Your first scanner ,,,

[Xray]

Yes indeed I remember the time number too. Now all you have to do is look on your phone.
I remember buying a BEARCAT 20/20 in the mid 1980's to replace my first scanner which was the 210XL. I wanted to receive aircraft and that was a big deal for me at the time. Very unusual scanner where you had 40 channels but you could only monitor 20 at a time. Like having 2 separate scanners in one unit.

Programmable scanners must have seemed like manna from heaven to scanner guys who started with crystals, quite a revolution in communication technology. Don't go as far back as crystals but I thought my 1st scanner was pure magic and I still do, hard to even conceive of these voice comms floating around and through us each and every day.

 

[buddrousa]

They were but you talk about front end over load they were bad compared to the crystal scanners.
460.275 and 460.050 would always get wiped out by 460.150 from 2 miles away.

 

[N4DJC]

Electra Bearcat IV, then a 210 (loved both of those radios). I thought I was in heaven using the 210.

 

[ten13]

Programmable scanners must have seemed like manna from heaven to scanner guys who started with crystals,

Not initially.

The very first scanners, you didn't just put in the frequency, but had to do some sort of "magic" to get the entire frequency in, moving switches to positions.

Later on, when the "direct entry" mode was common, things changed. Some times they were only ten channel radios, but you left one channel open (more or less) to enter a frequency you wanted on the fly.

In hindsight, the crystal radios had their benefits.

The REAL benefit of direct entry came when some agencies went to, or were initially on, UHF frequencies. To be able to input a UHF frequency, as well as a VHF frequency, was a big deal.

But the real "change" came when you could actually listen to your local police and fire in your car! And that wasn't with a "scanner," but with a "converter," which you attached to your car's AM radio, by taking the car antenna and plugging it into the converter "box," and then another antenna cable to the car radio's antenna input. The converter was powered by a nine-volt battery. It was great, except for the fact that the first "converters" didn't have a squelch, forcing you to listen to the "static" and the car's motor unless the department was transmitting something. They later came with a squelch, as well as a duel-channel converter.

There was even a converter you could put back-to-back with a hand-held transistor AM radio, which, when tuned properly, could monitor the police/fire frequencies. But, again, no squelch. They were handy to have when you were riding your bicycle to fires.

 

[dlaforett]

radio shack pro 94 then a pro 2006

 

[trap5858]

My first scanner was a Fannon-Courier 4 channel hand held. It was capable of receiving VHF- HI and UHF. I carried a bunch of extra crystals around with me to do a change out depending on where I was and oh yes, a hand full of batteries. Since then, the list is endless of what scanners I have owned. All of the classics I suppose. My name is Herb and I am a scanner addict.

 

[pinballwiz86]

My first scanner was a Uniden BC125AT. What a beast.

 

[bep]

Radio Shack Patrolman Pro-2 around 1973. Tunable Hi-Lo system. Wish I still had all my scanners, miss the simplicity .

 

[3puttbob]

Been using BC125AT. Recently picked up a BCD996AT for $25 and had Uniden repair for $80. Now it's like new. Big difference in the learning curve. Then found a Realistic Pro57 new in the box for $2 at the swap meet. Talk about the other end of the spectrum for learning.

 

[W4KRR]

Not my first scanner, but remember the old Bearcat 250 from 1978? The base model, not the later hand held model.

I bought, and returned, six of these, one after another, due to them failing after being on for only a few minutes. The store got tired of seeing me, and finally tested one out for me by running it for an hour before I took it home. It was a great scanner, and lasted for years until it too failed.

I learned years later that this model was notorious for display component failures, and such failures were extremely common.

 

[tibadoex]

If I remember correctly my first scanner was a Radio Shack Realistic Patrolman Pro-53 Crystal scanner.

 

[hippieman556]

pro 96

 

[marlin39a]

1977. Bought a Regency 4 channel, crystal controlled scanner. Worked great back then on my local PD and FD.

 

[storm777]

My first was the Realistic Patrolman-6 tunable radio. Once I discovered our local police and fire agencies, I got hooked! Saved up my money and got a Pro-7a scanner. At that time, 8 channels was enough but things changed over the years, obviously.

 

[Para078]

Ya'll making me feel ancient. First scanner, in 1973, was a Johnson Duoscan. Low and high band only, eight channels.

It was a lemon. Spent more time in the shop than it did at home.

 

[wscranston]

Pro-2006 in early 90s. Which is still happily scanning away as I type this.

 

[mheller310]

I love seeing all the old scanners. My first was the Radio Shack Pocket-Scan. VHF Hi only. My upgrade from that was a Craig hand held four channel scanner which was excellent. Had great reception. Those were huge in size compared to today's scanners.

 

[ra7850]

My 1st serious scanner bought by me in 1986. The Regency-800 Turbo Scan. Still have it and it still runs but it's put away in the radio closet.

But earlier on, in the 70s, my 1st monitoring of local police was done on my '76 Realistic Patrolman SW-60. Still have it and it still runs as well. Sits in the same closet as the Regency.

What a comparison, a Regency-800 sitting on top of an Icom 8600

 

[Andy3]

Mine was a JIL SX200n, a desktop scanner which covered 25 to 512 MHz AM & FM. Fully synthesized with 16 (count 'em!) memories. It was prone to breakthrough and image problems, but it was still an object of wonder to me!
This was about 1980/81 and it seemed a fantastic, almost unbelievable thing at the time. Before that, I had tuned VHF and UHF with a selection of TV tuners and homebrew converters.
Since then I've had an Icom r7000, 7100 and now an AOR AR5000, with various 'second' scanners like the Yaesu 9600, Standard AX700 and the Icom r100.

 

[Bob1955]

My first scanner was a Fannon-Courier 4 channel hand held. It was capable of receiving VHF- HI and UHF. I carried a bunch of extra crystals around with me to do a change out depending on where I was and oh yes, a hand full of batteries. Since then, the list is endless of what scanners I have owned. All of the classics I suppose. My name is Herb and I am a scanner addict.

Herb-The owner of that company lived near me in Pelham Manor, NY and I owned almost every brand that has been made. I worked for a wholesale/retail supplier named Forbes Electronics/Centennial Communications based out of Scarsdale, NY before they relocated to Yonkers back in the 70's. I remember putting in the VHF Hi/Lo/UHF modules in the Bearcat lll and then the Bearcat IV came out. I remember the Regency scanners too and we had them stocked up to the ceiling. We were also wholesale supplies for Sony too. I remember the first Electra BC-101/BC-210/BC-210XL/BC-100XLT/BC-200XLT and those stupid battery packs that everyone complained about that later on, Uniden got rid of. Uniden American Corporation purchased the Electra Bearcat name in 1987 or so for about 12 million dollars. Then Uniden purchased the Regency name and duplicated the product with Bearcat. Anyhow, I can go on for ever in this category.
Be safe everyone.