Recording your scanner?

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xpawel15x

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I was wondering if people record the exciting events they hear on their scanners. How do you do that, put a computer mic by your scanner and record using windows sound recorder? Is it legal to record things you hear on your scanner?
 

tspainiv

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Yes it's legal and you can use this program here Scanner Recorder. http://www.davee.com/scanrec/ it works awesome. All you need is a 1/8 audio cable and connect your scanner's Ext. speaker or headphone jack to your line in or mic in on your computer soundcard and record!
 

TeRayCodA

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xpawel15x said:
I was wondering if people record the exciting events they hear on their scanners. How do you do that, put a computer mic by your scanner and record using windows sound recorder? Is it legal to record things you hear on your scanner?

No.You will need to download special software to only make your PC record when the squelch circuit opens.Otherwise,you'll spend most of your time editing the dead space on a .wav file.
I use Xcorder,it works really well for me. http://sac-ftp.externet.hu/educult36.html (this link has always worked)
Also,you'll need a patch cable to run into your line input,from your radio's speaker/headphone output.Experiment with the audio level.
 

pinetree

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The scanner recorder that tspainiv mentioned is the best thing since sliced bread. I recorded a barn fire the other night that lasted over 2 hours the recording is about 21 min. The recording will be used by the company in a critique of the fire.
 

Scan-Denver

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xpawel15x said:
I was wondering if people record the exciting events they hear on their scanners. How do you do that, put a computer mic by your scanner and record using windows sound recorder? Is it legal to record things you hear on your scanner?
Wave Pad is another great (free) recording software for your pc - click here to see the capabilities of this software.
 

y10kiscoming

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On Windows, I have previously used ScanRec, RecAll, and XCorder. The one I found to be the best for me was XCorder Lite. XCorder recently changed its name to Vox2File, and the new version is available here: http://www.rtty.co.uk/download/vtf2.0.2.zip I especially like XCorder's 'new file on the hour' feature.

On Linux, I have Listener (http://www.vanheusden.com/listener/) set up to do the recording, and then installed Zina (http://www.pancake.org/zina/index.html) to listen to all of the small files easily.

Hope this helps,

-Mark
 

Grog

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For recording on the go, I bought a RCA MP3 player that has an 1/8" input. It records the line-in directly to a MP3 file.
 

brandon

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ScanRec is what I use too.

For recording internet streams I use StreamRipper (For IceCast/Shoutcast) and Freecorder (for everything else).
 

matthewtomek

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While we're on the subject, I can't get my ScanRec to work. Line-In is working fine, audio coming from computer speakers, everything seems to be set up ok. Once I hit Record, it will not start recording anything. I have the squelch set at like 4 or 5%. Any ideas???
 

weirdal

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does anyone have any software that can do back-buffered recording?

I currently have a program called Sonetics X-Ripper. it was made for recording fm radio and it's main feature is the back-buffered recording.
For those who aren't familar with the term, it means it is constantly recording x minutes of audio to RAM, so when I press record it already recorded the past two minutes. This feature is especially useful with scanners. If I hear somethign interesting, I can click record and the first few moments will be recorded.

It also has sound activated recording, but each time it detects audio and then stops, it makes a new file, meaning in a few hours, I can have a folder full of 100+ recordings. That's my only complaint though. and I rarely use the sound activated. If I ever do want a bunch of action recorded and compressed to get rid of silence, I just record it to one big file. Then I open it in audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/), and select effect>truncate silence. This lets me trim out all the silences and make them 3 seconds long (or whatever time you want). sure, it's an extra step, but I rarely do that anyway.

what's also nice is that you can save as wav or directly as mp3. Making mp3's saves me a lot of HD space :)

The company went out of business three years ago unfortunatly, and it's tough to find a copy of the software anymore. So I can't provide a link to it or anything :\. I think I have the installer around here somewhere if anyone wanted to try it out.

matthewtomek, try this:
-open the windows volume control window
-go to options>properties and select the "recording" radio button. click ok
-make sure line-in is selected. if it is, try selecting mic instead. for some reason I have to select mic to record my line-in.

And for anyone wanting to record internet streams, use this: http://www.screamer-radio.com/
It is the best out there. It also has back-buffered recording, so you never miss anything. stream ripper does not have this essential feature.
 
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brandon

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wierdal, thanks for the very informative post. I am going to give those programs a shot.
 

DPD1

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Grog said:
For recording on the go, I bought a RCA MP3 player that has an 1/8" input. It records the line-in directly to a MP3 file.

They may have more models out there that can do that now, but I remember spending a long time looking for one that would do that a few years back, and found one that iRiver makes... It even works with a Mac, and it's the size of your thumb. Great for recording on location. Just need to watch the levels... It will clip easily.

Dave
http://www.dpdproductions.com
- Custom Scanner, MURS, GMRS, & Ham Antennas -
 

cellblock776

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matthewtomek said:
While we're on the subject, I can't get my ScanRec to work. Line-In is working fine, audio coming from computer speakers, everything seems to be set up ok. Once I hit Record, it will not start recording anything. I have the squelch set at like 4 or 5%. Any ideas???
I'm having problems lately too. I open a new file, set it to recored as a MPEG Wave-3 as I usually do and then I get the ole-

"Scanner Recorder has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry ...."

Checking the report of what Microsoft found I get this-

"Error caused by Logitech SetPoint: no specific solution available
Thank you for submitting an error report.
Problem description
An analyst at Microsoft has investigated this problem and determined that an unknown error occurred in Logitech SetPoint. This software was created by LAME Project.
Recommendation
Microsoft has researched this problem with LAME Project, and they do not currently have a solution for the problem that you reported. Below is a recommendation to take that may help prevent the problem from recurring.
Contact LAME Project for support or product updates.
Additional information
If this problem continues to occur with the latest product updates for Logitech SetPoint, we recommend you obtain assistance and troubleshooting information directly from LAME Project."

I don't think I have changed any settings recently but there have been a couple of Microsoft updates installed. Any ideas? My os is XP and I was using Scanner Recorder up until a month ago with no problem.
 

Fizz753

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matthewtomek said:
While we're on the subject, I can't get my ScanRec to work. Line-In is working fine, audio coming from computer speakers, everything seems to be set up ok. Once I hit Record, it will not start recording anything. I have the squelch set at like 4 or 5%. Any ideas???

Just as a hunch does it record if the radio is in the mic jack? Dont turn the radio up too much while your testing. My computer does something like what your saying but it might not be the same thing, I am not sure. If it works through the mic but not line in jacks i'll let you know how I fixed it on my computer. Well if its the same issue anyway.
 

pinetree

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Try recording in PCM and then converting the wave file to mp3 using a program like wave pad. That should work but it is one more step, but as long as you get the recording!
 

cellblock776

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pinetree said:
Try recording in PCM and then converting the wave file to mp3 using a program like wave pad. That should work but it is one more step, but as long as you get the recording!
I guess that's what I'll have to do since I can't use any of the compression formats. PCM works but the file sizes are HUGE. I usually set my recorder, go to work and come back 12 or 14 hours later to review the audio wich usually is only about an hour in length, not a busy system. Doing this with PCM really fills up the storage fast. I'd perfer to find out what happened to my ability to use Scanner Recorder in something other than PCM.
 

fireguy810

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Anyone have a copy of the scanner recorder??? I cant seem to be able to download it from the website.
 

k8tmk

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Just be careful what you do with the recording. According to the FCC Rules and Regs, it is illegal to divulge the content of most radio communications to another person (ordinary broadcast and amateur radio are excluded). Last I knew, the fine was $10,000 for each and every day the offense occurs.

On a side note, in my opinion those scanists who broadcast their scanner audio over the internet are also breaking the same law.

Randy
 
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