Why do you (we) listen to scanners?

[N0IU]

I love my dog but she isn't much of a guard dog lol.. Just an old Jack Russell/Beagle mix that never barks.

A Jack Russell that doesn't bark??? Take her back the the Humane Society and demand your money back! That dog is defective!!

I do applaud you for getting a dog from a shelter. All 5 of our "kids" have been rescued dogs from various shelters around Missouri - the puppy mill capitol of the country. Why do we have 5 dogs? Because we don't have 6!

I have banned my wife from looking at Pet adoption: Want a dog or cat? Adopt a pet on Petfinder and she has banned me from AES Home page and HRO Ham Radio Outlet Worldwide Supplier of Amateur Radio Electronics Equipment Yeah, like that's going to work!

Sorry for the hijack! Now back to your regularly scheduled topic.

 

[weeksben1]

Two reasons, one, I like to keep up with our FD, local SD, and second, simply because its intresting.

 

[buckeyerl]

Because!!! I care about what goes on in the community, which I am a part of. To be fore-warned is to be fore-armed! Or something like that, anyway......OK I ADMIT IT...I'M NOSEY..... ; > )

 

[andyishere]

Why do I listen?
1. Better than reality TV, I get to hear the behind the scenes and imagine what is going on or possible out comes.
2. To stay entertained
3. To be informed in things happening in my area for my safety
When I first got started into scanning, everyone would say something bad about it... As I sit and talk to them and they hear the calls going out, they become more interested and then proceed to say, " I got to get me one of these things! They are fun to listen to and you never know what will happen next! " Now 3 of my neighbors own scanners... On a good summer day you can hear them blasting the scanner while they are working on the yard, it sounds amazing to hear the echoing effect from all those Radioshack scanners going off at once!

 

[noblinger]

I think it is fun to listen and I grew up with my grandfather and his crystal scanner, Thanks Grandpa!!

 

[noblinger]

Sheriff's Office admits public should have been informed of island robberies | islandpacket.com

This is why I listen. I heard it but was not even close to that area. The public finds out 3 days later!!!

 

[HillWalker]

Well since the Police Service over here are now on encrypted TETRA radios, their activities in most areas of the country is anyone's guess. However, I can still pick up Ambulance, Taxi, and some Fire Service transmissions which keep me informed. I rememebr when I could hear the cops I heard the action surrounding an armed robbery at a nearby hotel which wasn't reported in the papers till a week later!

So I suppose I listen in for news about what's happening in my local area, and listen to air band as a hobby to track various planes. If you program local bus frequencies, you can often find you hear about delays or disruptions 15 minutes or more before other passengers.

 

[Utah_Viper]

Situational Awareness
It is always good to know what is going on in your community. I also volunteer with the Red Cross for disasters and it gives me a heads up of fires that possibly will need our response. When I ran my nonprofit in Utah it allowed me to know in advance when a missing child case was starting to go to search mode, and need volunteers.

Breaking News
Know about it before it hits the news. I also have a better understanding of the realities of the incident from the real people that are working it. I also have found that you learn how, and which media 'spin' stories.

Entertainment!!
"If your not having fun your doing it wrong" is a quote I heard during some other activities but have applied to my life. Scanning can be very fun, and can be interesting. i really loved the 'fishing' analogy posted above.

 

[w0fg]

My excuse is that I spent enough pre-retirement years working in communications and communications intelligence to be left with an insatiable desire to know what's going on.

 

[malignantpoodle]

For me, it's always different. A new experience every time I turn it on.

I like to hear all that is going on out there, from GMRS, to police, to the utility companies, not to mention bizarre things that I've yet to identify. "The fuel door is open!" I hear this on a frequency not allocated to any agency in my area. Mysterious.

BUT, I also like to know when the police are coming. Where we live and work as a property manager (same location), the police are called on a weekly basis. They know us, work with us, have good relations with us. We are also helping them with a graffiti and theft problem. Whenever we call, I like to know when the call goes out, and when they're going to arrive.

 

[nhscannerman]

Well informed and without the BS of the TV/newspaper bull.


I listen because of the hog wash I get from local news and media radio. Also I have certain family members I am concerned about. Plus its live news as it happened. Why wait till it comes out in the morning or late news paper? Listening to scanners is much better & you do get more details as the information comes out. That's why I don't watch television.

 

[nhscannerman]

Well informed and without the BS of the TV/newspaper bull.


I listen because of the hog wash I get from local news and media radio. Also I have certain family members I am concerned about. Plus its live news as it happened. Why wait till it comes out in the morning or late news paper? Listening to scanners is much better & you do get more details as the information comes out. That's why I don't watch television.

also my scanner never sleeps I sleep with mine on 24/7

 

[tawest11]

I listen to the scanner so I can be aware of what is happening in my community. It was also a huge asset back in September when Atlanta had the big floods. Many roads in my area were closing due to the flooding which was making it difficult for family and friends to gt home. Because I had up to date information from listening to the scanner, I was able to give alternate routes so they could get home safely.

 

[bob-the-scanner-man]

For me it's pure interest. I enjoy the thrill of listening to a police chase or fire. I also like being able to have a hobby that is never complete-I can always improve my setup in some way. As others have said, it's nice being able to get the 100% truth on an event before the media reports it with half the facts wrong or twisted.

 

[CompuDoc]

I like listening to see whats going on and if it's something really big like a huge fire I may just go check it out. In listening to the county sheriff I will know ahead of time if someone is going to be arrested on a warrant and if it is going to be in the complex I live in it will give me time to see "Cops" in real life. Last year the county Sheriff was banging on someones door and at that time I did not have the scanner turned on and if I did I would not have heard they were coming for this guy because i did not have the frequency programmed in. Anyhow It was about 11pm and I heard someone banging on a door really loud I went outside to see what it was and their was the county sheriff banging on a door 4 doors down from me. They did not get the guy that night.

The next day I was taking a nap and when I woke up I was going to take the dog out but before I did I looked outside and the parking lot was full of police cars and one ambulance. They got the guy they were looking for and in doing so he tried to escape out a window pushing an air conditioner out only to see their was a cop out their also. He was half way out the window and the cop inside grabbed him and pulled him back. The guy tried to grab the cops gun which was a big mistake on his part because in doing so he wound up getting slammed into a wall and was bleeding form his head. They then hog tied him in leg cuffs and wrist cuffs and placed him outside until the ambulance arrived.

So as you can see they can be useful for seeing live action or can be used to avoid the area and avoid the action that you may not want to see such as live gun fire. They are also good for knowing where the accidents are to avoid those areas as well because of traffic back ups.

 

[Austin4Wyo]

My stepdad and dad were both volunteer fireman when I was young, and in fact, my stepdad has stayed involved with the department. I've actually been looking around for a cheap Bearcat of some nature with 30 or 50 channels to get him so he can keep up with them when he hears a call go out.

My dad also worked at the Wyoming Women's Center (the state women's prison) for several years, and my best friend from about third grade up until he graduated was the son of a local police officer. So I had their old pagers to listen to when a page would come in, and also my buddy's dad's scanner which was always running.

Given the nature of their work, I kinda wanted to know what was happening with them. Now, I keep an ear on things because here in this little Wyoming burgh, we have no media past the local newspaper (which is pretty much a tool of the city council as far as I'm concerned), so it's nice to know when things are going on. I used to live on the local bar crawl, and now live less than 100 yards from the railroad, so aside from keeping my door closed and locked at all times (sometimes a rare thing in WY), if there's an incident near me, I like to know about it.

However, I also work for the university, and one of our phone patches for our tech issues is one of my frequencies on the GRE, which is kinda fun sometimes. Walk in, give crap to one of the engineers for something I heard on the radio. It's also a lot of fun during gamedays. I've also gotten into air monitoring, but need to get a better antenna, and when there's a power outage, Rocky Mountain Power is always interesting, so my interest has grown considerably.

Actually looking to get into shortwave listening soon. Been reading, just don't have time with my job right now, though two of our engineers (goofy old guys, at least in comparison to my 26 years, with big mustaches and guts) are hams, so between them and this website, it's not like I'm without direct, personal (at least moreso than a book would be) resources to figure things out.