Just curious, What was your very FIRST scanner? Do you remember what you listened to on it?
To start it off, I bought a SBE Communications "10Scan", 10 channel crystal controlled scanner in late 1973. It was one of the VERY early scanning receivers made. The thing was HUGE, probably 8 inches on a side, had 10 channels that took about 5 seconds to scan through and I had to buy crystals for each channel I wanted to listen to. I remember I could only afford 39.58, 39.46, and Winfield PD primary (I think they had just switched to 460.1 Mhz a few months before that). Later I got enough $$ to go buy some more xtals at Radio Shack for CL County Sheriff's Cars (I want to say 39.70Mhz), Ark City, and the Winfield Fire Dept (around 44 Mhz somewhere) which just about filled it up. If I remember correctly, I think I paid around $210 for the scanner and three xtals.... About a year after that they came out with their "Opti-Scan" optical card programmable scanner, but I couldn't swing that one since I was a poor college student by then. I used to drag it out with me in my car and sit out in a parking lot with friends on Main St listening to all the action in the evenings. I do remember it really PO'd several of the officers off that I had it out there and it was taken away from me a couple of times. Had to go down to the PD the next morning and get it back from Chief Froemming after listening to a lecture. I think that is why I probably became a cop myself after college....
To start it off, I bought a SBE Communications "10Scan", 10 channel crystal controlled scanner in late 1973. It was one of the VERY early scanning receivers made. The thing was HUGE, probably 8 inches on a side, had 10 channels that took about 5 seconds to scan through and I had to buy crystals for each channel I wanted to listen to. I remember I could only afford 39.58, 39.46, and Winfield PD primary (I think they had just switched to 460.1 Mhz a few months before that). Later I got enough $$ to go buy some more xtals at Radio Shack for CL County Sheriff's Cars (I want to say 39.70Mhz), Ark City, and the Winfield Fire Dept (around 44 Mhz somewhere) which just about filled it up. If I remember correctly, I think I paid around $210 for the scanner and three xtals.... About a year after that they came out with their "Opti-Scan" optical card programmable scanner, but I couldn't swing that one since I was a poor college student by then. I used to drag it out with me in my car and sit out in a parking lot with friends on Main St listening to all the action in the evenings. I do remember it really PO'd several of the officers off that I had it out there and it was taken away from me a couple of times. Had to go down to the PD the next morning and get it back from Chief Froemming after listening to a lecture. I think that is why I probably became a cop myself after college....