Old Scanners

[retiredmich]

Crystal type scanner's & old analog 's scanner's , are they worth any thing now day's or just paper weight's? I have both, crystal scanner is older than me, does any one actually buy these ? Thanks in advanced.

 

[CrabbyMilton]

Don't expect to get more than next to nothing for them. But if you want to only monitor railroad, aircraft, or NOAA weather radio, they will do the job just fine.

 

[ka3jjz]

There are numerous collectors around for old scanners - as for the old analogs, why not tap them and put them to use decoding modes that scanners can't currently handle, like DMR or NXDN?

Sometimes a tapped scanner is worth more than an untapped one...

Mike

 

[PACNWDude]

Old scanners, not worth much.

+1 on them not being worth much.

Old crystal controlled scanners are useful for analog, wide-band reception.

But I have caught myself buying them for a few dollars when found for their novelty. They also are a good look at how things used to be made and how technology worked before surface mount electronics became cheaper.

Shipping is usually more than the cost of the item if you buy or sell them online.

If you find one that has old local frequencies in them, you may be surprised what is still in use in your area. A rural fire station can still be heard on one channel of one of mine.

 

[dmack550]

I happen to love them. There is a certain charm in that older technology.. Perhaps because that is how I started in this hobby and they bring back good memories. And yes I have a few and they work great for aircraft monitoring as well as some fire departments and miscellaneous services such as buses and cabs.

 

[retiredmich]

Was reading the post by ka3jj2 on using the old scanners for tapping them and put them to use decoding modes that scanners can't currently handle, like DMR or NXDN, how do you tap a scanner to do that ?

 

[N4GIX]

While reading this thread I suddenly remembered that I still have an old "Realistic Pro-42" scanner. Ten whole programmable VHF/UHF channels!

I found it in a trashcan one day and brought it home. All that was wrong was a defective earphone jack that wouldn't pass the audio to the speaker. Whoever threw it away never bothered to check it with an earphone. I just put six fresh AA alkaline batteries in it and voila, it still works!

 

[ka3jjz]

Was reading the post by ka3jj2 on using the old scanners for tapping them and put them to use decoding modes that scanners can't currently handle, like DMR or NXDN, how do you tap a scanner to do that ?

It does take a certain amount of skill and circuit tracing, but it can be done in many instances. In our wiki, we have the complete article listing from the late Bill Cheek - considered by many to be the father of tapping methods - on how to go about putting in a tap. The link below starts you off

SCANDATA.FAQ - The RadioReference Wiki

Now, tapping methods have been considerably refined since then (and there are now many applications that don't require an external interface, such as UniTrunker or DSD+). But this gives you some idea of what is required.

Mike

 

[Prospect62]

I have an Electra Bearcat III crystal-controlled scanner in my garage diligently and flawlessly monitoring my County's 911 dispatch as we speak. My county (Oneida County, NY) still uses conventional analog VHF high-band communications for county-wide (repeated) police, fire and EMS - with no end to same in sight. Not to mention so does NYSP, and various public safety agencies for car-to-car. We managed to avoid changing to splinter frequencies when rebanding swept through (thanks to whoever is responsible).

Yep, all is well here in Oneida County. And might I say, the audio of the scanner beats anything made since.

The trick is finding the crystals you need if you live where conventional systems are still used, but there are a couple sellers on eBay who have TONS of them.

 

[bee]

South Bend, Indiana, WOW. Me and my parents lived there about 60 years ago. "418 South Williams Street". Ben Franklin Grammar School

I know I should not have posted this here, but I just, had too!

 

[dmack550]

Yeah not a particularly good part of town now though.