Legality of a Scanner in my truck ?

Mostly legal..
(like that?)

http://www.policescanners.net/general-information/scanner-legality/


http://www.fireline.org/scanlaws/scanner5.html


Too be safe..
Put it up while driving in the red states.

I assume you know..it isn't like the Old Days..
Lots of places are Encrypting Everything, lots of Local and Statewide Trunking systems.
Most of which can be monitored only some can not..But just a PITA to program.

 

Mount it where it's not easily seen..

I ran one back in the 90's never got bothered but I never advertised I was running one either.

I have police and fire in my 2m rig in the pickup...They are in a seperate memory bank so I can switch over to 2m quick if need be..

Not sure on the legal aspect for those of us with a ham license..

I say go for it !!

 

I don't know anything about scanners but curious. I thought everyone jumped around now and each squad, town or whatever has like a jump list. So, given that I don't see how you can listen to anyone???

 

What does that mean?
Jump list?

 

If you have an amateur radio license and are scanning with an amateur radio transceiver you are legal.

PR Docket 91-36 MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
Adopted: August 20, 1993; Released: September 3, 1993

This preempts all state, county, and local laws and ordinances regarding scanner laws under the above mentioned conditions. Use of a separate scanner that is not an amateur radio transceiver is not covered by this order and all state, county and local laws apply.

see this for a simple map with varying degrees of scanner restrictions .....http://www.fireline.org/scanlaws/scanner5.html

 

Have had one for 20 years and a Ham lisc also and never been asked but once and the guy saw my Fire Dept ID and said Oh! I see. I have a Bearcat and it list's what is on the frequencies you are scanning so you can just push the knob and show Railroads.

 

The world of scanning public service bands has changed tremendously and is still changing. This was brought upon by a number of things, including the VHF high band (148-174MHZ) being pretty full. It was difficult to license new frequencies because they were pretty much all taken up. It's one reason that a lot of municipalities went to the UHF band (450 to 470 MHZ). Then the FCC came up with new rules that forced agencies to go to narrow banding if they were to stay on the VHF high band.
They also opened up UHF high band, (470 mhz to 960 mhz) which had pretty much been reserved for cell phones and certain other applications. My understanding is that cell phones have all moved up above 960 mhz, but I could be wrong.

The new trunking systems, whether they are in the UHF band, or UHF high band are an extremely complicated system. Yes, local agencies (in some areas,) can be monitored. Except that some of them have gone digital. AND ENCODED.
Colorado and Idaho are both good examples of places where you aren't going to be able to monitor. I'm not saying that somebody somewhere sometime won't figure out a way to overcome it, but right now, AS I UNDERSTAND IT, it just isn't possible for the average Joe to do.
A lot of areas in California can be monitored, if you know what you are doing with trunking scanners.
Your best source of information is http://www.radioreference.com/.

There are legalities involved in scanning. Some states forbid it in vehicles. Some states allow everybody to scan, anywhere. Some states restrict it to licensed ham operators, or agency employees.

But with all of the changes that are going on, legalities are pretty much the least of your worries. It sucks to buy a $100+ dollar scanner, and learn that it isn't good for monitoring much other than weather, ham, aircraft and NASCAR. It also sucks to spend $600+ on a scanner and then discover that you have to be a brain scientist or a rocket surgeon to program it.

Some outfits that sell public service scanners, will pre-program it for whatever counties you plan to use it in. But if you are a cross country driver, it just ain't gonna happen. Being ex-FD, ex-Medic and retired Law, I've always had scanners, and still do. But they sure have gotten complicated over the past couple of years.

I used to have programs that would pretty much work all over Oregon, California, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado. Places that I was in quite often. It isn't going to happen anymore.

An example of all this change and confusion is Las Vegas Metro. They are still using their old frequencies, and are either operating blatantly illegally, or have obtained an FCC waiver. Several years ago, they spent millions of dollars to get a brand new system called OpenSky trunked radio system. They have found it to be a totally unworkable system and are still using the old analog repeaters.

It is a real mess right now, with no foreseeable relief in sight.

Also, because of all this, there is a real shortage of companies that manufacture scanners. Uniden is, (to my knowledge) is the only large scanner manufacturer left. GRE, (a Chinese outfit,) put out reasonable priced and reasonable quality scanners, but they went out of business about two years ago, thanks to the Chinese government.

I notice that Radio Shack is advertising a scanner right now that is the spitting image of one of my older GRE scanners. It is Radio Shack branded, and I would have to see it and play with it before I'd buy one. Radio Shack appears to me to be dying on the vine, and I wouldn't order anything from them that I couldn't see first.

I'm sure some of the other hams on here probably have better info than I do. But I would just caution you to hold off a bit before putting good money into something that will make a wonderful paperweight. (They aren't even heavy enough to be boat anchors.)

 

I have a new Bearcat, have run scanners for years and only had one officer question it but saw my Fire Dept ID and said OH! I see. I am Ham operator also.