Scanners (not the flying type)

[Stonewall]

Does anyone use scanners anymore?



I had one as a cadet from Radio Shack because I couldn't afford a VHF radio for CAP and I would monitor for that mission I didn't get called out on...and it worked.

Any thoughts?  Anyone use these things anymore?

[JoeTomasone]

I do; but not terribly often.   It is in my 24h kit in case I need to monitor another agency for whatever reason.

Also comes in handy to monitor traffic at air shows.

[Stonewall]

Yeah, I have a lot to listen to so I was thinking about getting one that I can monitor at work.  I've got 2 freqs at work, plus the county sheriff, fire/rescue and of course, CAP.

And like you said, having freqs for other agencies can be a nice asset when working in a mutual aid environment.  I found a few on ebay that don't look too bad.

[♠SARKID♠]

All the time.  Really helps when you want to monitor two frequencies; one on the HT and one on the scanner.  Also is a MAJOR help at EAA, you can hear how many aircraft you have inbound, where they're going to park, and maybe even catch their N-number before they land.  My scanner is also how I found out about amateur radio, which led to the foundation of my CAP-comm knowledge and experience.  Without my scanner, I wouldn't be the comm geek I am today!

I use a Radio Shack pro-95.  It does very well, but is really hard to learn to use.  Once you figure it out tho, its a sinch and is great.


For a while I have been considering getting an Icom IC-R3 or an R-75.

[Rob Sherlin]

  I don't use one, but, there are plenty of people here in Niagara Falls who do. Mainly, people who shouldn't have them. The police often have a hard time catching people because someone they know who has a scanner calls them and warns them that the "Po Po" is on their way to get them.

[JoeTomasone]

My scanner is also how I found out about amateur radio, which led to the foundation of my CAP-comm knowledge and experience.  Without my scanner, I wouldn't be the comm geek I am today!

Ditto.   I have a Uniden BC-96T, pretty nice unit.

Also have an AOR 8000 and my original Radio Shack PRO-34. 

[N Harmon]

I have one in my POV. It stays pretty quiet because it only scans through CAP freqs. I also use it to access weather and marine broadcasts. Recently I added 121.5mhz to my scan list. I'm not really sure why yet; just felt like a good idea with SARSAT/COSPAS going away in a month and half. Although, I'm not precisely sure what to do if I'm driving down the road and I hear an ELT going off. 

It's a fairly old scanner. I think I was 12 or 13 when I got it. It already can't receive all CAP freqs, and who knows what it won't be able to receive when we transition to our new freqs. I've considered getting a new one, but am waiting to see if we're even going to have access to our own frequencies first.

[Stonewall]

I have one in my POV. It stays pretty quiet because it only scans through CAP freqs. I also use it to access weather and marine broadcasts. Recently I added 121.5mhz to my scan list. I'm not really sure why yet; just felt like a good idea with SARSAT/COSPAS going away in a month and half. Although, I'm not precisely sure what to do if I'm driving down the road and I hear an ELT going off. 

In the mid-90s my squadron was booming with both cadets and seniors.  I suggested that people start acquiring radios for use in CAP because we were limited.  Surprising enough, almost 20 cadets had radios and about 30 seniors followed suit.

When teach ROP ROA classes, I always told them to program 121.5 into their radios and monitor it every single time they enter onto the base where our squadron was located.  In 15 years in DCWG, I personally found 3 ELTs from simply doing as I taught.  Still to this day I have 121.5 on my radios and I monitor it every time I enter onto the local Navy base where 80% of our ELTs are found and when I drive near our local municipal airport, where my squadron meets.

[NJMEDIC]

I have a Pro-96 use it at work and for DF on the Airport. Nice unit Scans all the trunked set ups and covers the two DF Freq. It's legal for me to have it in my car because I also volunteer as a Fire Police Officer for all kinds of Traffic Control.

[Eclipse]

I have an old Pro-35 in the truck with a through-glass antenna, but only use it for DF'ing.

[Stonewall]

Just doing a little bit of research it seems there are lots of scanners out there.  ebay has quite a few but I'm not exactly sure what is good and what isn't.

I went to Uniden's website and I like the remote "face" thing.  Where the scanner is in the back of your vehicle but you have a smaller piece up front where you can manage the features without taking up a lot of space.

I'll surf ebay tomorrow at work and maybe hit up Radio Shack.

[♠SARKID♠]

Just doing a little bit of research it seems there are lots of scanners out there.  ebay has quite a few but I'm not exactly sure what is good and what isn't.

I went to Uniden's website and I like the remote "face" thing.  Where the scanner is in the back of your vehicle but you have a smaller piece up front where you can manage the features without taking up a lot of space.

I'll surf ebay tomorrow at work and maybe hit up Radio Shack.

Icom has similar setups if you want something a little fancier.  Its called a "remote head".

[SSgt Rudin]

I have one in my POV. It stays pretty quiet because it only scans through CAP freqs. I also use it to access weather and marine broadcasts. Recently I added 121.5mhz to my scan list. I'm not really sure why yet; just felt like a good idea with SARSAT/COSPAS going away in a month and half. Although, I'm not precisely sure what to do if I'm driving down the road and I hear an ELT going off. 

You get the telephone number(s) of the local ATC(S) and you call them. They report it to the FAA, the FAA alerts AFRCC, AFRCC alerts CAP. The same thing a pilot would do if they were flying around and heard one going off, only they would do it over the radio. Talk about making things really complicated, we have to alert AFRCC(indirectly) so they can alert us 

[Major Lord]

I have a Pro-96 use it at work and for DF on the Airport. Nice unit Scans all the trunked set ups and covers the two DF Freq. It's legal for me to have it in my car because I also volunteer as a Fire Police Officer for all kinds of Traffic Control.

Mark,

You may have to explain to many CAP members that mobile scanners are illegal in a few eastern states. ( I am not aware of any western states or centrl states, but there might be some) Banning radio receivers.....right out of the old Hitler handbook isn't it? Are CAP members exempt while on missions in your State?

[N Harmon]

You get the telephone number(s) of the local ATC(S) and you call them. They report it to the FAA, the FAA alerts AFRCC, AFRCC alerts CAP. The same thing a pilot would do if they were flying around and heard one going off, only they would do it over the radio. Talk about making things really complicated, we have to alert AFRCC(indirectly) so they can alert us 

Thanks!

You may have to explain to many CAP members that mobile scanners are illegal in a few eastern states. ( I am not aware of any western states or centrl states, but there might be some) Banning radio receivers.....right out of the old Hitler handbook isn't it? Are CAP members exempt while on missions in your State?

In my state, Michigan, it is only illegal to have a scanner in your vehicle unless you are a ham radio operator, or have a permit from the state police. I happen to have both. The permit is fairly easy to get as long as you have a reason. CAP was good enough of a reason for mine.

I've never heard of a scanner being illegal except for in a vehicle, or receiving cordless/cellular phone signals. Which states do that?

[JoeTomasone]

You may have to explain to many CAP members that mobile scanners are illegal in a few eastern states. ( I am not aware of any western states or centrl states, but there might be some) Banning radio receivers.....right out of the old Hitler handbook isn't it? Are CAP members exempt while on missions in your State?

In my state, Michigan, it is only illegal to have a scanner in your vehicle unless you are a ham radio operator, or have a permit from the state police. I happen to have both. The permit is fairly easy to get as long as you have a reason. CAP was good enough of a reason for mine.

I've never heard of a scanner being illegal except for in a vehicle, or receiving cordless/cellular phone signals. Which states do that?

The concept is to prevent:

1. Criminals from knowing when the police are being dispatched to the location of their crime

2.  "Buffs" from following emergency personnel around

(At least, these are the rationales I've found).


NY has this law (Section 397 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law, if memory serves).   Florida as well (Florida Statue 843.16), which also has the two draconian provisions prohibiting transportation in a vehicle (what, you have to walk home from Radio Shack?) and installation in a business (?!).

Both exclude hams.   

[RADIOMAN015]

Actually, I think it is an outsiding idea, because if you look at the Concepts in CAPR 100-3, there is specific mention on one way broadcasts.  At this point in CAP, with the cost of compliant two way radios, & limited squadron radios, this offers the best opportunity for a potential paging system, in case ofl wire or wireless telephon communications problems.  You could still communicate with members at least one way as to recall/assembly.

Personally, at work I can run my scanner, so I have all the CAP radio frequencies programmed into the scanner.  I have a CAP radio mobile unit out in the car.  SO if I heard any aircraft calling with no response I would be able to get into the vehicle & respond.

I have a lot of radio scanners (portable, mobile/base), and in the future with at least our ES Officer, I'm going to run some coverage experiments both repeater wise & simplex to determine what the effective range will be from the squadron radio station.

Another aspect of radio scanner monitoring & listening is that it trains people how to listen & interpret what they hear.  We also have a donated scanner at the squadron in the radio section, & I encourage everyone to at least spend some time listening to aero band comms (I have all local tower/ground, approach/departure control, ARTCC, military command posts, ATIS programmed into the scanner) as well as selected local mutual aid frequencies & Park Ranger frequencies).

It is a very good idea.  For the most part you don't need a radio scanner with all the bells & whistles (e.g. trunking, P25 digital, etc) capabilities.  A less expensive portable scanner will work fine for both CAP & aero band frequencies.
RM   

Does anyone use scanners anymore?

I had one as a cadet from Radio Shack because I couldn't afford a VHF radio for CAP and I would monitor for that mission I didn't get called out on...and it worked.

Any thoughts?  Anyone use these things anymore?

[RADIOMAN015]

Oh, also would like to add:

Radio scanner's give you "situational awareness" capability that you would not normally have.

1.  Are there any police, fire, or other emergencies, that may affect you in your area, whether it be at a fixed location or while traveling.

2.  If you have one dedicated strictly to airband monitoring, it may give you advance warning that a potential DF mission is at hand, because you will hear aircraft calling approach/departure control, and/or ARTCC, advising that they are picking up an ELT signal.

3.  Again with a scanner strictly dedicated to airband monitoring, it might be possible to pickup an errant ELT signal even before you are notified while just driving your vehicle in your normal course of the day.  (I'm going to have to experiment a bit more with this concept of just the portable scanner in the car with no outside antenna to see how well it works in a scan mode, with squelch engaged in hearing a signal).

RM

4.       

[IceNine]

I have one in my bag that I use to listen to the weather primarily.

I also have a standard set of programming 121.5, 121.775, CAP A/C comms, the local Airport approach and departure, unicom, and anything else I deem necessary.  Works out really well to maintain situational awareness.

Also works really well when teams turn on the practice beacon to check their equipment but don't remember to turn it back off when they leave   

[♠SARKID♠]

You may have to explain to many CAP members that mobile scanners are illegal in a few eastern states. ( I am not aware of any western states or centrl states, but there might be some) Banning radio receivers.....right out of the old Hitler handbook isn't it? Are CAP members exempt while on missions in your State?

Some states only make it illegal to possess one if you're committing a crime.


I've got all of my local HAM repeaters, fire, common airports I visit, FRS/GMRS, local news choppers, Blue Angels (I was going to go to a show), and a clone of all the frequencies in my radio (CAP, Coasties, and all the MOU organizations).