Help with Scanners

Megahertz refers to the frequency that the scanner is able to receive. Many of the police and fire departments are now using 800-900 MHZ(megahertz). You need a scanner with trunking capabilities to be able to receive these transmissions as they don't not stay on one set frequency. They are assigned a group of frequencies and when the mic is keyed, The radio chooses a open freq.

Most police departments frown on us having scanners in their vehicles and in some areas it is even illegal, Unless you have a amateur radio license or Ham license. Then you can get by with it most of the time.


There are several good sites you can check out to learn more. Some of them are Scanner World, Universal Radio and Scanner Master. Radio Reference is a good place find frequencies to listen to in your area.

 

I have one of those Unidens. I like to listen to the locals around here when I am on the way home, the county sheriff and the town cops in my little town and the next littler town east of here all share the same frequency. I also like the weather bands and being able to scan the 40 cb channels seperately from my cb. You can also scan the freq's that the export radios are talking on. I found Wal-Mart's super secret channel that way. You can scan all the ham bands too. It gives you lots of stuff do do while you are bored going down the highway. I have not been able to get the trunking figured out. I think you have to hook the scanner up to a computer and program something into it depending on the usergroups. I need to mess around with it one of these days. I would like to be able to listen to the Colorado State Patrol and the DOT boys too. Just for safety reasons of course. There are a handful of states they are not legal in. I know Illinios is one of them and I can't remember the others.

 

Also megahertz or mhz is a way that frequency is measured. 11 meter cb channels are 27 mhz. Like ch 19 is 27.185, 2 meter ham is up around 140mhz I don't remember exactly. A lot of law enforcement and public service at least where I live are on 150-158 mhz

 

I have a Uniden BCT8 trunk tracker.

I listen to it a lot while home and on the road.

It really depends on what you want out of it. I occasionally use it to monitor 19, while I'm on another channel running my mouth. Don't want to miss those bear reports

I use it in state mod, in states that have 55 mph limits. As it has a Beartracker function/alert

It's another form of entertainment, mostly.

Be sure to get a good external speaker, whatever model you get. An external antenna is a good idea too.

 

You're not going to find any one scanner that will hear everything, New York and Pennsylvania use VHF duplex systems, where the transmit and receive frequencies are different, but not a repeater. Vermont uses UHF repeaters, Massachusetts uses 800 MHZ trunk. There are books and web sites where you can find the frequencies of everything licensed to use radio.

 

There are frequencies that can be used by companies that do not require coordnation, they're not "secret" anyone can get a license to use them. They're called itinerant frequencies.

 

I have had my eye on the BCT-15 too. Maybe when work picks up I will get one and upgrade.
I hauled Wal-Mart trailers for Landstar for a short time a couple of years ago. I wouldn't drink the kool-aid and had to leave. I found out a lot of the Wal-Mart boys have export radios. They have a freq they like to run that is out there in the free band or outlaw channels what ever you want to call them. I found it with my scanner one night when they were talking about me. I put my export radio on the same freq and said something to them. It got real quiet all of a sudden. It might be an "itinerant frequency" but I guarentee thay were not legal to be on it. I have it written down someplace, I will look it up tomorrow. The hams might get all excited.