Scanner Help - Standing Offer

[Guest RISC777]

Having worked with scanners for a few years (see pic.s below - listening to 13 scanners all at once is a learned art), for TGO members any help, questions, etc. pertaining to scanners that I can provide is free of charge.

If someone gets one and wants it programmed for specific system reception, if you pay the shipping I'll do the programming for free.

Recommendations on antennae (portable, mounted, vehicular) and mounting, cabling, etc.

I still have an account with a distributor that gives me great pricing. Cable, such as LMR, Belden, etc. Towers and mounts. Cable adapters. Grounding. Etc. (I would bet towerclimber would/could have some input in this area also.)

I do have a bag of parts that are free for the asking if they can be used.

[Rightwinger]

RISC777,

This will be a great part to the survival section. I already tagged the "scanner" recommendations thread that spawned this one.

My first request/suggestion

Please tell us all what the rules are regarding mobile scanners

I have heard that having a scanner in your car is a no no as LEO believe your using it to gather intel or evade them.

I am a former scanner listener (have an old Uniden in the shop) but it doesn't pick up much anymore. As soon as I can pay off a few more debts I want a new one and will look to your references for my decision on which one to get.

RW

[Guest tnmale46]

i have a radio shack pro 2052 dual trunking but i dont understand trunking any thing you could tell me would be greatly appreciated

[Guest RISC777]

RISC777,

This will be a great part to the survival section. I already tagged the "scanner" recommendations thread that spawned this one.

My first request/suggestion

Please tell us all what the rules are regarding mobile scanners

I have heard that having a scanner in your car is a no no as LEO believe your using it to gather intel or evade them.

I am a former scanner listener (have an old Uniden in the shop) but it doesn't pick up much anymore. As soon as I can pay off a few more debts I want a new one and will look to your references for my decision on which one to get.

RW

First, I am no lawyer.

There are FCC laws for scanner usage.

The more important ones are -

* It's illegal in some states for a convicted person to monitor scanners.

* It's illegal to modify a scanner to listen in on cell and cordless phones.

* It's illegal to use what you hear to aid in committing a crime.

* It's illegal to diclose information you hear to other people. (BUT there are tons and tons of online scanner feeds. If the FCC were that interested in shutting down Fire and Police feeds like that, they'd be seriously busy!)

Listening to a scanner in your home is legal everywhere.

Some states, notably New York, require a license for mobile scanner usage. (How many TV and radio stations use scanners to find "news?" mmm... 90 or so or more percent of them?)

Overview of state scanner laws link.

Only a few TN cities/towns have on the books old laws regarding use of scanners in a vehicle (all I've found so far is Nashville and Chattanooga). There may be exceptions for currently licensed HAM operators. Talking with a Nashville metro LEO it's rare for someone to be ticketed for it. If you're polite and explain why you have it, shouldn't be a problem (especially if it's off or in the glove box or trunk). Out of sight, out of mind. Me? I wouldn't worry about it and mount a 996 in the dash or hang a 396 on the dash.

Appearance - If an LEO sees a scanner and thinks that you're a look-out, using it for evasion, etc., it goes to how do you appear to him/her in an over-all, general sense. More apparent and noticeable is a radar detector.

Evasion - Having a scanner in a car is no help in evasion. A lot of systems are difficult to track car-to-car transmissions (primarily because of distance, interference from buildings, cell towers, geography, etc., etc.). And they can always use a cell phone instead of the car's radio. Most have more than one radio/system to use and you can't know which is in use or listen to multiple systems at one time without having multiple scanners. With their radios and a dispatcher they'll always be one step in front of you.

Gathering intel? Scanners are incapable of listening in on cell and cordless phones unless modified, if that's the case you're hosed anyway. (You can ocassionally pick-up a McDonald's and others' drive through transmissions. ~grin~)

Hope some of that is of help.

[Guest RISC777]

i have a radio shack pro 2052 dual trunking but i dont understand trunking any thing you could tell me would be greatly appreciated

By definition -

Trunked Radio Systems share a small pool of frequencies among a large number of users. They can do this because communications are generally short (typically less than 5 seconds long) and rare (a particular channel is typically busy less than 5% of the time). When a user keys their radio, the radio sends a request for a frequency to the computer that controls the trunked system. The computer then sends out a “channel grant†telling the radio what frequency to use, and telling everyone else on that user’s channel to also go to that frequency and monitor for traffic. When the user stops transmitting, the frequency is immediately released so that it is available for the next user to use (and that user might be with a different agency…using a different channel). For a trunked system, a “channel†is not the frequency in use, but is rather the code (Talk Group ID) assigned to a particular group of users on the system to identify them to that computer.

The benefit of this technology to the agencies is that many more channels are available for specialized traffic than there are frequencies. For example, the Fort Worth trunked system has only 20 frequencies, but services over 400 channels.

The down side for scanner users is that, because a frequency is assigned every time a user keys their radio, an exchange of communications can occur across several different system frequencies. If you only monitor the frequencies, you’ll get a mix of all the users on the system and have a very difficult time hearing any one particular communications exchange.

Trunk Tracking lets a scanner monitor the computer’s channel, so it can watch for the channel assignments and follow individual communications (or scan for communications of interest) on such systems.

Paraphrased - a digital system allowing multiple radios/users to use a finite or set number of frequencies allocated to that system.

[Guest tnmale46]

ok i see now thanks

[Guest RISC777]

FYI...

I listed a batch of accessories for sale here if anyone's interested.

Non-firearm classifieds.