The Radio Shack guy told me today that even the newer 800 mghz police scanners don't track the *digital trunk lines* (or whatever he called it)that police and other emergency groups use for communication. I had been thinking of getting a battery powered scanner to keep an ear open for when it starts getting bad out there. Now I'm not sure it's worth it. Any thoughts?

JER

-- JER (JER@notafed.com), September 08, 1999

Answers

You need an 800 MHz TrunkTracker, manufactured first by Uniden and now also by Radio Shack. There are several web sites devoted to TrunkTrackers. I use scanners in my work and can attest to their great value in any emergency situation.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), September 08, 1999.

Radio shack sells the trunk trackers but they're more expensive - $200-$300. I'm not sure that any of that cop-crap is going to be working so I just got myself a little $40 CB - there is always somebody on there. If scanners are working I'll still get the latest updates from the CB hounds.

-- @ (@@@.@), September 08, 1999.

What you really need to do first, is to find out the frequencies of the police, fire, etc. Depending on what they are, you have different choices for scanners.

Around here, for example, the sheriff used 154.830 Mhz. Therefore, I bought a ham 2 meter hand held that also scans from 144 Mhz to 180 Mhz. I'm not licensed, but in an emergency, I can call for help. In addition, I can hear the sheriff (no police around here).

If however, your police uses 800 Mhz trunking lines, then, yes, you'll need a scanner that can handle it as described above. Check and see what the fire department uses as well.

Icom sells a scanner that scans from 540khz [sic] to 900 Mhz. It's less than $200 and is hand held. (extremely cool). It skips some frequencies used by cell phones, but otherwise is continuous. If anybody's interested, I'll fish around for a URL.

Jolly

-- Jollyprez (jolly@prez.com), September 08, 1999.

I bought a handheld battery powered police scanner from walmart.A friend gave the numbers for the police,shirrif,road conditions,ambulance,hospital,highway patrol,utilities and ham radio operators.

The Ham radio operators would be an excellent one to listen to in case of emergencies.They would probably have backup generators to be able to relay information.

I also bought a hand held CB that will work on batteries or with the 12v DC power cord with cigerette lighter plug.If the phones are out and there is an emergency,you could call for help on the emergency channel.I also like the idea of being able to get info from other CB operators,if your at home or need to bug out and need info on road conditions and access to your destination.

I had to think of things to make me feel more in control of situations that may occur.I live alone and need to be self reliant.

-- maggie (aaa@aaa.com), September 08, 1999.

Just FYI, there is a catalog company called Heartland USA. In their latest catalog, they have a 5 watt solar charger meant for auto batteries but I wonder if with a little modification it couldn't be used to recharge nicads. Of course, you could power your radio with a 12 volt car battery and use this thing to recharge the big battery.

-- Lobo (atthelair@yahoo.com), September 08, 1999.

Back again.I bought a 3,6,9 and 12 volts solar panel with AA battery charger from Emergency Essentials(on the web)for under $20.00.The info on it says for charging the mobil phone battery,radio and cassettee player,power the torch radio and calculator.

I'm haven't tried it out yet,but I will soon.I hope to use it to power my small hand held T.V.I had the T.V. during the Northridge earthquake(I use to live in Simi Valley)it was comforting to not only hear,but see the news people during a frightening time.

It comes with a full set of omni and cable wire for easy connection with various appliances (could you tell I read off the box?).

-- maggie (aaa@aaa.com), September 08, 1999.

Who will you call for help and who and when will they come? Just a thought. Mike

-- Mike (mwomble@luminet.net), September 08, 1999.

I now live in a small town (of 3,000 people)in missouri,there are alot of people here that use CB's,one of which is a friend who is a nurse.I just feel if there is an emergency,I could get help.

-- maggie (aaa@aaa.com), September 09, 1999.

Maggie's right. The cool thing about CBs is that your not just listening - you're making friends. You get to know the good people after a while, and because of the limited range you know that they're usually within a few miles. It is comforting. I'm sure there will be certain channels dominated by the Y2K preppies.

-- @ (@@@.@), September 09, 1999.

Maggie:Many people can monitor any frequency you transmitt on. Some may want to help themselves instead of helping you. Be carefull who ya talk to and what you say. Set up codes and passwords with people you will be talking to. Stay safe and good luck. Mike

-- Mike (mwomble@luminet.net), September 09, 1999.

Mike,

Thanks for the heads up about being careful while talking on the CB.I plan to use it only for an emergency,hopefully there won't be a need to.I was thinking in terms of a possible fire or accident.I plan to mainly listen for info.It will also come in handy if I get a lost while driving(which has been known to happen).

-- maggie (aaa@aaa.com), September 09, 1999.

JER, Radio Shack Trunking Scanner Mod PRO-91 is on sale this month for $180 (reg: $250). Clerk said the sale is nationwide.

-- Carlos (riffraff1@cybertime.net), September 09, 1999.

Carlos, that's a good price for the TT--IF it comes with a spare battery set and charging cradle or if you want one immediately. The battery pack costs about $20 and the cradle--um, I forget, another $20 or so? When I bought my Uniden TT it came with the spare battery and cradle and cost around $200 with shipping (and no sales tax). I bought it from an Intenet site and, sorry, can't remember where. It was several years ago. But check out the TT pages--there's bound to be info on where to buy safely.

A spare, fully-charged battery is a very good thing to have--my packs last approximately 9 hours, BTW.

A scanner is essential if you want to find out where road blocks will be put up and at what time, where trouble is occurring, who has ice available, which stores are open, which gas stations are operating--all of which we found out via scanner in the aftermath of Hurricane Fran. There are some "conversation" frequencies where the cops swap useful info that doesn't go out over the main frequencies.

There are 800 MHz scanners available that don't trunk, but it's very difficult to follow what's going on. It's akin to there being no separate threads on this forum and you have to figure out which answer belongs to which question.

BTW, you don't need an 800 TT to pick up your neighbors' cordless phone conversations, which appear (here) on the 46.xx frequencies! No, I don't listen to my neighbors; I've told them I can pick them up and they've either quit using the phones or got scrambled ones. You can no longer pick up cell phones via a scanner (unless you can find an old one that was made before federal legislation prohibited that feaature or you can find a radio tech who knows how to unblock 'em!). Whichever scanner fits your particular city's radio system, get one soon and learn how to use it--it takes a while to learn the "ten-codes" and how to operate it in the dark, for instance. Also check to see if your locality prohibits carrying a scanner in your car--some do to hamper drug dealing ops.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), September 09, 1999.