I know there a few people on here with emergency equipped F-150's (usually fire fighters) and another poster I saw talking about having a scanner and responding to fire calls etc. to take pictures. Now I don't want to do any of that but I would like to have one for entertainment purposes.

First and foremost, are these legal/do I need a license to have one?

I am putting it in an MKIII Jetta so it needs to be relatively small. From looking on eBay it looks like Uniden is the most popular brand. I'd like one that can be used as a CB radio as well as I often travel alongside a race team's 18-wheeler.

I'd like to spend under $250 or so for a decent one. Is there a big difference in these or do they all do essentially the same thing? I don't want a handheld, rather one that mounts into the car and I can hard wire. Thanks.

 

Interesting idea. I don't think this is illegal, as long as its just a receiver. If its 100% legal then I'll be doing this as well.

 

nah you dont need a license. you can pick up even a decent one from any radioshack. im still thinkin about gettin one soon for storms n power outages since they are so common here. My old one from the 70s with the crystals just isnt cutting it anymore .

 

Yeah it seems pretty cool.

Google "police scanner feeds" and you can listen to a whole bunch from across the USA live for free

In my brief search the best one I have found is the Boulder, Colorado feed found on this website. Seems to be the busiest right now, anyway.

http://canadacops.com/newsite/?page_id=4

 

Be sure to check out some scanner forums. You need to make sure you get one that will work well for your area. To be on top of things, getting a trunk tracker with P25 capabilities, will get you everything you may need. That will set you back about $500. Here is a good site to get started.

http://www.radioreference.com

You can look up to see what frequencies, and trunking and any digital systems in your area you may want to listen to.

 

It is only illegal here to posses one if you are a convicted Fellon!.....

 

I got a pretty basic one from radioshack about 6 years ago for about $100 bucks. Its not labeled as a police scanner, but its a scanner nonetheless. Just google your area and you can find the frequencies to enter into it.

I just used mine the other night because the police helicopter was over my house for a hour. So I turned it on, and heard the pilots talking with the ground units and everything so I knew what was happening. They are fun, and not illegal. I have had mine in hand at car wrecks behind my house talking to cops about it, and hearing the fire dept dispatched to the scene by the officer im next too. Thats odd, but it was funny.

 

Check with your local cops on legality... it varies by area. Where I used to live in central florida, it was illegal to have one in a motor vehicle unless you were a member of an organization that provided emergency services or disaster relief. I was able to carry one in the vehicle since I was a licensed amateur (Ham) and a member of the Civil Air Patrol. When I was pulled over once, the cop gave me the third degree on having it in the truck, until he called back to the station and found out the exceptions on the law.

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?mode=View%20Statutes&SubMenu=1&App_mode= Display_Statute&Search_String=843.16&URL=CH0843/Sec16.HTM

 

I'm in Ontario. Apparently it is legal provided it's not being used in a tow truck or to solicit business (e.g. a tow truck responding to an accident first).

 

Double post sorry...

 

That made me cry

 

Everybody that posted so far has you pretty well covered. The first thing you need to do is figure out what the agencies you wish to listen to are transmitting on (band width.) The site listed by groundhog is your best bet, but if you keep having trouble, list where you live and i'll give you a hand.

Depending on which band they are using will dictate how much a scanner is going to run you. From regular VHF freqencies it might be as cheap as a $100 or less to 800 Mhz trunked ones upwards of $500.

Other things that will increase the price is the number of frequencies you wish to listen to. Typically police use more than one, for example one frequency would be used to send them to calls: robberies, accidents, etc.. and another frequency would be used to run license plate information, background checks etc..

Same goes for Fire and EMS, depending on the size of your town or city, they may use several channels to respond on based on their geographic location or the nature of the emergency.

Let us know where you live, be as specific as possible, because if you say you live in Seattle, just to generalize it, but really live and want to listen to an area just outside you could end up wasting money.

So, where is home? and we can go from there....

Keep us posted!

 

Why not look at that as an incentive to get your license? The license is free, I only paid $20 for the study book, and $6 for the test. It took me one weekend to study for the test. The license is good for 10 years, and free to renew. You don't have to learn morse code for the basic (technician) class license. You mainly test on the laws. Who knows, you might actually be interested in it, and when the proverbial "stuff" does hit the fan (like a hurricane) you might be the only one on your block that can contact the outside world. This particularly was the case during Katrina.

 

I'd think you'd have to find out if they use analog or digital in your area. I think analogs usually run around $100, while digital ones go for around $500. A digital scanner covers both digital and analog.

For example, around here, I think Orange County does half and half, while Winter Springs has all digital (might be digital encrypted.)

I forgot the website you can use to check (something like radioreference) Lemme see if I can find it.

EDIT: It was radioreference.com You said you were in Ontario? Here's the page for Ontario: Click Me

 

Great post, thanks for the help!

I live in a small(ish) town called Caledonia, Ontario which is located about 30 km's from Hamilton in Haldimand County. We have a police station, fire, ems etc. here and always lots of police cars everywhere (long story). I would be especially interested in hearing Hamilton's, it's a major city and apparently one of the best to listen to.

Thanks.