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.
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.
@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.
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 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 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.
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.
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.
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😆😆😆
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
Thanks for a very clear, informative and extremely well presented video. It's been a few years since I used my scanner and this has given me a good update and many pointers on where to concentrate my efforts. Thanks again and 73's!
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
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.
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.
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.
@@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
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.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
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.
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 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.
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.
Good video lots of info. I used to work the 10 meter band back in the early 90s had lots of contacts in the UK. I still have my QSL cards it was good back then, lots of fun. Unfortunately technology has taken it's toll. Keep the videos going great information. Thanks for posting 73 from 9 division.
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.
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.
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?
I do like all these scanners but I love my p25 436 hp portable. I love how slim and how it fits in my pocket.it all depends on what you looking for.all of these are good.
Over here in the U.S., my scanner never stops talking. Wether its law enforcement, fire, EMS, or other services, theres always something to hear. And yes, some law enforcement agencies have switched encryption on, many departnents still use unencrypted VHF and UHF channels. Also, P25 Phase 2 systems are great to listen to
There's a wealth of info available on both ATC and airline freqs; when you're on a trip, you can set up banks of channels with some of these and listen to a lot of air traffic while on the road.
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.
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? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2PtnAtgbjJk.html Ive got some better antenna on the way. It can be so much fun being able to view the band scope / waterfall.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
I hear quite a bit of radio traffic in my County. Get all the FD, PD, EMS, Staties, Ham, Air, Maritime, Business, security, etc etc. I had to drop $500+ to upgrade to a digital scanner. But I still hear all their traffic, and I love it. I'm afraid when they move on to the next line of comms, although knowing my area, that wont happen fully to the 2040s prob. Took them forever to switch over to trunked.
I am an amateur radio operator in the U.S., and I used to be a scanner enthusiast. I still have 3. I had one back in the day that would pick up the old analog cell phone transmissions, but that part quit working when they went digital. Now that the police are encrypting their transmissions, there is really not much of interest on the scanner anymore. You can still get most commercial radio transmissions, but who wants to listen to taxi dispatchers?
I have a old Radio Shack scanner that still works and still receives stuff over the air... It really all depends on your area I know a friend who lives in mobily Missouri that has an old analog scanner and gets ton of stuff... I recently upgraded to a digital and there's hundreds of stuff I can get..
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.
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
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.
