Category Archives: Basic Police Scanners

Police Jurisdictions and Mutual Aid channels

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When you buy a scanner, especially if you have us do your programming, you may hear many different types of police agencies. There are the commonly known departments like city police departments and County sheriff’s offices as well as Highway Patrols. There are also many other federal, state, county and local police agencies.

Police agencies’ jurisdictions vary, based on the type of agency, the location they are in and the type of situation. Usually a state agency has jurisdiction anywhere in the state but usually does not enforce local ordinances inside of cities. A County officer similarly has jurisdiction throughout the entire county but again may not have the ability (absent a contract to do so) to enforce city ordinances. Local police usually are restricted to working within their own borders. County and Local police also have the ability to pursue outside their jurisdiction and usually to make arrests for serious violations outside the community. These laws vary from state to state and some agencies are contracted to provide services in other jurisdictions. For instance a small town might contract with the county or state or even a neighboring town to provide primary police protection, that other agency’s police can then enforce the ordinances for each town.

Federal agencies include the FBI, US Marshall, or DEA. There are many federal law enforcement agencies that are tasked with different responsibilities. Some are responsible for building and campus security at federal facilities and bases. The most well-known include the Customs & Border Patrol (CBP) that protect the nation’s borders, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), both responsible for specific law enforcement actions. There are Military Police agencies at most major bases around the world. The Navy also has police and security aboard large vessels like aircraft carriers as well as bases around the country. Most federal law enforcement agencies use encrypted radios for communications, but sometimes non-scrambled radios are used.

Once agency we should mention is not a law enforcement agency at all. Every flyer’s favorite agency, the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) is not a law enforcement agency. TSA officers do not have arrest powers, they refer actual enforcement actions to the local police authority for the airport in question. If an illegal item such as a weapon or drugs, are found the arrest is made by the local or airport police, not the TSA. They do have the authority to deny one access to the transportation they protect. While most associated with airport entry protection they also appear at rail and bus stations occasionally, usually along with local or federal law enforcement agents.

At the next level is the many state law enforcement agencies include the State Highway Patrol, State Police or State Patrol agencies. Like the famous California Highway Patrol of “CHiPS” TV show fame, many states have Highway Patrols. Some states have “State Police” (common in the Midwest and East). Some are called the “State Patrol”, like those in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

State police officers are often called Troopers and often have a more military rank structure with Major’s and Colonels instead of Chief’s at the top end. Most state agencies primary responsibilities include highway patrol, usually on the state’s Interstate and other major highways. Other agencies fulfill support roles for county and local agencies like crime scene processing or manpower for major events. Most of the time State Police agencies do not fulfill local police patrol responsibilities off the highway like city and county police do. Occasionally State Police agencies will do local patrol for communities that cannot support their own police. For example, for years the Illinois State Police patrolled the city of East St. Louis due to the extreme financial distress the city was in at the time. In Massachusetts and Connecticut they often do not have county police agencies so the State Police step in to assist local agencies that elsewhere would be done by the Sheriff’s Police.

There are also other state law enforcement agencies on and off the highways. Some states have a separate police agency for trucking regulation, DMV enforcement, Fish & Wildlife, and other specialized responsibilities. There are also state facility police agencies, like the California State Police (separate from the Highway Patrol) that patrolled the state capitol complex.

All states have Counties, although Louisiana calls them Parishes and Alaska calls them Boroughs. Most of these states have County (or Parish) Sheriff’s Offices (SO’s). Sheriff’s Offices are usually responsible for road patrol, court security and corrections. In smaller counties there are a single County Sheriff’s Office to handle these three tasks. There may be a small Sheriff’s office with the elected Sheriff and a couple deputies to deal with all this. Larger counties may have separate Patrol, Court and Corrections departments. Some counties also have other law enforcement agencies for specialized purposes such as Conservation, County Hospital or Forest Preserve districts among others.

In small counties the Sheriff’s Office might be the only law enforcement agency in the county, there may be no cities in the county or those that exist may not have their own police departments. If an incorporated community has no police department then the Sheriff usually handles law enforcement for the town. Some towns contract with the Sheriff to be their police, often with dedicated officers and vehicles. In some states some or all of the counties have little if any authority. In Delaware and parts of Massachusetts the Counties are pretty much just lines on a map and they do not provide police patrol.

The Sheriff or other county based agencies may also be responsible for other duties such as tax collection, Justice of the Peace, and other administrative services depending on the state and local rules.

Cities, Towns, Villages, Townships (in some states), Boroughs and other municipalities usually have a police department or contract with a neighboring community, State Police or the Sheriff for law enforcement. As a basic service of the municipal government, local police are usually the first response to most emergency situations in the town. They are also responsible for many routine and non-routine services that vary widely from town to town. Local police respond to 9-1-1 calls, document and investigate property and personal crimes, traffic crashes and many other incidents.

There are often specialized police departments for parks, colleges and other schools, public hospitals, and many other taxing districts. Some places even have police departments run by sanitary districts or other large government land owners. In some states in the Northeast there are groups called “Fire Police” which have no actual police power but provide traffic and crowd control at fires and other events.

Local, state and county police departments often participate in Mutual Aid agreements. These allow them to assist each other for emergency and routing incidents and cooperate on incidents that spread over multiple jurisdictions.

OK, so since this is a blog about scanners, what does all this blather mean to me and my scanner? Well, all of these agencies use radios to communicate. If they work together then they need to talk to each other. This is done a couple different ways. The first is by one agency having the other agency’s channels available to them. They could have them added to their own radios or carry a separate radio for that purpose. For example, Mayberry PD might have Mt. Pilot’s channels in their radios.

Another way is to use designated Mutual Aid channels. Most states have some sort of channels made available for police departments to communicate with each other, Illinois has ISPERN and other discrete channels for this purpose. Sometimes this is on a large regional or statewide trunking system like MARCS in Ohio or Palmetto in South Carolina.

Less convenient is the relaying of communications by dispatchers. Mayberry Deputy Fife would call his dispatcher who would call the dispatcher for Mt. Pilot who would then contact the Mt. Pilot officer and relay what Deputy Fife said.

The many large statewide trunked radio systems, like those in Colorado, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, North Carolina and South Carolina include many shared statewide and regional mutual aid channels to allow multiple agencies to communicate with each other. This allows the Highway Patrol to talk to a Sheriff’s office as well as local police etc.

Before large or regional trunked radio systems, when many states used Low Band (30 thru 50 MHz.) some states had a Statewide Sheriff’s Channel or some other statewide channel or channels that agencies could use to talk to each other. Illinois for example had 39.50, which was called the Statewide Sheriff’s Net. This was a common channel to almost all counties and many city police departments and they could talk to almost anyone else. The Illinois State Police had 42.50, which they used for all State Police Districts and all troopers had that channel. A special switch in the ISP cruisers’ radios allowed them to hear 39.50 and talk back on 42.50, the Sheriff would have the opposite arrangement. This allows each agency to talk on the channel they were licensed for (and that the radio was tuned to) but still communicate with each other. Other states had similar systems. Nebraska had a set of statewide channels for Police, Fire and EMS on 39 MHz.

Eventually Low Band was replaced by “High Band”, usually about 150 thru 160 MHz. and many states replaced the old channels with new VHF channels common to many agencies. Indiana, for example had the old “Plan A” channel of 155.130 (Base) and 154.890 (Mobile) that was a common dispatch channel for many agencies statewide. In addition separate channels were used for police emergencies like 155.475 (the nationwide Police emergency channel) that Indiana called ILEEN and 155.370, which most Midwest states used as “Point to Point”.

Another example was in Illinois, not only do they have a statewide police channel called ISPERN (on the same 155.475 channel as next-door Indiana) but a statewide Fire channel, EMS network, EMA channel and even a channel called IREACH that can be used by any governmental agency to talk to others.

There are some newer nationwide mutual aid channels for police, fire, EMS and mixed operations. Not often used, they are available and detailed in many area’s plans but it is rare to hear them used for the intended purposes. Part of the problem is the clunky naming protocol and huge numbers of channels. V-Fire-31, 8TAC94, UTAC42D and their brethren all are listed in guides but rarely actually used.

Later on, as the large regional and statewide trunked radio systems started being built these systems include many regional and statewide mutual aid channels. Some systems have regional networks that allow any user to talk to any other user anywhere in the area, as well as statewide channels that work anywhere in the state. With the higher capacity of these systems more specific channel assignments can be made to tailor the operation.

Large trunked radio systems do have some drawbacks. They can be complicated to work for many users, and with the bewildering array of channels available that could confuse people to where they may not know what channel to use or how to find it. Like the wide variety of mutual aid channels on VHF, UHF and 800 in the more recent past, the overwhelming choice of channels and confusion about how to access them make it more likely for users to revert to having the dispatcher call the other agency on the phone.

You can dedicate a large chunk of your scanner’s memory to interoperability (big word meaning Mutual Aid) channels and not hear much, if anything for months until one day it starts hopping with a big incident. Check Radioreference.com for the Mutual Aid channels used in your area.

Classic Scanners that changed the hobby

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We all love scanners, you would not be reading this if you didn’t. There are certain scanners that, much more than others, are so remarkable that they change the market or make a lasting impression on the hobby. Scanners that introduced new features, made other features popular or just were so darn good that they are beloved by the community will be discussed here.

If you have a favorite scanner that you think should be listed please let us know! The ones I discuss are scanners that I think helped define the market at the time and are real game changers. While some are obviously dated and obsolete today at the time they were introduced they really made a huge impact.

There were also a few real duds here and there. Bearcat once made a scanner that you inserted into an 8-track player. For those too young to know what that was, an 8-track player was used to listen to music recorded on magnetic tape held in large plastic cartridges in the days before cassette tapes, they were wildly popular in the 1970’s. This scanner was in the shape of one of these cartridges and had 4 crystal-controlled channels. It was a neat idea but worked poorly.

GRE Designs:

GRE built and designed many scanners for Radio Shack back in the day. Later they developed their own line in parallel with the Radio Shack line. Coincidentally both Radio Shack and GRE closed up operations for different reasons at about the same time and Whistler Group bought the GRE product line. Whistler continued to produce scanners for Radio Shack based on the Whistler designs for a short time and afterwards brought out their own line of WS and later the TRX scanners.

Radio Shack had a great advantage in that they had a huge retail infrastructure around the world and for years sold a wide range of scanners. While most were GRE built even Uniden made some of them.

PRO2004/5/6

The PRO2004 was introduced in 1986 and was probably the most revolutionary scanner of the day. It had 300 channels when 16 was considered average and 50 was considered remarkable. Its wide-open frequency coverage actually caused it to be recalled from stores to have the cellular frequencies blocked, this was easily defeated however, and the radio even had the proper spacing for them. They were coveted by the MilAir listener and helped create a large cottage industry for modifications and accessories. It spawned the PRO2005 and PRO2006 successors, similar in operation but in smaller cases with some other tweaks and additional memory.

PRO43

The PRO43 was introduced in the mid 1990’s and was the first handheld widely available that included the Mil Air band so were coveted by the airshow crowd. With 200 channels one could program in a ton of channels or do a search of the band. The tiny size made it easy to keep in a shirt pocket or camera bag.

PRO96

The PRO96 was the first P25 scanner that worked on the newer 9600 baud trunked systems, together with its mobile cousin, the PRO2096, one could now listen to these systems directly rather than in a conventional mode. It also provided a data source usable with software programs such as PRO96Com and has data detection modes that were well liked by radio enthusiasts.

PSR800/WS1080

The PSR800 was introduced in 2011, just before GRE went out of business. It was rebadged as the Whistler WS1080 soon thereafter and eventually morphed into the WS1088 and TRX-1 Mobile versions of the stillborn PSR900 became the Whistler WS1095, WS1098 and TRX-2. The PSR800 was the first scanner co work on Phase 2 P25 systems and was one of the first scanners with the on-board database and ZIP Code programming.

Uniden – Electra – Bearcat

Uniden Bearcat scanners originated with the Electra line back in the 1960’s and 70’s. After purchase by Uniden they retained the Bearcat branding and designs. Eventually Uniden bought the Regency brand and rebadged some existing Bearcat designs with Regency names.

Uniden became the biggest player in the market. Bearcat scanners have had great success with many groundbreaking designs over the decades. Here are just a few of the ones we think really made a huge difference:

BC-III

The BC-III was introduced in 1975 and was a VHF/UHF crystal scanner that was one of the most popular scanners of its day. It was unusual in that it allowed both UHF and VHF in the same radio in the days when that was not common. The speaker was huge and provided such good audio that years later, when the scanner itself was no longer useful, hobbyists would wire it up to be used as an external speaker for more modern scanners.

BC101

The BC101 was introduced in the mid 1970’s and was one of the earliest programmable scanners. It was programmed by setting the channel switches in a pattern for the specific frequency as listed in the programming guide. While kind of clunky, for the time it was revolutionary to be able to program a scanner without crystals and it had a huge 16 channel capacity.

BC210

The BC210 was introduced in 1977 and was Bearcat’s first direct entry programmable scanner. Imagine in the days when one would buy crystals for each channel, need programming combs or have to look up binary codes in a guide that they were now able to enter a frequency directly into a scanner. It was unheard of!

BC100                                                          

The BC100 was introduced in 1981 and was the one of first mainstream handheld programmable scanners. The first versions had a threaded antenna connector and later versions had a BNC. It used AA rechargeable batteries but they were internally mounted so a screwdriver was needed if you wanted to swap them out. It was a revolutionary handheld scanner that could be keyboard programmed without need of crystals, a new concept at the time.

BC235XLT/BC245XLT

The BC235XLT was introduced in the mid 1990’s and was the first TrunkTracker, it would scan Motorola trunked radio systems on 800 MHz. at the time. Before that one would have to enter the various channels into a scanner memory, lock out the current control channel and make a guess as to the actual users as there was no way to otherwise discriminate among them. The compact form and huge (for the time) capacity of up to 300 channels were huge selling points. The similar BC245XLT that came out a few years later added computer control and EDACS trunking to the mix.

BC780XLT

The BC780XLT was introduced in 2001 and changed the hobby more than almost any other scanner ever had. With 500 channels, the ability to track several formats of trunking, wide frequency coverage (including the Military air band) and great performance it remains a great scanner for many to this day. It was really the cream of the crop of the day.

BCD996/396 Series

The BCD996T was introduced in 2006 and replaced the BC780XLT as the flagship scanner, along with the portable version (BCD396T) it provided P25 reception and bullet proof reception along with up to 6000 channels of dynamically allocated memory. It spawned the BCD996XT and 996P2 mobiles and 396XT and 325P2 handhelds with similar features and carried on the Family arrangement of scanners where a handheld and mobile version were created. The 996/396 series introduced GPS enabled programming as well.

Home Patrol

The HomePatrol was introduced in 2010 and was the first ZIP Code enabled scanner. This truly revolutionized scanning and made it available to the masses who did not want to program a scanner, now they can just enter the ZIP Code to load the channels into the radio.

SDS100/200

The SDS100 handheld scanner was introduced in 2018, followed in 2019 with the mobile SDS200. These use the HomePatrol database but also provide excellent performance on digital simulcast systems. These systems have been the bane of scanners for as long as they have been around but finally a consumer scanner had good performance on them. With the color customizable display and ability to handle almost any type of radio system they will be the top of the heap for years to come.

Regency/RELM:

Regency, like Electra Bearcat, was an Indianapolis based scanner manufacturer that had some well-loved designs, especially in the 1970’s. Best known for its early crystal scanners, they had a large following. After many years they sold their scanner line to Uniden but a decade later came out with a new line of scanners under the RELM name that lasted only a couple years.

TMR-8H

The Regency TME-8H was an 8-channel VHF only crystal scanner from the late 1960’s. It was my first scanner, my dad had bought it for me so I could listen to him when he was working as a police officer in our hometown. We had the local channels at the time and with 8 channels I could hear all the local police and fire operations easily. 

ACTR20-6

The Regency ACTR20-6 was a 20-channel 6-band crystal-controlled scanner introduced in 1975. This was the days when an 8-channel scanner was a luxury, and one could spend more on crystals than on the scanner itself.

AOR

AOR is better known for high-end receivers rather than traditional scanners but some of their products made it to the mainstream scanner market. The AR8000 was the most notable but there were a few others that became popular. AOR receivers do not follow trunking so are pretty much relegated to the advanced hobbyist or specialty uses.

AR8000                                                       

The AOR AR-8000 was introduced in 1994 and was an early full-range and all-mode scanner with 1000 channels. It covered just about anything with antennas at the time, covering the entire shortwave, VHF and UHF bands, from 500 KHz. To 1900 MHz. It did most analog modes, including CW and SSB and was computer programmable and controllable. It was popular to use with the OptoElectronics Scout recording frequency counter and one could buy a special cable and battery door (that allowed the cable to plug into the radio) to connect the two devices. This allowed one to get a hit on the Scout and hear the traffic on the AR8000. While current scanners have the CloseCall or Spectrum Search these days this was revolutionary at the time. It was also known to have great sensitivity and worked well on the cell bands.

Other Brands:

There were many other popular brands like Robin, Midland, Cobra, RCA and others. Some were rebadges of radios made by Regency, Bearcat or GRE but many were (or are) their own designs. Many department stores of the day like Montgomery Wards, Sears and others also sold Regency or Bearcat scanners rebadged with the retailer’s name.

Monitoring Aviation with a scanner

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Listening to aircraft and airports with a scanner can be fascinating for both the aviation enthusiast and casual listener. For plane spotters scanners are an invaluable tool to determine what aircraft will be where.

There are several types of monitoring and these can be broken down into several basic types:

  • Airport traffic and ground control
  • En route traffic control
  • Air to Air
  • Ground operations

These same 4 categories are used in both civilian and military aviation; they just use different frequencies.  Military tends to be a lot heavier on the Air-to-Air traffic than civilian aviation but otherwise they are remarkably similar in structure.

Let’s start out at the local airport. There are several types of airports out there that can be pretty well categorized into 2 types: “Controlled” and “Uncontrolled”. Some Uncontrolled airfields have a ground station, some have no radio facilities at all. Most Controlled airports have separate Tower and Ground control channels and busier airports may have several of each.

Controlled Airports

Controlled Airports have a control tower that is open at least part of the day. One or more Controllers are in charge of the movements on and around the airport, the distance of the controlled airspace depends on the local conditions and area. Any aircraft operating to or from or in the vicinity of the airport has to communicate with the Tower controller.

Controlled Airports usually also have a Ground Controller; he controls movements on the ground of aircraft and vehicles on the airfield. Smaller controlled airports sometimes combine the Air Traffic Controller with the Ground Controller but larger or busier airports have separate controllers. Air Traffic Controllers operate on the “Tower” channel and ground controllers operate on the “Ground” channel. If only one person is operating then the controller will often talk on both the Ground and Tower channel at the same time.

Very busy airports, like O’Hare, Atlanta, Phoenix, L.A. etc. may have multiple Air and Ground controllers for different sections of the airport. In Phoenix for example there are Air and Ground Controllers for the north side and different controllers for the south side of the airport.

Each controller has his own frequency assigned just for him. At a small controlled airport there may be a single Tower channel and a single Ground channel. Busy airports may have 3 or more of each.

Controlled airports also usually have an “ATIS” channel. ATIS stands for Automatic Terminal Information Service. ATIS systems transmit continually on a recorded loop and includes such information as local weather conditions, what runways are in use, any special information the pilots might need (like obstructions in the area of the airport etc.) and other important information. These are great to listen to when you first arrive at the airport to watch planes but since it continually transmits you will want to lock it out pretty quickly. The recorded messages are usually a minute or so in length and plays over and over again. When condition changes they will update the ATIS message. ATIS messages are assigned a letter and the next letter up is used when they change the message. After “Z” it goes back to “A”.

Other channels seen at larger Controlled Airports include “Clearance Delivery” (channels used to provide and verify flight plan instructions), “Ground Metering” (channels used to stage aircraft before they are released to move towards the runway for takeoff) and special channels used to coordinate things like fuel trucks, de-icing operations and others. Very busy airports like O’Hare and Atlanta may have dedicated ground channels for gate areas separate from the regular Ground Control channels.

Less busy controlled airports may only operate their control tower for specific parts of the day, usually something like 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM. After hours the “Tower” channel is used as a CTAF channel like as done at uncontrolled airports.

CTAF Channels / Uncontrolled Airports

Common Traffic Advisory Frequency (CTAF) is used at airports without operating control towers. This includes controlled airports when the tower is closed and airports with no control tower at all. The CTAF could be the tower channel (at a controlled airport after hours) or some other frequency, usually a Unicom channel.

Uncontrolled airports have no control tower so all operations are handled by the pilots themselves according to rules and conventions. The CTAF is used to coordinate actions on and around the airport. Usually the pilots will broadcast their intentions on the CTAF channel so other pilots will be aware and can act accordingly. You will hear a pilot say in the blind something like “Cessna N12345 inbound Mayberry 2 miles out for Runway 21, entering right pattern”. This means the Cessna airplane with registration N12345 is 2 miles away from the airport in Mayberry and plans to land on Runway 21 and will enter the airport’s pattern to the right of the runway.

Other aircraft, vehicles on the ground and plane enthusiasts will be able then to look out for a Cessna coming in. If a plane is already doing something that might conflict with out Cessna then he will either hold back and let the Cessna do his thing or let the Cessna know to watch out or even alter his plan to accommodate him. If an airport maintenance vehicle is out working he will be able to tell if a plane is on the way in and keep clear of him or even tell him to watch for him.

Other channels on the Aircraft bands

There are many other types of channels you might come across on the aircraft bands. Some of these are listed below. Some of the descriptions and uses seem to merge or conflict but all in all the whole system seems to work pretty well.

Unicom

Unicom is often misunderstood and confused with other terms like MultiCom and CTAF. Unicom is a radio station that is used to coordinate activities but it is not staffed by a controller. An airport might have a Unicom station staffed by an airport employee or a business on the airport. There might not be someone monitoring the Unicom station at all. The Unicom channel is usually used to coordinate activities such as fuel and tie-downs, requesting ground transportation and other activities. At uncontrolled airports that have a Unicom channel assigned it is often used for pilot reports and coordination but this is more of a Multicom type operation being done on a Unicom channel.

Most controlled airports also have one or more Unicom channels assigned, often 122.950. Pilots can use the Unicom channel to contact service businesses to arrange for fuel, cars, passenger service, tie-downs and other needs.

Multicom

Multicom is similar to Unicom but there is no ground station involved. The only radios used are those in the aircraft and occasionally ground vehicles. Most air traffic operations at uncontrolled airports are actually a Multicom operation being done on a Unicom channel.

Air-to-Air channels

Air-to-Air channels con be fascinating to listen to. The most infamous is 123.450. This is often used for informal chit-chat amongst pilots. Here in the USA it is common to hear pilots exchanging pleasantries or complaining about the weather. Often a group of private aircraft travelling together might use it to coordinate flight speeds and directions.

Over the oceans, in particular the North Atlantic between the USA and UK, airliners are supposed to monitor 123.450 since they are often out of range of traffic control centers.

There are many other air-to-air channels assigned for specific uses, including Search & Rescue (SAR), Balloon operations, and training. In the Phoenix area where there are many large flight schools there are training areas with specific channels assigned to them in a similar fashion to a MultiCom/Unicom channel to coordinate activities there.

Emergency Channels

There are several channels specifically assigned for emergency use. 121.500 is the most well known. Often called “Guard” (since you are supposed to stand guard on the channel) it is the channel that one would switch to in emergencies or if no other channel exists for an important communication. 243.000 is the military equivalent.

121.500 used to be used also for ELT’s (Emergency Landing Transmitter), these are devices that transmit a specific set of beeps when a crash or hard landing is detected. Most of these have moved off to new channels but occasionally one may pop up here and there.

Ground Operations

Many airports have some sort of facilities for fuel, repairs, tie-down etc. These will often use the local Unicom channel to allow pilots to arrange these services. At controlled airports 122.950 is commonly assigned as a Unicom channel for these purposes. Some airports might have alternate Unicom channels for different FBO’s (Fixed Base Operators). Bill’s Aircraft Fuel Company may operate on one channel and Toms Flying Gas might operate on another.

Pilots can be heard calling an airport’s Unicom operator while en route to the airport to arrange a fuel truck, ride for the passengers, or to find out where they want him to park the aircraft.

At uncontrolled airports the CTAF channel is usually the same as the Unicom channel. Pilots can be heard giving position reports, coordinating operations, getting weather reports or saying hi to his buddy.

Controlled Airports usually have more ground operations and associated radio traffic. Besides the Ground controller (who controls all aircraft and vehicular movements from the gates to the runway) and Air Traffic Controller (who handles all the aircraft in the airport’s airspace as well as on the runways) there may be Gate Controllers, De-Icing operations, fuel trucks, and others operating on aviation channels. On regular Land Mobile (business and public safety) frequencies may be all kinds of operations like baggage smashers, porters, aircraft tugs, personnel transportation, security, police, fire and EMS and more. Even the newsstand in the terminal may use radios to allow the clerks to chat.

Ground Control is a fascinating system to listen to. The Ground Controller usually works in the control tower, often on the level above the air traffic controller. He is responsible for any movements on the airfield except on the runway. This includes aircraft and vehicles. The guy out cutting the grass next to the taxiway? He has to get permission from the ground controller to be there and be able to communicate by radio. Same with the guy changing the light bulbs alongside the runway and the fuel truck that has to get from one side of the airport to the other.

The Ground Controller works closely with the Air Traffic Controller so that one doesn’t have an aircraft crossing the other’s area. For example, if a plane needs to cross the active runway while taxiing from one place to another the Ground Controller will coordinate with the Air Traffic Controller to get permission to do that. When a plane has landed and leaves the runway the Air Traffic Controller will tell him to contact the ground controller in order to taxi over to the gate.

Small controlled airports might have a single controller working both Ground and Tower at the same time during slow periods. Large airports might have 3 or more Tower controllers and a like number of Ground controllers working different sections of the airport.

En Route Air Traffic Control

The USA and Canada has several Air Route Traffic Control Centers (“Centers”) scattered about the continent. Each of these Centers are responsible for aircraft movements above a certain altitude for cross country traffic. Small planes that are flying VFR (Visual Flight Rules) under a specific altitude do not normally communicate with Centers but IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) flights and commercial traffic do.

“Centers” are responsible for tracking and controlling aircraft outside of airports and Terminal Areas. Each Center (there are over 20 in the USA) has a specific area to control and all aircraft above a certain elevation must be in contact with the Center. When an aircraft moves from one center to another he is “handed off” and assigned to a new channel. Each center has assigned channels and many remote base station transceivers to allow him to talk to any aircraft in his area, which might stretch for hundreds of miles. Each Center has many channels assigned to it. Center boundaries do not follow state lines, they are set up for the more efficient handling of traffic. Albuquerque Center for example covers most of Arizona and New Mexico as well as parts of Texas.

Operating in somewhat of a similar function as the Centers are TRACONS, or Terminal Control centers. TRACONS are responsible for aircraft going into or out of a major airport and handle it between the Control Tower and Center Controller. They also have specific frequencies assigned to them. They handle “Approach” (inbound to the airport) and “Departure” (leaving the airport) traffic.

An airplane travelling between Chicago O’Hare and Phoenix might start with the Gate controller at O’Hare International Airport, then talk to the Ground Controller there, then to O’Hare Tower. After takeoff he then gets sent to O’Hare Departure at the TRACON, who then hands him off to Chicago Center. Chicago Center hands him off to Kansas City Center, then they send him to Albuquerque Center who hands him off to Phoenix Approach. At a certain point he is then assigned to the Tower controller at the Phoenix Airport and after he lands switches to the Ground Controller there and perhaps finally to the Gate Controller. Each of these controllers have separate frequencies, so the pilot might be changing frequencies 10 or more times.

Larger aircraft usually have the ability to monitor 2 or more channels at the same time and pilots usually have the frequencies they need ahead of time so it is a lot more organized than it may seem.

Flight Service Stations

Flight Service Stations (FSS) provide weather and condition updates, including from other pilots and handle flight plans both on the radio and by other means (phone etc.). There used to be a system called Flight Watch on 122.000 nationwide but these have been combined with FSS services.  If you hear a pilot talking to “Radio” then he is talking to an FSS station.

Air-to-Air traffic

Probably the most interesting thing to listen to for plane enthusiasts is Air-to-Air traffic. This is radio traffic from one aircraft to another. Some of this traffic is chit-chat among pilots and occasionally is more like CB radio than professional communications. 123.450 is a common frequency for this type of chit-chat. There are other channels (sanctioned and otherwise) used for Air-to-Air traffic.

In August each year, before, during and after the huge Oshkosh EAA fly-in there are often many groups of aircraft that fly together to the show. They will invariably find a channel to communicate to each other on.

Some more official communications include channels assigned to Search & Rescue (SAR), firefighting, helicopter coordination, and pilot training.

Most large cities have a local helicopter channel where choppers from local police, news and tourism can coordinate activities. At large events where there are several helicopters present they may arrange a rotation or specific elevations so everyone gets the shots they want safely. I have heard a few times where one helicopter will assume an informal control operation and coordinate entry, exit and rotation for the several news choppers covering a big incident. While competitors, these are professionals and they depend on each other to do their jobs safely. 123.025 is the helicopter channel in many metro areas.

SAR and firefighting operations often involve multiple aircraft. If there is a ground station controlling the activity (such as the Command Post) they communicate with them to arrange entry and exit to the affected area, water drops and where certain aircraft are going to operate. Without a ground control or command post they work these items out among themselves on an Air-to-Air frequency.

In certain areas pilot training boxes are designated and frequencies assigned. An instructor in one aircraft may communicate with the student pilot to perform maneuvers and critique them.

Arinc

Aeronautical Radio Inc., commonly referred to as Arinc, is a provider of various communications services for the airline industry all over the world.  They provide communications services for airlines both en route and at airports.

Navigational Beacons

There is a huge network of navigational beacons around the continent called VOR’s (VHF Omnidirectional Range). There are about a thousand in the USA alone. They transmit continuous low-power signals on 108 thru 118 MHz. and provide pilots with bearing and distance. A pilot can set up on a beacon and use it to guide his aircraft. While this process is being taken over by GPS more and more there are still many VOR stations scattered around the country. The often look like big white traffic cones out in the middle of a field, in areas where suburban sprawl has occurred the VOR might be mounted on a large round platform 30-50 feet above the ground.

Some VOR’s transmit a Morse Code identifier and others transmit recorded or vice-generated weather information.

Military Air operations

While most civilian aircraft operate in the 118-138 MHz. band the military has a separate aviation band from 225 thru 380 MHz. Much of the traffic is pretty similar to its civilian counterparts. Many military air bases have control tower and ground channels and local support facilities, just like civilian airports. Centers and TRACONS have radios with military channels in them. Some civilian airports that host military units or receive military aircraft also have military channels for Tower and Ground operations. Most military bases also have civilian frequency assignments at them for the occasional civilian aircraft that may have to go there or fly in the area. Often the towers or controllers simulcast on both channels at the same time so that military users will know what other aircraft are doing and vice versa. Military tower controllers often talk to civilian aircraft in the area to coordinate flights and clear traffic thru Military Operating Areas or other restricted locales.

What really separates military aviation monitoring apart from civilian is the Air-to-Air traffic. The various branches of the military have Military Operating Areas (MOA’s) spread about the country and offshore waters. These MOA’s are used to practice maneuvers, dog-fighting tactics, formations and other activities. Out west in Arizona and California there are huge bombing ranges and areas for live-fire operations. All these activities operate on the MilAir band and provide fascinating listening. With a huge swath of spectrum (155 MHz.) to play with finding these operations is a hobby unto itself. Some dedicated MilAir listeners dedicate a dozen or more scanners to search out this huge range of channels looking for new activity.

MilAir operations often use a new frequency all the time, rotate thru a couple dozen channels or just grab random frequencies. The operations are often very short and varied so it is difficult to find sometimes, this adds to the fun! While military ground and air traffic control channels usually remain constant the air-to-air and range traffic varies considerably. Some very busy areas (like the Goldwater Range in Arizona) host aircraft from multiple bases and even several military branches and air forces from other nations. They may have established Entry and Exit frequencies to coordinate aircraft going to and from the range and assign routes.

Certain military aircraft will have both civil and military radios, these include units based at or operating at civilian airports or shared facilities. Most large transport and executive aircraft will have both UNH and VHF radios. Smaller military aircraft, especially fighters, may not have civilian radios so are limited to operations at bases and civilian facilities with military channels available.

Callsigns

Every aircraft and station uses some sort of callsign on the radio. Ground stations (Tower, Ground Control Center etc.) usually identify with the airport name or city (“O’Hare Tower”, “Phoenix Ground”, “L.A. Center”, “Cleveland Approach” etc.) while aircraft identify with a variety of methods. General Aviation aircraft usually identify with the registration number, usually with the full number (“Cessna N123AB”) on the first transmission to a new target and with an abbreviated call afterwards (“Cessna 3AB”). Aircraft with some sort of flight number identify with the airline or company name or call sign and flight number. The callsign does not always reflect the name of the company, it may be an historical name or derivative chosen for a multitude of reasons. The callsign “Cactus” for instance was used by US Airways before its merger with American. Cactus had been the callsign for America West and retained when they merged with US Airways. Callsign names may be found on the internet at various sources.

It isn’t just large airlines that use tactical callsigns. Task-specific flights often do too. Skydiving flights often use some sort of callsign like “Jump Ship” or “Skydive”. Medical flights often use “Mercy” to identify as such.

How do I find aviation frequencies?

The best place for aviation channels is the internet of course. There are dozens of sites dedicated to aviation monitoring and plane spotting.

The official data is available at the FCC’s website. You can download almost any information you want there, including airport charts, terminal procedures and more and it is all the official information. They even have charts for military facilities.

Another great resource is RadioReference.com. Between the database and the forums chances are someone has the information you want there. There are also Yahoo Lists, Facebook and other forums and mailing lists dedicated to various facets of aviation monitoring.

The civilian Aircraft band is basically between 108 MHz. and 138 MHz. 108-118 MHz. is mostly beacons and VOR’s along with AWOS stations, there is no two-way traffic there. Air Traffic Control and other two-way operations are on 118-138 MHz.

The Military Band is between 225 and 380 MHz. It used to stretch up to 406 MHz. but the 380-406 MHz. range has been reallocated mostly to other military uses like base operations. There is also some military aviation use of 138-144 MHz. and 148 to 150 MHz.

What scanner do I need?

This is the easy part! All current scanners these days handle the civilian aircraft band; no special upgrades are needed. Most newer scanners also work on the military bands as well. There are however scanners that are better for the Aviation enthusiast.

The BC125AT is ideal for aviation monitoring due to its small size and Service Search features. It is small enough to fit in your shirt pocket and has easy to use Service Searches for both the Civil aircraft band and the Military Aircraft band.

Consolidated Frequency List:

Here is a listing of some of the most common aviation frequencies in use. It is no means complete, be sure to check for local frequencies at www.radioreference.com and other sources.

  • 108-118           Navigational Channels (VOR, Beacons and AWOS)
  • 118-121           Air Traffic Control
  • 121-122           Mostly ground control
  • 122-128           Air Traffic Control
  • 128-138           Company/AirInc use

Here are some interesting discrete frequencies used throughout the country:

  • 121.500           Emergency “Guard” channel
  • 122.000           Flight Watch
  • 122.700           Unicom
  • 122.725           Unicom
  • 122.750           Air to Air
  • 122.800           Unicom
  • 122.850           Multicom
  • 122.900           Multicom
  • 122.925           Multicom
  • 122.950           Unicom           (Controlled Airports)
  • 122.975           Unicom
  • 123.000           Unicom
  • 123.025           Helicopters
  • 123.050           Unicom
  • 123.075           Unicom
  • 123.100           Search & Rescue (SAR)
  • 123.450           Air to Air (chat)
  • 243.000           Military Emergency/”Guard”

Got a bad antenna? How to figure it out.

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You spent a ton of money on a new scanner and another small fortune on a fancy outside antenna and feedline. Everything worked great until one day the scanner sent silent. Now what?

Here are some steps to try and figure out what happened. Did your target move to a new frequency or radio system? Did the antenna fail? The feedline? Maybe the radio itself isn’t working. Do this stuff and you can figure out where the problem lies.

First let’s do the easy stuff. Program in the local NOAA Weather station into the scanner. These transmit continuously on 162.400 thru 162.550 MHz. This makes them a great way to test your radio setup for proper reception. It is also an easy way to compare antennas and feedlines. If your radio picks up the weather transmitter then at least the system is working properly. Compare your outside antenna to the back-of-set antenna, the outside one should work better. If it doesn’t then there is probably a problem with it.

If you cannot hear your local weather station (and you know that you could before) then you need to figure out if the problem is with the feedline, the antenna or the connectors. First do a visual inspection of the connectors on the radio and coax and look for obvious problems. If you see nothing wrong then check the other and (at the antenna). If possible use an ohmmeter and check for continuity between the two ends of the coax and that the coax is not shorted. Disconnect the antenna from the coax since some antennas show a DC short when connected.

If you can hear the weather channel then the problem is probably not the antenna. It is more likely a programming issue or perhaps your agency has change radio systems. These days it is very common for many agencies to be converting over to large area-wide digital radio systems. It is often less expensive to do that than to replace older infrastructure. Some states have built statewide systems open to all local and county agencies to use. These states include NC, SC, MI, IN, OH, IL, MN, MO and others. Check your local area at the RadioReference.com database and see if there is a new channel or system listed there. Also check at the very bottom of the county page at RadioReference. If there are regional or statewide trunking systems listed check that system for your local agency.

If you find out that your local agency has moved to a new system then it is time for either reprogramming your current radio (if it will work on the new system) or replacing it with one that is compatible. We can help you pick the right radio for your area, just call one of our scanner experts. Don’t throw away the old radio, you can still use it for other things like aircraft, railroads or whatever old channels your agency retained after moving.

Using a two-way radio as a scanner

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One of the more common question we get here at the opulent ScannerMaster Palace is how do I program this (Brand X) radio to my local systems. Usually it is one of those off-shore $40 two-way radio with unpronounceable names that are flooding the market on eBay and in stores.

The basic answer is that you don’t. These radios are intended as Ham radios and are basically toys. Some can be made to receive on VHF and UHF conventional analog channels and even talk on them.  This is not a good thing. First off the build quality on these things is poor. They are designed not for performance but for cheapness. If the radio breaks it usually cannot be repaired.

If your area still uses VHF or UHF analog channels then these might be able to be used to receive your local channels but they cannot do any type of digital or trunked system.

These cheap radios are not ideal for most monitoring anyway. They lack the features scanner buyers have come to expect such as banks, scanlists or quick-keys. They also usually do not support other typical scanner features like CloseCall, Fire tone out, easy field programming etc. They often do not work on aircraft, either civilian or military.

For not much more than you will pay for one of these cheap toys you can get a decent basic scanner like the BC125AT or WS1010 that will run rings around  them with the feature sets.  Our basic scanners start out at under $100 and have way more features than these junk toys.

Basic Troubleshooting – How to fix a silent scanner

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So your fancy scanner no longer works. Is it the scanner itself or did your local agencies move to new channels? Today we will discuss ways to find out.

The first thing I tell callers when they say their scanner is dead is to try the local weather channels. Almost everyone is in range of one of the National Weather Service radio stations on 162.400 thru 162.550. If you try each of the 7 channels (listed below) and nothing is heard then there may well be something wrong with the radio. If you have another scanner or weather radio handy try that one. If the other radio works then there is likely something wrong with the first radio.

Here are the weather frequencies that you can check to see if your scanner is working properly:

  • 162.4000
  • 162.4250
  • 162.4500
  • 162.4750
  • 162.5000
  • 162.5250
  • 162.5500

If the weather channel works on your scanner then we should look to programming. If the radio worked before but no longer hears the local police, fire or other agencies you used to listen to then they may have changed frequencies. Several states have recently updated their wide-area radio systems, if you live in Ohio, Indiana or South Carolina there is a great possibility that this is what occurred. Alternately, some agencies have switched to existing regional radio systems such as these states or those in Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin, Michigan Colorado, Louisiana and Mississippi among others.

The best thing to do is check the RadioReference.com database and forums. If you recently lost your target there is likely someone else who has also. I had a caller the other day from northern Arizona say his police department disappeared, he listened to them over the weekend and then on Monday they were gone. We found that they had just switched to a new P25 digital system. While it was not yet listed in the RadioReference database it was being discussed in the RadioReference forums for Arizona.

If all this fails and you cannot find the target anywhere by searches with the scanner there are still a couple more tricks. Remember that public safety communications systems are expensive. They don’t go out and buy them on a whim. Purchases of that size usually must be approved by the local boards, City Council, County Supervisors etc. Look at these board’s websites for meeting minutes and agenda items. This is all public information and most places these days post them to the web. You can sometimes find all kinds of interesting information on the systems, sometimes even complete technical details, frequencies and talkgroup information get put up there!

Check with your local officers and administrators. While often they might not be technically savvy they might know that “we switched to the County system” or something. Also look for the type of radio they are carrying or have installed in the vehicle. That can sometimes point to the radio system type they are using.

Once you find out what system they are using and the frequencies etc. reprogram or replace your scanner to match.

Hosting a stream

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One of the most popular ways to listen to the local scanner action these days is via a live-streaming service over the Internet. By far the largest source for this is Broadcastify.Com. While this is a great place to listen, it is dependent on someone hosting a scanner for the area you want to listen to. If no one does you can do it yourself. Here is what you need to set up your own feed:

Step 1:    Make sure there is no feed already covering the traffic you wish to stream. If there already is one look at the noted for that feed and see if there is something different that you will do.

Step 2:    If you are not already a RadioReference or Broadcastify member (with user name and password) set up an account. You can set up a free account, paid accounts offer great benefits but are not needed to host a feed. If you are already a member skip this and go to Step 3.

Step 3:    Go to the Broadcastify site and submit a Feed application. They need your information, the channels you plan to stream and some other details. Once you submit your application it takes a few days (usually) for a response, and if approved they provide a code that is entered in your feed software to enable it.

Step 4:    Set up the hardware. This is the computer that you are going to use and the radio itself. You will need an audio cable to connect the computer and radio. If you are using a Uniden scanner you can also connect a USB or serial cable so allow channel tags to be sent along with the radio traffic. See below for the best scanners to be used for feeds.

Step 5:    Set up the software. The software is free from Broadcastify, you can download it there. It is pretty simple to install and set up, print out the instructions that come with it and follow them. If you follow them correctly it will work great!

Step 6:    Adjust the levels. Once your feed is live listen to it and make sure the audio levels are set properly. If the channels you set up are not very active try programming in the local weather channel for a few minutes to use to set the levels properly. Once you have the levels set where they sound best be sure to note the settings in case you need to move something later. Don’t forget to get rid of the weather channel!

What is the best radio for a feed? Well, it is the radio you have that will listen to the traffic you want to stream. Remember, once you commit to hosting a stream that radio must be dedicated to that stream 24/7.

If the radio you use does not have a record jack then you need to set the volume and leave it where it is. Be sure to mark the level with a dab of White-Out in case it gets moved.

For feeds the Uniden BCD15X (analog) and BCD996P2 (digital) are favored by many streamers since they are reasonably priced and have a record jack on the back. The Record jack is ideal for feeds, as the sound level is not affected by the volume control. You set the sound level with the computer’s sound controls and you can use the scanner volume to allow you to listen to the scanner locally without affecting the feed volume. They also support sending channel tags so the listener can see the channel names.

Streaming hints and tricks:

No one likes to hear static, noise etc. Make sure you monitor your stream to be sure that it doesn’t lock up on noise or interference. Make sure the audio levels are good and that the feed sounds good.

How many channels can I stream? The best answer is less is more. If you have a lot of channels or a bunch of real busy ones then the scanner is going to be busy all the time and some channels are going to be missed. Some really busy feeds (like Chicago PD) have just a single channel that is active almost continuously.

What kinds of channels can I stream? These rules are listed in the Terms of Service for the streaming service. Broadcastify has rules against certain tactical or sensitive traffic. Make sure none of the channels you have include the prohibited traffic.

Can I stream 2 radios at the same time? Yes! Set up one radio to the left channel and the other to the right. Possible scenarios are police on one and fire on the other. Make sure you note this in the feed description!

What do I do if the agency doesn’t want me to stream them? Well, that is up to you. Streaming is legal and the agency cannot force you to stop streaming their traffic. They can however add encryption, then it will not be able to be heard at all by anyone.

Broadcastify has a complete set of rules and procedures on it’s page at Broadcastify.com. If you use a different service be sure to read their rules before setting up your feed.

All those weird ports on the back of the scanner

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Modern scanners have a plethora of various ports, jacks and sockets on them. Here is a look at some of them.

Taking a look at the rear panel of the BCD536HP scanner there are 6 different ports on it. From left to right they are:

  • BNC antenna jack
  • External Speaker Jack
  • USB Port (used for WiFi unit only on the 536)
  • GPS Serial Port
  • 3-pin power port
  • Coaxial power port

Other common ports on scanners include:

  • USB programming port
  • Record jack
  • Headphone jack
  • Various serial ports.

Let’s look at each port and what it is used for: (*Bonus! See below for an explanation of the weird hole smack in the middle…)

Antenna Jack:  Of course this is used to connect an antenna to the radio. Most scanners these days use BNC, the little push and turn job you see in the picture. Some handled scanners use the smaller SMA connector. Some older scanners had Motorola or even SO139 connectors and some had both an external connector and an internal threaded connector with a hole in the case to insert it.

External Speaker:  These are used to plug in an external speaker and are different than headphone jacks. Speaker Jacks do not limit the volume like a headphone jack will. When you plug in a speaker into the external speaker jack the inside speaker is disconnected.

Headphone Jack:  The Headphone jack has a limiting circuit to protect from overly loud sound that can damage your hearing. Otherwise it works much like the external speaker jack. Headphone jacks are usually in the front panel of desktop scanners while speaker jacks are usually on the rear. Handheld scanners usually just have a headphone jack on the top.

Record Jack:  The Record Jack allows one to pull audio from the scanner at a constant level that is not affected by the volume control. This is important when the radio is used as a source for recording or streaming. Some older RadioShack scanners and some current Uniden scanners have record jacks.

GPS Serial Port:  Unique to Uniden scanners, the DB-9 Serial port (male) is used mostly to connect a GPS receiver to allow location based scanning. It can also be used to program or control the scanner with the properly constructed cables. Do not confuse this with the female DB-9 port used for programming on older scanners like the BC780XLT or the BC898T

USB Programming port:  Most scanners these days use a USB-Mini port on the front or side to program and control the scanner. On many handheld scanners these ports are also used to charge the batteries and power the radio. On the BCD325P2 a special cable is used to connect a GPS to this port.

Other serial ports:  Some older scanners use different type serial ports. Older Unidens (like the “XT” series) use a unique 4-pin square connector for programming and connection of the RH-96 remote head. HP-1 and HP-2 scanners use that same port style for connecting to a GPS. Older design RadioShack/GRE/Whistler scanners use a jack that is just like a headphone jack for serial port connections.

Coaxial Power Port:  Most desktop/mobile scanners have a coaxial power port to provide 12 VDC to the scanner. There are 2 different jacks in common use. The majority of Uniden mobile and desktop scanners use a “Type M” male jack while most recent RadioShack, GRE and Whistler mobiles use a “Type T” female jack. Both use center-pin positive. Some older handheld scanners use smaller coaxial power ports but newer portable scanners usually use the USB port for charging and external power.

3-pin power port:  This is another unique to Uniden port, similar to the power port used on some of their CB products. On Uniden scanners there are the regular black and red wires for power and a third orange wire used to control the brightness of the display when connected to the lighting circuits of the car.

Discriminator Jack:  This is probably the most popular jack that doesn’t come on scanners. Discriminator audio is used to provide an unfiltered audio source mostly for data decoding. This type of decoding usually does not work from the record or speaker jacks due to the filtering circuitry in the radio. Scanners usually do not come with jacks for this but it is often added on by advanced scanner hobbyists to allow data decoding.

 

Bonus Round

See that threaded hole smack in the middle of the back panel in the picture at the top of the page? Most Uniden base/mobile scanners have that. It is used to allow a rear bracket to stabilize the radio under the dashboard. It is not mentioned in the owner’s manuals but is shown in the diagrams.

FRS/GMRS/MURS/CB: The Personal Radio Services

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Anyone can use one of several types of two-way radios, most of which do not require a license. From something the kids can play with to serious business uses there are a bunch of different types of varying quality and usefulness. These are called CB, FRS, MURS and GMRS. Only GMRS requires a license, the others do not. Each of the four services have different intended functions.

  • FRS: Family Radio Service (low power, short range, intended for families and individuals)
  • GMRS: General Mobile Radio Service (high power, longer range, intended for families)
  • MURS: Multiple Use Radio Service (mid-power, medium range, intended for business)
  • CB: Citizen’s Band Radio Service (low power mobile)

You ever go into Wal-Mart or Best Buy and see those cheap little two-way radios encased in one of the most devious inventions of man-kind (Bubble Packs)? They boast wild range figures (“35 mile Range!”) and are made by many different companies like Motorola, Midland and Cobra. These are called “FRS Radios” (Family Radio Service). FRS radios are restricted to ½ watt, non-removable antennas and are intended for short-range person-to-person communications. While titled as the Family Radio Service they are commonly used by businesses and government organizations. In my neighborhood I hear construction crews, hunters, the local school and the golf course maintainers on FRS channels. Just about everything but families… There are few restrictions on what you can use it for so business and personal communications are allowed.

FRS is actually pretty interesting to listen to in many cases. While a lot of the traffic is inane nonsense, like kids wearing out the noisemaking alert beep button, occasionally there is some interesting stuff to listen to. I live in a fairly isolated area 20 miles from the nearest town. There is construction going on and the crews use several FRS channels to coordinate activities. There is a school in the area that uses FRS radios too. The golf course guys use FRS when performing maintenance or to corral loose duffers. Local landscapers use FRS as well.

Listening to FRS channels at the mall or around amusement parks etc. can also be fun. The stores and shops often use FRS radios for clerks and stockers, customers use them to keep in touch with their family.

A lot of the FRS channels are shared with GMRS, so listening to one set of frequencies you may hear both services.

GMRS is a little different than FRS. Since a license is required and power levels are higher they tend to be used in a more formal matter. FRS also allows repeaters so you may hear traffic from all over the area. GMRS is often used by REACT and other volunteers as well as family businesses and often for just idle chit-chat and radio clubs. Sometimes it sounds a lot like ham radio.

MURS can be very interesting. It is on VHF and allows higher power than FRS but in many other aspects it is very similar. Like FRS there are few restrictions on what you can use it for. Since the radios tend to be a little more expensive MURS channels tend to be more business oriented.

CB these days is mostly a wasteland of unintelligible noise. It is still popular with the highway crowd but between high-power illegal amplifiers, over-driven power echo-mics and other noisemakers it is no longer a viable communications tool. It can be interesting to listen to however!

If you put these frequencies in your scanner you may find some interesting communications. You might also be bored silly but you won’t know until you try it.

General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS)

  • Freq (MHz)              Remarks                  
  • 462.5500                 Repeater Output/Simplex    (Repeats 467.5500)
  • 462.5750                 Repeater Output/Simplex    (Repeats 467.5750)
  • 462.6000                 Repeater Output/Simplex    (Repeats 467.6000)
  • 462.6250                 Repeater Output/Simplex    (Repeats 467.6250)
  • 462.6500                 Repeater Output/Simplex    (Repeats 467.6500)
  • 462.6750                 Repeater Output/Simplex    (Repeats 467.6750)
  • 462.7000                 Repeater Output/Simplex    (Repeats 467.7000)
  • 462.7250                 Repeater Output/Simplex    (Repeats 467.7250)
  • 462.5625                 Simplex (5 watts)
  • 462.5875                 Simplex (5 watts)
  • 462.6125                 Simplex (5 watts)
  • 462.6375                 Simplex (5 watts)
  • 462.6625                 Simplex (5 watts)
  • 462.6875                 Simplex (5 watts)
  • 462.7125                 Simplex (5 watts)

Family Radio Service (FRS)

  • Freq (MHz)              Ch #         
  • 462.5625                 1
  • 462.5875                 2
  • 462.6125                 3
  • 462.6375                 4
  • 462.6625                 5
  • 462.6875                 6
  • 462.7125                 7
  • 467.5625                 8
  • 467.5875                 9
  • 467.6125                 10
  • 467.6375                 11
  • 467.6625                 12
  • 467.6875                 13
  • 467.7125                 14
  • 462.5500                 15 (Shared with GMRS)
  • 462.5750                 16 (Shared with GMRS)
  • 462.6000                 17 (Shared with GMRS)
  • 462.6250                 18 (Shared with GMRS)
  • 462.6500                 19 (Shared with GMRS)
  • 462.6750                 20 (Shared with GMRS)
  • 462.7000                 21 (Shared with GMRS)
  • 462.7250                 22 (Shared with GMRS)

Multiple Use Radio Service (MURS)

  • Freq (MHz)                                                 
  • 151.8200
  • 151.8800
  • 151.9400
  • 154.5700
  • 154.6000

Citizens Band (CB)           

  • Freq         Ch #          Freq         Ch #         
  • 26.965    1                27.215    21
  • 26.975    2                27.225    22
  • 26.985    3                27.255    23
  • 27.005    4                27.235    24
  • 27.015    5                27.245    25
  • 27.025    6                27.265    26
  • 27.035    7                27.275    27
  • 27.055    8                27.285    28
  • 27.065    9                27.295    29
  • 27.075    10             27.305    30
  • 27.085    11             27.315    31
  • 27.105    12             27.325    32
  • 27.115    13             27.335    33
  • 27.125    14             27.345    34
  • 27.135    15             27.355    35
  • 27.155    16             27.365    36
  • 27.165    17             27.375    37
  • 27.175    18             27.385    38
  • 27.185    19             27.395    39
  • 27.205    20             27.405    40

Basic Scanner Types

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There are basically 3 different types of scanners, “Basic” “Digital” and “ZIP Code”. Which one is best for you depends on the systems used in your area. There are 2 basic formats of scanners, handheld and desktop/mobile.

What we call “Basic” scanners are those inexpensive scanners that usually have analog reception only and do not handle any type of trunking systems. Current “Basic” scanners include the Uniden BC75XLT, BC125AT and BC365CRS as well as the Whistler WS1010 and WS1025. These scanners are fine in areas that do not use digital or trunking systems, they also work well for aircraft, marine and railroad monitoring.

“Digital” scanners have the ability to monitor digital and analog trunking systems (EDACS, Motorola, LTR, P25). Some of these scanners also include “Phase 2” systems, which is a newer form of P25. Some radios also will allow you to monitor ProVoice, DMR or NXDN digital systems.

“ZIP Code” or “Database” type scanners are digital trunking scanners that allow one to select a specific area and import channels from an on-board memory card. These memory cards can be updated when needed. These will work almost anywhere in the country and are ideal for those who travel often.

What scanner is best for you? Call us and we can help you decide. We have access to the world’s largest database of scanner frequencies and can quickly look up your area and let you know which radios would work best for you.

When you do call us we will ask a couple questions, including the location you wish to monitor and what format radio you want. With this information we can make a couple suggestions of scanners that will work in your area.

Most of the time we can suggest a couple different scanners with different feature levels. Conversely if you have your heart set on a specific radio we can tell you whether or not it should work in your area.