Police Scanners

[Ickisrulz]

My son would like a police scanner for Christmas. I have no experience in this area. What should I be looking for? I see there are analog and digital scanners available.

[Petrol & Powder]

Depends HEAVILY on what radio systems are in use in your area.

A lot of the new public safety radio systems are 800 MHz, Digital. Some are trunking systems and some of those are encrypted.

If the stuff is encrypted, you're done and there's nothing that can be used to hear that without the right gear AND the key.

The trunking systems typically use one of the standardized trunking formats and some scanners can deal with that, to some degree.

If your area still uses the old analog systems (usually VHF low band, VHF high band, and UHF), then a standard analog scanner will pick up a fair amount depending on factors such as distance to the repeater and terrain.

I'd check with your local fire/rescue/police folks before buying. You probably want to talk to someone that KNOWS the system and not just a user of the system. A lot of people that use that equipment don't have a clue how it really works.

[RogerDat]

Also I think some scanners pick up cordless phone conversations. Just something to think about if you use those type of phones. Seem to recall Prince Charles relationship with Camille was discovered via police scanner.

[marlin39a]

Go to www.radioreference.com for frequencies in your area. A lot of good information here.

[Petrol & Powder]

And just a little bit more on the trunking systems. The digital trunking systems can be multi-million dollar systems with every local government agency on the same set of frequencies (usually pairs of repeater frequencies). The police department, fire & rescue, school transportation, public works, administration, etc.
There is no designated pair of frequencies for any one user (police, fire, rescue, etc.), they all use ALL of the frequencies that the system incorporates. Each time a user keys a microphone, he/she may get any one of the available frequency pairs. Some trunking scanners can follow that conversation (meaning you will be able to hear both sides of the conversation) and some cannot.

Here in Virginia, most of the larger metropolitan areas, including the surrounding counties, are using 800 MHz, digital, trunking systems and most of the rural areas are still using analog VHF or UHF repeaters.

[Rick Hodges]

Many Departments also use a duplex system....dispatch on one channel and cars and prep radios (walkie talkies) on another. So you only pick up one side of any conversation.

[Petrol & Powder]

OK, I had no idea where Shawnee, OK was so I looked it up. Turns out it is in Pottawatomie County !! (Who knew :-o )

That extremely useful link that Marlin39a listed in post #4 shows that most of the public safety radio systems in Pottawatomie Co. are still operating in VHF high band (150-160ish MHz) and it looks like they are licensed for repeater pairs. A few of the agencies are operating in the 460 MHz range (UHF) but they also appear to be analog repeater pairs.

Assuming the OP is looking for a scanner that his son can use in that area; ....That's all good news. Those systems are fairly simple to receive with a basic VHF/UHF scanner. A basic Uniden VHF/UHF scanner should work. I would still check to make sure those agencies are working with analog gear before I purchased a scanner but it looks promising at this point.

Using that same reference from Marlin39a, it appears most of the public safety agencies in Oklahoma City are using digital trunking systems. Those are a lot more complicated.

[Petrol & Powder]

Many Departments also use a duplex system....dispatch on one channel and cars and prep radios (walkie talkies) on another. So you only pick up one side of any conversation.
Unless it's a repeater system, in which case you can hear both sides of the conversation from the transmit side of the repeater.

[mold maker]

Not knowing exactly what is planed for the future of communications in your area can be a costly mistake. Out dated equipment is virtually worthless, and the change can be almost overnight.

[Beau Cassidy]

I am running a uniden BCD436 scanner. It is a great unit as long as you use an aftermarket antenna for better reception. I also have the GPS puck which automatically loads the channels for the area you are in. It is set up by going to the uniden website and downloading their software and any updates that are available. It is very reliable and the range with and aftermarket antenna is well over 30 miles. I highly recommend it. The only drawback when compared to older scanners is you cant charge and listen to it at the same time. Most people like myself have rechargeable batteries. They give maybe 4 hrs or so of listening. I plug it into the vehicle to charge when I am not listening to it.

[andre3k]

Also I think some scanners pick up cordless phone conversations. Just something to think about if you use those type of phones. Seem to recall Prince Charles relationship with Camille was discovered via police scanner.

Unless your neighbors are using a cordless phones in that were made prior to the early to mid 90's I don't think you will hear much.

[Beau Cassidy]

Cordless phone frequencies are blocked as are certain police frequencies.

[Mr_Sheesh]

Another option is to look into SDRSharp [https://www.rtl-sdr.com/rtl-sdr-quick-start-guide/] and/or AirSpy [https://airspy.com/], etc. - Newer technology. They use Digital TV receiver USB dongles (Newer ones use pairs, even) and receive most anything, you pick what frequency you want to tune to. So you can listen to shortwave then tube to your local Police/Fire frequencies then listen to FM radio; They do require a computer to run but the flexibility of the systems is rather impressive. You can use a Raspberry Pi 3 or a netbook [https://www.rtl-sdr.com/tag/raspberry-pi/] or an ODroid or what have you computer.

Beau Cassidy - You might be able to charge those batteries with an external charger while listening? (i.e. don't use the radio's charger, as that turns the receiver off.) A thought :)

[RED BEAR]

Not sure if it is still around but I rember a web site that let you listen to police calls in your area for free. Worked like a scanner but you had to have computer on to use it.

[Mr_Sheesh]

https://www.lifewire.com/find-police-scanners-3483138
http://www.broadcastify.com/listen/
http://onlinepolicescannerhq.com/
and bazillions more links out there :)

[tomme boy]

https://www.amazon.com/BaoFeng-UV-5R-Dual-Radio-Black/dp/B007H4VT7A/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1512344801&sr=1-4&keywords=police+scanner

This is the one I use. Plus it is a HAM radio so you can transmit on the same channel you are listening to. I take it every where I go. Just don't transmit unless it is a REAL emergency. You are supposed to have a ham radio license. Plus you can listen to all local radio stations at the same time the scanner is on. It cuts out the radio when it is receiving a signal.

[derek45]

Radio reference is a great site for info.

a quick glance at this, shows good old regular FM VHF and UHF frequencies.

https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?ctid=2190

that's good. That means a cheap scanner will work fine.

programming is as about as easy as programming the pre-sets on a car stereo.

If you lived in an area with digital trunked systems, the scanners are more expensive, and much harder to program.



I would NOT recommend buying a BaoFeng transceiver, especially for an unlicensed kid. . . . or even an unlicensed adult.

They scan slow, hard to program, and it's too easy to accidentally transmit on frequencies you are not licensed to


something like this would probably be fine...

https://www.amazon.com/Uniden-BC75XLT-Public-Scanner-Channels/dp/B00A1VSO9M/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1512433064&sr=1-3&keywords=police+scanner