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

Free SDR Course!

Our new free course will introduce you to Software Defined Radios.

"The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Software Defined Radio: Everything you need to know to get started with SDR in an afternoon" is now open for enrollment.

Register now at https://courses.scannerschool.com

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In today's episode, I will talk about how a community came together to help uncover a brand-new federal trunk system.

What You Need To Know

• A user from Radio Reference posted that they discovered a Federal System and wanted to know if anyone recognized the WACN and NAC
• This was discovered when this user entered the search mode in his scanner
• It was quickly uncovered that this was a new Trunk System in the NY / NJ / CT area
• People from the area were contributing to the new trunk system in forums.
• They looked at systems and sites and reported what they saw, heard, and observed in the system.
• Within two weeks of the initial post on radio reference, we got updates on frequencies, control channels, neighbors, talk groups, radio ids, and changes in sites and cold nation to identify from where signals are coming out.
• Can we expect a nationwide system with over a hundred sites?
• This is exciting because the local scanner radio community came together to uncover this new system.
• The secrets are in the searches!

All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at https://www.scannerschool.com/session186

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Would you like 1 on 1 help?

If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit http://www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today!

--------------------------------------------------------------Help support Scanner School

You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at http://www.scannerschool.com/support

Free SDR Course!

Our new free course will introduce you to Software Defined Radios.

"The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Software Defined Radio: Everything you need to know to get started with SDR in an afternoon" is now open for enrollment.

Register now at https://courses.scannerschool.com

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Every month I answer your questions on the podcast. You may submit questions at www.scannerschool.com/ask

Questions asked this month:

• Besides watching online websites, can we spot skip or ducting on our own? What do we look for?
• How do you keep your home patrol style favorites lists updated when you update the master database?
• What are the filters on the SDS100/200 for and how do they work?
• How do you change the Unit ID's (UIDs) on the Home Patrol style scanner?

All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session185

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Would you like 1 on 1 help?

If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit https://www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today!

Help support Scanner School

You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at https://www.scannerschool.com/support

Free SDR Course!

Our new free course will introduce you to Software Defined Radios.

"The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Software Defined Radio: Everything you need to know to get started with SDR in an afternoon" is now open for enrollment.

Register now at https://courses.scannerschool.com

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In today's episode, I will talk about budget-friendly P25 scanners.

We will also cover some limitations when trying to stick within our make believe budget.

What You Need To Know

• When it comes to buying scanners, everybody has different budgets
• For this exercise, I've set a budget of $300
• At this price point, we will only be able to afford a Phase 1 Scanner
• There are some scanners in our make believe budget that are current and can be bought new today
• We will be reviewing Radio Shack, GRE, Whistler, and Uniden Scanners
• Simulcast and updated features will not be supported in this budget
• Even with these limitations, we will have a nice list of great scanners that we can afford

All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at https://www.scannerschool.com/session184

--------------------------------------------------------------

Would you like 1 on 1 help?

If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit http://www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today!

Help support Scanner School

You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at http://www.scannerschool.com/support

Free SDR Course!

Our new free course will introduce you to Software Defined Radios.

"The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Software Defined Radio: Everything you need to know to get started with SDR in an afternoon" is now open for enrollment.

Register now at https://courses.scannerschool.com

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Traveling with your scanner may have consequences.

It is important that you understand the laws where you are traveling and even the rules where you are staying.

What You Need To Know

• Different forms of travel have different rules when carrying a scanner
• Check your airlines for any prohibited carry on items
• If cruising, be sure your scanner is allowed on board
• Scanners may or may not be allowed in sporting venues. Be prepared to be stopped by security if attempting to bring a radio into an event.
• For Sporting events such as NASCAR, you can bring your scanner to the event.
• Scanner radios in countries you are visiting can be shockingly strict, or very relaxed.
• If you are traveling across the United States, be aware that each State, County, or City could have their own scanner radio laws

All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at https://www.scannerschool.com/session183

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Would you like 1 on 1 help?

If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit http://www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today!

Help support Scanner School

You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at http://www.scannerschool.com/support

Free SDR Course!

Our new free course will introduce you to Software Defined Radios.

"The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Software Defined Radio: Everything you need to know to get started with SDR in an afternoon" is now open for enrollment.

Register now at https://courses.scannerschool.com

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In today's episode I am going to talk about Skip, Ducting and Propagation

How does this happen, why does this happens, and when you can expect it happen?

Find out why you want to keep you ears open for this phenomenon on today's podcast.

What You Need To Know

• Most VHF and UHF reception is done via line of sight.
• Another form of radio propagation is ground wave, which follows the earth's contours.
• Radio waves that use the earth's ionosphere to further propagate are cause for excitement in the VHF and UHF Spectrum.
• The ionosphere is made up of several distinct layers.
• E-skip or Sporadic E happens when the radio waves are reflected back to earth by the unusually ionized the atmospheric gases in lower E levels.
• Weather can also affect propagation and this is called tropospheric ducting

Find out more about Skip, Ducting, and Propagation on today's podcast.

All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at https://www.scannerschool.com/session182

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Would you like 1 on 1 help?

If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit http://www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today!

Help support Scanner School

You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at http://www.scannerschool.com/support

Free SDR Course!

Our new free course will introduce you to Software Defined Radios.

"The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Software Defined Radio: Everything you need to know to get started with SDR in an afternoon" is now open for enrollment.

Register now at https://courses.scannerschool.com

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Let's talk about 10 ways that you can use your old analog radio in today's digital scanning environment

What You Need To Know

• Marine monitoring is a built in search range on many analog scanners
• Aircraft monitoring can be done worldwide
• Railroad is moving to NXDN here in the US, but most of RR is still analog only.
• Weather Alert Standby is a feature in many newer analog scanners
• SKYWARN traffic is typically on amateur radio analog repeaters.
• Fire Tone Out is another feature found in many analog scanners.
• News and media frequencies are very busy and you can hear interesting transmission on those frequency ranges.
• Shopping malls and departmental store use FRS radios that are analog.
• Put your old analog scanner in search mode, put it into close call mode, and see what is close to you or what is around you.
• You can tap into discriminated baseband audio or raw audio or unprocessed or unfiltered audio of the board of your scanner.

All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at https://www.scannerschool.com/session181

---------------------------------------------------------------

Would you like 1 on 1 help?

If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit http://www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today!

Help support Scanner School

You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at http://www.scannerschool.com/support

Free SDR Course!

Our new free course will introduce you to Software Defined Radios.

"The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Software Defined Radio: Everything you need to know to get started with SDR in an afternoon" is now open for enrollment.

Register now at https://courses.scannerschool.com

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In today's episode we are answering your submitted questions!

What You Need To Know

• We revisit Chris' question from last month regarding Close Call and AM reception for Aviation.
• Jeff asks a question about using his software defined radio and frequency assignments
• Jack inquiries about Bill Cheek and if his material is still available online
• Ray asks while going through the courses is there any special consideration on location we should use while backing up our folders.
• Jim asks a question about antennas, resonate frequencies, and how to figure out what antenna length is needed to receive a specific frequency

All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session180

---------------------------------------------------------------

Would you like 1 on 1 help?

If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit https://www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today!

Help support Scanner School

You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at https://www.scannerschool.com/support

Free SDR Course!

Our new free course will introduce you to Software Defined Radios.

"The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Software Defined Radio: Everything you need to know to get started with SDR in an afternoon" is now open for enrollment.

Register now at https://courses.scannerschool.com

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The Uniden BR330T is one of those scanners that has a special place in my collection. For many years it was my "go to" scanner.

What You Need To Know

• I purchased my BR330T back in 2007, right when they were discontinued.
• At that time, they were $250USD for this radio making it about $322 radio in 2021 dollars.
• This radio was ahead of it's time and a unicorn in the scanner radio hobby
• I have not seen another scanner since that can do what the BR330T was capable of achieving
• The BR330T handheld scanner operates on 3 AA batteries or a 6v aux. power.
• This radio has a built in battery charger
• Besides Analog Conventional, the scanner also supported Motorola, EDACS, and LTR Trunking

• The memory system uses an early version of Uniden's Dynamic Memory Allocation
• It supports basic features such as PL / DPL Decoding, Fire Tone out, and Priority Scaning
• What makes this scanner so unique is it's ability to pickup AM Broadcast, FM Broadcast, and even Analog TV
• This scanner included an internal BAR antenna for AM Broadcast reception

All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at https://www.scannerschool.com/session179

---------------------------------------------------------------

Would you like 1 on 1 help?

If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit http://www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today!

Help support Scanner School

You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at http://www.scannerschool.com/support

Free SDR Course!

Our new free course will introduce you to Software Defined Radios.

"The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Software Defined Radio: Everything you need to know to get started with SDR in an afternoon" is now open for enrollment.

Register now at https://courses.scannerschool.com

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Larry Van Horn is one of the legends in the Scanner Radio Hobby. We are fortunate enough to have him on this week's podcast!

What You Need To Know

• Larry has published multiple columns and guides over the years.
• Today, Larry shares the key to success when it comes to Scanner Radio Hobby.
• During this conversation, Larry and Phil cover topics ranging from short-waves to gigahertz.
• Larry's digital publications are available on Amazon
• Phil reiterates how the guides written by Larry have helped him.
• Larry spent 15 years documenting activity in the military radio spectrum in his monthly Milcom columns.
• The MT Milcom columns documented the U.S. military conversion to narrowband LMR systems, the move from conventional to trunk radio systems, the 225-400 MHz band plan shift, including the new 380-400 MHz sub-band, and HF military frequencies, both foreign and US.
• Larry has spent the last 65 years enjoying the radio hobby

All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session178

---------------------------------------------------------------

Would you like 1 on 1 help?

If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today!

Help support Scanner School

You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support

Free SDR Course!

Our new free course will introduce you to Software Defined Radios.

"The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Software Defined Radio: Everything you need to know to get started with SDR in an afternoon" is now open for enrollment.

Register now at https://courses.scannerschool.com

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In today's podcast, we welcome Loyd Van Horn. He is the founder of dxcentralonline.com, and a former radio guy. He was a columnist with Monitoring Times magazine, writing the weekly GlobalNet column, which dealt with online streaming of radio/TV.

What You Need To Know

• DX is the short form for distance
• The goal is to hear as many stations as you can.
• For Loyd AM/FM DXing is all about finding those stations which one has never heard before.
• What is the grey line and how does that help you?
• During sunset and sunrise, one gets weird propagation of radio frequencies. One might get a little bit of the ground wave as well as a little bit of the skywave.
• Loyd talks about how he searches for different frequencies from the Atlantic, Europe, Africa, England etc.
• Loyd keeps a logbook that really helps him keep a track on the frequencies he had already tuned into.
• Find out what equipment Loyd Recommends to get started
• How is Loyd using Software Defined Radios to help him catch DX stations?

All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session177

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Would you like 1 on 1 help?

If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today!

Help support Scanner School

You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support