I really do not care what people think, I enjoy my hobbie but when do you say enough?
How many shortwave radios does everyone else have?
There ya go. What Joe Blow has, or John Q Public has no meaning or reference. Its what your objectives are when it comes to scanning and or listening. Opinions are sometimes just guidelines.
I have one scanner. One only. It has Aircraft, MILAIR and Public Safety. Someday, I want to upgrade. I want a scanner for my general area with aircraft band included, A dedicated AIRBAND scanner dedicated strictly to MILAIR - UHF & VHF ( another 9/11 possibly...although some radio conversations might be encrypted ) , and a scanner for outlying areas should something of significance happen.Thats is three scanners and that suits me perfectly. And that is within my own personal comfort zone. No sense in having a wall full of scanners, thousands of dollars, especially if you cant listen to them all at one time - or you just dont have time for them all.
At my work, We have a scanner at one of our posts ( I work as as Industrial Firefighter,Paramedic, HAZ-MAT tech ). I took that scanner and programmed it for our area, and some surrounding areas. Surrounding areas have been known for some great emergencys worth listening to. I left a few empty channels in the scanner, along with a frequency lists for ajoining agencys ( State Police - Coast Guard - River Trans - ajoining countys ) to be programmed if something happens. Explosions, refinery fires..all past occurances.
Radios & Scanning is a hobby and an enjoyable one. Listening to far away stations ( Skip ) , Satellites, MILAIR ; and scanning radio bands to discover hidden radio freqs and unlisted stations. Me, my input ; is to cater and radio systems to your needs , based on what you can listen to. Scanners / Shortwaves in home, strategically set up for immediate listening and your area, plus a local disaster and or international news and radio traffic. A good shortwave with numerous banks to listen to, banks set up for routine listening, plus your specific interest.
Interlace scanning banks ( freqs from one bank, also included in another bank with specific freqs ). Example. A county fire dept on your county band and listeing area, PLUS your county fire dept programmed in your bank of ajoining agencys, incase of mutual aid. You can do the same thing with a HAM radio that has programmable banks. Doing this...minimizes the need for additional radios/ scanners / hams. Initially somewhat expensive for a "radio" with numerous bands, but it beats the cost purchasing numerous radios, so in a sense - One expensive radio saved you costs, UNLESS the HAM receiver does not cover all the bands you need.
Research, plan and put your system together based on your needs and listening habits. Build an outside antenna system for maxium listening effect, and consider a preamp. A small sized radio operation, could save you money ; letting it go into the system itself ( antenna - extra coax..ect ) ; so you can have a good listening post.
One ambualance goes down the street, I dont get to excited. One ambualnce, fire trucks, police..sirens wailing..I tend to turn the scanner on to find out what is going on, but I dont listen to the whole conversation most the time.
Hope I helped.
FF - Medic !!!
