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I listen to quite a bit on my scanner. I'm in a small town where we can still listen to the police (but the state police have gone digital where you can't pick them up), sheriff's office, fire departments, ambulance, life flight, and a few I can' t think of right now. Since I am retired from the state highway department I even have them in my scanner. My wife hated the scanner when I first moved in but now, when one of the fire departments are toned out or the police are called for something she'll look at me and say "Turn it up!" lol
City, check out this web site. Milwaukee County, Wisconsin (WI) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference
So my old Radio Shack PRO-34, which does 800 mHz, VHF Hi/Lo/air, and UHF is pretty much a useless antique? Too bad I've kept it in near mint condition. It runs on easily replaced rechargable AA bats, which it can recharge in the unit,, etc. It still does pick up 6m HAM, AM aircraft, 144-148 (2m) HAM, and a bunch of various government &.75m HAM stuff, but as to police stuff? It's silent now.
Does anybody buy these sorts of electronic artifacts, or do I set it up @ 300 meters and see if I can hit it with my .223?
I'm a former EMT, but that was years ago. A few years ago, while living in the Charlotte, NC area, I decided to buy a cheap/small ($99) Police/Fire Scanner on the Internet. I could pick up Police/Fire dispatch transmission, but not transmission from the Unit itself and then, sometimes the transmissions were cut up/choppy. Sent the scanner back and got a better one ($200), but it was pretty intense for me to use and had to be programmed....picked up very little transmissions from anywhere, except weather. Brought that scanner with me when we moved to here in Jax, Florida. Hooked it up here and couldn't get any Law Enforcement transmissions at all and only the Fire/Rescue dispatch transmissions (but sometimes cut up like in NC). Local school bus and taxi came in good, but I didn't buy the scanner for that! Found out that our local Law Enforcement was encrypted and that Fire/Rescue was going that way as well......the "patient rights" and "detained person rights". So, I sold the scanner!
It sure isn't like the "good old days" anymore!!
I'm a former EMT, but that was years ago. A few years ago, while living in the Charlotte, NC area, I decided to buy a cheap/small ($99) Police/Fire Scanner on the Internet. I could pick up Police/Fire dispatch transmission, but not transmission from the Unit itself and then, sometimes the transmissions were cut up/choppy. Sent the scanner back and got a better one ($200), but it was pretty intense for me to use and had to be programmed....picked up very little transmissions from anywhere, except weather. Brought that scanner with me when we moved to here in Jax, Florida. Hooked it up here and couldn't get any Law Enforcement transmissions at all and only the Fire/Rescue dispatch transmissions (but sometimes cut up like in NC). Local school bus and taxi came in good, but I didn't buy the scanner for that! Found out that our local Law Enforcement was encrypted and that Fire/Rescue was going that way as well......the "patient rights" and "detained person rights". So, I sold the scanner!
It sure isn't like the "good old days" anymore!!
More and more departments are going digital (which, if the standard voice format, can be monitored with a scanner if not encrypted), and an increasing number are going to encryption. This particularly seems to be the case in Florida. Still, many large cities (New York, Chicago, etc.) still use good old analog FM for the majority of their operations.
One thing that has become a menace to scanner owners in small cities is MDCs (computers) in squad cars. Although you still get to hear "the good stuff" (when a priority call is under way), a lot of the still-interesting day-to-day activities are sent directly to the squad's computer. Takes a lot of activity off the air.
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Scanner-less in Vancouver.
