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

Scanning goes beyond hearing what comes across the radio.  Sometimes we need to take clue on what to listen to by what is happening around us. Having a personal weather station can help us tune into emergency communications that might be happening right outside our doors. Today, we will cover what to look for when selecting a weather station, what your options are, and what mistakes I have made wi...

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   Questions I answer this month: Alan would like to know about SDR software that will run on an Android Device Less has a question about frequency allocations above 774Mhz, setting up DMR in a SDS100/200, and wo...

Gregg Johnson and I discuss Plectrons and early fire alerting methods before portable radios and pagers were commonplace. We discuss the history of Plectron receivers and how volunteer firefighters were alerted to calls before they had in-home radio alerting or portable receivers. What You Need To Know Plectrons are one of the earliest types of home receivers ever used for volunteer firefighters....

It is time for our annual radio buyer's guide. In the past few years, I have offered a list of scanners that I would recommend.  However, since there haven't been any new releases in the scanner radio world in the last few years, I do not want to repeat the same information that I gave you last year. Instead, I'm going to give you my recommendation for Software Defined Radios. This list will inclu...

Let's talk about some Baofeng Options. Our objective is to find a radio that has the same price point that many Baofeng models come in at, but are better value for the money. We will be looking at some handheld radios that are less than $100 that might be worth investing in.   Links for today's Podcast: (Some of these links are affiliate links and Scanner School will earn a small commission if you...

If you listen to the podcast, it's no big secret that I give Baofeng and similar radios a bad rap.  Not surprisingly, I have a list of things I dislike about these radios. But as shocking as it sounds, I have a larger list of things that are great about these affordable two way radios that many use as scanner radios. What You Need To Know With Baofeng radio, you can mistakenly transmit anywhere in...

I enjoy answering your scanner radio questions.  You can ask a question by leaving a voicemail at 516-308-2885 or by using the links on our ASK page at https://www.scannerschool.com/ask What You Need To Know John has questions about scanning in the San Diego area. Garret noticed that he's hearing Rail Road Transmission on a known VHF Marine Channel. Why is this? Greg wants to know what factors inf...

Our brand-new discord server is the ultimate scanner radio community portal. With the ability to host live audio, scanner feeds, video events, photos, and chat, this is the future of communicating and sharing information with your fellow scanner radio users. You can find a step by step setup and log-in by going to https://www.scannerschool.com/discord What You Need To Know Discord will be replacin...

Welcome to podcast number 200! I can't believe we've recorded, published, and shared this many episodes.  It seems like last we just start this a few weeks ago and here we are at episode 200. In these past few years, I've made many friendships and connections due to the podcast. This includes all of those who I've gotten to know as a part of our Patreon Extra Credit Round Table that we hold every...

Today, we will talk about the pros and cons of differences between a handheld scanner versus a base or a mobile scanner. What You Need To Know Handheld scanners are kind of like to Swiss army knife You can leave them on the desk or take them with you. They can go mobile and can go into a backpack. Portable radios run off of internal batteries, but they can also run off of commercial power. Not eve...

We have got four voicemails, and today I am going to answer some questions. You can submit your questions at www.scannerschool.com/ask. What You Need To Know Jim asks what can he do with that ethernet port connection on the front of the SDS200 Scanner? Garrett has been a longtime scanner listener of the CHP, California Highway Patrol, and would like to know if his scanner is setup correctly Les ha...

Do you need an outdoor antenna? This used to be an obvious question and answer. But now things have changed in the hobby that may have you choosing to skip the antenna installation. A crucial part of getting into the hobby was putting out an antenna on your chimney. It was a rite of passage running coax cable and poking holes in your wall, having your parents or wife scream at you for doing damage...

Nathan McMullen joins the podcast today to explain how he setup his Unication G-Series pager.   Nathan has taken several multi-state road trips with his pager and was able to listen to public safety during his trip. Nathan explains how he setup his pager, what needs to be done before the trip, and some things he wished he did differently while taking a multi-mile trip with his pager. Note – while...

What changed in the radio landscape in 20 years post 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina here in the US? Have you ever wondered why we have so many new P25 systems showing up in the 700 MHz band? These are the questions we are asking in today's podcast.   What You Need To Know 9/11 really brought to light some of the changes that had to happen with interoperability. Hurricane Katrina, which happened just f...

I love answering your scanner radio questions, and today I answer some questions that have been submitted via our ask page, email, and social media platforms, including YouTube. You can submit your questions at www.scannerschool.com/ask. What You Need To Know Rick asks, "Can I listen to cell phones? James has a question about Close Call. Jim wants to know what he should do about the extra coax in...

In today's podcast, I am going to talk about P25 digital technologies on the UHF T-band and how this decision has caused many problems for P25 Trunked Systems. 👉 What You Need To Know In the early 1970s, the FCC permitted eleven major cities of the US to use 470 to 512 MHz as additional public safety frequencies, and these were part of the UHF T band. The original UHF band was just 450 to 470 MHz...

What are frequency bands and why are they important when it comes to global frequency management? What You Need To Know To keep geographical RF uses standard, there are well organized frequency bands.  Globally, there is a radio spectrum plan by ITU (International Telecommunications Union), and there are three sections worldwide. The ITU or radio regulations divide the world into three regions to...

What are TDMA Control Channels on P25 trunk systems, and what does this mean for the scanner radio hobby?   What You Need To Know P25 TDMA control channels are different from P25 phase two voice channels. Every single P25 system out there up until this point has used an FDMA control channel. A new addition to the P25 suite of standards defines a TDMA control channel for P25 trunking operations sim...

Today's guest, Bill Sawyer, recently wrote a column for National Communications magazine about vacation scanning. Bill joins us today to discuss his successes and failures when it comes to taking his scanner on family vacations.   What You Need To Know Bill and I talk about the big difference between shortwave listening to the world and listening local with the scanner radio. He shares which one w...

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 --------------------------------------------------------------- I love answering your scanner radio questions...

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 --------------------------------------------------------------- Is it a seller's market when it comes to used...

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 --------------------------------------------------------------- In today's episode, I will discuss shortages o...

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 --------------------------------------------------------------- In today's episode, I will talk about how a co...

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 --------------------------------------------------------------- Every month I answer your questions on the pod...

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 --------------------------------------------------------------- In today's episode, I will talk about budget-f...