Precarious Predicament

[Rleshane]

So this is of course an extremely modest newbie scan only setup, but it was fun to set up and thought I would share.

<b>Predicament: Have wife that doesn't want my new found love for scanners to encroach on her living space, and certainly doesn't want an antenna on the roof.</b>

Possible solution 1: Divorce. (and do my own laundry? am, ya, not an option)
Possible solution 2: Take a pass on scanning and skip setting up a feed (heck no)
Possible solution 3: Set up the best solution I could think of that uses 2 feet of closet shelf space, with no power outlets or cat-5 (network connections) within reach. (yep, I went with this option)

Pic 1: Antenna location (no brainer after reading these great forums). Roof mount would have been nice, but a "no go" if I want dinner ready when I get home from work. Getting great reception. Given the lay of the land and size of the house, the antenna is about 30 feet above street level.

Pic 2: Closet space used on second floor (just below antenna in attic above). Wifi from the laptop was the obviously solution for the feed (rather than trying to run cat-5 all through the walls). Seems to work just as good.

Pic 3: The closet had no wall power outlets, but did have a single ceiling light. I looked up replacing the single light switch with a combo switch / outlet where the switch still controls the light, but the outlet remains hot all the time.

 

[Tommahawk]

And what are you going to do when she wants said closet space for her use???

 

[KAM101]

That is the most inconspicuous setup I have ever seen in my life......Ingenious
Is that your closet or hers?

 

[Rleshane]

And what are you going to do when she wants said closet space for her use???

Lol, well, it's a walk in closet that has about 12 ft of wall. I made a point to show her how my clothes AND scanner setup take about 2 of those feet, and that I'm laying claim to that land. If she tries to encroach on my 2 feet, I guess I'll need to consider "Possible solution 1" in my original post.

That is the most inconspicuous setup I have ever seen in my life......Ingenious
Is that your closet or hers?

Thanks. We "share" a walk in closet, but that's <u>my</u> 2 feet darn it!!! Notice in pic 2 that there is room for me to mount a wire rack <u>above</u> my existing laptop and radio. Perfect for adding 2 or 3 more scanners to the mix Shhhhh... don't tell her that.

 

[RadioDaze]

For about $3, you could dress the coax cable with some 3/8 or 1/2 white split loom to make it less conspicuous. It could be an anniversary gift for your wife.

 

[apd3190]

I was in the same situation a long time ago. Put a small desk inside the walk in closet for my set up. The new improved wife lets me put my equipment where i want. The radios where hear before her so it came with the package.

 

[Highpockets]

I was in the same situation a long time ago. Put a small desk inside the walk in closet for my set up. The new improved wife lets me put my equipment where i want. The radios where hear before her so it came with the package.

New and improved after time turns to old and outdated.

 

[ridgescan]

Wow I always heard of "closet scannists" but always thought it was figurative

 

[davidgcet]

looks good, but i hate to tell you that there is no such thing as the man having closet space in a heterosexual marriage. she may LET you use a portion of the closet, but the entire space is hers upon demand!

 

[brandon]

Now I have seen everything

 

[JoeyC]

Your wife is selfish and has no respect for you.
There are plenty of potential wives out there that will respect a mans hobby. You shouldn't have to stand on a step ladder in the corner of the closet to listen to your radio.
Without a doubt, solution number 1!

 

[Rleshane]

Your wife is selfish and has no respect for you.
There are plenty of potential wives out there that will respect a mans hobby. You shouldn't have to stand on a step ladder in the corner of the closet to listen to your radio.
Without a doubt, solution number 1!

Lol, although I appreciate your enthusiasm, it's a trade off. I <u>could</u> insist on whatever I want, but she's a good lady, takes care of the kids, does the laundry, cooks dinner, etc. Nice old school relationship and I wouldn't trade it for the world (even if the hobby goes in the closet, lol). BUT, no, I don't stand in the closet to listen to the scanner (although the visual in my mind of that still has me laughing). The great thing about it being a RadioReference feed is I can listen to it while I work on the downstairs computer, at work, on my phone, wherever! And the free premium membership doesn't hurt either!

 

[JoeyC]

Lol, although I appreciate your enthusiasm, it's a trade off. I could insist on whatever I want, but she's a good lady, takes care of the kids, does the laundry, cooks dinner, etc. Nice old school relationship and I wouldn't trade it for the world (even if the hobby goes in the closet, lol). BUT, no, I don't stand in the closet to listen to the scanner (although the visual in my mind of that still has me laughing). The great thing about it being a RadioReference feed is I can listen to it while I work on the downstairs computer, at work, on my phone, wherever! And the free premium membership doesn't hurt either!

:lol: LOL, so its a feed scanner! OK, that makes more sense.

 

[Laxplurr06]

When you get more scanners, and trust me you will. You should go ahead and build a shack in the attic. You may bump your head on the rafter, but at least you can control your radios. Then you would have a shorter coax run and get better reception.

 

[n5ims]

Good job there! Now, since marriage is supposed to be 50/50 (well, except for the old toilet seat thing that is 100% the man's fault, regardless of who really caused it), it looks like you now have one to go your way. The next time she gets one of "her" things that you don't really care for (you know, like all those pillows on the bed that you must do something with to lie down) she can keep it, but only in her 2 feet of space in the closet!

 

[RadioDaze]

Don't become a ham, whatever you do.

 

[wogggieee]

I vote for option 1. From my experience it gets a lot easier to put things where and how you want them when you're rid of the wife. Although I didnt have too much trouble with my wife. She usually complained about the clutter and wires. If i made them a little more tidy she seemed ok with it. Like the others said marriage should be 50/50 and it sounds like she's not being reasonable with your hobby. A wife should be relativly supportive of your hobbies and you should be supportive of hers.

Knowing that you wont take option 1 a route you could take is to run the feed in your closet like you currently are and then get an iPod touch. You can listen to Radio Reference scanner feeds on an iPod touch, and since it has WiFi you could listen anywhere in your house and since you'd be using ear buds or headphones your wife would be happy. And you could use it for listening to music and podcasts as well. This is really nice in the car.

 

[brickcity1306]

LOL Good job,, I had a bit of a problem with my &#8220;new and improved wife&#8221; too. But she got use to the two scanners running day and night, pagers tripping all night, the bing and bongs from the black berry BNN alerts and the bulldog farting and snoring!!!

Jezzzzz I am buying her flowers tonight after thinking about it ;-)

 

[Bubba1661]

I Came Out Of The Scanner Closet A Long Time Ago!

 

[RadioDaze]

:lol: LOL, so its a feed scanner! OK, that makes more sense.

Yes... if he doesn't keep it in the closet, she won't feed him.