*whistle* Man that sounds pretty sweet! At least one of us got to enjoy something like that. I bet you could even pick up la Policia Federal from down in Mexico as well on some of those band openings.
What Was Scanning Like Back In The Day?
- Thread starter pinballwiz86
- Start date
- Status
*whistle* Man that sounds pretty sweet! At least one of us got to enjoy something like that. I bet you could even pick up la Policia Federal from down in Mexico as well on some of those band openings.
cellular
lu81fitter
Member
I remember the scanners with crystals. The reception was awesome. I had a Bearcat one with 8 channels that I mounted in my car. State police was VHF hi & lo. All of the local police and sheriff was VHF hi along with EMS. Still are today for the most part with the exception of a few departments that are trunked and the state going to digital. Right now, I have 2 Bearcat 350A radios in each one of my trucks and a base model Radio Shack Pro-2018 at home. I monitor VHF hi and UHF bands now. Not looking forward to making the change to digital. I'm 44 now and enjoy listening, but not sure I'm up for all of the programing pains it takes for these new radios. The new scanners are also pretty expensive. If too much more changes, my interest may die out.
For you younger people just getting in to it, have a blast! It's fun listening.
For you younger people just getting in to it, have a blast! It's fun listening.
tvdxer
Member
I'm the same age as you, but have been in-and-out of it since I was 10. The Duluth - Superior area is very slow on some things, so here goes.
Up until around 2009, the St. Louis County Sheriff - one of the main frequencies here - did not have MDTs in all their cars. Most of their cars, but not all of their cars. As a result, you heard all the incidents. Now all squads are outfitted with MDTs, so voice traffic been reduced by about 95%.
Cordless phones were eminently monitor-able. However, as with cell phones, they were full-duplex, with receiving and transmitting ends on separate frequencies.
All it took was an old TV that tuned up to channel 83 to receive cell phones back in the analog days. In the 90's every cell conversation was analog, but even when I got a cell phone back when I was 18 in 2004 AMPS (the analog cell phone network) was still active and in use. In fact, it was a struggle to get my phone OFF of the analog network. (Yes, phones in 2004 had cameras and internet access, though neither was very good).
People used the ham repeaters to have personal conversations back in the days when cell airtime was expensive.
FM DX was easier in the pre-IBOC days (in some places, tremendously easier). TV DX was also easier...I remember catching analog UHF TV from Chicago, Omaha, Detroit, etc., all in Duluth, with a mere pair of rabbit ears. For E-skip the differential was even greater...almost every afternoon in late June there would be an Es opening which would affect channels 2-6. In Duluth, 3 and 6 are locals, so that limited me more-or-less to channels 2 and 4. I miss analog E-skip.
Before cell phones, some of us had IMTS. Before that we had RCC. The first ham repeater in our area had an 1800hz burst tone decoder for bringing it up, with a 5 minute inactivity timer. It used Quindar tones for courtesy tones.
My first cellular phone was a test bed AMPS phone in 1993. 15 watts....
I kept my PP1000 SMR duplex phone for a couple more years after that, the rate was much cheaper.
My first cellular phone was a test bed AMPS phone in 1993. 15 watts....
I kept my PP1000 SMR duplex phone for a couple more years after that, the rate was much cheaper.
stingray327
Member
I remember the scanning days since 1975 but started out with a multi-band tunable knob radio to listen to Police VHF/hi and VHF/lo and UHF. Then got a crystal scanner. After that got a programmable scanner that could pick up cordless and cell phones. Now all of that has changed with the trunking radio systems and digital era. I was lucky up to about 6 months ago when the Dept. I listen to switch over and now I can no longer monitor them until I get new scanners. I got about 15 years use of the older programmable scanners to which now I have to convert to new equipment just like the departments I monitor did.
I still have one of my first 'scanners', a Regency. You have to let the tubes warm up, and then you crank the dial until you hear something. It's tuned with a gear and pulley with string and a giant capacitor, but it has squelch, unlike my first solid state slope detection unit, that did NOT.
yaesu_dave
Member
My first scanner was a Uniden BC147XLT that I bought from the JC Penny catalog in 1992 for around $159.99 plus tax. Of course, that was long before the catalog order desk at the local mall was closed, and when 16 channels was all that was needed to monitor the local police, sheriff and fire departments. In fact, that was all I needed until Y2K came and our then governor Mike Leavitt insisted that all Wasatch Front public safety had to be on an 800 MHz Motorola system in time for the 2002 Olympics. Now public safety in the Salt Lake metro area is in the process of upgrading their radios to units that have digital transmission capability. Box Elder and Salt Lake County UHP still simulcast their UCAN traffic on their old VHF frequencies, but even those frequencies may go silent soon with rebanding.
I'm too young to remember scanning with the crystal units firsthand, but I did run a Bearcat II and III made by Electra back in the early 2000's until almost all public safety 86'ed their old VHF radios. The thrill of watching the flashing red lights of those Bearcats in a dark room was much more fun for me than playing with any of the modern scanners in my collection. I still have the original box for a Bearcat 210XL that I bought on eBay (along with the scanner) about 10 years ago, and the box still has the Sears $299.97 price tag on it! Hard to believe that anyone would shell out nearly $300.00 bucks for an 18 channel analog scanner, but in the '70's the 210XL was one of the top of line receivers.
I'm too young to remember scanning with the crystal units firsthand, but I did run a Bearcat II and III made by Electra back in the early 2000's until almost all public safety 86'ed their old VHF radios. The thrill of watching the flashing red lights of those Bearcats in a dark room was much more fun for me than playing with any of the modern scanners in my collection. I still have the original box for a Bearcat 210XL that I bought on eBay (along with the scanner) about 10 years ago, and the box still has the Sears $299.97 price tag on it! Hard to believe that anyone would shell out nearly $300.00 bucks for an 18 channel analog scanner, but in the '70's the 210XL was one of the top of line receivers.
DJ11DLN
Member
What a great thread!
Pardon the long thread...you can skip it without missing anything.
I'd stated in another thread that I got started with my parents' Bearcat III. What I'd forgotten about was that before they got that, there was one of those tunable multi-band radios, and it would (occasionally, once in a blue moon) catch something on VHF-Hi. More than anything it caught the old mobile phone service, which could be interesting to monitor...sometimes a bit disgusting. But sometimes it would catch the local SD base.
I think it was a Midland from the Western Auto store we used to have in town...been too many years and miles, and I was just a snot-nosed punk of 6 or 7. I do know that it only lasted about 4 years before it conked out, which vexed my folks, who had bought it to replace an old Westinghouse tube-type AM as their "kitchen counter" radio, because they wanted to hear a couple of FM stations, mainly for news in the morning or at noon (dad was a farmer and with rare exceptions sat down at the table for the noon meal). The Westinghouse was 20+ years old at the time and continued working until it was stored away around 2000 or so.
It was due to this multi-band radio that a favorite uncle on mom's side bought one of the first BC3's to hit the shelves at Kmart...mom only had to listen to it for about 5 minutes before she decided that this was one accessory she couldn't live without, and dad, who was definitely not stupid, quickly agreed. It's hard sometimes to reconcile such things with the ultra-conservative people my parents were in real life.
I was glued to that scanner every spare minute I could stand to be indoors all through my childhood and teens. Everything here, PS-wise at least, was VHF-Hi with the exception of the State Police who were on Low band, and we could hear it all. We seldom heard mobiles, just the base traffic, even later after I rigged a really half-@$$ed antenna on the roof (which didn't do too bad considering the ignorant cretin who'd made and installed it). The one exception was the Terre Haute PD, who had a repeater, the only one in the area at the time, not counting Ham stuff of which I was ignorant. I vaguely remember the clerk at Kmart proudly telling my parents that the scanner had the crystal for "the code 8 channel" in place, which was just the car-to-base channel; if they had sensitive traffic, the Officer would call for code 8 and the Dispatcher would turn the car-to-base repeater input off so people wouldn't hear him, but we'd still hear the reply from the base. We were too far away to ever hear actual code 8 traffic...but we sure heard plenty else! Shortly before I moved out, I found another BC3 at a yard sale. They wanted $5 for it because it had been "damaged in the move" and while the lights still worked, it didn't hear anything anymore I had enough spare change to get it, because I thought at the time that I could fix anything (pride goeth before a fall...), luckily for me, it just needed new crystals. None of the ones that had worked where they previously lived corresponded to anything local! Cost me far more in crystals than for the unit to get it working...but it was just fine and I still have it, and it does still work, as does mom's, which I also have since she passed. I really need to get some crystals in those units for stuff they can still hear and warm them up once in awhile.
Jump to 1990, I was in the local Sheriff's Reserve program and one of the Deputies known to be a bit of a wheeler-dealer announced he had some scanners at a special price, $100 for other LE. They were Uniden BC560xlt's, new in the box. I still wonder sometimes if they didn't "fall of a truck" somewhere, as wholesale I believe was in the $140 range, with most dealers wanting $180 and up. They weren't factory refurbs either. I scraped up $300 and talked him down another $10/unit for the 3. Gave one to mom, another to a friend I owed some big ones who never let me get even, and kept the third. 16 channels! UHF! 1-touch self-searching weather band! I actually had trouble finding enough stuff to fill them up. I put mom's under a cabinet in the kitchen using that mobile bracket and like mine it was powered by a wall wart and connected to an outdoor antenna (trunk-mount mobile clipped to the grounded chimney cap) and they were really great little radios. Still are for conventional analog, just limited by no NB. They hear the local Ham repeaters just fine, though. A couple years or maybe 5 later another friend got in a jam and I was able to buy his Realistic Pro-2023 for another C-note, and had my first-ever airband-capable scanner. I thought then that 20 channels was overkill, but it would also seek and that was a cool feature to play with. Great audio on that unit, which, like the others, still works, though the on/off function of the volume knob is a bit dodgy. Still being an RDS then I had access to everyone's frequencies, PS-wise at least, and I made sure that I was able to keep track of it all, and kept mom's 560 up to date as well. Nothing encrypted or trunked around here back then.
I lost interest for a few years for various reasons and just recently got the bug again. And of course it's all changed, little left on conventional analog VHF/UHF except fire paging. With the price of digital trunkers being what it was and money a bit tighter these days, it looked like I'd be waiting awhile, but then I managed to get a RS Pro-18s during the "fire sale" last fall and I'm hooked again.
Scanning may not be quite as much fun or as simple as it was back in those days, but for me, for now it will do just fine until something else comes along. Thanks for starting this thread, it brought up some great memories.
Pardon the long thread...you can skip it without missing anything.
I'd stated in another thread that I got started with my parents' Bearcat III. What I'd forgotten about was that before they got that, there was one of those tunable multi-band radios, and it would (occasionally, once in a blue moon) catch something on VHF-Hi. More than anything it caught the old mobile phone service, which could be interesting to monitor...sometimes a bit disgusting. But sometimes it would catch the local SD base.
I think it was a Midland from the Western Auto store we used to have in town...been too many years and miles, and I was just a snot-nosed punk of 6 or 7. I do know that it only lasted about 4 years before it conked out, which vexed my folks, who had bought it to replace an old Westinghouse tube-type AM as their "kitchen counter" radio, because they wanted to hear a couple of FM stations, mainly for news in the morning or at noon (dad was a farmer and with rare exceptions sat down at the table for the noon meal). The Westinghouse was 20+ years old at the time and continued working until it was stored away around 2000 or so.
It was due to this multi-band radio that a favorite uncle on mom's side bought one of the first BC3's to hit the shelves at Kmart...mom only had to listen to it for about 5 minutes before she decided that this was one accessory she couldn't live without, and dad, who was definitely not stupid, quickly agreed. It's hard sometimes to reconcile such things with the ultra-conservative people my parents were in real life.
I was glued to that scanner every spare minute I could stand to be indoors all through my childhood and teens. Everything here, PS-wise at least, was VHF-Hi with the exception of the State Police who were on Low band, and we could hear it all. We seldom heard mobiles, just the base traffic, even later after I rigged a really half-@$$ed antenna on the roof (which didn't do too bad considering the ignorant cretin who'd made and installed it). The one exception was the Terre Haute PD, who had a repeater, the only one in the area at the time, not counting Ham stuff of which I was ignorant. I vaguely remember the clerk at Kmart proudly telling my parents that the scanner had the crystal for "the code 8 channel" in place, which was just the car-to-base channel; if they had sensitive traffic, the Officer would call for code 8 and the Dispatcher would turn the car-to-base repeater input off so people wouldn't hear him, but we'd still hear the reply from the base. We were too far away to ever hear actual code 8 traffic...but we sure heard plenty else! Shortly before I moved out, I found another BC3 at a yard sale. They wanted $5 for it because it had been "damaged in the move" and while the lights still worked, it didn't hear anything anymore I had enough spare change to get it, because I thought at the time that I could fix anything (pride goeth before a fall...), luckily for me, it just needed new crystals. None of the ones that had worked where they previously lived corresponded to anything local! Cost me far more in crystals than for the unit to get it working...but it was just fine and I still have it, and it does still work, as does mom's, which I also have since she passed. I really need to get some crystals in those units for stuff they can still hear and warm them up once in awhile.
Jump to 1990, I was in the local Sheriff's Reserve program and one of the Deputies known to be a bit of a wheeler-dealer announced he had some scanners at a special price, $100 for other LE. They were Uniden BC560xlt's, new in the box. I still wonder sometimes if they didn't "fall of a truck" somewhere, as wholesale I believe was in the $140 range, with most dealers wanting $180 and up. They weren't factory refurbs either. I scraped up $300 and talked him down another $10/unit for the 3. Gave one to mom, another to a friend I owed some big ones who never let me get even, and kept the third. 16 channels! UHF! 1-touch self-searching weather band! I actually had trouble finding enough stuff to fill them up. I put mom's under a cabinet in the kitchen using that mobile bracket and like mine it was powered by a wall wart and connected to an outdoor antenna (trunk-mount mobile clipped to the grounded chimney cap) and they were really great little radios. Still are for conventional analog, just limited by no NB. They hear the local Ham repeaters just fine, though. A couple years or maybe 5 later another friend got in a jam and I was able to buy his Realistic Pro-2023 for another C-note, and had my first-ever airband-capable scanner. I thought then that 20 channels was overkill, but it would also seek and that was a cool feature to play with. Great audio on that unit, which, like the others, still works, though the on/off function of the volume knob is a bit dodgy. Still being an RDS then I had access to everyone's frequencies, PS-wise at least, and I made sure that I was able to keep track of it all, and kept mom's 560 up to date as well. Nothing encrypted or trunked around here back then.
I lost interest for a few years for various reasons and just recently got the bug again. And of course it's all changed, little left on conventional analog VHF/UHF except fire paging. With the price of digital trunkers being what it was and money a bit tighter these days, it looked like I'd be waiting awhile, but then I managed to get a RS Pro-18s during the "fire sale" last fall and I'm hooked again.
Scanning may not be quite as much fun or as simple as it was back in those days, but for me, for now it will do just fine until something else comes along. Thanks for starting this thread, it brought up some great memories.
N1508J
Member
Tank radios
That's right, some of us back in the mid 1950's used old military tank radios with push button frequency selection. The push button would engage a coil which tuned the L.O. For power supply we had to use a 12 volt motor driving a ac generator. Can't remember what that device was called. The gain was fantastic on 30 to 50 mHz but you had to keep the engine running or else your battery went dead real fast!
Things improved when tube type rigs came along like the Motorola, Plectron, Regency and even Knight kit tuneables.
Ah, the old days!!!!!
That's right, some of us back in the mid 1950's used old military tank radios with push button frequency selection. The push button would engage a coil which tuned the L.O. For power supply we had to use a 12 volt motor driving a ac generator. Can't remember what that device was called. The gain was fantastic on 30 to 50 mHz but you had to keep the engine running or else your battery went dead real fast!
Things improved when tube type rigs came along like the Motorola, Plectron, Regency and even Knight kit tuneables.
Ah, the old days!!!!!
hockeyshrink
Member
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2009
- Messages
- 265
Scanning 1976
Nice thread, brought back memories.
I joined the volunteer fire department as a "Cadet" in 1976. We were all into scanning. The cadets took our scanners to school, and listened whenever we could. The local PD was on UHF, our department was VHF-Hi, and out closest neighbor was on VHF-Lo. Our FD shared a frequency with the other city agencies, especially the water department. Both PD and FD had repeater systems, with F2 being simplex.
My first scanner was that Radio Shack 4 channel HH, with the little toggle switch. You had to go to Radio Shack to buy the Scanner Guide, then look through the bins for the correct crystal. If you were lucky, the bins were marked for the department.
I bought a BCIV for my car...it was huge!! I attached an old Motorola speaker to it and it sounded awesome! I think think the speaker weighed more than the scanner, lol! One neat feature I had was a descrambler. The PD used a simple voice inversion scrambler, and I don't remember where I got it, but several of us had descramblers wired to our scanner. As soon as the PD went to "code," we flipped a switch and turned a dial to hear the clear message. Usually it was a dinner order or message from home. This is late 70's, no cell phones, remember.
My first programmable was that BC200XLT someone mentioned earlier. The idea of entering a frequency directly into the keypad with no crystals was revolutionary! The search function on this was also amazing. I did hear radiotelephone conversations, but of course this was before cell phones. The thing about the BC200XLT was that it had a weird whine when it stopped. It wasn't the CTCSS. As someone used to "crystal" clarity, it was disappointing.
Nice thread, brought back memories.
I joined the volunteer fire department as a "Cadet" in 1976. We were all into scanning. The cadets took our scanners to school, and listened whenever we could. The local PD was on UHF, our department was VHF-Hi, and out closest neighbor was on VHF-Lo. Our FD shared a frequency with the other city agencies, especially the water department. Both PD and FD had repeater systems, with F2 being simplex.
My first scanner was that Radio Shack 4 channel HH, with the little toggle switch. You had to go to Radio Shack to buy the Scanner Guide, then look through the bins for the correct crystal. If you were lucky, the bins were marked for the department.
I bought a BCIV for my car...it was huge!! I attached an old Motorola speaker to it and it sounded awesome! I think think the speaker weighed more than the scanner, lol! One neat feature I had was a descrambler. The PD used a simple voice inversion scrambler, and I don't remember where I got it, but several of us had descramblers wired to our scanner. As soon as the PD went to "code," we flipped a switch and turned a dial to hear the clear message. Usually it was a dinner order or message from home. This is late 70's, no cell phones, remember.
My first programmable was that BC200XLT someone mentioned earlier. The idea of entering a frequency directly into the keypad with no crystals was revolutionary! The search function on this was also amazing. I did hear radiotelephone conversations, but of course this was before cell phones. The thing about the BC200XLT was that it had a weird whine when it stopped. It wasn't the CTCSS. As someone used to "crystal" clarity, it was disappointing.
Thanks for sharing these stories! They've all been a pleasure to read. The scanning hobby is a colorful one and it's still going strong. Funny how simple things used to be and how we have digital talk groups.
I had a chance the other day to go to Springfield, MO and listen to their 800 mhz Motorola II Smartzone system. It sounded amazing! No matter where I was at I was getting a strong signal. 800 mhz works very well with buildings. Back home, I just have conventional VHF and the Highway Patrol/Army base on digital. Sadly, the military base is mostly encrypted since they're "Federal" but I enjoy hearing the Highway Patrol here. What's cool about the HP is that I can hear talk groups from all over the region instead of just being limited to the local Troop on their old VHF low band. Neat stuff.
I had a chance the other day to go to Springfield, MO and listen to their 800 mhz Motorola II Smartzone system. It sounded amazing! No matter where I was at I was getting a strong signal. 800 mhz works very well with buildings. Back home, I just have conventional VHF and the Highway Patrol/Army base on digital. Sadly, the military base is mostly encrypted since they're "Federal" but I enjoy hearing the Highway Patrol here. What's cool about the HP is that I can hear talk groups from all over the region instead of just being limited to the local Troop on their old VHF low band. Neat stuff.
My first programmable scanner, a BC-101 still have it.
stingray327
Member
I still have my first 10 channel Regency Scanner. I wish there was a market for it so I can sell it.
I got my first scanner around when I was 12 years old (1984). My parents bought me a used Bearcat Electra III for Christmas. It was the best present ever! It was 8 channels of VHF-low and UHF. No VHF-hi in this one. I liked those red LED lights and big white speaker on the front.
It took me a while to understand why I could receive my neighboring Sheriff's Office traffic (UHF repeater system) much better than my local Sheriff's Office (non-repeated low band).
It took me a while to understand why I could receive my neighboring Sheriff's Office traffic (UHF repeater system) much better than my local Sheriff's Office (non-repeated low band).
y84media
Member
I loved my PRO-2006. Since this wasn't something we were allowed to do, lets just say that we learned that my neighbors weren't as 'married' as their spouses' thought. Also heard a cop having an affair with a dispatcher (same voices on the police bands were showing up on the 800mhz band too).
Seems like there was a lot more to listen to because people had a lot to hide.
Seems like there was a lot more to listen to because people had a lot to hide.
The Pro 2006 looked like a sweet little scanner. Haha, I bet you heard all kinds of juicy stuff.
I wonder if any of my neighbors ever heard me talking to my lady friends on the phone when I was younger. lol..
AZScanner
Member
In short, scanning back in the day was a lot cheaper and a lot easier than all this digital phase I and phase 2 nonsense. Scanners had channels and banks instead of systems, departments and channels and ID's and sites and P25 settings and alpha tags and all the other crazy stuff our scanners have today. Thank GOD someone finally saw the light years ago and added a computer interface to these things. If I had to program my 436HP by hand, forget it - I'd have never bought one. It would take WEEKS to set that radio up by hand the way I have it now. I would have opted for a Motorola instead and had it programmed.
Now we have $500 scanners, horrible simulcast P25 radio systems and rampant encryption. Oh and let's not forget now how every mall, hospital, security company and big box store is using DMR now for their radio communications. Trains are using NXDN and one day even ATC comms will be digital. Bleh. I miss the good old SIMPLE days of analog, although I LOVE the clarity of digital radio WHEN it works. Thankfully this new 436HP I have works well on our nightmare digital system. I was really just about ready to give up on this hobby if the new radio didn't work well on it.
As it is, I plan to add a couple of 536's to the stable and then that'll be it for scanners. My future radios after that will all be SDR's. It's time to fully embrace the future of the hobby.
-AZ
Now we have $500 scanners, horrible simulcast P25 radio systems and rampant encryption. Oh and let's not forget now how every mall, hospital, security company and big box store is using DMR now for their radio communications. Trains are using NXDN and one day even ATC comms will be digital. Bleh. I miss the good old SIMPLE days of analog, although I LOVE the clarity of digital radio WHEN it works. Thankfully this new 436HP I have works well on our nightmare digital system. I was really just about ready to give up on this hobby if the new radio didn't work well on it.
As it is, I plan to add a couple of 536's to the stable and then that'll be it for scanners. My future radios after that will all be SDR's. It's time to fully embrace the future of the hobby.
-AZ
y84media
Member
It was crazy to learn about cordless phones the hard way, meaning....my neighbor and I had a set of walkie-talkies that picked up cordless phones, and sadly if we were listening and transmitted they heard us too. That was back in the early 80's.
For me the whole thing started when my Father first joined the fire dept & was given a plectron. It was a really cool looking (to a kid under 10) box that was hard wired (crystal) for my Dad's departments' frequency. I don't remember it getting fireground, command, or point to point....but I remember my Mom would make a huge fuss to go listen when my Fathers' truck was called & we got to hear him talking on the radio.
Shortly thereafter Dad brought home a pair of 4 channel handheld scanners.
http://www.radiopics.com/Midland/Handheld/Photos/Midland_13-904.jpg
They were cool and we thought we could hear everything on them, but this was in the late 70's.
My Dad later got a Radio Shack base scanner for his birthday and he gave me one of the Midlands. And carried it wherever I went for a looong time. I remember repairing it all the time myself, resoldering the antenna connectors, cleaning leaking battery acid off the springs (battery terminals) and using NiCads in it.
Later on with grass cutting money I bought a Johnson Whitefront CB: http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ggUhRit3L6g/0.jpg
And then bought a radio shack hand held 3 crystal CB (with channel 14 of course). Bought a channel 14 crystal for the Johnson and my friends in the neighborhood all talked all the time. Was a lot of fun.
Later on I bought a nicer Cobra CB (nice for me at least), then I moved in with a friend who was a HAM and he schooled me in modding scanners and CBs. My next scanner was my PRO-2006 and also a PRO-2022 (you HAVE to have two, otherwise you're missing what's going on while someones' talking).
My Cobra went in the trash and was replaced by an RCI-2950, and I bought my first HT, the Kenwood TH78-A. Loved it, then shortly thereafter an Alinco mobile which I hated and got rid of shortly after I bought it.
I can't remember all the stuff I have now, but I'll add it to my "shack" here. I no longer have the Pro-2006 (traded it for a Mac), and I traded my Pro-2022 for a Pioneer RT-707 reel-to-reel. Sold my Kenwood TH-78a and built an FM-stereo transmitter and started a little neighborhood station. That lasted until I was married 3 years later and is of no more.
Now, I have my BCD-536HP & a BaoFeng UV-5RA and am going to try getting back into Ham radio.
For me the whole thing started when my Father first joined the fire dept & was given a plectron. It was a really cool looking (to a kid under 10) box that was hard wired (crystal) for my Dad's departments' frequency. I don't remember it getting fireground, command, or point to point....but I remember my Mom would make a huge fuss to go listen when my Fathers' truck was called & we got to hear him talking on the radio.
Shortly thereafter Dad brought home a pair of 4 channel handheld scanners.
http://www.radiopics.com/Midland/Handheld/Photos/Midland_13-904.jpg
They were cool and we thought we could hear everything on them, but this was in the late 70's.
My Dad later got a Radio Shack base scanner for his birthday and he gave me one of the Midlands. And carried it wherever I went for a looong time. I remember repairing it all the time myself, resoldering the antenna connectors, cleaning leaking battery acid off the springs (battery terminals) and using NiCads in it.
Later on with grass cutting money I bought a Johnson Whitefront CB: http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ggUhRit3L6g/0.jpg
And then bought a radio shack hand held 3 crystal CB (with channel 14 of course). Bought a channel 14 crystal for the Johnson and my friends in the neighborhood all talked all the time. Was a lot of fun.
Later on I bought a nicer Cobra CB (nice for me at least), then I moved in with a friend who was a HAM and he schooled me in modding scanners and CBs. My next scanner was my PRO-2006 and also a PRO-2022 (you HAVE to have two, otherwise you're missing what's going on while someones' talking).
My Cobra went in the trash and was replaced by an RCI-2950, and I bought my first HT, the Kenwood TH78-A. Loved it, then shortly thereafter an Alinco mobile which I hated and got rid of shortly after I bought it.
I can't remember all the stuff I have now, but I'll add it to my "shack" here. I no longer have the Pro-2006 (traded it for a Mac), and I traded my Pro-2022 for a Pioneer RT-707 reel-to-reel. Sold my Kenwood TH-78a and built an FM-stereo transmitter and started a little neighborhood station. That lasted until I was married 3 years later and is of no more.
Now, I have my BCD-536HP & a BaoFeng UV-5RA and am going to try getting back into Ham radio.
My future radios after that will all be SDR's. It's time to fully embrace the future of the hobby.
I just purchased a SDR dongle from Hong Kong. We'll see what I can do with it. But it sounds like it'll be pretty sweet! Maybe Uniden should be working on a SDR scanner now. Would be cool to see a real bandscope on there on a color screen. I'd pay $500 for something like that. But it'll never happen thanks to the laws that say scanners can't monitor cell phones, blah blah blah. Maybe those frequencies can be hardware blocked..maybe. UPMan you listening?
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