Do a search for "ammo can repeater"...

Another great idea. I am working on building a suitable case at the moment.

 

[pb_lonny]

Your 162.500 MHz LED signs reminds me of a problem I investigated about 30 years ago.

Good to hear of other people who do this sort of thing, hunting down frequencies and spectrum usage.

 

[lucky43113]

Sounds like you're asking for trouble.

Why are you obsessed with this? If you suspect illegal activity, report it to the proper authorities and let them handle it.

Otherwise, your shenanigans are likely to get a can of whoop-azz opened on you, esp if they're "nervous."

its fun op wants to see what he can find on his own he seems to be doing some research to keep the whoop-azz from being opened on him

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

Another great idea. I am working on building a suitable case at the moment.

You can buy weatherproof gasketed thermoplastic electrical boxes at hardware stores. They are available in all sizes. Usually you will see a medium sized one supported on several pieces of underground PVC electrical conduit sticking out of the soil on traffic medians and in the landscaped islands in parking lots. Usually they contain controls for irrigation systems. No one gives them a second thought.