Thread: Frequency Scanning

Another passion of mine is scanning radio frequencies. And before anyone jumps in and says the commonly heard phrase "but isn't that illegal??".... its not.
As long as your unit is a "receiver" and not a "transceiver" (meaning 'can send a signal') you're in the clear.
Secondly, they only become an issue if you act on the information that you receive over the air. So if you're caught at every location that the police or any emergency service attend... you don't have my sympathy.

It has been a heated debate over the recent years about the availability of scanners, which can be easily purchased from any Dick Smith or electronics store, and can fall into the hands of the wrong people (aka Crims).
However, these days your common little UHF handheld CB radio is also becoming another unliked tool of the local police, in that it is an early warning system for the local hoons to evacuate the area upon sight of the checkered door panels.
From my intentions of applying to join the police service, the ideas of scanners in the general community is not inviting, but what more can you do? The police have been asking for scrambled digital signals ever since they converted to digital radios. They are still waiting.

I enjoy listening to the local Police, Fire, Ambulance, Taxi's, Airport, Security companies, and all the UHF CB frequencies. The scanner gets a good workout on the highways for information relating to vehicle accidents and traffic hazards to stay well away from.

Cul

Yeah that is what I was saying. They are trying to scramble the digital signal. Much the same as your special UHF CB functions that you can select specific units to hear your signal, but anyone else listening in hears a whole heap of jumbled up noise.

However, after all the trouble that our local police had when they converted to digital radios... a lot of complaints flooded in from officers and I think they don't want to go changing anything else just for the meantime...

The emergency services have many available frequencies that go way beyond the frequency range capabilities of your over the counter scanning unit, so it suprises me why they haven't started using those frequencies?? I guess there is some motive behind the decisions made.

Cul