Radio Scanning - Is There Anything Left To Listen To??
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- čas přidán 22. 08. 2024
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Remembered when I was a little kid and my father and I couldn’t sleep he was searching on our wireless set for US jazz music. By accident we heard American taxi’s, probably through active sunspots, which was absolutely amazing to me. I will never forget this and this was really the base for my interest in technique.
If I may ask where are you from?
@@richardjohnson9033 I am from The Netherlands.
@@prillewitz now that's some amazing skip.
i had a sideband CB radio in the 80s , one night the skip was so strong i picked up truckers chatting on the highways of the US , in britain
We're getting the USA CB 27MHz on AM modulation on a daily basis in the past few months here in Australia. Usually around 8am to 10am local time in Brisbane. Only 4 to 5 watts are permitted on AM yet I believe many must be running amplifiers. They come through in waves of full scale to nothing every few minutes.
I used to love my Realistic base scanner back in the 90's. Fire service was about 71mhz, police was about 440mhz,cordless phones was about 31mhz mobile phones was in the 900's mhz, police helecopyer was out 133mhz, Ambulances was about 166 mhz. Great Times laying in bed for hours eavesdropping, then when I had a car I used to listen to 71.150 which was westmids fire service and used to go to the fires to watch 😂
@Adjo82 Yes I remember all that too. And I'll never forget when my local police went trunked...it was the beginning of the end. I never even bothered to get a trunk-tracking scanner. I just left the hobby behind.
@@linguisticman What does trunked mean went digital?
@War1888 A trunked system is when every time an officer in that particular zone transmits, all the radios in that zone switch to that frequency. The frequency changes every time someone keys up. So a person with a scanner could only hear one side of the conversation. The newer "trunk tracker" scanners defeat this security measure, but I am just not into the hobby enough anymore to justify getting one.
I remember when you could listen to the primitive car phones in the late 70's with a Bearcat Police and Fire scanner. Listening to the same clown call 5 women in a row and get turned down was more amusing than fiction.
Haha great stuff Robin!
Zionism toHell you fucked up by not getting there first
I remember picking up cordless phones on 40 to 49 MHz and cell phones at 896.1125 to 918.0000 MHz.
Also around here they are still analog. The RCMP is now encrypted and the city is finally planning to go digital this year. The ambulance is now digital and the city police are still analog, the police are going encrypted soon and the fire department will be digital soon.
My best one was an "escort" calling a hotel and asking for a particular room. You hear the guy pick up and she says "Hi, this is Tina. The agency said you are looking for some company tonight." They proceed to discuss the details.
I listen to the police all the time in fact I’m doing so right now I live in Ventura County California. All analog unencrypted.
Here in Germany sadly not possible. All digital TETRA standard. But at least the airband and marine radio are still in analog.
How hilarious that I’m in VC and watching these videos to learn how to do it haha. (This is the top comment on this video) Send me to freqs!
Thank you for someone finally producing a decent accurate frequency list. Used to be an avid CBer growing up in the 80s and 90s going to get scanning again, and invest in SDR / digital scanning equipment.
What can you pick up with SDR digital equipment nowadays??
I was lucky enough to be into scanning in what I think was the golden age of scanning.. Late 80s to late 90s. It was so much fun, I could hear all the police, cordless phones and even the new Mobile phones of the time. In my opinion, all the things that are worth listening to are now encrypted (other than airband) and that is no coincidence.
My cousin had a scanner in the early 90s. One day when I was at my aunt and uncle's place he got it out and we had a scan. Picked up all sorts. Analogue only scanners are pretty pointless these days unless you're happy with listening to amateur and PMR or live near an airport.
Thank you for not having background music, intro splash screens, and badgering us to subscribe.
Thank you for noticing 👍🏻
I used to build small FM transmitters and bug the downstairs of the house while I tuned in on the commercial FM band in my room :D ..Memories
This is awesome mate, a non BS approach to what is still a fascinating hobby!
Thanks man :)
There was a friend I worked with 2002-05 we both were into amateur radio. He had a handheld digital scanner that could be setup to listen into the digital trunking & encryption of the time. he did have local & provincial police programmed into the receiver. Can't remember what model it was now but it did work. listented to it at his place a number of times.
This is so helpful. Thank you. I'm in East Manchester and after a visit to the RSGB at Bletchley Park about 6 months ago, I have bought an SDR Play Duo and stuck a Discone on a pole on my roof. I'm constantly learning and find it fascinating, but working out where to look has been a challenge. This is going to be an invaluable resource. Thanks again.
A scanner and SDR dongle are great together. I found stuff on my SDR dongle that weren't even listed in local frequency databases. I bought an analog scanner at probably the less opportune time. Police and fire were switching to digital trunking, and now the school district is slowly migrating to digital trunking as well. Scanning gets to be a bit more interesting in the winter months here, when the snow plows are out. Each plow is fitted with a radio, and they transmit through a repeater on top of a hill, so I'm able to hear all the plows loud and clear.
Digital scanners are too expensive. I think the SDR dongles or boxes will be able to use software to decode some digital signals.
@@mreverybody1150 it's the only way forward. People want to listen to the Police so until that is hacked I'm out.
Jumped on channel 21 on an old cobra walkie I found in tbe garage and happened upon an engaging conversation about underground poker rings. I was surprised, there was only 2 people talking but I could hear them really clearly and god knows where they were or what they were doing. Intercivilian radio will make a comeback. Its just too convenient and the knowledge gained is just as useful because the tech never really changed it just evolved.
Hi there Lewis 05:00 here in FLA. USA.
Just watching another Vid. Of yours W/my wife.
She's got a thing for your Golden Voice.😍
I'll have my TX-Iguanna ring you when he warms up later on. Great work. Spot On. Straight Away.
&Last but not least BOBS YOUR UNClE😆😆😆
No rail in the UK? Did I miss it? In the 'states we have about 100 or so railroad frequencies. They're very active but transmissions are extremely brief, like one word, mostly unintelligible. I don't know why so many people listen to it.
Rail use Gsm-r on 900mhz, its a private cell phone network with push to talk capability.
I listen to aircraft and ships and planes and anything i want to on my baofeng dual band fm transceiver and i tweaked a few older AM/FM radios to receive everything a expensive radio can get
Skillz to Pay the Bills... awesome and love to learn how to do what you do!!! got any info how to do what you did? thanks and have a wonderful day..
I was able to pick up live TV coverage of my local Premiership Football Match commentary a mile away with no delay that one gets on live tv and radio with honest opinions from the director of whether a foul was a foul or not on 455mhz. I could the live countdown of videos and advertising playing along with how much time the presenter had to wrap an interview up. So much Pressure with all the precise timing makes one appreciate the skill set required in Live Broadcast.
Nice to see BMRT vehicles, used to be Lowband 86.3125 for Mountain rescue back in my days in the team.
Back in the 1990's I was listening to cordless phone conversations of my neighbors, cell phones, police and fire of course and schools, the whole nine yards it was great. I have to get back into the scanning hobby, I haven't been active since the 90's.
In the 90s I would modify my cordless phone handset to pickup neighbors cordless phones and stuff.... I was 12....
Yeah, I was doing the same, plus a lot of USCG stuff all over Florida. The marine band was always good just about anywhere along the coast, Gulf or Atlantic.
likewise I also listened to analog cell phone calls. some of the calls were scary from corrupt lawyers doing deals, drug and prostitute calls and occasionally the odd celebrity. it was how Princess Diana got caught on a call by someone on a scanner. The mobile phone companies chose not to tell users that their calls were really private. I assume because no one would have paid the hefty contract charges that used to exist back then.
Have you tried one of these yet? czcams.com/video/2PtnAtgbjJk/video.html
Ive got some better antenna on the way. It can be so much fun being able to view the band scope / waterfall.
My memory of analogue cordless phones was that they broadcast on ordinary radio frequencies, usually on mediumwave and you could just tune in on any radio, which was hardly confidential!
Last month, I was grading Amateur Radio exams in the U.S. One of our graders stated that she needed a new emergency scanner for her new (additional) vehicle. Sitting at the table with us was the director of communications for our local emergency services. He looked her dead in the eye and said, "Don't bother getting one. In January of 2023, we are moving everything to both spread spectrum and it will be encrypted." About the only thing to listen to now is the businesses that still run radios in their fleet vehicles.
During many years of youtubewatching, it's the first time I've heard: 18:36! I'll give you a like for this! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
You forgot to mention listening to the audio of TV broadcasts. Before the digital TV transition in 2012, you could receive the audio portion of TV channels on a scanner (and also broadcast auxiliary services such as studio-transmitter links and remote pickup units). Since you are only listening to the audio portion of the broadcast, you don't need to pay the licensing fees. This was the only legal use of radio scanners other than listening to FM stations and amateur radio communications.
A very informative video, and concisely done. One bunch of frequencies I would've included (seeing as you mentioned Baofeng "factory testing presets") are those for GMRS/FRS, because often they've been bought from eBay and mis-sold as "Super Long Range PMR" or brought back into the UK by tourists - but are set for American UHF frequencies and not PMR 446. Which I think trample on where UHF emergency services in analogue used to reside. Often heard farmers around here use them thinking they were completely fine to use, and other unusual pirate users.
I dont believe the Baofeng defaults are in any appropriate US bands, at least they weren't on mine.
@@snorman1911 same here. Back when it I got mine, it was definitely on public safety freqs. Never reprogrammed a radio faster than I did with that UV82
NICE ONE.
Can hear the audio change thru the years.
All the very best. :-)
in New Zealand, you can still listen to the police
Hello, from the U.S.
I still listen to the scanner from time to time whether Portable or Mobile. Aircraft, VHF Maritime, Railroad, CB, FRS, GMRS, Analog FM VHF/UHF Ham Radio Repeaters, including 255.550 MHz. (the FLTSATCOM Downlink.)
Back in the early 1990s I used Police Call, Popular Communications, Scanner Master and Monitoring Times. Now I use Radio Reference.
Great guide, I'm off to program my Baofeng now. I can stay within the law on a lot of these frequencies including PMR 446 if I use low power and stick with the onboard antenna.
There's loads still to listen to... my router, my neighbour's router... my other neighbour's router... all the routers down the road.
Hello from Phoenix Arizona USA. When I was a kid growing up in the early 80s I loved listening to the scanner it was very simple and easy I had 100 channel RadioShack programmable scanner I just punched in the frequency in the local Phoenix Police had 10 different frequencies and one hot channel. But when they went to digital I have not been able to listen to it effectively at all. I even spent $700 on a digital scanner and all I got was bits and pieces of voice and it was very hard to understand and there was no set up like hot traffic on one simple channel so I could not follow any kind of police call. I wish today I could still listen I don’t know if it’s just me and not knowing how to work digital radio scanners or if I truly just can’t listen to it anymore.
A bit more detail on marine VHF:
The low side goes from 156.000 to 158.5 and is all the simplex channels, and the ship side of split channels. 160.6 to about 162 is the shore side of split channels and some private simplex channels. AIS channels are 161.975 and 162.025.
The 6m repeaters probably exist in the US, but all of the ones I know of are 2m.
I remember being able to hear cordless phones with an am radio
Useful and thanks for your hard work putting it all together. It's sad that a lot of interesting stuff is no longer listenable but there will be a lot of old gear users around for a while.
Here in the states a lot of agencies have moved to the digital trunked P-25 phase two systems, luckily scanning is still possible but it definitely comes at a cost, the lowest price that I’ve seen for desktop scanners is about 350 to 400 dollars, the highest going well into the thousands of dollars.
I know the prices of scanners is crazy, you can by an awesome magnum cb radio , for that price and yes I’m a radio fanatic, I love to scan through all the uppers and lowers plus with the radios I buy u have around 580 channels , and the sun flairs are coming , it’s suppose to be better than last time.
@@dhutch12345 luckily it turns out a year ago I was wrong, mostly everything in my area is on digital p25 so my RadioShack pro 197 does everything I need it to
You could do all this with a cheap SDR dongle connected to your computer or even your phone.
@@lon3don I would like to explore the sdr stuff at some point
Only problem is here a LOT of stuff on P25 gets encrypted. For example I know in Lancaster County PA, fire is fine; but pretty much any and all law enforcement is encrypted.
Damn it. I wish I'd found this last week. I've just bought a uniden base scanner and wondered why I could only get airport transmissions. Great video. Very informative.
Cheers mate!
Too late to the party lol
Very thoroughly done! I'd love to see someone do a guide like this for the USA.
When I was young (late 80s and 90's, I'm 38now) , my uncle was and is an amateur radio license holder. Which one? Im not certain, but it's in the US. His basement was full of radio equipment and computer stuff. I thought it was cool. He taught me a lot of Morse code and the proper phonetic alphabet, he always said that it was important to know and that cops always butchered the military phonetic alphabet. I regretfully have forgotten Morse code (except ••• --- •••) he has an antenna,and he also had something on an even taller antenna down the road from his house. It was pretty cool. We listened to all kinds of conversations. I remember him listening to stations that would constantly rattle off Morse code at an unbelievable rate, but he understood it and he would then change the channel and talk to another person about whatever they understood about the Morse code transmission. It was crazy but it's almost like it was his job. He was self-employed, and no matter what, he would go drop whatever he was doing to listen if he were away from his room he would listen on his handheld in private. I thought it was cool that he took his hobby so seriously because his hobby was his job because he has always had a radio or computer business. I moved away, and we haven't hung out.
1:09 Maybe a little historical perspective is due here regarding the issue of frequency availability. Before anyone (in the States, at least) ever heard of an "Internet" the public safety frequencies were very widely published via books such as Police Call (available through Radio Shack; may they rest in peace) and other type mediums available in book or magazine format. As more and more law enforcement fall under the scrutiny of the public eye and are exposed for their oft failures, they seek to withdraw behind the curtain of encryption. No matter how much they say this is not the case; it's hard to believe otherwise.
Gracebeliever077 yup radio shack even use to sell the books and the stores would offer to program the scanners bought for a small fee with the local frequencies.
@@robert-73 I used to eagerly look forward to the new Police Call editions! Particularly those of neighboring states. These days the only thing I still listen to is the railroads.
I remember those. Used them with my Realistic Novaho in the 80's.
It really disgusts me. I'm in the states and would like to see the trend of encryption on police radio banned. These are public records, and the calls should be as well.
@@larrygall5831 I concur with your sentiment.
I tend to tune in to military and airband most active nowadays
I used to drive around in my VAN equipped with a TV antenna, with it I could LOOK at the Screens of PC using a CRT monitor with a RF Adapter or ANYTHING using an RF transmitter for Audio or Video like Video Game Consoles . but with the advent of cheap LCD monitor that too was ended.
Wow that's awesome Mark!
Where I live (San Mateo county, just south of San Francisco) public service radio is still analog. County fire and all the PDs and public works. SFPD is still fighting with their digital system.
Happy memories having a scanner when the poll tax riots were kicking off in London 😄
Great to see you Over here, love the vids
Best introduction to radio scanning. Good work.
Test
My scanner was worthless over night. Everyone in the city and county went to simulcast. Don’t feel like spending 650 for a new scanner
I'm 46 ( not from the UK )and I was always fascinated by RF and at 17 I joined a local club to get the licence. However, for various reasons i gave up. I recently came across your channel and something rekindled the interest. I was told the hobby is still quite active locally, but I think modern comms ( internet / mobiles phones ) have made young people loose interest in this. I'm considering getting my licence next year. Hopefully there's still something left in it.
Do you have it now?
Did you get it?
I always find your videos and the contents fascinating. Yours and "The Amp Hour" are the two YT channels I find myself returning to again and again. Thank you.
Wow, thanks Alan!
Business licences, air band, repeaters and ham radio net thats about it around here.
I believe uk fire are trying out dPMR on fire ground Frequencies so they can Double the channels without the need for a repeater (DMR is Wasteful in Simplex mode because it uses TDMA) whereas dPMR uses FDMA so it is more efficient in Simplex mode
That's cool where did you hear that?
@@RingwayManchester it was a while ago Im not sure now but it maybe the dPMR Association site! after I Posted my comment I Googled it and it turns out that some are using a realy clever Hytera System that dose Use DMR and they have a portable Backpack Repeat system they can use obviously LFB didn't have it a few years ago because they had Fire Ground communication problems on the last major fire !
Hi just getting into the radio ham hobby and I find your videos and advice invaluable. I have the Ailunce HD1 and from your advice I bought it and I must say what a fine radio it is. Thank you for your clear and precise advice and I look forward to any more content you add.
Hello Ringway Manchester
Thanks for this really good video, Please can I make a couple of observations / comments?
1) It IS possible to listen to CB operators using a VHF/UHF antenna... I do it with a colinear sometimes! However the operators will need to be very close to you (within a mile or two), or running more than the legal 4 Watts, or both!
2) SSB is only legal on the CEPT CB frequencies between 26.965 and 27.405MHz , not the UK40 between 27.60125 and 27.99125MHz where only FM should be used.
3) FM broadcast starts at 87.5MHz rather than 88MHz. 87.7MHz is worth monitoring in particular. This frequency often seems to house temporary (28 days maximum), low power (25 Watts maximum) Restricted Service License stations. These are often referred to as RSLs.
4) In the 2 meter amateur band, 144 to 144.050MHz is for things like moonbounce and CW (Morse Code). SSB should be between about 144.150 and 144.395MHz. There are propagation beacons between 144.400 - 144.500MHz which are good for checking for enhanced tropospheric conditions.
5) Full licence holders can transmit digital stuff (e.g. Reduced Bandwidth Fast Scan Television) between 146 and 147MHz.
6) LPD has 69 channels and runs between 433.075 and 434.775MHz. Those overlap amateur radio repeater outputs, simplex frequencies, and repeater inputs in ascending order. However the maximum (legal) power is 10mW so you would need to be very close to the person transmitting. I have never heard a LPD433 user.
7) In my area, channel 1 on the default Baofeng BF-888S frequencies is very popular (462.125MHz). For the same reason, it might also be worth keeping an ear on 462.5625MHz. This is channel 1 of the Family Radio Service, the equivalent of PMR446 in the USA and Canada. Although it's not legal to use the FRS frequencies in the UK, many FRS radios seem to find their way over here...
I hope this information is useful, and keep up the good work RW!
73 from Ed M0MNG.
Hey Edmund thanks for getting in touch, no problem in adding feedback :) the whole point is to generate discussion.
1) It IS possible to listen to CB operators using a VHF/UHF antenna... I
do it with a colinear sometimes! However the operators will need to be
very close to you (within a mile or two), or running more than the legal
4 Watts, or both!
That's interesting to know, I live close to a few breakers and can never hear them.
2) SSB is only legal on the CEPT CB frequencies between 26.965 and
27.405MHz , not the UK40 between 27.60125 and 27.99125MHz where only FM
should be used.
Thanks for clearing that up :)
3) FM broadcast starts at 87.5MHz rather than 88MHz. 87.7MHz is worth
monitoring in particular. This frequency often seems to house temporary
(28 days maximum), low power (25 Watts maximum) Restricted Service
License stations. These are often referred to as RSLs.
Another interesting point :) I'll have to bear that in mind!
6) LPD has 69 channels and runs between 433.075 and 434.775MHz. Those
overlap amateur radio repeater outputs, simplex frequencies, and
repeater inputs in ascending order. However the maximum (legal) power
is 10mW so you would need to be very close to the person transmitting. I
have never heard a LPD433 user.
There used to be some LPD users in my local area (I'm guessing within 1/2 a mile) they were quite active but kept getting trampled on by amateurs using the local repeaters. Other than that I've never heard anyone else. Not sure what practical application it could be used for.
I hope this information is useful, and keep up the good work RW!
73 from Ed M0MNG.
Thanks Ed :) Appreciate the feedback! Best 73 for now.
Lewis
Note about the 10-meter band:
True, ionospheric skip is the exception, not the rule, when sunspot numbers are low.
However, it is not unusual for 10 meters to open, during the day, around the summer solstice, because another form of ionospheric propagation, called Sporadic-E, can often occur.
As the E-layer is at a lower altitude than the F layers, Sporadic-E path distances are generally shorter than paths using F-layer propagation.
Not much in my area (Small Town) obviously commercial FM, some police/fire, POCSAG paging, LTE data from my phone (shows up as data noise, can also be heard on computer speakers). That's it
In the beginning of cellphones I used to listen to everything. I even heard a congressman calling his parents on the way up to Alpine Ca.
yup, I had a AOR 1000 Scanner just for that Purpose.
Hi lewis.
Marine band starts at 156.050 (channel 1) in .05 steps therefore 156.800 is ch16 calling
156.000 is referred to as "CHANNEL ZERO"
And is used by HM Coastguard, RNLI, and RAF SAR work
And less us not forget the old baby monitors. They were very entertaining 😀
Also worth mentioning weather satellite APT and LRPT transmissions around 137 MHz. NOAA weather sats etc can be picked up and their images decoded easily on a laptop.
With the rise of fully encrypted digital radio services there are only few things to listen to. What you can still do listen to are pagers who are unencrypted, but listening is probably still illegal. SDR/DVB-T dongles are cheap and really nice, and more flexible solutions come in at around 200 dollars.
Hi mate , your the man in the know and clearly know your way around, do you rate the Whistler 1065? Cheers for your help
So nothing apart from amateur and air bands... nothing like it used to be when I got my Realistic Pro34 in November 1988. I could listen to emergency services and mobile phones!
Tell me one interesting thing I can now listen to.
What about boats and aircraft for Britishers?
Thanks for taking the time to make this. It's so confusing when all the other CZcamsrs are from America talking about their laws.
I know this is old video. I used to get the audio from British TV at 41.50 and France on 41.25 back around 1980. I never really heard much from Central America. However there was a large State Park in Venezuela in the 39 MHz range.
Police & Fire use encrypted signals in some locations - so, you can't hear them unless you have the decoding keys, and you won't have them...
We know!
And it’s A LOT more complex than that
Not much left here in Australia. I started as a kid and spent a lotttt of money on radio gear, Now if someone asks i say unless you want to listen to aircraft theres nothing worthwhile. Or you can just buy a realtek dongle and use your computer/tablet as a software defined radio. Yeah you can still unencode some stuff like weather sats etc but nothing worthwhile anymore. Scanners arent worth it anymore unless we get people working on cracking apco etc.
scanners , 1986-1994. loved listening in. London.
Yes and No. I think it all depends on what area a person lives in, but seems that now most police and fire are on 800 trunking. It just depends.
Wonderful compilation, thanks.
Yea, public safety is just a fraction of it so if they all go encrypted, you can hear aircraft and walkie talkies, other events. Worst case it’ll become a paperweight radio to play music and weather reports on.
Mid-band (26.965 Mhz - 27.405 Mhz) is now legal to use for CB in the UK in all modes (FM/AM/SSB).
What a fantastically informative video! Thank you. 😊
Just bought a new Uniden SDS100. Listened to tons of activity last Friday night here in the Austin Texas area. According to the Radio Reference website, police communications in Austin are encrypted, but I was able to hear plenty of police related activity. Also heard the antics of the local school bus drivers from several different schools. All in all, my wife and I had quite an enjoyable evening.
@igit...Thanks, I'm thinking of getting that one :) Been using a baofeng dv-5r.
I have it's predecessor the 436, which is pretty capable in its own right, police are still out there, some stuff and places are locked but you can still here stuff, I personally love listening to bus drivers some of the stuff you here on those radios.
I never hear anything. When I was a kid, I could hear so many things such as guards
Brilliant, learnt something new!
Fantastic guide. It would be great to be able to download this as a PDF.
Agreed!
recently bought a uv-k58 (with ezgumer firmware to unlock the full frequency range) and this video was extremely helpful to get to know the active frequency ranges
I'm not sure how up to date it is anymore but it's probably still the best starting point for the UK that I could find in 2024
When I was in the UK, I remember police using the FM broadcast band for two-way communication. If I ever get back to the UK, I am taking a scanner with me. Thanks for the info.
The current analogue FM broadcast band used to be the Police band back in the day.
I am a proud owner of a AOR 1000 scanner, it can receive HF to 1.3 Ghz unrestricted. it was made Pre-ban so it can receive 800-900 Mhz Analog Cellular. and it tunes it perfectly. it means I can listen to Analog Celluar transmissions as well as Analog Cordless phones as well. the Analog Celluar is still active but I don't have a clue who is using it as the voice is Scrambled. I confirmed with SDR that the signal is Analog Cellular but its using a voice scrambler of a type.
Very odd Mark!
Thanks for your interesting and informative video. Much appreciated. I live in Melbourne Australia.
Cheers.nice share..love my analog radios..bug out communicate is a must. If the powers off internet down you need to talk. So old school scanners will still be of interest..top of the day wave.👋 from Ohio USA
Almost a year old, but still a great video, Thanks! :)
I have a Baofeng UV-5REPlus and sometimes use it on PMR446. I also use it on 145 armature band since I've got my M3 licence. It's maximum power is 5W so It's above the specified power allowed on PMR but nobody seems to care all that much. Have even heard people using a bass station on lower power on PMR before now. It's also a nice little scanner if you know what to look for.
I'm from the US, and its interesting to see how different and similar some frequencies are in other countries. One think I appeared to miss was your Railroad Frequencies?
Whistler scanners certainly don't have continuous band coverage, in fact they miss out on the all important 174 to 190MHz band.
The Whistler TRX2E might well be the one to go for, the Uniden SDS200E is the best but it's very expensive. I still have yet to dabble in digital scanning.
I currently scan (analog) using a PRO-2053. I can actually still get the state trooper frequencies in on it. I also get a small suburb fire department, the gas company, ambulance company, and even the bus service. Sometimes you catch gems of communications. Heard some crazy stuff.
Great stuff, there's definitely more over your side of the Atlantic,
what crazy stuff have you heard? i love these weird random stories
Well put together mate. I enjoyed and will take some notes on these numbers. All the best, 73's Lee.
Thanks Lee
Ofcom publish all the business licence details online, with frequency, exact location and sometimes the DMR colour code. With a digital scanner or SDR TV dongle that's more than enough info to tune in. Talkgroup (or even CTCSS tone) could end up in the wrong hands and be used to cause trouble. Even on a cheap DMR handie you don't need the talkgroup to listen if you have the right firmware updates.
Most DMR systems round here started out with encryption, and everything else still active is using analogue FM. I'd think any new industrial or security systems would be starting out encrypted now.
You can use a normal radio to listen to analogue coreless phones I did use one as kid to when I was experiment with a old one
I'm a completely novice. Before the weekend I knew literally nothing about radio scanning. Found this video really educational and enjoyable. I'm also local to Manchester myself. Appreciate the effort!
Raing way manches this cool Radio scnning;
Tons .. at least here .. my favorite scanner channels are snow removal, towing .. air traffic, veterinarian services .. road maintenance crews and yes, fire and police and ambulance are totally now active on voice .. are back on regular VHF after a brief stint with "Code" which failed miserably and is now redundant around these hills and valleys. I do personally find police communications boring .. as the job itself. Fire is much more interesting as we live in rural area and everything is easily monitored here from initial page to on scene voice communications.
Actually, it seems like VHF with either a finely tuned quarterwave and a good ground plane or a cowl mounted base loaded gain type antenna seems to get out best for scanner listening around here in out rough terrain mobile to base .. also listen to the various repeaters.
We have several VHF Ham repeaters within listening distance of me. I sometimes like to listen to marine as well as occasional rail on VHF.
...we still have some police doing license plate registration checks verbally .. on VHF with the dispatcher looking up the numbers and reporting back .. .. behind the times, maybe .. but great for scanner enthusiasts and my 40 channel monitor almost never scans completely through once without locking on something .. it's that busy even though I live on a hilltop twenty five miles from nearest town.
Yes, I do have those old Bearcat scanner frequency books form just before or after millennium .. I still use them to program scanner .. also have found so many on my own using search .. usually between 154.000 and 156.000 mhz. That's how I found our local fire frequencies when they switched from talking on the pager frequency to adding more for fire scene communication .. easy as pie to search and find them during a fire call.
hav'a great day!
If you visit a coastal city or (even better) have a ferry ride, search through the VHF marine band. On the auto ferry from Cape May to Lewes, about 1980, I both watched and listened in on a USCG exercise involving flares, smokepots, a helo and a cutter, and it's one of my most vivid scanner memories. Another thing I like to do is take a boat to the vicinity of a Navy Blue Angels airshow, and listen in on the lead pilot as he goes through his little sing-song chant to ensure the perfect timing that makes the shows so entertaining, and safe. Those freqs, plus others for many airshow teams, are all available by internet search. Enjoy.
Great information, there is always plenty to listen to on HF and medium wave even during summer months. Plenty of shortwave stations that broadcast news in English
Wished I had information on the bands like this about 30 years ago when I was into listening on a scanner I got for Christmas as a kid!
It wasn't until very recently I learned that "dongle" is an actual term and not just some guy's way of saying thingamabob.
Hello dingle, what’s your dangle?
I'm shocked and dismayed that police, fire and ems transmissions are all encrypted in the U.K. I hope the US doesn't start encrypting their radio communications, as they are still clear and can be heard for 50 miles around my county, even all the handheld units communications. How are the news sites suppose to hear about what's happening in any one jurisdiction and how does one agency monitor another agency if they're all encrypted? When I worked as an EMT, I use to bring my handheld scanner to work to listen to the local fire dispatch so we could start to prepare for our use. How are EMS personnel suppose to listen to the police or fire frequencies or the police listen to the fire dept. frequencies to determine their need? It seems kind of overkill, except for communication which have security concerns other than the regular police which pull over vehicles or break up bar fights should be able to be listened to since they are a public service agency.
You are unbelievable! Thank you. Soon it will start a new hobby: Decoding these secret transmissions on PC like secret agents do! 73 5B4ER.😉👋
The only thing that I'd do a band search on nowadays is for funny karaoke voices on wireless mics and some Cable TV leaks on some still analog service providers to get free audio. Other than that I'd rather switch to my shortwave receiver listening to a more comprehensive live news broadcast and exotic music coming from around the world, or do some DXing on the AM/ FM broadcast band of some still analog radio stations from all across Asia.
In my area I can still listen to fire and police on my RadioShack pro-197 digital trunking scanner as well as the thruway authority and airports EDIT: didn’t realize I had already commented but I guess there’s an update to my last comment as of May 3rd 2021
Cheers mate , excellent presentation
I used be all over CB as a kid in London, but in recent years, CB communication has been all but wiped out by the introduction of 100% accessible wifi, mobile devices and free chat apps.
CB is making a comeback in the UK, especially now that AM and SSB modes have been legalised. Check out the link below.....this is just one of many CB groups that you can join (free of charge). Most of the admin staff and many of the members are qualified "Hams" who prefer the more relaxed world of CB to all the rules and costs of amateur radio.
charlietangodxgroup.forumotion.com/
well done a very good presentation indeed thank you de G7PUW
Thanks Shawn!