Scanner on at all times

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dsvm2005

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Grand Haven Mi
I been wanting to have my scanner on at all times, but I am not sure if its good for the scanner or bad. Now if I were to leave my scanner on at all times would it wore out faster. Or is it better for the scanner to be on since its not been turned on and off?

What do you guys think about it?

I have the GRE PSR 500

Thanks,

Dsvm2005
 

eaf1956

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Feed Provider
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May 11, 2007
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Evansville, IN
24/7 monitoring

I been wanting to have my scanner on at all times, but I am not sure if its good for the scanner or bad. Now if I were to leave my scanner on at all times would it wore out faster. Or is it better for the scanner to be on since its not been turned on and off?

What do you guys think about it?

I have the GRE PSR 500

Thanks,

Dsvm2005

I leave mine on almost all the time. Except when severe lightning is in the local area. I lost a really good scanner to a lightning storm years ago. For SEVERE storms I shut everything off and disconnect the antennas.
 

reedo

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Rochester, New York USA
As a feed provider, my Realistic 2006 scanner has been turned on since the end of January, 2010. First time I've ever operated a scanner 24/7 and have had zero problems with it. Now, the PC on the other hand.........
 

WouffHong

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Jawjuh :)
Scanner longevity

As a feed provider, my Realistic 2006 scanner has been turned on since the end of January, 2010. First time I've ever operated a scanner 24/7 and have had zero problems with it. Now, the PC on the other hand.........

And my OLD PRO-94* has been streaming for over 3 years with it's original Wall-wart and sharing the UPS with the old E-Machine PC :)

* (We only have VHF stations and 2 UHF to stream up in the woods. :) ) :roll:

Wouff
 

CWR

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Dec 5, 2004
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I have a Pro-2096 that's been on 24/7 since 4-1-2006.
No problems what-so-ever. I keep the display light off , so I have't had the display problems that's been known to happen on the 2096 either..........
 
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ibagli

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Ohio
I turned a Pro-106 on in September and it's been on (except for during one or two power outages) since. So far nothing bad has happened.
 

Kennrth

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Hi, I’m an Electronic Test Engineer , I’m 59yrs old so I’ve been playing with this stuff for many years. The question as to whether you should keep your radio on continuously or not requires reliability testing to honestly answer this question . It is extremely specific right down to the production run. Many components inside the radio have mean time failure ratings. There are always alternative parts sources used during the production cycle. So not even all the radios may have the same components but similar from different manufacturers. There are almost always ECO’s Engineering change orders that are changes so different sn”s may have different revisions inside. Some to reduce cost. Some to increase reliability, The company more than anything wants no returns caused by production errors or design faults during the warrantee period. This could destroy every dime of profit. Also safety is important so they have been paying closer attention fire hazards like the input transformer on the external power supply. But they are not likely to use parts even resistors with low mean time failure because this can significantly increase expense. But I must admit I find electronic components designed made in Japan are high quality. The problem is, you can’t really know where it is all made. So the best thing is consider the manufacturers record for quality. And search for reliability reviews on the specific product.
Does turning the radio on and off reduce the products life? Sorry but the answer is similar. The unit has a power up sequence, it’s out of your control and in the design. So turning the unit on an off in succession is a very bad idea. But wait for the internal components to normalize after you shut it off. At least 30 seconds. Inrush current depends on the ability of the dc supply to provide it and whether there is a soft start circuitry installed. In low power equipment like a scanner internal capacitance is small so inrush in small. But the input power supplies are poorly regulated so initial voltage maybe higher than is healthy. It depends on whether there is zener diode protection inside and what values are selected.
Based on my personal experience I would shut it off when not in use. If I’m going to use it 3 or 4 times in a 6 hr period keep it on. Do not keep it off for an extended period of time. After six months or more capacitors have a habit of exhibiting high leakage on initial turn on. This is not healthy. After a few years it is best to bring it slowly on a variac. Older radios using incandescent back lighting tend to fail. Led’slast much longer. Low voltage capacitors 5 to 35 volts are not likely to have this problem. So your scanner or portable radio is not inclined to have inrush failures even when turned off for extended periods. High voltage large electrolytic capacitors should be reformed (charged up on slowly).
I recommend against using a timer externally to turn your radio on and off. Always use the on/off switch. It’s not the same.
A general rule of thumb is to leave High Power,Tube equipment or High Voltage devices on or on standby. Low power . low voltage Semiconductor equipment should off except when not in use . But use common sense. If you are going to use a few times over 4 hrs leave it on, going to bed turn it off.
 

dsvm2005

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Mar 11, 2008
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Location
Grand Haven Mi
thanks for all the input on this matter. My plan was to have my scanner on at all times with rechargeable batteries in them for when i go out on the road i could just unplug the power and take it without turning the scanner off. Is that a good idea or not.

One other thing I wish I was a feed provider for my area but unfortunately I am unable to do so due to dial up and requirements are high-speed. Hopefully the cable could get here in my area soon.

thanks again
 

dsvm2005

Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2008
Messages
92
Location
Grand Haven Mi
thanks for all the input on this matter. My plan was to have my scanner on at all times with rechargeable batteries in them for when i go out on the road i could just unplug the power and take it without turning the scanner off. Is that a good idea or not.

One other thing I wish I was a feed provider for my area but unfortunately I am unable to do so due to dial up and requirements are high-speed. Hopefully the cable could get here in my area soon.

thanks again
 

mkoronka

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Mar 15, 2007
Messages
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Location
Gaylord, MI
Very nice reply Ken as it brought back some memories for me. Back when I was Chief at a AM station every one had a hard time with having to wait till the transmitter was warmed before applying plate voltage to the finals. To shut them up I told them if they did apply plate voltage to the finals without it being warmed up they would cause the filaments of the finals to be sucked through the transmitter and out the antenna.

At that time I also serviced TV's and a very common complaint was it worked just fine when I turned it off last night and now there is no sound or color or what ever. They seemed to think something happened in the middle of the night. With no storms or power outages in the area time after time I explained it more than likely happened at turn on.

I am one that leaves my scanners on but off for if I am out of town or during storms. My 2096 had been on all the time till I got my 197, now it is off a little more but the 197 remains on.

Thanks,
Mike
 

jpb286

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I have three Pro 2052's running 24x7 for over 2 years now, no issues to speak of.

I would suggest not leaving the batteries in the radio while it is plugged in... just search for "melted radio" for the reason why.
 

Kennrth

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Bay Shore Long Island NY
Electrical fires destroy homes and cars and kills people every year. These are risks we all take living in a modern society. Maybe best to leave charging equipment on none flammable surfaces away from flammables and keep a fire extinguishers nearby .

This might surprise you ;
Battery storage for most types of batteries show capacity degradation after three months. There is serious degradation after a year. Most batteries need trickle charge to maintain battery capacity. This prevents the internal terminals from corroding /oxidizing when there is no trickle charge passing through them. Don’t store them more than week or two .
Keeping them in a charger if designed correctly will maintain their life. Batteries will degrade in a charger too but much more slowly.
 

captncarp

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Jul 25, 2005
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North River, NY. USA
I've been leaving scanners on 24/7 since they had crystals..... I worked a navy radio station where we worked fifty receivers with another fifty on standby with the volume turned down....never had a failure.
 

Zaratsu

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If I leave my PSR-300 plugged in with the NiCad batteries in the charging caddy, the batteries become useless after a few charges. Not sure what the deal is there, but I went through 3 sets of sanyo 2850mh and one set of 2700mh batts this way before I figured out that I shouldn't run the scanner on the AC if batts are in there.

Not sure if it is just my unit or not. The manual says that it is ok to do it, so something is wrong somewhere. But it is a portable too. I'm sure that base units can run all the time.
 
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