Scanner School - Everything you wanted to know about the Scanner Radio Hobby

In today's podcast, we are going to talk with our special guest Esteban Reyes. Esteban is a Tik Tok creator who helps people with scanner radio hobby, and he is here today to talk about how social media and scanning go together.

You can find Eteban on TikTok under the username 626HawkEye

What You Need To Know

• Social media is an important tool when it comes to bringing people together online.
• It gives people access to others who share the same interests, beliefs, and thoughts.
• Tik Tok was used to be for kids, but now you can find a ton of short educational form content over on Tik Tok.
• Many radio operators on social media share their thoughts and ideas about scanner radio hobby and what they love to do with their radios.
• Esteban has been creating TikTok videos for some time to teach others about the scanner radio hobby.
• Esteban came to scanner radio hobby back in 2005 or 2006 as an interest in security in Los Angeles.
• Tik Tok is more personal social platform because you get to see the person talking or doing something.
• You can easilty interact between audience and creater
• Tik Tok is very personal because it's very raw. When you go over to YouTube, you expect a steady camera, a little bit of editing, and a good microphone, but when you are on Tik Tok, simple expectation is handheld phone in your face, which makes it easy to get into.
• Esteban sees scanner programming questions more on social platforms, and there are people that will walk you through the comments or private messages until you get it.
• There are people in the social media groups already that are familiar with scanners, and these groups can help you, either get into the hobby or help you with your scanner if you have problems.
• There are a lot of different layers in the scanners, and it's not as simple as turning switches off and on anymore, and we can see how a lot of people get very frustrated with it.
• One of the things Esteban enjoy is seeing other people's radio shacks and even antenna ideas. There are several ways you can set up your radios, from having a custom-built rack to getting scanner master cell racks for radios.

====================================

🔗 Links from today's podcast:

Esteban's TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@626hawkeye

Scanner School's TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scannerschool

====================================

🎙 Join our new Scanner Radio Community

====================================

Join our FREE Discord server and connect with other Scanner Radio Users!

By using Discord, a free, multi-platform community portal, you can now be part of the Scanner Radio Discussion!

Chat real time, share photos, ask questions, and give feedback to other's in chat.

🔗 https://www.scannerschool.com/discord

====================================

🎓 Check out our online courses

====================================

Our free Software Defined Radio course will have you up and running with a SDR in a weekend.

Upgrade to our Advanced Course, and learn how to setup SDR Software like a pro.

🔗 https://www.courses.scannerschool.com

====================================

⚠️ I want to answer your questions

====================================

I am always looking to answer your scanner radio question.

If you have a question you'd like answered, please leave me a voicemail with your question:

📞 516-308-2885

🔗 https://www.scannerschool.com/ask

====================================

🏆 Thank you Patreon Supporters

====================================

Thank you to all monthly Patreon Supporters.

Supporting the podcast can be done for as little as $1 per month.

Supporters at the $3 and $5 level will receive the podcast without the middle commercial break.

Supporters at the $5 level not only receive the podcast early, but they also get access to discount codes, monthly zoom meetings, and Squelchy sticker packs.

🔗 Join our Patreon program at https://www.scannerschool.com/patreon

====================================

🎥 Subscribe to our growing YouTube Channel

====================================

We are live once a month on YouTube to answer your questions. 2022 will be the year of Video for Scanner School Be ready for the upcoming videos by subscribing now to our YouTube channel

🔗 https://www.scannerschool.com/youtube

====================================

➡️ Follow Scanner School on Social Media

====================================

▶︎ Twitter - https://www.scannerschool.com/twitter

▶︎ Facebook Page - https://www.scannerschool.com/facebook

▶︎ Facebook Community - https://www.scannerschool.com/faceboo...

▶︎ Instagram - https://www.scannerschool.com/instagram

▶︎ TikTok - https://www.scannerschool.com/tiktok

====================================

All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at

https://www.scannerschool.com/session226

#podcast

Do live scanner feeds have hurt the hobby? There are many different ways to get scanner radios onto the internet, and it's just a matter of the way of developing or delivering the content.

What You Need To Know

Many stream to:

• Their own websites
• Broadcastify
• Twitch
• Zello
• Private in house systems and applications

Live streams are used by:

• News media
• Other public safety agencies
• Hobby

How can you listen to live feeds?

• Host's website on your computer
• Smart phone apps like "Scanner Radio" or "5 0 Radio"
• Broadcastify
• Zello
• Discord Servers

Pros:

• Allow you to listen to events outside your coverage area
• Can tap into major events
• Hear breaking news as it happens

Cons:

• Can be used to coordinate civil disobedience
• Used as a reason by agencies to push for encryption
• Can be used in a negative way if media wants to scrutinize how emergency services responded

Final Thoughts:

• Hobby has more attention to it thanks to live feeds and use of live feeds in news reports
• It has allowed more to experience a scanner radio over an app, and those may never have understood what a scanner was or can do.
• Allowed agencies to realize they can co-exist with scanner radio users

====================================

🎙 Join our new Scanner Radio Community

====================================

Join our FREE Discord server and connect with other Scanner Radio Users!

By using Discord, a free, multi-platform community portal, you can now be part of the Scanner Radio Discussion!

Chat real time, share photos, ask questions, and give feedback to other's in chat.

🔗 https://www.scannerschool.com/discord

====================================

🎓 Check out our online courses

====================================

Our free Software Defined Radio course will have you up and running with a SDR in a weekend.

Upgrade to our Advanced Course, and learn how to setup SDR Software like a pro.

🔗 https://www.courses.scannerschool.com

====================================

⚠️ I want to answer your questions

====================================

I am always looking to answer your scanner radio question.

If you have a question you'd like answered, please leave me a voicemail with your question:

📞 516-308-2885

🔗 https://www.scannerschool.com/ask

====================================

🏆 Thank you Patreon Supporters

====================================

Thank you to all monthly Patreon Supporters.

Supporting the podcast can be done for as little as $1 per month.

Supporters at the $3 and $5 level will receive the podcast without the middle commercial break.

Supporters at the $5 level not only receive the podcast early, but they also get access to discount codes, monthly zoom meetings, and Squelchy sticker packs.

🔗 Join our Patreon program at https://www.scannerschool.com/patreon

====================================

🎥 Subscribe to our growing YouTube Channel

====================================

We are live once a month on YouTube to answer your questions. 2022 will be the year of Video for Scanner School Be ready for the upcoming videos by subscribing now to our YouTube channel

🔗 https://www.scannerschool.com/youtube

====================================

➡️ Follow Scanner School on Social Media

====================================

▶︎ Twitter - https://www.scannerschool.com/twitter

▶︎ Facebook Page - https://www.scannerschool.com/facebook

▶︎ Facebook Community - https://www.scannerschool.com/faceboo...

▶︎ Instagram - https://www.scannerschool.com/instagram

▶︎ TikTok - https://www.scannerschool.com/tiktok

====================================

All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at

https://www.scannerschool.com/session225

#podcast

Every month I answer your questions on the podcast.

If you have a question you would like me to answer, please leave me a voicemail at 516-308-2885 or by visiting www.scannerschool.com/ask

Don't forget to join us on YouTube on the first Tuesday of every month for our live Q&A session. Click here to Subscribe!

Questions answered on this week's podcast

• Ed needs help with accessing GMRS repeaters in his area.
• Jake would like help understanding quick keys on his Uniden BCD996P2
• Scott is looking for help with setting up his new SDS200 scanner.

====================================

🎙 Join our new Scanner Radio Community

====================================

Join our FREE Discord server and connect with other Scanner Radio Users!

By using Discord, a free, multi-platform community portal, you can now be part of the Scanner Radio Discussion!

Chat real time, share photos, ask questions, and give feedback to other's in chat.

🔗 https://www.scannerschool.com/discord

====================================

🎓 Check out our online courses

====================================

Our free Software Defined Radio course will have you up and running with a SDR in a weekend.

Upgrade to our Advanced Course, and learn how to setup SDR Software like a pro.

🔗 https://www.courses.scannerschool.com

====================================

⚠️ I want to answer your questions

====================================

I am always looking to answer your scanner radio question.

If you have a question you'd like answered, please leave me a voicemail with your question:

📞 516-308-2885

🔗 https://www.scannerschool.com/ask

====================================

🏆 Thank you Patreon Supporters

====================================

Thank you to all monthly Patreon Supporters.

Supporting the podcast can be done for as little as $1 per month.

Supporters at the $3 and $5 level will receive the podcast without the middle commercial break.

Supporters at the $5 level not only receive the podcast early, but they also get access to discount codes, monthly zoom meetings, and Squelchy sticker packs.

🔗 Join our Patreon program at https://www.scannerschool.com/patreon

====================================

🎥 Subscribe to our growing YouTube Channel

====================================

We are live once a month on YouTube to answer your questions. 2022 will be the year of Video for Scanner School Be ready for the upcoming videos by subscribing now to our YouTube channel

🔗 https://www.scannerschool.com/youtube

====================================

➡️ Follow Scanner School on Social Media

====================================

▶︎ Twitter - https://www.scannerschool.com/twitter

▶︎ Facebook Page - https://www.scannerschool.com/facebook

▶︎ Facebook Community - https://www.scannerschool.com/faceboo...

▶︎ Instagram - https://www.scannerschool.com/instagram

▶︎ TikTok - https://www.scannerschool.com/tiktok

====================================

All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at https://www.scannerschool.com/session224

#podcast

This week we are talking about Bill Cheek, a huge pioneer in the scanner radio world

If he was still alive today and saw what is available in the scanner radio market, he would probably lose his mind

Maybe he would have realized his life goal and would have built a scanner that would completely turn the market on its head.

What You Need To Know

• If you were active in the scanner radio hobby in the 90's, there is a good chance that you have heard the name Bill Cheek.
• He authored several books like the Scanner Modification Handbook Volume One and Two, The Ultimate Scanner, and Scanners and Secret Frequencies.
• He loved to modify radios, and he loved to write about what he was doing so that he could teach other people how to do what he was doing.
• Bill used to run a bulletin board system to share information with users.
• He published Full disclosure magazine
• He also published "World Scanner Report"
• The World Scanner Report can be found on the Internet Archive
• Bill also COMMtronics Engineering.
• Bill also wrote for Popular Communications Magazine and Monitoring Times
• Bill was known for documenting discriminator taps in multiple different radios.
• COMMtronics used to sells kits that would take the discriminated baseband audio from a scanner and feed it to a computer, allowing you to pass bits and bytes from your scanner radio receiving over the air and send them out to your computer.
• Bill has the information for how to tap your scanner on his website, but he also had the plans on his website on how to build an interface that would take the audio from your scanner and interface it with your computer.
• Bill's hardware and the supplied software allowed users to see over the air unencrypted data traffic, such as MDT traffic.
• Bill found himself in a lot of hot water because sold the devices that allowed people to monitor MDT.
• The device was not made specifically to monitor MDT data and was up to the end users to use it responsibly and legally.
• According to the complaint, a couple of New York City police officers ordered five kits off the internet from Bill.
• They claim that the kits unscramble the encrypted messages passed between the mainframe computers at police and fire departments to those onboard computers or mobile data terminals in the cars.
• Nassau County police had 93 pages of MDT data traffic posted on a public website by scanner radio user in Nassau County, New York.
• At the age of 53, Bill found out he had lung cancer.
• Fortunately for Cindy Cheek, all the charges against her were eventually dropped
• In 2000, Bill passed away.

====================================

🔗 Links for this week:

====================================

Bill's Publications on the Internet Archive

====================================

🎙 Join our new Scanner Radio Community

====================================

Join our FREE Discord server and connect with other Scanner Radio Users!

By using Discord, a free, multi-platform community portal, you can now be part of the Scanner Radio Discussion!

Chat real time, share photos, ask questions, and give feedback to other's in chat.

🔗 https://www.scannerschool.com/discord

====================================

🎓 Check out our online courses

====================================

Our free Software Defined Radio course will have you up and running with a SDR in a weekend.

Upgrade to our Advanced Course, and learn how to setup SDR Software like a pro.

🔗 https://www.courses.scannerschool.com

====================================

⚠️ I want to answer your questions

====================================

I am always looking to answer your scanner radio question.

If you have a question you'd like answered, please leave me a voicemail with your question:

📞 516-308-2885

🔗 https://www.scannerschool.com/ask

====================================

🏆 Thank you Patreon Supporters

====================================

Thank you to all monthly Patreon Supporters.

Supporting the podcast can be done for as little as $1 per month.

Supporters at the $3 and $5 level will receive the podcast without the middle commercial break.

Supporters at the $5 level not only receive the podcast early, but they also get access to discount codes, monthly zoom meetings, and Squelchy sticker packs.

🔗 Join our Patreon program at https://www.scannerschool.com/patreon

====================================

🎥 Subscribe to our growing YouTube Channel

====================================

We are live once a month on YouTube to answer your questions. 2022 will be the year of Video for Scanner School Be ready for the upcoming videos by subscribing now to our YouTube channel

🔗 https://www.scannerschool.com/youtube

====================================

➡️ Follow Scanner School on Social Media

====================================

▶︎ Twitter - https://www.scannerschool.com/twitter

▶︎ Facebook Page - https://www.scannerschool.com/facebook

▶︎ Facebook Community - https://www.scannerschool.com/faceboo...

▶︎ Instagram - https://www.scannerschool.com/instagram

▶︎ TikTok - https://www.scannerschool.com/tiktok

====================================

All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at

https://www.scannerschool.com/session223

#podcast

Today, we discuss optimizing your scanner for multiple sites in a trunk system.

A couple of weeks ago, we talked about setting up your scanner and optimizing it for a typical scan list, but today we will dive into this topic a little bit deeper.

What You Need To Know

• When discussing Trunked systems, a site may not be one specific location or one particular transmitter.
• Instead, it may be one tower, one transmitter location, or a collection of transmitter locations networked together.
• Simulcast are networked transmitters that key up at the same as a single large "site".
• When programming your Uniden DMA scanners, quick keys are assigned to sites and not systems.
• In a Uniden DMA platform, we can assign each site their own key, or multiple sites to a single key.
• This allows us to optimized our scanner's resources on the fly and toggle only what we need to scan.
• Uniden home patrol is slightly different because we have different ways of setting up and configuring our scanner.
• We use favorites lists in the home patrol. We also use system quick keys, and then we can also use site and department quick keys.
• need to create multiple trunk systems and then multiple sets of talk groups.
• When programming your Wistler Object Oriented Scanners, Talk groups are assigned to keys, not systems or sites.
• This means if we want to toggle sites, we need to program talk groups in multiple times.
• We will also need to setup multiple systems with smaller site lists and assign talk groups to these systems if we want to toggle site scan lists
• Whistler gives us another option that we can toggle in our system settings:
  • Stationary – Scans all sites and all CC's programmed into a system
  • Roam – Scans all CC's and stays on the best site until threasholds are met.
  • Off – Stops on the first CC and will not move until signal is lost.
• Thesholdhi and ThresholdLo are two settings that we can adjust on the Whistler models that I wish were options on all scanners.

====================================

🎙 Join our new Scanner Radio Community

====================================

Join our FREE Discord server and connect with other Scanner Radio Users!

By using Discord, a free, multi-platform community portal, you can now be part of the Scanner Radio Discussion!

Chat real time, share photos, ask questions, and give feedback to other's in chat.

🔗 https://www.scannerschool.com/discord

====================================

🎓 Check out our online courses

====================================

Our free Software Defined Radio course will have you up and running with a SDR in a weekend.

Upgrade to our Advanced Course, and learn how to setup SDR Software like a pro.

🔗 https://www.courses.scannerschool.com

====================================

⚠️ I want to answer your questions

====================================

I am always looking to answer your scanner radio question.

If you have a question you'd like answered, please leave me a voicemail with your question:

📞 516-308-2885

🔗 https://www.scannerschool.com/ask

====================================

🏆 Thank you Patreon Supporters

====================================

Thank you to all monthly Patreon Supporters.

Supporting the podcast can be done for as little as $1 per month.

Supporters at the $3 and $5 level will receive the podcast without the middle commercial break.

Supporters at the $5 level not only receive the podcast early, but they also get access to discount codes, monthly zoom meetings, and Squelchy sticker packs.

🔗 Join our Patreon program at https://www.scannerschool.com/patreon

====================================

🎥 Subscribe to our growing YouTube Channel

====================================

We are live once a month on YouTube to answer your questions. 2022 will be the year of Video for Scanner School Be ready for the upcoming videos by subscribing now to our YouTube channel

🔗 https://www.scannerschool.com/youtube

====================================

➡️ Follow Scanner School on Social Media

====================================

▶︎ Twitter - https://www.scannerschool.com/twitter

▶︎ Facebook Page - https://www.scannerschool.com/facebook

▶︎ Facebook Community - https://www.scannerschool.com/faceboo...

▶︎ Instagram - https://www.scannerschool.com/instagram

▶︎ TikTok - https://www.scannerschool.com/tiktok

====================================

All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at

https://www.scannerschool.com/session222

#podcast

Chris Parris returns to the podcast to talk about the biggest football game of the year. Chris was last on the podcast to talk about Federal Scanning.

Chris writes a monthly column for the spectrum monitor, an online digital magazine dedicated to the radio monitoring hobby, including scanning and shortwave listening.

Chris's column, "The Fed Files", has been a favorite of mine since he was writing for Monitor Times magazine, and his website is full of great information when it comes to federal monitoring.

What You Need To Know

• Chris's daily job has him in some very interesting locations, including monitoring the big super football game that happens at the end of every NFL season.
• The company Chris worked for provides technical support for the television broadcasts that come out of the Super Bowl, and he has done probably 17 Super Bowls in total.
• We talk about how Chris prepares his scanners before each trip.
• His scanning equipment varies from trip to trip.
• Chris tried different types of radios, brought more base stations than handheld, or sometimes brought more handhelds than base stations.
• Chris's routine usually is to leave TRX-1 TRX-2 run for a day, and when he comes in first thing in the morning before the next day of work, he will sit down and listen to or redownload the recordings see what he picked up.
• The LA area is very heavily active with radio channels. The stadium was in Englewood, California, so the Englewood Police Department had their radio system set up and ran for this event. In addition, the California highway patrol was there.
• The actual stadium itself has a trunk DMR system for its operations, and it was completely encrypted.
• All the NFL radios for the game operations and so forth were encrypted.
• There was a lot of radio traffic going on during and before the game.
• Chris was impressed by the military air monitors in Southern California because literally within less than a minute, multiple people posted online details on what he heard.

====================================

🎙 Join our new Scanner Radio Community

====================================

Join our FREE Discord server and connect with other Scanner Radio Users!

By using Discord, a free, multi-platform community portal, you can now be part of the Scanner Radio Discussion!

Chat real time, share photos, ask questions, and give feedback to other's in chat.

🔗 https://www.scannerschool.com/discord

====================================

🎓 Check out our online courses

====================================

Our free Software Defined Radio course will have you up and running with a SDR in a weekend.

Upgrade to our Advanced Course, and learn how to setup SDR Software like a pro.

🔗 https://www.courses.scannerschool.com

====================================

⚠️ I want to answer your questions

====================================

I am always looking to answer your scanner radio question.

If you have a question you'd like answered, please leave me a voicemail with your question:

📞 516-308-2885

🔗 https://www.scannerschool.com/ask

====================================

🏆 Thank you Patreon Supporters

====================================

Thank you to all monthly Patreon Supporters.

Supporting the podcast can be done for as little as $1 per month.

Supporters at the $3 and $5 level will receive the podcast without the middle commercial break.

Supporters at the $5 level not only receive the podcast early, but they also get access to discount codes, monthly zoom meetings, and Squelchy sticker packs.

🔗 Join our Patreon program at https://www.scannerschool.com/patreon

====================================

🎥 Subscribe to our growing YouTube Channel

====================================

We are live once a month on YouTube to answer your questions. 2022 will be the year of Video for Scanner School Be ready for the upcoming videos by subscribing now to our YouTube channel

🔗 https://www.scannerschool.com/youtube

====================================

➡️ Follow Scanner School on Social Media

====================================

▶︎ Twitter - https://www.scannerschool.com/twitter

▶︎ Facebook Page - https://www.scannerschool.com/facebook

▶︎ Facebook Community - https://www.scannerschool.com/faceboo...

▶︎ Instagram - https://www.scannerschool.com/instagram

▶︎ TikTok - https://www.scannerschool.com/tiktok

====================================

All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at

https://www.scannerschool.com/session221

#podcast

Here is a question that I get asked from time to time:

"How do I optimize the scanning lists in my scanner?"

This is an important question, because when our scanners are scanning, we can miss transmissions elsewhere. So it is important to be as efficient as possible when setting up your scan lists.

Now, the answer may not be as straight forward as you might think, so here is my thought process on setting up a scan list on a radio:

What You Need To Know

• We break down several different scenairos on the podcast and what might work best for each one
• Conventional memory planning is the easiest and most straight forward
• Dynamic Memory Allocation makes setting up scan lists a little easier than hard coded frequencies per bank units do
• Each time a scanner enters a trunk site, it has to sit an monitor that site
• This can slow down our scanners if we have multiple trunk sites on a system
• This can also slow down our scanners if we have many trunk systems in our scan lists
• The trick is to balance out what we are trying to accomplish with our scan lists
• It doesn't hurt to setup different scan list configurations and see what works best for you
• Sometimes splitting the load between multiple radios can be the most efficient way of scanning

====================================

🎙 Join our new Scanner Radio Community

====================================

Join our FREE Discord server and connect with other Scanner Radio Users!

By using Discord, a free, multi-platform community portal, you can now be part of the Scanner Radio Discussion!

Chat real time, share photos, ask questions, and give feedback to other's in chat.

🔗 https://www.scannerschool.com/discord

====================================

🎓 Check out our online courses

====================================

Our free Software Defined Radio course will have you up and running with a SDR in a weekend.

Upgrade to our Advanced Course, and learn how to setup SDR Software like a pro.

🔗 https://www.courses.scannerschool.com

====================================

⚠️ I want to answer your questions

====================================

I am always looking to answer your scanner radio question.

If you have a question you'd like answered, please leave me a voicemail with your question:

📞 516-308-2885

🔗 https://www.scannerschool.com/ask

====================================

🏆 Thank you Patreon Supporters

====================================

Thank you to all monthly Patreon Supporters.

Supporting the podcast can be done for as little as $1 per month.

Supporters at the $3 and $5 level will receive the podcast without the middle commercial break.

Supporters at the $5 level not only receive the podcast early, but they also get access to discount codes, monthly zoom meetings, and Squelchy sticker packs.

🔗 Join our Patreon program at https://www.scannerschool.com/patreon

====================================

🎥 Subscribe to our growing YouTube Channel

====================================

We are live once a month on YouTube to answer your questions. 2022 will be the year of Video for Scanner School Be ready for the upcoming videos by subscribing now to our YouTube channel

🔗 https://www.scannerschool.com/youtube

====================================

➡️ Follow Scanner School on Social Media

====================================

▶︎ Twitter - https://www.scannerschool.com/twitter

▶︎ Facebook Page - https://www.scannerschool.com/facebook

▶︎ Facebook Community - https://www.scannerschool.com/faceboo...

▶︎ Instagram - https://www.scannerschool.com/instagram

▶︎ TikTok - https://www.scannerschool.com/tiktok

====================================

All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at

https://www.scannerschool.com/session220

#podcast

Every month I answer your questions on the podcast.

If you have a question you would like me to answer, please leave me a voicemail at 516-308-2885 or by visiting www.scannerschool.com/ask

Don't forget to join us on YouTube on the first Tuesday of every month for our live Q&A session. Click here to Subscribe!

Questions from this month

• Joe has a question about receiving the Connecticut Land Mobile Radio Network (CLMRN) and the Bristol P25 system.
• Garrett from the San Francisco Bay area has a question about the East Bay Regional Communications System (EBRCS) in Alameda County, CA.
• Jack from Idaho has a problem with his Windows computer and communicating to his "XT" scanner. The problem is specific to Windows 11 and fixes itself when he downgrades to Windows 10.
• David would like to know why he does not hear any car to car traffic on his scanner.

====================================

🎙 Join our new Scanner Radio Community

====================================

Join our FREE Discord server and connect with other Scanner Radio Users!

By using Discord, a free, multi-platform community portal, you can now be part of the Scanner Radio Discussion!

Chat real time, share photos, ask questions, and give feedback to other's in chat.

🔗 https://www.scannerschool.com/discord

====================================

🎓 Check out our online courses

====================================

Our free Software Defined Radio course will have you up and running with a SDR in a weekend.

Upgrade to our Advanced Course, and learn how to setup SDR Software like a pro.

🔗 https://www.courses.scannerschool.com

====================================

⚠️ I want to answer your questions

====================================

I am always looking to answer your scanner radio question.

If you have a question you'd like answered, please leave me a voicemail with your question:

📞 516-308-2885

🔗 https://www.scannerschool.com/ask

====================================

🏆 Thank you Patreon Supporters

====================================

Thank you to all monthly Patreon Supporters.

Supporting the podcast can be done for as little as $1 per month.

Supporters at the $3 and $5 level will receive the podcast without the middle commercial break.

Supporters at the $5 level not only receive the podcast early, but they also get access to discount codes, monthly zoom meetings, and Squelchy sticker packs.

🔗 Join our Patreon program at https://www.scannerschool.com/patreon

====================================

🎥 Subscribe to our growing YouTube Channel

====================================

We are live once a month on YouTube to answer your questions. 2022 will be the year of Video for Scanner School Be ready for the upcoming videos by subscribing now to our YouTube channel

🔗 https://www.scannerschool.com/youtube

====================================

➡️ Follow Scanner School on Social Media

====================================

▶︎ Twitter - https://www.scannerschool.com/twitter

▶︎ Facebook Page - https://www.scannerschool.com/facebook

▶︎ Facebook Community - https://www.scannerschool.com/faceboo...

▶︎ Instagram - https://www.scannerschool.com/instagram

▶︎ TikTok - https://www.scannerschool.com/tiktok

====================================

All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at https://www.scannerschool.com/session219

#podcast

Joe Curtis returns to the podcast this week to share how he uses multiple scanner radios.

We also discuss a recent national event that happened outside his door.

What You Need To Know

• Joe uses a Unication G4 to listen to public safety
• He also uses a SDS 100 as his go-to scanner
• The SDS100 makes a great do-all scanner since it covers 25Mhz to 1.3Ghz
• The SDS also supports analog, P25, and multiple trunking modes.
• One of the benefits of having multiple radios is the ability to be flexible and to beable to keep an ear on events unfolding in real-time and not missing that transmissions.
• There is nothing wrong with only owning one scanner, but once you put that radio in the scan, the chances of missing a conversation or transmission or something urgent that goes out over another frequency increases, especially when that scanner stops on another transmission.
• Scanner Radio is a hobby, and that's what we all should treat it as. If you have fun listening to different things, go with the flow. I do a lot of searching for new frequencies because you can find interesting stuff out there if you search for frequencies.
• Many people have old scanners that are just sitting collecting dust but take it out because some of those older scanners will still serve a purpose even in this day and age where a lot of stuff is digital.
• The ability to have one radio is excellent, but once you start adding or multiplying your enjoyment of the hobbies, it becomes much more enjoyable.

====================================

🎙 Join our new Scanner Radio Community

====================================

Join our FREE Discord server and connect with other Scanner Radio Users!

By using Discord, a free, multi-platform community portal, you can now be part of the Scanner Radio Discussion!

Chat real time, share photos, ask questions, and give feedback to other's in chat.

🔗 https://www.scannerschool.com/discord

====================================

🎓 Check out our online courses

====================================

Our free Software Defined Radio course will have you up and running with a SDR in a weekend.

Upgrade to our Advanced Course, and learn how to setup SDR Software like a pro.

🔗 https://www.courses.scannerschool.com

====================================

⚠️ I want to answer your questions

====================================

I am always looking to answer your scanner radio question.

If you have a question you'd like answered, please leave me a voicemail with your question:

📞 516-308-2885

🔗 https://www.scannerschool.com/ask

====================================

🏆 Thank you Patreon Supporters

====================================

Thank you to all monthly Patreon Supporters.

Supporting the podcast can be done for as little as $1 per month.

Supporters at the $3 and $5 level will receive the podcast without the middle commercial break.

Supporters at the $5 level not only receive the podcast early, but they also get access to discount codes, monthly zoom meetings, and Squelchy sticker packs.

🔗 Join our Patreon program at https://www.scannerschool.com/patreon

====================================

🎥 Subscribe to our growing YouTube Channel

====================================

We are live once a month on YouTube to answer your questions. 2022 will be the year of Video for Scanner School Be ready for the upcoming videos by subscribing now to our YouTube channel

🔗 https://www.scannerschool.com/youtube

====================================

➡️ Follow Scanner School on Social Media

====================================

▶︎ Twitter - https://www.scannerschool.com/twitter

▶︎ Facebook Page - https://www.scannerschool.com/facebook

▶︎ Facebook Community - https://www.scannerschool.com/faceboo...

▶︎ Instagram - https://www.scannerschool.com/instagram

▶︎ TikTok - https://www.scannerschool.com/tiktok

====================================

All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at

https://www.scannerschool.com/session218

#podcast

Today's podcast episode is all about the KISS Principle.

Everybody has a different way or thought process on how things should be done.

If you are just getting started with the hobby, or you have been in a hobby for a very long time and trying to learn about something new or trying to clean up something you have done, you can get lost in the woods.

Today's podcast gives you permission to take a step back and come at your setup from a different perspective.

What You Need To Know

• Radio scanning is a hobby we need to permit ourselves to do to our best abilities or on time restrictions. We have to deal with fitting it in after work or a quick weekend project before taking the kids or the family out somewhere.
• You should not put off a project just because you can't do it perfectly right now. Do what you can and build upon it at a later date.
• This is a radio hobby. Enjoy it, and learn from what you've done and feel free to accept any mistakes as a way of learning about the hobby.
• If you are going to put up an antenna:
  • You should ground it, but the world won't end if you don't do it right away.
  • At a bare minimum, I recommend sinking a ground rod running from the ground rod to the antenna's mast and seeing what the instructions say for your antenna.
  • You can always go back and ground things after putting the antenna up.
• Splitting atennas:
  • The best way to split antenna and get into multiple scanners is to use a multi-coupler.
  • TV splitter is not so great because you take a loss on every port, but they still get the job done if you are willing to take the loss.
  • Y splitters are not so great because you can change the impedance, but if it works for you right now, then do what works for you right now.
• Coax:
  • LMR 400 is a low loss 50-ohm coax cable. It works well on high frequencies and in high frequencies that don't have 50 Ohms of impedance loss.
  • RG6 will get you up and running at a fraction of the price of LMR 400, but it's got 75 Ohm of impedance.
  • If using RG-6 gets your antenna to your radio right now, go for it. You can always upgrade the coax at a later date or when you can afford to do so.
• External Antennas:
  • The way we are using our scanners is changing with technology because many of these trunk radio systems are built for 97% or better or equivalent portable used by public safety.
  • If you are already receiving what you want to hear with great reception, you may not need an external antenna at this time.
• Building scan lists on a new radio:
  • Whenever you are setting up a new scanner for the first time, and you want to test out something, just put in a system, a site, and a wild card to see if we can hear anything on the trunk system. This way, at least we know that the setup is fine.
  • Once you have got the trunk system receiving and following a system, you can start adding talk groups.
• Additionally:
  • It never hurts to buy a radio and sell it. Find out what you like and upgrade if you want. If you need to sell a radio to afford the new radio, then go for it!
  • If one radio is good enough for you, stick with the one radio.
  • You can have multiple radio as you grow into the hobby.
  • You will learn what you need as you invest more time into scanning.
  • Maybe you're not going to buy the best thing out of the box because it's too much money for you, but you can find something else that will fit the bill.
  • You can buy software-defined radios that lets you do HF, sideband, AM, and FM

====================================

🎙 Join our new Scanner Radio Community

====================================

Join our FREE Discord server and connect with other Scanner Radio Users!

By using Discord, a free, multi-platform community portal, you can now be part of the Scanner Radio Discussion!

Chat real time, share photos, ask questions, and give feedback to other's in chat.

🔗 https://www.scannerschool.com/discord

====================================

🎓 Check out our online courses

====================================

Our free Software Defined Radio course will have you up and running with a SDR in a weekend.

Upgrade to our Advanced Course, and learn how to setup SDR Software like a pro.

🔗 https://www.courses.scannerschool.com

====================================

⚠️ I want to answer your questions

====================================

I am always looking to answer your scanner radio question.

If you have a question you'd like answered, please leave me a voicemail with your question:

📞 516-308-2885

🔗 https://www.scannerschool.com/ask

====================================

🏆 Thank you Patreon Supporters

====================================

Thank you to all monthly Patreon Supporters.

Supporting the podcast can be done for as little as $1 per month.

Supporters at the $3 and $5 level will receive the podcast without the middle commercial break.

Supporters at the $5 level not only receive the podcast early, but they also get access to discount codes, monthly zoom meetings, and Squelchy sticker packs.

🔗 Join our Patreon program at https://www.scannerschool.com/patreon

====================================

🎥 Subscribe to our growing YouTube Channel

====================================

We are live once a month on YouTube to answer your questions. 2022 will be the year of Video for Scanner School Be ready for the upcoming videos by subscribing now to our YouTube channel

🔗 https://www.scannerschool.com/youtube

====================================

➡️ Follow Scanner School on Social Media

====================================

▶︎ Twitter - https://www.scannerschool.com/twitter

▶︎ Facebook Page - https://www.scannerschool.com/facebook

▶︎ Facebook Community - https://www.scannerschool.com/faceboo...

▶︎ Instagram - https://www.scannerschool.com/instagram

▶︎ TikTok - https://www.scannerschool.com/tiktok

====================================

All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at

https://www.scannerschool.com/session217

#podcast