There are several unofficial holidays around the world including World Radio Day on February 13, World Amateur Radio Day on April 18, even International QRP Day on June 17. So I started thinking... why not International Scanner Day?
Public safety agencies and the media depend on scanners to do their jobs. John and Jane Citizen rely on them during disasters. Planespotters and Trainspotters use them as a spotting aid. Higher end models also double as AM/FM broadcast receivers providing hours of entertainment. So why not give an unofficial holiday to our favorite hobby?
While going through patents, the earliest grant I could find for scanners (as we know them today) is January 30, 1973 to Regency Electronics.
https://www.google.com/patents/US37...a=X&ei=8j-8U_6BOsm3iwKxwoDIDQ&ved=0CGQQ6AEwCg
If anyone knows of an earlier grant or has another date in mind, please share.
Also, if you're into social media (Twitter, Facebook) I'm sure you know all about Saturday being known as Caturday. People share photos, videos, blogs even news articles of cats. I think we can really promote the hobby by referring to Saturday as Scannerday and using the hashtag #Scannerday. If you don't have prearranged plans on a Saturday, make it a Scannerday. Make a new antenna, hunt for new frequencies using the search feature, use two scanners at once but dedicate one for Close Call / Signal Stalk, venture away from what you usually listen to and give something new a try. It's Scannerday, adopt someones old BC200XLT from eBay, give it a discriminator tap, hook it up to the soundcard on your computer, run DSD and listen to all the new digital modes.
Public safety agencies and the media depend on scanners to do their jobs. John and Jane Citizen rely on them during disasters. Planespotters and Trainspotters use them as a spotting aid. Higher end models also double as AM/FM broadcast receivers providing hours of entertainment. So why not give an unofficial holiday to our favorite hobby?
While going through patents, the earliest grant I could find for scanners (as we know them today) is January 30, 1973 to Regency Electronics.
https://www.google.com/patents/US37...a=X&ei=8j-8U_6BOsm3iwKxwoDIDQ&ved=0CGQQ6AEwCg
If anyone knows of an earlier grant or has another date in mind, please share.
Also, if you're into social media (Twitter, Facebook) I'm sure you know all about Saturday being known as Caturday. People share photos, videos, blogs even news articles of cats. I think we can really promote the hobby by referring to Saturday as Scannerday and using the hashtag #Scannerday. If you don't have prearranged plans on a Saturday, make it a Scannerday. Make a new antenna, hunt for new frequencies using the search feature, use two scanners at once but dedicate one for Close Call / Signal Stalk, venture away from what you usually listen to and give something new a try. It's Scannerday, adopt someones old BC200XLT from eBay, give it a discriminator tap, hook it up to the soundcard on your computer, run DSD and listen to all the new digital modes.
