Newbie Scanner(er)

[Rileybaxter]

Hey Guys, I am Riley and I am new to this forum and (Kinda) new to scanning. I have a radio shack Pro-94 scanner and have had it for a few years and I normally just look up my local police, fire, emsa, airports ect. and lately I have been wanting to get more into it (i guess you would say) or Professional however you want to word it so I joined the forums here to see if you had any tips, tricks, "Must Knows" for a newbie / non-newbie...


Thanks again.... Riley

 

[davidmc36]

Get familiar with the databse for your area. Fill in your location on your User Control Panel so when you ask questions people will have a better shot at giving you answers (it shows up automatically in each of your posts). The Wiki is very good reading for a newb, it will help you becomes versed in the principles and terms of trunked scanning and the scanners that are in use now. Google is your friend.

Welcome!!

 

[Ganuke]

Welcome davidmc36 !

Just to echo what Rileybaxter had said ..... the database here at Radio Reference can be great for finding frequencies specific to the state / county you live in. ( Second tab in from the main links found at the top of Radio Reference. ) And you may also have seen from the main Forums page that there is a subforum for each state. It could be good to look through the forum for the state you live in for any information related to what you may want to find out about frequencies in your state.

Also ..... while I am all for anyone making a thread to ask a question about their scanner / frequencies / etc.. ..... the search feature at Radio Reference can be a very good start in finding out specific information you may be wondering about. For instance you could go into the state forum for where you live and do a thread search for " X county " ( where ' X ' would be the county in the state you live in. ) Doing that could bring up information you'd want to know about without having to search page-by-page through a state forum orany forum here at Radio Reference.

And yep ..... just as Rileybaxter had said .....the Wiki ( 4th tab in from the main links at the top of the Radio Reference site ) can be bring up some very useful information as well. I'm not sure of any tips or tricks to scanning ...... if there are I'd like to know them as well myself. But maybe asking a more specific question could bring about more replies than a general overall question. Maybe something like " what are some good tips for getting better frequency reception on my Pro 95 scanner when scanning in my county of ' X ' in the state of ' XX ? '

I know since I have been a member here I have several times gotten some very useful information and help / advise from fellow members ...... Many very knowledgeable people here on all aspects of scanning.


Ganuke

 

[davidmc36]

Welcome davidmc36 ! ..........And yep ..... just as Rileybaxter had said .....the Wiki.............Ganuke

With the names a little dyslexic he is.:lol::lol::lol:

 

[Ganuke]

With the names a little dyslexic he is.:lol::lol::lol:

Wow ..... I certainly got that one backward.

HHHmmmmm ..... we could pretend its 2004 and that you were the new member here at Radio Reference ..... then at least I don't look so Doh !


Ganuke

 

[Rileybaxter]

What is the difference in Ham Radio, Amature Radio, and Short Wave Radio???? I used to know someone who had some sort of radio and I think he said he could talk to planes, which one would this be???

 

[davidmc36]

What is the difference in Ham Radio, Amature Radio, and Short Wave Radio???? I used to know someone who had some sort of radio and I think he said he could talk to planes, which one would this be???

Ham and Amateur are used interchangeably to refer to the same thing.

Shortwave - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Beginner's Guide to Mediumwave and Shortwave DXing

Some Amateur or Ham operators like to talk over long distances in the Shortwave range and I have heard of Hams doing it from an airplane while on a long flight, see if they can make contacts. He may have been talking to another Amateur who was transmitting from the airplane.

I have an old transciever that will recieve the Public/Ham shortwave frequencies and will transmit on the HF bands but the particular bands that is transmits on are not for amateur use, they are only for aircraft (and I think marine) communications if you are licensed to do so.

 

[Rileybaxter]

Okay thanks, so what would be my first step in getting started??? Are there any good FREE!! studying site???

 

[davidmc36]

If you did want to get into communicating the first step would be to get your amateur license. Try the applicable forum on here and I am sure there will be a wealth of info about what type of license will get you the authorization for which bands. In the USA the governing body it called the AARL.

If you just want to listen there would be many recievers to choose from that will pick up Broadcast and Amateur Shortwave/HF transmissions. There is a Shortwave forum here to I believe, and good ole' Google should turn up a lot of info.