Sleeping with your Scanner?? 'Fess up, now!

[Skypilot007]

My bedside setup is totally stealth! Since I have the recorder going on our local channel I use the line output on the sound card of the computer to feed a mini FM transmitter that transmits the received signals on 107.1 FM. So I just tune my clock radio in and I'm all set, no scanner at the bedside, just a clock radio. Works for me.

 

[k9rzz]

A few of us skiers stayed at a gent's cabin in northern Wisconsin once the night before an event. He had that d@#% scanner running all night, quite loud too. I slept right through it, but others in the group had a few words to say about it. LOL

 

[smason]

I have a dell Axim in a dock on the bedside table, running the Win500 client. If I can't sleep, or hear the police helecopter or sirens I just pop in the earphones.

In a previous life the Pro 2004 used to live beside the bed. I had a sticker on the search up button so I could feel it in the dark and follow certain 800mhz transmissions.

 

[gewecke]

My girlfriend gives me a play by play of everything that happened in our area when I get home from work in the morning! At work all I have is my minitor v and our company portables.
n9zas

 

[kskarma]

Your girlfriend sounds 10-4...!

 

[mrkelso]

I have 9 scanners in the bedroom all in one corner all are always one but at night i turn them down or the wife would kill me again.

 

[W6KRU]

I always leave one of my scanners running on the nightstand. Somehow my brain filters out the mundane and will usually wake me up when something significant happens. Last week we had a small boat hauling 23 illegal aliens capsize in the surf when they attempted to beach the boat. This occurred at a little after 4am. I missed a few minutes at first but woke up and stayed awake for the next hour listening to the PD, Coast Guard, Lifeguards, and Border Patrol attempting to round everyone up.

 

[CrabbyMilton]

I turn it off before I go bedybye but many times I fell asleep in my chair with it on. It's on at all times when I'm in the house either scanning or monitoring one channel or talkgroup.

 

[wise871]

Ok, I’ll jump on this band wagon. I have a BCT15 on my night stand. I tried the headset and ear bud speaker but it became a pain in the butt. Then someone mention that Radio Shack had pillow speakers. I picked up one before they stopped selling them.

This combo works great for me. I get to listen to my radio as I lay in bed and I don’t disturb anyone. Normally I only remember listen for 15min or so before I fall asleep. At night I have the local sheriff and fire programmed in so the traffic is pretty quite since most of the calls are done on their MCP’s at night. There have been time that the scanner has woke me up and it was usually due to heavy voice traffic, sirens, or extremely long fire tone-outs.

 

[kskarma]

DDan....you are totally correct about filtering out the mundane. After some experience in scanning, it's always VERY obvious when something critical is happening. I always explain it as a big difference in the tone and delivery of the dispatchers, cops, EMT's, fire fighters, etc. who are involved. You can hear the tension and strain in their voices and you just KNOW that this is NOT routine! Good point!

 

[AnnakaSpoilt]

I tried headphones once, I had Weird Dreams, I just leave it on now, and i dont have them. Must have been because it was right in my ear. hehe

 

[fourthhorseman]

i dont anymore,,
after waking up several time,scanner on rug-batteries depleted..

i remember the panic,new batts,and turning it on,,fingers crossed
that it'll still scan n decode the PDs digital system,

now i just stay up all night,,averaging 1-2 hrs of sleep a day,,

"it's NOT insomnia,I just don't want to miss anything....."

 

[KB3SJV]

Hmm, lets see now, I have a truking scanner for all county except fire, a conventional for fire, and on the first VFO of my TM-V71 I have fire dispatch for the local VFC, and on the second VFO i scan ham repeaters all night!

 

[K2KOH]

My Pro 197 is on all night scanning Putnam and Westchester Counties. I like the "white noise" as it helps me sleep better.

 

[ltjweiss]

yes, sometimes it helps me sleep, i got used to radio chatter through the night during my years of active duty, sometimes i cant sleep without it.

 

[commscanaus]

At the bedside here are a Uniden MR-8100 (excellent as the LED lighting is adjustable!) and a PRO-96.
Sometimes a VHF Saber II is added with scanning enabled, as it really has the nicest audio.

Being a shiftworker, insomnia can sometimes be a problem so it helps to have a scanner or 3 to listen to during the quiet hours. Always plenty of air traffic and shipping going on at night here.
Even went so far as to put up a small bedroom discone antenna (Comet DS-3000) especially for night listening!
Having the scanners sure beats the heck out of those infomertials that run all night on TV!

Commscanaus.

 

[georgew0819]

The other woman

So far I have not seen any reference to "My EX-wife...yada, yada...!" I think that speaks highly for the tolerance of many spouses...!! Maybe they feel that if having Scanner Sickness is the ONLY fault of their mate, they can live with it....!!

My wife considers my scanners, computers and radio the other woman in my life. And although she may complain about the time I spend on my hobby she's always quick to tell others she doesn't really mind because at least she always knows where I am (hunched over a keyboard surrounded by glowing LEDs).

 

[RadioDaze]

My BR330T stays by the bed.

I have no idea why they couldn't have put a sleep timer in that form factor. UPMan???

 

[AYoung2600]

I have my BC72XLT and my older radioshack scanner on all of the time. I also have my CP200 on most of the time but turn it off when I go to sleep

 

[Rmdig79]

I have used a d-ring earpiece when going to bed for the last two years or so. I got tired of my wife asking me what was going on everytime she heard a siren go by at night. It worked well. The wire finally broke where it connects to the d-ring last week and had to order a new one. Now I have a hard time falling asleep unless I'm hardwired to my scanner..

Ron