Before buying a scanner you'll want to do a bit of homework. You'll want to find out what types of frequencies you're most likely to hear in your area. You can go on the Internet to RadioReference.com, which will give you frequencies for your own hometown. You can also talk to anyone who's used a scanner near where you live. Depending on your location, you might be able to hear anything from civilian aircraft communications, fire and police frequencies, even taxi and forestry exchanges.
You won't be able to hear everything on your scanner - some government signals are blocked, as well as cellphones. Take a scanner with you to the drive-through window of a fast-food restaurant and you might hear what they're saying about your burger. Take one to the racetrack, and listen in on what the drivers experience. Some of the bands you should find out about include the following: 50-MHz, 144-MHz, 440-(430)MHz, and 1.2-GHz. The most popular is the 144-MHz (2-meter) band. That's where you'll find a lot of ham radio operators as well as local public safety calls. If you want to hear the civilian aircraft frequencies, you'll want to look for a radio that has the 118 to 136 MHz air band.
Once you know which frequencies you can scan locally, you should keep in mind that not all scanners with that frequency ability will suite your particular needs. A very sensitive scanner in an area with lots of traffic might just mean a lot of crossed signals, and you missing out on some interesting weaker signals. On the other hand, if you live in a rural area, you might need a very sensitive scanner with a good scanner antenna – especially if you opt for a handheld model – since a handheld's standard antenna might not be strong enough to pull in the more distant signals you want.
Base station models offer the most bells and whistles and are usually about the same sensitivity as an average handheld. If you want to get a mobile scanner for you car be sure to check your local scanner laws first. In some states its against the law to use a scanner in the car.
Once you get a scanner, or even beforehand if you're figuring out what you can hear in your area, you may want to visit some of the following Web sites:
Happy scanning!
FAQs
Scanning is a way in which a radio can be configured to monitor or receive more than one channel / group of users. It is a very simple system (largely outmoded by digital radio). The radio will have a button or scan control which when set will cause the radio to sequentially listen to each channel in the Scan list.
What does the scan button do on a walkie talkie? ›
This enables the radio to automatically check each channel in turn, one after the other to see if there is any activity going on. The scan function on two-way radios allows users to automatically search and monitor different radio channels for activity.
What is the best scanner for aviation frequencies? ›
What is the Best Aviation Scanner? Military & Civilian - We recommend the Uniden SDS100. Civilian only - We recommend the Uniden SR30C. There are a lot of aviation scanners on the market and—like most electronics—you get what you pay for.
Who monitors the airwaves? ›
The Federal Communications Commission regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories.
What frequency do most police use? ›
Most police radios operate in the 700 and 800 MHz UHF bands. These provide pretty good range, especially in urban areas. A squad car radio built into a car could easily give range of 10–25 miles under ideal conditions. A handheld usually will do a couple of miles, anywhere between 2 and 5 miles.
What is scanning in broadcasting? ›
Scanning process: Scanning is the process by which an electron beam spot is made to move from left to right and top to bottom across the screen. This screen may be the target surface in television camera or the screen of a picture tube in a television receiver.
What are walkie talkie codes? ›
Walkie-Talkie Lingo
- 10-1 — Quick bathroom break.
- 10-2 — Longer bathroom break.
- 10-4 — Message understood.
- 20 — Short for Location. Example: “What is your 20?”
- 86 — When something needs to be removed. ...
- Roger that — Alternative reply to 10-4, also means message understood.
- Affirmative — Yes.
- Negative — No.
And just to confuse things, on an HF radio Mon usually means monitor your audio, so when that mon light is lit you will hear your voice from your radio, or if you are running digital modes like psk31 it allows you to hear what you are sending over the air.
What is a scan button? ›
The Scan Button feature allows you to scan and send data to a target application with a single push of your Stylus Scan's Scan button.
What radio picks up air traffic? ›
Airband radios are mainly used by pilots and air traffic controllers (ATC) for vital two-way communication. Available in different types and models, there are various airband radios on the market with radios and transceivers, both handheld and panel-mounted.
With Air Traffic Control Live, you will have access to real-time information about air traffic around the world.
What frequency does the military use for aviation? ›
Military aircraft also use a dedicated UHF-AM band from 225.0 to 399.95 MHz for air-to-air and air-to-ground, including air traffic control communication. This band has a designated emergency and guard channel of 243.0 MHz. Radio aeronautical navigation aids (navaids) use other frequencies.
What agency controls airwaves? ›
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
What picks up airwaves? ›
Several household objects can pick up radio signals, including: Electronic Devices: Electronic devices with antennas, such as radios, televisions, and cordless phones, are designed to receive and interpret radio signals.
Are airwaves electromagnetic? ›
Radio waves have the longest wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum. They range from the length of a football to larger than our planet. Heinrich Hertz proved the existence of radio waves in the late 1880s.
What does a scanning receiver do? ›
A scanner (also referred to as a radio scanner) is a radio receiver that can automatically tune, or scan, two or more discrete frequencies, stopping when it finds a signal on one of them and then continuing to scan other frequencies when the initial transmission ceases.
What is radio frequency scanning? ›
RF scanners are handheld devices used for automatically entering data about physical items. Radio frequency scanners – or “RF scanners” for short – are electronic devices used to automate data entry of physical items into databases or computer systems so they can be logged, tracked, and managed.
What are the basics of radio scanning? ›
Scanners pick up available frequencies on the airwaves. They work by catching ambient frequencies that the user must tune in to hear. Broadcast transmissions are made accessible by tuning to specific channels. Generally, scanners have three modes of operation: manual scan mode, scan mode, and search mode.
What does it mean when it says scan? ›
to use a piece of electronic equipment to get information from something such as a bank card or a product's barcode: The barcode is scanned to get the price of the product. to use a machine to make a copy of a document or picture and put it into a computer: He scanned the document and emailed it to the head office.
