Why do people listen to scanners? Probably for the same reason that people watch such show as "Cops", "Trauma, Life in the ER" or "World's Wildest Police Videos" These popular TV programs are reality based. What happened to the people on these shows actually happened. However with scanners what your hear is real life but it is happening right now. With a scanner you are not restricted to listening to just the police, ambulance or fire departments. You can hear fast food employees insulting drive thru customers who have placed large orders. A trip to your local shopping mall can be interesting by listening in to the security guards chasing shoplifters. There is virtually no limits as to what you can listen to on a scanner becase anything that transmits a radio signal can be monitored. In addition it's all unscripted and unedited.

Now that you are Interested in scanning and you are choosing your first scanner how do you know which scanner to buy? The scanner that will best suit your needs depends on your budget and the frequencies that you are interested in monitoring. If your local police use a conventional VHF or UHF radio system then a scanner that has less than fifty channels will do. If however your local police use the 800 MHz trunking system you (many law enforcement agencies, fire departments, etc. do) will have to pay out 100 or more dollars for a scanner that covers this frequency range and the ability to separate the channels into banks. If you are just looking to keep an ear on your local police, fire, etc. If you are also interested in monitoring other stuff, (cordless phones, government agencies, military, railroads, coast guards, security companies, tow trucks, oil companies, trucking companies, taxis, etc.) then the more channels that you will need.

The next decision that you will have to make is to get a base scanner or a portable scanner. A base scanner sits on table top and plugs into a wall outlet. This is the perfect type of scanner for monitoring from the confort of your own armchir. A portable scanner is battery operated and can be taken to anywhere you go. Using portable scanners at airshows, auto races, etc. is extremely popular. In some places using a portable scanner in a vehicle is prohibited by law so check before with your local authorities before buying a portable scanner. If you choose to buy a portable scanner you must never, ever go chasing the police or fire fighters just let them do their jobs. They don't need a bunch of scanner toting yahoos gawking at a crime or fire scene. Listening in on what's actually happening is a lot more fun too because you hear about what is happening in your communtity before other people hear about it on the local news. Monitoring your local airwaves is an exiting hobby that will keep you glued to the edge of your seat.
Happy Monitoring!
Bill and Blair
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