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

Ben Hilburn is the project lead for GNU Radio.

What is GNU Radio?

GNU Radio is a free & open-source software development toolkit that provides signal processing blocks to implement software radios.

Ben and I discuss what you can do with GNU Radio, why you might want to use it, and who else is using it and what they are doing with this software suite.

Don't forget to check out GRCon this September and Ben's new podcast, Signals and Bits on www.gnuradio.org

All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session87

Pete De Vasto is a self taught scanner radio user. Pete is also blind since birth.

Pete and I discuss the ways that he sets up his scanners so he can keep track of what it is he is listening to, and how he uses text to speech software on his computer to program his radios.

Pete and I also talk about the limitations that today's software has in them and how some changes to the software could make his programming tasks a lot easier.

All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session86

Many of you have have been submitting their questions via e-mail, and today I am answering some of them.

If you have a question about scanning, please visit www.scannerschool.com/ask and leave us a message via SpeakPipe or the local number on our website. We'll play your message on next month's #AskScannerSchool

If you are a little shy, you can always use the contact form on www.scannerschool.com/ask or use #askscannerschool on Twitter

All session notes can be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session85

A big THANK YOU to our continued Patreon Supporters. www.scannerschool.com/support to see how you can help us. Some of the ways you can support us won't cost you any additional money!

Ty Stevens asked a question on last month's Ask Scanner School and by doing so, he won a free consulting call.

This is our conversation as I help him with his SDS100 and why he is having issues receiving in his home state of Wyoming.

This is Ty's first scanner and he has several questions about Sentinel, using his favorites lists, the best antenna to use, and if he should be using a GPS.

If you would like to book a consulting session, please visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting

If you would like to ask a question for the podcast and enter to win a chance for your own free consulting call, please visit www.scannerschool.com/ask

All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session84

This is a question I see often on websites like Radio Reference and on Facebook Groups.

How do I find the correct scanner for me?

Or - I just bought this radio, will it work?

Or - Why can't I hear my local police, what is wrong with my new radio?

Or - How come nobody told me this wouldn't work!?!?

Today we'll decode some of the information in the Radio Reference Database so you can pick the right scanner for your area.

I also have a nice script in the session notes that you can use if you want to ask others what scanners work for them in your area.

You can find more info on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session83

If you are looking to get started with SDR, I invite you to check our our new training course. www.scannerschool.com/courses

A big THANK YOU to our continued Patreon Supporters. www.scannerschool.com/support to see how you can help us. Some of the ways you can support us won't cost you any additional money!

I am asked this question often - how do you record your scanner so you can go back at later date and time to play back the audio

Why would you do this?

Maybe you are looking for activity on a range of frequencies

Maybe you are looking for new talk groups

Maybe you are looking to figure out who is using a frequency or talk group

Maybe you want to know why the local rescue services are on their block and they weren't' around to hear the dispatch (by the way this is where pagers come in very handy)

Who uses recorded audio?

Milair communications and aviation are big into recording audio

Fire Photographers and videographers want audio for their productions or to be able to summarize details about the photo or video gallery

News agencies want to play back the audio

You can find more info on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session82

If you are looking to get started with SDR, I invite you to check our our new training course. www.scannerschool.com/courses

A big THANK YOU to our continued Patreon Supporters. www.scannerschool.com/support to see how you can help us. Some of the ways you can support us won't cost you any additional money!

Commercial Radios.

Setting them up for receive only is safe, right?

In today's session we talk with Harrison Wilson who explains why you need to be careful if you choose to use a commercial two way radio as a receive only device.

You can find more info on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session81

If you are looking to get started with SDR, I invite you to check our our new training course. www.scannerschool.com/courses

A big THANK YOU to our continued Patreon Supporters. www.scannerschool.com/support to see how you can help us. Some of the ways you can support us won't cost you any additional money!

Many of you have have been submitting their questions via e-mail, and today I am answering some of them.

If you have a question about scanning, please visit www.scannerschool.com/ask and leave us a message via SpeakPipe or the local number on our website. We'll play your message on next month's #AskScannerSchool

If you are a little shy, you can always use the contact form on www.scannerschool.com/ask or use #askscannerschool on Twitter

All session notes can be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session80

A big THANK YOU to our continued Patreon Supporters. www.scannerschool.com/support to see how you can help us. Some of the ways you can support us won't cost you any additional money!

Many of us have multiple scanner radios in our setup. But for those of you starting off, you may wonder why we do this.

I remember when I first entered the scanner radio hobby, I couldn't think of a single reason why I would want or need multiple scanners going at the same time.

Today we'll break down the benefits of scanning with multiple receivers.

You can find more info on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session79

If you are looking to get started with SDR, I invite you to check our our new training course. www.scannerschool.com/courses

A big THANK YOU to our continued Patreon Supporters. www.scannerschool.com/support to see how you can help us. Some of the ways you can support us won't cost you any additional money!

We learn a lot from our fathers. We pass a lot to our children.

This past Sunday was Father's Day in the US.

Scanning is something that not only did my father pass along to me, but something that even my 5 year old has shown interest in.

I feel it is very important to pass on a piece of you to the next generation. My father was able to pass several important traits and hobbies onto me, including scanning.

Has scanning been passed onto you or did you pass the hobby onto your children? I hope so.

You can find more info on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session78

If you are looking to get started with SDR, I invite you to check our our new training course. www.scannerschool.com/courses

A big THANK YOU to our continued Patreon Supporters. www.scannerschool.com/support to see how you can help us. Some of the ways you can support us won't cost you any additional money!