Is the hobby worth it?

[zipzap22]

Greetings,
I have often wondered if scanning would be a good hobby. Reading the various forums, it sounds great! But a couple of things trouble me about the future of scanning.

1. I live in Oakland county and would like to monitor the sheriff's department. However, forum discussions indicate that no scanners can pick up the forthcoming Open Sky system.

2. The trunking system used by the MSP and agencys subscribing to it is not currency encrypted, but it would seem that encryption would be the next logical step for police agencies.

So this is my dilemma: I will need to spend about $500 for a digital scanner to pick up the current Oakland county / MSP systems. For me, that is a lot of money. I'd like to think an investment of this magnitude will last at least five years, but technological advances threaten to make the investment more short-lived. I would appreciate your insights on these issues.

Many thanks.

 

[rdale]

#1) Correct

#2) Costs the departments a lot of money, and in this current budget era odds are if they haven't yet they won't be soon.

Buy it and if things change in 1-2+ years you can EBay it for $350 or so, which means you'd be paying $25-50/yr. Is that worth it?

 

[mr_hankey]

my personal opinion is that "the hobby" has been kicked up a notch...back to the days of having to acquire an agency radio and program it/learn it.

my scanners still buzz in the background, but you have to have varied interests to stay involved (my latest re-interest has been HF, to the degree that i installed a 63 foot longwire in my attic in the summer heat!)

worth it?

for me?

hell ya.

absolutely NO commercials...

 

[russellv2]

I enjoy it so very much. And if the police go encrypted, there are still a lot of fun things to listen to on VHF and UHF.

* I like to listen to the different railroad companies as they travel here and there.
* Ham frequencies are always great to listen to.
* There are all sorts of things that go on on the business frequencies.
* There are humerous things to listen to on the GMRS & FRS frequencies if you don't have a radio of your own. (Families can be so messed up!)

There will always be things to scan.

 

[zipzap22]

Thanks for the insights

Thanks to all of you who responded to my question. I especially like the eBay idea, which brings the hobby to an affordable level.

 

[transam76]

Ive only had my new scanner for about 3 months now. I was hesitating at first two since my pd are provoice. But im glad i bought it, it was a worth while investment. I have the pro 96 and ive got well over my money investment usage. Fire department is anolgue trunk on the provoice system and Ambulance is still anolog. And the other pd i listen to is digital. I think it was well worth the investment, one of the best scanners ive ever owned.