Recording scanner audio

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jmunden

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I need some advise on what type/model of scanner I need. I need to record audio from a scanner. The frequency band is 155mhz and I assume the scanner will need to have an audio out jack.
 

xxdanielt3

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Scanner model won't matter as much as the software you use to capture audio. Any scanner with an audio out will work.


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marksmith

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Most of the newest crop of scanners have SD cards and record activity to SD cards in standard formats that can be played back on the scanner or moved to a PC and replayed there.

All scanners have a headphone output for recording, but only some have the ability to turn on/off a tape recorder, or external voice recorder.

The third method, using PC software, and a connected scanner. The capabilities depend on the scanner, software, and how they work together.

The simplest and most reliable though, is to just get a scanner that can record internally to itself on SD card.

Mark
536/436/WS1095/HP1/HP2/996T/996XT/996P2/396XT/325P2/PSR800/15X/others
 

n1das

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Use GoldWave to automatically record scanner audio. Use the Level Activated recording option to automatically trigger a recording when there's audio to record and then pause again after the audio goes away. The audio is buffered so you don't miss the beginning of audio that triggered the recording. The pre-buffer time and hang time are adjustable. The level at which recording starts is also settable. The available recording time can be set to "unbounded" and will be automatically extended as needed, up to the limit of available disk space. I've used GoldWave to automatically record a week's worth of scanner activity this way. GoldWave supports all of the popular audio formats (WAV, MP3, etc.) and you can edit down to individual samples. Displays include waterfall and audio spectrum analyzer functions. Editing features including various kinds of effects you can do to a recording.

GoldWave is a digital audio editor and is the next best thing to professional audio editing software. GoldWave is a free download and is fully functional however it periodically "nags" you to register and buy a license for it. $45 registers it and pays for a license which removes all nagging. It's nag-ware but it works excellent. I've been using GoldWave for over 15 years to record scanner audio I've used it to rip audio from CDs.

GoldWave - Audio Editor, Recorder, Converter, Restoration, & Analysis Software
 

n1das

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One thing I forgot to mention earlier is that when making recording using the WAV file format (default), the WAV file format supports cue points in the file. You can insert cue points anywhere you like in a WAV file and GoldWave can do it automatically at the start of a recording so it drops a cue point every time a level-activated recording is triggered. The cue points can be named and the default name automatically assigned to a cue point is the PC's system date and time. This makes cue points VERY useful as timestamp information for recording scanner activity.

GoldWave - Audio Editor, Recorder, Converter, Restoration, & Analysis Software

EDIT: I mentioned earlier that GoldWave is the next best thing to the professional stuff. According to GW's site, GoldWave IS a highly rated professional digital audio editor.

:)
 
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