Is it ok to leave scanner on all day?

[Viper43]

I leave my scanners on all the time. I come from work to find that my wife has turned them off!

hehehehe, she'd loose her hands in my house or car if she touched anything on the scanners here Even my ex-girlfriends little sisters who still come around know not to touch any of the radios, 3 in the car 2 in the house and 16 in the shop and a couple others scattered around here somewhere

V

 

[KE4RWS]

Older models and their display backlighting

Really old scanners had incandescent back-lighting that would burn out regularly if left on 24/7. However, everything made in the past several years or more has 100% LED back-lighting, which means it will likely never burn out or possibly need replacement *maybe* once in an entire lifetime (lifetime being defined as something like 10-12 years of 24/7 use).

There were also a few older scanners that utilized electro-luminescent displays, which would fade over time. Eventually they would go completely dark and would have to be replaced. Common models for this were the PRO-2004,5,6 and a few other mid-grade Radio Shack models.

Aside from that I don't know of any reason you couldn't leave currently made scanners on 24/7 for the rest of your life and expect anything other than great service from them.


Randy

 

[eaf1956]

Scanners

I have over 42 scanners that have never been turned off. (Other than power outages.)

At least 10 of them are the newer Uniden models (BCD996(xt), BCD396(xt), BCT15)

The only ones I turn off, are some of the hand held scanners that I run with batteries instead of wall adapters.

If they wouldn't run 24/7, I wouldn't want them.

Edit: In fact, my online feed has been running on RR and elsewhere using a BCT15 since they first came out. It's never been off.
(Except during short power outages. During longer outages, it runs on generator power. As long as my ISP is up, the feed is up.)

You do know scanners can generally cover more than one thing? Or do you program one channel/Talk Group per scanner? 42 scanners, My wife would KILL me

 

[eaf1956]

Da Wife

I leave my scanners on all the time. I come from work to find that my wife has turned them off!

My wife wanted to watch a DVD...When it was over I came to check my FEED on RR only to discover that PROSCAN showed no response from the scanner. Hhhmmm Asked the wife Did you turn this scanner OFF? Her REPLY, I tried to turn it down but it just shut off. Wonder if the listeners thought that EVANSVILE was QUIET for about 2 hours?

KC9LVX Evansville, IN Feed

Note: The VOL knob on the scanner is completely turned CCW till just before it clicks off. Volume and SQ are controlled via PROSCAN

 

[Tsch6373]

I have two 'T's and one XT. One of the 'T's is going 24/7 to keep my pets company while I work.

 

[shadowbou1]

I have a BCD996T and leave it ON 24/7. I do, however, shut off the display light unless actually viewing the display.

 

[rbm]

My wife wanted to watch a DVD...When it was over I came to check my FEED on RR only to discover that PROSCAN showed no response from the scanner. Hhhmmm Asked the wife Did you turn this scanner OFF? Her REPLY, I tried to turn it down but it just shut off. Wonder if the listeners thought that EVANSVILE was QUIET for about 2 hours?

KC9LVX Evansville, IN Feed

Note: The VOL knob on the scanner is completely turned CCW till just before it clicks off. Volume and SQ are controlled via PROSCAN

My wife says she dislikes my scanners. (To put it mildly.)
However, when I get home she often says "Did you hear about bla-bla-bla on the scanner"

Almost exactly one year ago on April 3, 2009 there was a mass shooting in Binghamton, NY which my feed covers. There were more than 5,000 listeners during that event. (It was on ScanAmerica at the time.)

The cable news channels mentioned that they were listening to the live scanner feed from Binghamton and showed a computer screen with the feed. My wife called me at work to tell me what was going on. She asked me who else had a live feed on ScanAmerica from this area. At the time, there was no other feed.

I mentioned to her that if she messed with the volume on my scanners, she'd risk offending the cable news channels and all of their viewers.
It worked. She no longer threatens to turn my scanners down. A little intimidation never hurts.

 

[vortex360]

My 996T loves to be on, even when I'm sleeping.