CB radio or police scanner?

Uniden just came out with a c.b. That is also a police scanner.

The last time i saw that was in the 70’s when lafayette radio had a cb / scanner in one radio.

Uniden bear tracker 885. $350. It’s digital and has gps.

Other digital scanners have come down in price to $250 from having been $500 for years.

 

I ran for 43 years, got tired of the "Fox and Hound" chases with the police. My last few years, I got where I could care less and less about where the LEO was. One time, I ran across a California D.O.T. trooper. We had an easy inspection time. When it was over, I told him a joke about good officers and ticket writing rambos. He laughed and said "Imagine 10,000 D.O.T. guys out on patrol. 9,999 of them just want to finish their day alive and with a smile. If you come at the officer who stopped like he is an A=+hole, you have a very good chance of meeting the 10,000 th officer. I nodded in agreement.

He said very few drivers tell jokes to the D.O.T. officer after the inspection. I said many drivers are not unhappy with the stops, but I am one who sees an officer as a man or woman who has taken on the job of keeping the highways safe. One of the 9,999.

You are here to make sure, as far as possible, that bad actors and unsafe equipment are kept to a minimum. We talked a few more minutes, then his radio called out for his "officer unfriendly" attitude to be in play. I said I hoped he got home safe.

Two years later, the D.O.T doctor asked me what else I wanted to be ..... beginning right now. I am still trying to figure that out.

 

Delta 5, are yu an extra class ticket holder, 73, from a tech, KE0RHW

 

It sound like you have to be a duly appointed law officer in that state, plus have the suitable amateur license to operate a plice scanner. Just having a ham ticket is not enough for that privelege.

 

They were using trunked systems well before 911.

I dontthink it was for agency interopability since they already had that ability.

It was to bettr utilize their frequencies. Many private businesses were using trunked systems also, even way back in the 80’s.

Dallas p.d. Switched to trunking but realized the older simpler system was much better so they ditched their trunked system.

3 towns near dallas tried a trunked system and it didnt work at all. They now (last i knew) had to use cell phones, cuz they got rid of the old radios, couldn’t get the new sustem to work and cant get their money back or afford new radios.

I think lewisville, richland hills, and n. Richland hills werethe 3 dept’s..

Nypd, chicago, and lapd refused to go to the trunking system. Phoenix went to it, but thats because they weren’t smart enough to utilize their simplex system more efficiently, definitely wasted their money.

 

Illegal for mobile use unless you have ham license, in such states. Still legal at home.

 

And you have to be careful about that because the laws vary from state to state. The actual exemption as written in the Federal Code, and approved by FCC, is designed to prevent licensed amateurs from having their equipment seized and/or being fined for possessing a "radio capable of receiving police frequencies, or having the ability to scan.". Local jurisdictions were writing tickets TO licensed amateurs. FCC was not "cool" with this and responded in a Federal court case with a "Friend of the Court Brief, Docket 91-36" which, in effect stopped most of these bogus tickets and seizures. Moreover, more than one ham sued states (Kentucky and New York, for a couple) and WON in Federal Court. Faced with this, states either dropped their "scanner law" (having had their ##*'es handed to them over unlawful seizure), or crafted laws that permitted the use of mobile amateur equipment (which they HAD to do anyway since the FCC's intervention), permitted the installation of mobile scanners BY licensed hams. What is "catchy" about it is,in some states, if you have a ham radio that scans, you're "safe". Others permit the additional scanner equipment.......so long as you ain't scanning the po-leece. In others, even if you are a ham, you'd best not be a-listenin' to them po-leece. Still others have no "scanner laws" at all, and listening to anything at all (except cell phones)--even the cops--is OK. Just-so-long-as-you-ain't-using-it-in-the-commission-of-a-crime. North Carolina is one of these. Having a radio that is merely capable of scanning or listening to the police is not actionable by a state under Federal law if you are a licensed amateur radio operator. So check your local laws to be fer sure.

 

With a plethora of scanner apps out there for phones, I wonder how in blue hell the FCC and/or states figure they can effectively enforce the laws on this

 

you realize those scanner apps have to be received somewhere and then streamed over the internet to work. Most of the time they are tapped into scanner banks in different cities that are already streaming to the internet.

 

Most ham radios can be modified to transmit on police frequencies. It’s very simple. Whenever i buy a ham, first thing i do is modify it, by opening up the transmit frequencies.

It’s very easy to do and not illegal. Just do a google search for your radio. Lots of sites with photos pop up.

Usually just need soldering iron and tweezers and magnifying glass to remove a very small diode. Cb’s can be opened up too.