Starting scaning, few questions

[brianmay27]

Hey all,

I recently got a Uniden BC-95XLT and am loving it so far.
I am a student at VT and mainly listen to the local police, fire and EMS. I was curious mainly at their codes they use, I have searched for a while and although I find some of the 10- commands online I still am unaware of the other codes. Are these public information or kept from the public?

Thanks in advance!

 

[brownlab]

You can try this site http://www.bearcat1.com/radiova.htm. Radio 10 codes (like 10-4) are pretty much the same all over for the police. Different for fire departments. Signal Codes tend to differ from place to place yet there are just not all that many different ones. The more you listen you more you will figure out. I am more impressed that Montgomery County VA still uses VHF and UHF Frequencies. If you continue this hobby you may have to upgrade your radio after you leave VT since many jurisdictions have gone digital. However until that happens enjoy.

 

[Awesomeman92]

Most of the different codes between agencies are minor, I have seen 2 different sets of codes (the APCO set is the most common one in my experience), but the base ones (10-4, 10-8, 10-20, 10-33) are usually the same everywhere. Like it was said, you just gotta listen enough to learn them. There used to be a good comprehensive list at http://spiffy.ci.uiuc.edu/~kline/Stuff/ten-codes.html but it must've been pulled down, I can't connect to it.

 

[brianmay27]

You can try this site RADIO CODES & SIGNALS - VIRGINIA. Radio 10 codes (like 10-4) are pretty much the same all over for the police. Different for fire departments. Signal Codes tend to differ from place to place yet there are just not all that many different ones. The more you listen you more you will figure out. I am more impressed that Montgomery County VA still uses VHF and UHF Frequencies. If you continue this hobby you may have to upgrade your radio after you leave VT since many jurisdictions have gone digital. However until that happens enjoy.

Thank you both. I realized I may need to upgrade at some point but as a college student funds are at a minimal . I did also come across that site on my search but some of the codes don't seem correct. I guess I will just have to learn as I go along.

Thank you for the help