Continued from this thread here.
Does anyone have a recommendation for the best police radio / scanner to monitor local events for wtshtf? Wouldn’t this be the best way to keep informed locally rather than a Shortwave radio? Considering radio alternatives.
Scanners are great, how much do you have to spend? They can also be very scary. I remember during the Northridge quake hearing the fear and desperation of off duty firemen calling in, the woman who picked up the dead policemans radio and was screaming for help and the Santa Monica PD comm operator voice saying “Redondo Beach, Manhatan beach fire departments are not responding”. Had me very terrified hearing that the infrastructure had taken such a hit.
I have an Icom R10 receiver. It’s frequency range is from 500 khz to 1,500,000 Khz. It can be programmed to do things I have never needed, but it does scan, either a range or preset frequencies. I can use it to listen to the BBC, the local radio or TV stations, or the local emergency channels. It is *great*, a real addition to the comm section.
Have also had some Uniden scanners. they worked well and provided good service.
Icoms in good shape are bringing around $250 on Ebay, more or less.
is bull run a power plant?
No, Bull Run is a large creek that runs through Manassas Virginia, site of several noteworthy battles during the War between the States.
LMW is the R10 considered a scanner? I was looking a table top Uniden Bearcat? a while back. Way intimidating front pannel
MAV- The R10 is a very sophisticated receiver that can perform all of the functions of a scanner, or act as an AM/FM/SW radio, or do a whole lot of other things as well. I think LMW agreed with me when I observed that its capabilities are “over the top” for many unsophisticated users.
Eccles – at 14:16 wrote:
>I think LMW agreed with me when I observed that its capabilities are “over the top” for many unsophisticated users.<
Which naturally brings up the question, what WOULD be a good scanner for unsophisticated or inexperienced users who just want to know what the police/fire/emergency services people are up to?
Question was- what is the BEST scanner for police and fire?
Y’know the more I think about this the harder it seems to answer the question. I agree the R10 is way more than most need (probably more than *I* need!) but how do you determine best in this case? easiest to use? most sensitive? Most versatile? lightest? smallest? most reliable? Cheapest?
What I was looking for was a reliable, small, light, all mode all band scanner/receiver. The ICOM filled that requirement and MUCH more. Eccles is correct, that this is more than most folks will ever need or use.
I have often regretted not buying the best of something when it came time to using the tools; I have also reegretted not having any money when I wanted to buy something else. Tough choices!
I guess my considered advice would be to try a Bearcat scanner and use it for a year or so. When you figure out what it doesn’t do that you want it to do, then you’ll have a better idea of what is best for you. I wish I had a better answer!
Ok here is a internet site that has alot of gearthat is self powered. That includes radios, and flashlights.
http://www.sportsimportsltd.com
If you got to have a self powered radio then at least review several types instead of the first ad you see.
My suggestion is to get a homebased CB set with outdoor antenna. You should have the local area covered at a cost of less then $400.00 . Better then a police scanner that will dead once the police no longer are out there patroling
Remember New Orleans: the police stayed very near their station houses. Yhey did not patrol due to both (numbers of officers and command and control disruption)
So you may get lucky and have the police for a while but do you want to bet the farm/home, that they also will be looking over their shoulders to their own families!
RICHARD FL – at 18:13 Hmmmm, I do not agree with that. CB’s are very range limited and tend to be very amateur oriented. I definetely think they have their place in a well equiped communication disaster setup (because of the prof. trucker input mainly) but would not count on them for serious comm. Scanners are a whole different animal. They are capable of receiving large segments of radio waves, especially government, ham (2M?) and emergency communications that are VERY, very useful in staying informed during disasters. Just because PD’s or other services go down, does NOT mean that they will be off the air or not using their frequencies to report /communicate. I have even been in incidents where civilians had taken radios from deceased LE and were using them.
I think the important thing about communications is to have a wide variety of redundant resources. One way and two way. One of the things we learned from Katrina is that without being able to see locally, what the rest of the world was seeing nonstop on CNN, led to some VERY bad decision making on everyones part. Monitoring (one-way comm!) a simple radio (CB, scanner, AM/FM) would have advised evacuees that the superdome was a very bad place to go.
Thank you for your insights…I think I will look into the bearcat as a starting point. Seeing how I have no experience with scanners, I need to begin with something that gets good reception and provides only the basics w/o all the bells and whistles.
Bumped to revive from the dead, if needed.
Tristar,
The Bearcat is a good basic rig and will give you a window into the hobby that’s easy and enjoyable.
Further note:
Get a frequency allocation book for your area; local CB and ham radio shops should stock those. THey tell you what frequencies are in use in your area. Useful adjunct to a scanner setup.
If someone could post (or direct me to) a list of SW frequencies for English news in North America I’d appreciate it. VOA and BBC don’t seem to broadcast to NA.
My kids and I have been having fun listening to Radio Cuba and a Vietnamese news station, but I just feel that in an emergency I’d like to have some reliable alternatives programmed on my pre-set buttons. It takes a lot of juice to scan for stations.
Thank you.
TriStar- Check with your police and/or fire department first. Ask them what their frequencies are. (Use non-emergency # it is public information.) In our area both have gone to an 800 MHz trunking sytem with encryption. Many basic scanners won’t pick up that frequency and if it is encrypted you may be SOL.
Sahara,
Frequencies and schedules are on this link. I’m a shortwaver myself.
Not sure if this is any help but..
CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corp) has a shortwave and does a overnight broadcast of other news services world wide.
St John’s, NL 6160 kHz S.W. Goose Bay Radio One CKZN Vancouver, BC 6160 kHz S.W. Vancouver Radio One CKZU
Northern Quebec Shortwave Service Sackville, NB 9625 kHz S.W. Montreal*
CBC Overnight http://tinyurl.com/g9cnd Schedule
Weekday Schedule
1:05 a.m. Radio Netherlands 2:05 a.m. Radio Sweden & Radio Australia 3:05 a.m. Channel Africa & BBC W/S 4:05 a.m. Deutsche Welle & Radio Polonia 5:05 a.m. Radio Australia, Radio Prague, Deutsche Welle & Voice Of Russia
Weekend Schedule
1:05 a.m. Radio Netherlands 2:05 a.m. Radio Prague & Voice Of Russia 3:05 a.m. Radio Sweden & BBC W/S 4:05 a.m. Deutsche Welle 5:05 a.m. Radio Australia
Closed to maintain Forum speed.