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

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 --------------------------------------------------------------- Traveling with your scanner may have consequences. It is important that you understand the laws where you are traveling and even the rules where you are staying. What You Need To Know Different forms of travel have different rules when carrying a scanner Check your airlines for any prohibited carry on items If cruising, be sure your scanner is allowed on board Scanners may or may not be allowed in sporting venues. Be prepared to be stopped by security if attempting to bring a radio into an event. For Sporting events such as NASCAR, you can bring your scanner to the event. Scanner radios in countries you are visiting can be shockingly strict, or very relaxed. If you are traveling across the United States, be aware that each State, County, or City could have their own scanner radio laws All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at https://www.scannerschool.com/session183 --------------------------------------------------------------- Would you like 1 on 1 help? If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit http://www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! Help support Scanner School You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at http://www.scannerschool.com/support

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 am going to talk about Skip, Ducting and Propagation How does this happen, why does this happens, and when you can expect it happen? Find out why you want to keep you ears open for this phenomenon on today's podcast. What You Need To Know Most VHF and UHF reception is done via line of sight. Another form of radio propagation is ground wave, which follows the earth's contours. Radio waves that use the earth's ionosphere to further propagate are cause for excitement in the VHF and UHF Spectrum. The ionosphere is made up of several distinct layers. E-skip or Sporadic E happens when the radio waves are reflected back to earth by the unusually ionized the atmospheric gases in lower E levels. Weather can also affect propagation and this is called tropospheric ducting Find out more about Skip, Ducting, and Propagation on today's podcast. All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at https://www.scannerschool.com/session182 --------------------------------------------------------------- Would you like 1 on 1 help? If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit http://www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! Help support Scanner School You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at http://www.scannerschool.com/support

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 --------------------------------------------------------------- Let's talk about 10 ways that you can use your old analog radio in today's digital scanning environment What You Need To Know Marine monitoring is a built in search range on many analog scanners Aircraft monitoring can be done worldwide Railroad is moving to NXDN here in the US, but most of RR is still analog only. Weather Alert Standby is a feature in many newer analog scanners SKYWARN traffic is typically on amateur radio analog repeaters. Fire Tone Out is another feature found in many analog scanners. News and media frequencies are very busy and you can hear interesting transmission on those frequency ranges. Shopping malls and departmental store use FRS radios that are analog. Put your old analog scanner in search mode, put it into close call mode, and see what is close to you or what is around you. You can tap into discriminated baseband audio or raw audio or unprocessed or unfiltered audio of the board of your scanner. All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at https://www.scannerschool.com/session181 --------------------------------------------------------------- Would you like 1 on 1 help? If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit http://www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! Help support Scanner School You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at http://www.scannerschool.com/support

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 we are answering your submitted questions! What You Need To Know We revisit Chris' question from last month regarding Close Call and AM reception for Aviation. Jeff asks a question about using his software defined radio and frequency assignments Jack inquiries about Bill Cheek and if his material is still available online Ray asks while going through the courses is there any special consideration on location we should use while backing up our folders. Jim asks a question about antennas, resonate frequencies, and how to figure out what antenna length is needed to receive a specific frequency All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session180 --------------------------------------------------------------- Would you like 1 on 1 help? If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit https://www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! Help support Scanner School You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at https://www.scannerschool.com/support

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 --------------------------------------------------------------- The Uniden BR330T is one of those scanners that has a special place in my collection. For many years it was my "go to" scanner. What You Need To Know I purchased my BR330T back in 2007, right when they were discontinued. At that time, they were $250USD for this radio making it about $322 radio in 2021 dollars. This radio was ahead of it's time and a unicorn in the scanner radio hobby I have not seen another scanner since that can do what the BR330T was capable of achieving The BR330T handheld scanner operates on 3 AA batteries or a 6v aux. power. This radio has a built in battery charger Besides Analog Conventional, the scanner also supported Motorola, EDACS, and LTR Trunking The memory system uses an early version of Uniden's Dynamic Memory Allocation It supports basic features such as PL / DPL Decoding, Fire Tone out, and Priority Scaning What makes this scanner so unique is it's ability to pickup AM Broadcast, FM Broadcast, and even Analog TV This scanner included an internal BAR antenna for AM Broadcast reception All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at https://www.scannerschool.com/session179 --------------------------------------------------------------- Would you like 1 on 1 help? If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit http://www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! Help support Scanner School You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at http://www.scannerschool.com/support

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 --------------------------------------------------------------- Larry Van Horn is one of the legends in the Scanner Radio Hobby. We are fortunate enough to have him on this week's podcast! What You Need To Know Larry has published multiple columns and guides over the years. Today, Larry shares the key to success when it comes to Scanner Radio Hobby. During this conversation, Larry and Phil cover topics ranging from short-waves to gigahertz. Larry's digital publications are available on Amazon Phil reiterates how the guides written by Larry have helped him. Larry spent 15 years documenting activity in the military radio spectrum in his monthly Milcom columns. The MT Milcom columns documented the U.S. military conversion to narrowband LMR systems, the move from conventional to trunk radio systems, the 225-400 MHz band plan shift, including the new 380-400 MHz sub-band, and HF military frequencies, both foreign and US. Larry has spent the last 65 years enjoying the radio hobby All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session178 --------------------------------------------------------------- Would you like 1 on 1 help? If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! Help support Scanner School You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support

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 podcast, we welcome Loyd Van Horn. He is the founder of dxcentralonline.com, and a former radio guy. He was a columnist with Monitoring Times magazine, writing the weekly GlobalNet column, which dealt with online streaming of radio/TV. What You Need To Know DX is the short form for distance The goal is to hear as many stations as you can. For Loyd AM/FM DXing is all about finding those stations which one has never heard before. What is the grey line and how does that help you? During sunset and sunrise, one gets weird propagation of radio frequencies. One might get a little bit of the ground wave as well as a little bit of the skywave. Loyd talks about how he searches for different frequencies from the Atlantic, Europe, Africa, England etc. Loyd keeps a logbook that really helps him keep a track on the frequencies he had already tuned into. Find out what equipment Loyd Recommends to get started How is Loyd using Software Defined Radios to help him catch DX stations? All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session177 --------------------------------------------------------------- Would you like 1 on 1 help? If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! Help support Scanner School You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support

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 podcast. You may submit questions at www.scannerschool.com/ask This month I answer: Can you use priority with your trunk radio scanning? What is up in the 1700Mhz - 6000Mhz Range? Do I need more than 1 SDR Dongle to receive? What can I do to improve my scanner radio enjoyment while flying? Can you setup Close Call on a BCD436HP to use AM? What are the filter settings in the SDS100 and SDS200? What type of antenna would I recommend for VHF, UHF, and 800? All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session176 --------------------------------------------------------------- Would you like 1 on 1 help? If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! Help support Scanner School You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support

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 --------------------------------------------------------------- Today we talk about several different numbering schemes. Two of which we find in the scanner radio environment. What You Need To Know Decimal system can be thought of as human-readable digits. These are easy to use to read and compute. They are also easy to convert from one form to another. While decimal works well with humans, it is not the case with computers. Binary language is used for them. It has two bits 0 and 1. Octal is a 8 bit system. This is how we save a little bit of room in a system. 0-7 make up 8 bits. Hexadecimal (Hex) is a 16 base system with values from 0 – F. There are no numerical symbols that represent values greater than nine, so letters taken from the English alphabet are used, Hexadecimal A = decimal 10, and F = decimal 15. I stick to decimal format when I program talk groups into my scanners. When you look at Radio Reference, Trunk SysIDs and WACN are in Hex. RFSS and Site ID's are shown in Decimal with Hex in parenthesis. Talk groups on Radio Reference have a column for Dec and a column for Hex. All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session175 --------------------------------------------------------------- Would you like 1 on 1 help? If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! Help support Scanner School You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support

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 --------------------------------------------------------------- Today we break down the similarities and differences when it comes to Scanners and Receivers What You Need To Know Scanners and Receivers are more like cousins than brothers and sisters in the radio world. Both receive and scan frequencies They don't transmit. Receivers have a larger receive foot-print than a typical scanner. Typically 100 KHz is the bottom of a receiver, but you can go up to a couple of gigahertz. A typical scanners start as low as 25 MHz and go up to 1300 MHz Scanners will typically not support monitoring AM Broadcast Bands, but Receivers will. Scanners do not support SWL monitoring, but Receivers will. Scanners have more modes that are not found in receivers; NXDN, DMR, P25, are common modes of reception present in a scanner. Receivers have modes that are not in present in a scanner, such as upper and lower sidebands, AM and CW Some high end receivers will do D-STAR, P-25, dPMR, and NXDN. Receivers can be very affordable starting less than $200 and going over $10,000 for a high end model. Scanners can start at $100 and cost over $600 for a high end model. With close call and signal stalking, scanners can help you find a more relative frequency faster than a receiver. All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session174 --------------------------------------------------------------- Would you like 1 on 1 help? If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! Help support Scanner School You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support

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 --------------------------------------------------------------- On today's episode, we talk about the encryption of police and fire department frequencies, and how to get around them and discover new frequencies in the process. What You Need To Know My local police scanners are encrypted and have been for years. My local police department is encrypted, but I'm currently able to listen to the next county over. You can set your scanners to only pick up certain types of tones that indicate specific emergencies that the fire department might respond to. You can also listen to security radios at a concert venue to be in tune with things that might be happening at that place, like an overdose or chaotic behavior from concertgoers. School bus companies can also be entertaining during school arrival/dismissal. Aviation and railroads are also typically not encrypted, which can provide insight to the local police or fire departments being dispatched. I am able to tune into a new frequencies with DSD+ and find other related frequencies. I leave new frequencies on in the background just to see what he can hear. The most fun way to find new frequencies is to see them in front of you on your computer. All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session173 --------------------------------------------------------------- Would you like 1 on 1 help? If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! Help support Scanner School You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support

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 podcast. You may submit questions at www.scannerschool.com/ask This month I answer: What do you feel are the minimum hardware requirements for an SDR to work properly? Do you deal with setting up OP25 on a computer and SDR? I'm in St. John's County, Florida. My current scanner is a BC125AT and will not receive fire or police. What kind of scanner do I need? Do you have any suggestions for one that isn't too expensive? I have an SDS200 with screen flicker, and the unit's only two months old. Is this something I need to live with, or will this get worse over time? All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session172 --------------------------------------------------------------- Would you like 1 on 1 help? If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! Help support Scanner School You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support

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 --------------------------------------------------------------- Today, we introduce our two new SDR courses. This past week, we released a free intro course, and a paid advanced course. These courses will teach you how to set up your computer's operating system to work with SDR equipment, the best software for your needs, and more. What You Need To Know Phil decided to launch on the Teachable platform rather than Youtube. It is easier to follow a course on Teachable because it keeps track of where you left off. Unlike YouTube, Teachable isn't trying to bump you to the next unrelated video. The free course is broken down into seven modules with steps inside them to help you complete each module. The first step in every module is an intro video that explains what the module is going to be about. The Free course will have you running a SDR, tuning in local frequencies and building a DMR Trunk Radio. The Advanced Course picks up where the Free Course end. In the Advanced course, you will learn: How to install DSD Plus Fast Lane How to use UniTrunker 1x and 2x How to bridge software into DSDPlus What high end options are available, such as Airspy, HackRF, and SDRplay devices Software such as HDSDR, SDR Console, and SDRUno Building ADS-B/UAT Receivers on a Raspberry Pi Setup OP25 on a Raspberry Pi and Linux How to build a server to send talk groups to Broadcastify How to download weather maps from GOES and METEOR Satellites and more When you pay for the advanced course, the free course is also bundled with it. All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session171 --------------------------------------------------------------- Would you like 1 on 1 help? If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! Help support Scanner School You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support

On today's episode, host Phil Lichtenberger interviews Jon Hudson, the co-creator of the SDRplay devices. They talk about the evolution of radio scanning software, the advantages of SDRplay and SDRuno, where they think the scanner hobby is headed, and more. What You Need To Know Jon Hudson is a co-creator of the SDRplay device. SDRplay manufactures both hardware and software. Before about 20 years ago, processing the radio chain was done exclusively on the hardware. Now computers are powerful enough to support doing most of this work with software. SDRplay was founded in 2014. The RSPDX has multiple antennae, which allows users to switch from one antenna to another quickly and easily. Because SDRplay makes their own software for Windows, they take a lot of time to make sure it works seamlessly out of the box. SDRplay acquired a company called Studio One that manufactured software about five years ago. SDRplay is releasing a scheduler, which will function as an audio recorder for a specific channel at a specific time. An advantage of the scheduler is that it allows users to tune in to certain frequencies at a specified time and then turn it off or move on to something else. All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session170 --------------------------------------------------------------- Would you like 1 on 1 help? If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! Help support Scanner School You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support

Free SDR webinar! Our new webinar will introduce you to Software Defined Radios. "Why Every Scanner User Needs an SDR: The #1 Underrated Tool that should be in your setup" will be March 23, 2021. Register now at www.scannerschool.com/webinar --------------------------------------------------------------- A cross platform, open source, free SDR software! In this episode, Phil talks to Alex Rouma, author and creator of SDR++. They discuss how Alex got into SDRs, where SDR++ is now and where he hopes it can go, and how you can contribute to this open source software's development, whether you're a programmer or not. What You Need To Know SDR++ is free, open-source, cross-platform software for your SDR. Alex got into SDRs after watching a video of someone receiving weather satellites, piquing his interest in radio in general. Alex is currently building SDR++ as general purpose SDR receiver software with more modern functionality like multi-VFO and multi-platform support. SDR++ supports anything Alex has or that companies have sent him, including SDR Play, HackRF, RTLTCP, and more. Alex considers the software still in beta, but thinks he'll have stable code with the features he wants within 3-4 months. He wants to add audio filtering features and more options for the file source. SDR++ is fully modular so you can add plugins as you need them. Alex aims to make the software as automatic as possible. All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session169 --------------------------------------------------------------- Would you like 1 on 1 help? If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! Help support Scanner School You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support

Free SDR webinar! Our new webinar will introduce you to Software Defined Radios. "Why Every Scanner User Needs an SDR: The #1 Underrated Tool that should be in your setup" will be March 23, 2021. Register now at www.scannerschool.com/webinar --------------------------------------------------------------- Do you want to dive deep on Software Defined Radios? In this episode, Phil talks to listener Greg Weamer about his SDR setup. They get into the history of SDR development, what you can do with an SDR that you can't do with a hardware-based scanner, and where they think the future of SDRs is heading. What You Need To Know Today, Greg does not have a hardware scanner at all, but only a SDR. His area has simulcast problems that the SDR solves. Greg currently uses about 8 RTL-SDR dongles, including 3 on a Raspberry Pi, some on another Raspberry Pi, an old laptop, and more. Greg also uses Trunk Recorder, which is one of the most difficult things he's ever configured, but he loves that it monitors every voice channel at the same time. RDIO Scanner is a web interface that takes the feeds from the virtual recorders Greg has going and cues up calls on every voice channel so you don't miss anything. Because it's a web interface, he can bring it up on his phone or tablet from anywhere. Greg thinks the next major SDR development will eliminate the need for any fully hardware based radios entirely. An SDR can do things that not a single hardware-based scanner out there is capable of. Greg has used his SDR to tune into his utilities smart meters for his water and gas to track his usage. One of Greg's favorite things about SDR is that you can see the signals and whether they're strong or not, whether they're digital or analog, etc. The ability to visualize the signal lets you find a lot more new stuff to listen to. The flexibility of an SDR and ability to do so many things at once with it means you get the equivalent of several premium subscriptions to other services. All session notes with links to the items we talked about an be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session168 --------------------------------------------------------------- Would you like 1 on 1 help? If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! Help support Scanner School You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support

Free SDR webinar! Our new webinar will introduce you to Software Defined Radios. "Why Every Scanner User Needs an SDR: The #1 Underrated Tool that should be in your setup" will be March 23, 2021. Register now at www.scannerschool.com/webinar --------------------------------------------------------------- Every month I answer your questions on the podcast. You may submit questions at www.scannerschool.com/ask This month I answer: If police and fire stations move to TDMA, does that mean they're likely to become encrypted soon? Are there any best practices for scanning a partially encrypted digital system? Why would a department or system choose partial encryption? An SDS100 scanner is missing the first seconds of some transmissions. Is there a setting he should check or is this a decoding speed issue? How should you set up a scanner to broadcast the audio over the internet without using the Proscan software? Is it possible to sub a BCD536HP from Sentinel software? All session notes with links to the items we talked about an be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session167 --------------------------------------------------------------- Would you like 1 on 1 help? If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! Help support Scanner School You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support

Free SDR webinar! Our new webinar will introduce you to Software Defined Radios. "Why Every Scanner User Needs an SDR: The #1 Underrated Tool that should be in your setup" will be March 23, 2021. Register now at www.scannerschool.com/webinar --------------------------------------------------------------- In this episode, we learn about Joe Bearcat, the new Product Service Representative at Uniden America. What you will take away from this week's podcast: Uniden has a new public-facing representative, Joe Bearcat. Joe announced his new position as the official Uniden representative and Uniden scanner Product Manager. This fills in the gap left by Paul "Upman" Opitz' sudden passing in 2019 The announcement relieved a lot of people who worried about Uniden remaining a strong player in the hobby with Paul's passing. Joe's background is in scanning and he's had a career in two-way radio and in the RF field. To learn more about "Upman", his legacy, and passing, please listen to Session 106 Joe will be fulfilling some of Paul's forum duties on Radio Reference. In an interesting turn, Joe posted on Radio Reference asking for input on a potential future product. What other surprises will Joe Bearcat have for us? All session notes with links to the items we talked about an be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session166 --------------------------------------------------------------- Would you like 1 on 1 help? If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! Help support Scanner School You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support

Free SDR webinar! Our new webinar will introduce you to Software Defined Radios. "Why Every Scanner User Needs an SDR: The #1 Underrated Tool that should be in your setup" will be February 23, 2021. Register now at www.scannerschool.com/webinar --------------------------------------------------------------- In this episode, Phil walks through the basics of what an SDR is, its history, and how you can get set up with one. The perfect introduction to his upcoming SDR webinar and course. What you will take away from this week's podcast: An SDR means that anything normally handled by the hardware of the radio is now handled by the computer, and the physical hardware serves as an interface. The only limitation on the SDR hardware you buy is the frequency range and the amount of RF it can digest. SDR receivers have come a long way since they were first hacked into existence. SDRs used to be difficult to set up, but that's no longer true. You don't need advanced computer skills to run SDR software. SDR software can run on PC, Linux, Mac, Raspberry PI, and even Android. An SDR is more flexible and less expensive than a traditional radio. You can turn a $30 USB stick into something as powerful as an SDS200 in an afternoon. All you need to get started is an SDR USB stick, a computer, and the free starter software SDR Sharp. Once you get set up with FM broadcast stations, aviation, and other analog systems, Phil's SDR course will go into how to set up digital reception. If you download DSD+ Fast Lane or Unitrunker you can monitor trunking systems. All session notes with links to the items we talked about an be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session165 --------------------------------------------------------------- Would you like 1 on 1 help? If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! Help support Scanner School You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support

Free SDR webinar! Our new webinar will introduce you to Software Defined Radios. "Why Every Scanner User Needs an SDR: The #1 Underrated Tool that should be in your setup" will be January 26, 2021. Register now at www.scannerschool.com/webinar --------------------------------------------------------------- In this episode, Phil talks to "Fuzz the Pi Guy". Fuzz has a large YouTube channel and has a ton of SDR and Raspberry Pi Videos. Fuzz and I discuss how he uses his Software Defined Radios and how he keeps costs down by using a Raspberry Pi as as his computer for many of these projects. What you will take away from this week's podcast: SDR stands for Software Defined Radio, where you plug your hardware into power on one end and your computer on the other end so the computer software can interpret the signal. The Raspberry Pi is essentially a low-cost computer to help teach computer science in schools, and is now used for things like hosting Minecraft servers, learning Linux, and running SDR programs. Fuzz has a YouTube channel where he primarily demonstrates Raspberry Pi projects and tips, as well as a wide variety of small electronics content. He's using a new setup that involves a Raspberry Pi 3 with an RTL-SDR dongle, connected to a 2m 70cm homemade antenna to receive his local Phase 2 frequencies, uploaded to Broadcastify using the new free software OP25. Using this setup, Fuzz essentially created a Phase 2 scanner for under $100. The FlightAware website gives a good introduction to using the Raspberry Pi with an SDR that can get you set up in under 15 minutes. The Raspberry Pi has the best support system out there for any Pi hardware, but Fuzz has been working with the Atomic Pi lately. This setup provides an inexpensive alternative to buying a pricey scanner if you don't mind troubleshooting and problem solving to get going. All session notes with links to the items we talked about an be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session164 --------------------------------------------------------------- Would you like 1 on 1 help? If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! Help support Scanner School You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support

Free SDR Training! Check out our new course, "The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Software Defined Radios: Everything you need to know to get started with SDR in an afternoon." You can enroll for free at https://courses.scannerschool.com --------------------------------------------------------------- Many of you have have been submitting their questions and today I am answering some of them. This month I answer: What makes the SDS200 so much heavier than the SDS100, and what more are you getting for the weight? What equipment is compatible with a BCD3600XLT with NXDN for location-based scanning via GPS? Bergen County PD is now operating on a new system. What is the best scanner to use to pick up and listen to their new system? How can I update the firmware on a Uniden trunk tracker for BCD996T? All session notes with links to the items we talked about an be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session163 --------------------------------------------------------------- Would you like 1 on 1 help? If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! Help support Scanner School You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support --------------------------------------------------------------- Get started with Scanning in 2021 Our "2021 Scanner Radio Crash Course" Webinar rebroadcast is now online. www.scannerschool.com/crashcourse This webinar will get you started or up to speed on Scanning for 2021.

Free SDR Training! Check out our new course, "The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Software Defined Radios: Everything you need to know to get started with SDR in an afternoon." You can enroll for free at https://courses.scannerschool.com --------------------------------------------------------------- Get started with Scanning in 2021 Our "2021 Scanner Radio Crash Course" Webinar will be January 26, 2021 at 8pm Eastern US time. Register for the live webinar or catch the replay at www.scannerschool.com/2021 This webinar will get you started or up to speed on Scanning for 2021. --------------------------------------------------------------- Do you want to get started with scanning or brush up on basics in the new year? In this episode, Phil goes through a rapid-fire rundown of Scanner Radio Hardware This is part 3 of this 2021 crash course. What you will take away from this week's podcast: Antennas need to be matched, or resonant on the frequency or frequencies you need to monitor. The lower the frequency, the larger the wavelength, which requires a longer antenna. The higher the frequency, the shorter the wavelength, and thus the shorter the antenna. Some antennas can cover a wide bandwidth or even multiple bandwidths. A discone antenna works reasonably well across just about every frequency we might want to listen to, but there is no gain. Discone antennas are omnidirectional and vertically polarized. Yagi antennas are directional antennas with high gain over a small bandwidth, consisting of a boom, a reflector, and a driven element. After your antenna, you need good quality coax cable to deliver the frequencies your antenna is picking up into your radio. As your frequency increases, the amount of loss in coax cable also increases. The best way to combine multiple scanner to a single antenna is with an active multicoupler because it uses isolated ports. You can use filters if you have nearby interference that is preventing you from hearing what you want to listen to. All session notes with links to the items we talked about an be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session162 --------------------------------------------------------------- Would you like 1 on 1 help? If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! Help support Scanner School You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support

Free SDR Training! Check out our new course, "The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Software Defined Radios: Everything you need to know to get started with SDR in an afternoon." You can enroll for free at https://courses.scannerschool.com --------------------------------------------------------------- Get started with Scanning in 2021 Our "2021 Scanner Radio Crash Course" Webinar will be January 26, 2021 at 8pm Eastern US time. Register for the live webinar or catch the replay at www.scannerschool.com/2021 This webinar will get you started or up to speed on Scanning for 2021. --------------------------------------------------------------- Do you want to get started with scanning or brush up on basics in the new year? In this episode, Phil goes through a rapid-fire rundown of Trunk Systems. This is part 2 of this 2021 crash course. What You Will Take Away from This Week's Podcast: Trunking means that multiple users share pooled frequencies, allocated on an as-needed basis. Each talk group is assigned a frequency to use, which is more efficient than conventional systems. These systems can be linked together into networks. The control channel can be considered air traffic control or the traffic cop at an intersection; when a user keys in they request a voice channel, and when it's no longer in use, everyone moves back to the control channel. Types of trunking include EDACS, Motorola Type II, P25, DMR, LTR, NXDN, and more. Rebanding came about because NexTel purchased ESMR frequencies, which resulted in cell phone band frequencies moving up 15MHz and public safety bands moving down 15MHz. Simulcast is when you have multiple transmitter locations keying up at the same time and broadcasting the same information over the same frequencies. All session notes with links to the items we talked about an be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session161 --------------------------------------------------------------- Would you like 1 on 1 help? If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! Help support Scanner School You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support

Free SDR Training! Check out our new course, "The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Software Defined Radios: Everything you need to know to get started with SDR in an afternoon." You can enroll for free at https://courses.scannerschool.com --------------------------------------------------------------- Get started with Scanning in 2021 Our "2021 Scanner Radio Crash Course" Webinar will be January 26, 2021 at 8pm Eastern US time. Register for the live webinar or catch the replay at www.scannerschool.com/2021 This webinar will get you started or up to speed on Scanning for 2021. --------------------------------------------------------------- Do you want to get started with scanning or brush up on basics in the new year? In this episode, Phil goes through a rapid-fire rundown of basic terminology and types of scanning from analog to digital transmissions. This is part 1 of this 2021 crash course. What You Will Take Away from This Week's Podcast: Scanning is the ability to cycle through many frequencies per second, or to monitor one or several frequencies, allowing you to monitor several agencies on one radio. What is a frequency and how do we measure it The difference between Hertz, Kilo-Hertz, and Mega-Hertz. AM, FM, and USB Simplex, Duplex, and Repeated Transmissions The benefits of Analog and Digital Transmissions The differences between FDMA and TDMA and what this means for Digital Transmissions P25 is short for Project 25, a set of standards under telecommunications associations. What DMR is and the differences between Tier 1, 2 and 3 NXDN and it's benefits All session notes with links to the items we talked about an be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session160 --------------------------------------------------------------- Would you like 1 on 1 help? If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! Help support Scanner School You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support

Check out our new course, "The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Software Defined Radios: Everything you need to know to get started with SDR in an afternoon." You can enroll for free at https://courses.scannerschool.com Many of you have have been submitting their questions and today I am answering some of them. This month I answer: The first question is more of a comment regarding the improvements made to the Unication G5 scanner. Will Phil update his review of this scanner to mention these upgrades? How are DMR and simulcast on the Whistler TMR1? Does the new firmware on the BCD 996P2 and 325P2 p25 improve their function for Phase 2 simulcast? What antenna and equipment does Phil recommend for someone who wants to mount a Uniden SDS-200 in their truck without drilling holes and who thinks he needs a wideband antenna? What scanner does Phil suggest for someone who used to scan but hasn't been involved in the hobby for a few years and wants to get back involved in the community? All session notes with links to the items we talked about an be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session159 Would you like 1 on 1 help? If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! Help support Scanner School You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support

Check out our new course, "The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Software Defined Radios: Everything you need to know to get started with SDR in an afternoon." You can enroll for free at https://courses.scannerschool.com Have you wondered how you can best use the search function on your scanner? In this episode, Phil walks through some tips for how to use your scanner to search for new frequencies, from pre-programmed search ranges to scan and search mode, and more. What You Need To Know There is more out there than what you program into your scanner. Not every frequency or use for a frequency has been documented. Once when searching late at night, Phil found an active Federal frequency that he discovered was the USPS sorting mail onto trucks. He also once found a military installation trunk system that he was able to monitor. Searching is useful in case something you listen to becomes encrypted so you have alternatives. Even if you don't know what you want to search for, scanners have built-in search ranges right out of the box that you can use as a starting point. Phil sets up search ranges for what he knows he likes to scan, for example, aviation. Sometimes he sets up new search ranges for random things he feels like listening to that day. Phil suggests setting your search range as a favorites key. You can set your scanner to go through all of your programmed frequencies, and then go back into search mode. You can connect your scanners to your computer with software like Butel or ProScan and have it log the frequencies it finds in search mode for you. All session notes with links to the items we talked about an be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session158 Would you like 1 on 1 help? If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! Help support Scanner School You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support

Uniden Close Call vs Whistler Spectrum Sweeper Which is better: Uniden Close Call or Whistler Spectrum Sweeper? In this episode, Phil puts them to the test in a head-to-head comparison on speed, distance, and technology. Listen in to find out who wins! What You Need To Know Close Call and Spectrum Sweeper are used to seek out nearby frequencies that are stronger than a set value over the scanner's noise floor. You would use this function to listen to, for example, news helicopters flying overhead to report on traffic. Close Call has three modes: standard Close Call, Close Call DND, and Close Call priority. Spectrum Sweeper can be accessed through your settings menu, as a special feature or as automatic tuning. Phil took the current flagship scanner model for both companies with a fresh charge on the battery, using the stock antenna straight out of the box. He set the scanners to Channel 14 to simulate a worst-case scenario scanning situation on a low power FRS channel where the ERP is half a watt. Then, for each radio, Phil tested how long it took for each scanner to lock onto the frequency at progressively farther distances. There were three variables to the test: speed, distance, and technology (Analog, DMR, etc) We choose a winner at the end of this podcast All session notes with links to the items we talked about an be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session157 If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support

Whistler Signal Stalker & Spectrum Sweeper Do you want to know how to use Whistler's signal stalker or spectrum sweeper functions? In this episode, Phil explains how to access and use these features, the options you have, use cases, and more. What You Need To Know The signal stalker and spectrum sweeper features are found on many RadioShack Pro series scanners, as well as GRE Whistler object-oriented scanning. Signal Stalker and spectrum sweeper are the same. The scanner will rapidly search for a strong signal that's coming through at a set value over the noise floor. Signal Stalker is not a solution for finding frequencies while traveling, similar to Uniden close call. As a refresher, an example of how to use these types of features is tuning into a traffic or news helicopter overhead. You can also use it to listen in to sporting events, construction sites, department store security, and more. All session notes with links to the items we talked about an be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session156 If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support Don't forget to join us for our weekly net on Zello. For info, visit https://www.scannerschool.com/zello

Do you have questions about how to use Uniden's close call function? In this episode, Phil explains the purpose of close call, shares examples of times he has used it successfully, and what the different close call settings on your scanner mean in practice. What You Need To Know Close call is an option on just about every available Uniden radio. It's a way to find frequencies that are close to you with a very strong signal. Close call does not work over long distances or with weak signals. Close call won't help you monitor local agencies while you're traveling. It generally picks up signals for communication within a few hundred feet. I have used this feature in situations like when there's a helicopter hovering overhead and he wants to know what's going on. There are 3 ways to set your Uniden scanner for close call: Close call only, close call priority, and close call do not disturb. Changing things like your antenna, the height you're trying to receive, and power levels can affect how well close call may work on your scanner. All session notes with links to the items we talked about an be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session155 If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support Don't forget to join us for our weekly net on Zello. For info, visit https://www.scannerschool.com/zello

Many of you have have been submitting their questions and today I am answering some of them. This month I answer: On the SDS100, what are the most useful items to have shown on the display screen to get the most information out of the scanner as possible? What should someone do if their SDS200 isn't locking on to the control channel right away? Should the Service Types name be changed on an SDS100? How can someone whose laptop uses the same plug for both the speaker and microphone set up their system for Zello? How can someone set up their SDS200 with ProScan where you can listen in and control the scanner remotely from your phone? All session notes with links to the items we talked about an be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session154 If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support Don't forget to join us for our weekly net on Zello. For info, visit https://www.scannerschool.com/zello

Splitting and Sharing Antennas Do you need to split or share the signal from a single antenna to multiple scanners? In this episode, Phil explains the hardware you need to achieve this setup, how the technology works, and what to look for when purchasing the accessories you need. He also walks through his personal setup. What You Need To Know You can use diplexers, duplexers, Triplexers ,and the like to share or split antennas based on frequency A simpler setup would be to split an antenna equally between radios using a multicoupler. A multicoupler can be thought of as a splitter, but the ports are separated so the scanners aren't able to "talk" to each other. Passive multicouplers are less expensive and have no gain, but introduce loss between the ports. Active multicouplers have to be plugged in and powered, and it mimics connecting directly to an antenna. Active multicouplers are Phil's recommendation, especially if you plan to do a lot of splitting or daisy-chaining your multicouplers. Don't use T-connectors because it may cause cross-talk and interference between scanners. When you're buying a multicoupler, make sure that it passes the frequencies you want to monitor. Also, pay attention to the types of connectors on your multicoupler, and whether it's a passive or active multicoupler. Phil uses a Stridsberg multicoupler, model MCA208M. Phil also recommends looking at the website Digital Loggers for their 16-port multicoupler. All session notes with links to the items we talked about an be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session153 If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support Don't forget to join us for our weekly net on Zello. For info, visit https://www.scannerschool.com/zello

2020 Holiday Buyer's Guide Are you wondering what should be on your holiday shopping list this year? In this episode, Phil shares his 2020 holiday buyer's guide, helping you compare radios, scanner software, and accessories. What You Need To Know This year's buyer guide is the same as the 2019 buyer guide because no new equipment has been released. East Coast Pagers will have great Black Friday deals. Uniden SR30C: A radio at the lowest price point with minimal features. Phil recommends instead upgrading to the Uniden BC125AT. Recommended analog trunking scanner: Uniden BCT15X For digital radios, Phil compares and contrasts the Uniden BCD325P2, BCD996P2, and the UBCD325P2, which all support P25 Phase 2. If you don't need Phase 2 P25, Phil recommends the Whistler WS1040 and the WS1065. The next step up is the Whistler TRX1 and TRX2, which come with NXDN and DMR right out of the box. The Uniden BCD436HP and BCD536HP radios are Phil's current go-tos. Internationally, Phil recommends the UBCD3600XLT, which is the overseas version of the BCD436HP scanners. Phil's current "holy grail" scanners are the Uniden SDS100 and SDS200, despite some of the issues they have had. The Unication G2 through G5 are pagers work well in P25 Phase 2 Simulcast environments. We also have a top 10 accessories in the second half of this podcast All session notes with links to the items we talked about an be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session152 If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support Don't forget to join us for our weekly net on Zello. For info, visit https://www.scannerschool.com/zello

Have you wanted to learn about how to combine multiple antennas? In this episode, Phil discusses some best practices for using multiple antennas, including how to set them up to avoid interference, how to bring the signal into your house to connect to your radios, and more. What You Need To Know LMR 400 Coax costs around $1 per foot, so running multiple coax lines for many antennas can get very expensive. Diplexers have a low port, high port, and a common port. Triplexers have a low port, mid port, high port, and a common port. You should not use a T connector to combine multiple antennas. It's possible to run multiple antennas into the same coax line and then split them again at the bottom to feed them into specific radios. Diplexers have a wide separation between Frequency A and Frequency B, and are fairly inexpensive compared to duplexers. Duplexers are tunable and used for frequencies that are very, very close together, like same band combiners. Duplexers are larger and are typically ground-mounted, but diplexers/triplexers/quadplexers can be mounted indoors or outdoors. All session notes with links to the items we talked about an be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session151 If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support Don't forget to join us for our weekly net on Zello. For info, visit https://www.scannerschool.com/zello

Ask Scanner School v26 This month I answer: What are some troubleshooting tips to improve audio quality and overall reception on a Uniden scanner? Can Unication G-series pagers support Motorola type 2 systems? What can someone do or what antenna can they buy if the scanner app on their cell phone is picking up more than their actual scanner radio? Is it worth putting a scanner in your car if most of what you scan is digital? What SDR antenna would I recommend? All session notes with links to the items we talked about an be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session150 If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support Don't forget to join us for our weekly net on Zello. For info, visit https://www.scannerschool.com/zello

Have you wondered about the impact a potential T-band giveback would have? In this episode, Phil walks you through the FCC's plan, the opposition it faces, and what it would mean for public safety and scanner radio hobbyists alike. What You Need To Know The FCC T-band giveback is reallocating the 470-512 MHz spectrum. The T-band spectrum was part of the TV band that ran from Channel 14-20. This spectrum was allocated to certain major urban areas for public safety, broadcast television, transportation, and private land mobile services to reduce congestion. The FCC is aware that the giveback is a bad idea and will harm public safety as licenses in these bands are crucial for first responders, but it is currently the law to move forward with it. Congress has bipartisan support to get rid of the T-band giveback. All session notes with links to the items we talked about an be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session149 If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support Don't forget to join us for our weekly net on Zello. For info, visit https://www.scannerschool.com/zello

Do you want to discover the radio IDs broadcasting in your area? In this episode, Phil welcomes back guest Kenneth Fowler. They discuss how Kenneth logs and verifies the radio IDs he finds, issues you may run into, and developments in the hobby coming soon. What You Need To Know Everything that transmits on a trunk system documents itself with a radio ID. Kenneth started in the scanner radio hobby because of friends who volunteered with the fire department. Every digital radio and radio on a trunk system are programmed with an ID and alias so others know who you are when you broadcast. When Kenneth uses Uniden scanners, he runs ProScan and has radio IDs display on the screen so he can determine what he wants to pay attention to based on who is broadcasting. Radio IDs assignments can change, and the person using a particular radio with a particular ID can change, especially if they're portables. Kenneth started by logging IDs in a notebook, and he still keeps a hard copy but transfers the information into a spreadsheet. Phil got interested in this when he wanted to map out an encrypted trunk system. Many radio IDs are defined by department, location, or some other way of organizing the information, and it can help you figure out what each ID is on an encrypted system. Sometimes Radio Reference will have collected radio IDs published on their wiki pages. Different scanners and software have different ways of programming radio IDs. All session notes with links to the items we talked about an be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session148 If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support Don't forget to join us for our weekly net on Zello. For info, visit https://www.scannerschool.com/zello

Do you want to learn more about getting your Ham radio license? In this episode, Phil welcomes back guest Chuck Gysi from Ham Radio Prep. They discuss the Ham radio licensing exams, the new extra course launching soon, and more. Sign up for Ham Radio Prep using our affiliate link: www.scannerschool.com/hamradioprep What You Need To Know Chuck runs National Communications Magazine, and it has existed since 1988. Chuck got interested in radios because his father was a volunteer fireman and got calls through a radio. Ham Radio Prep was started in 2017 by people who got licensed as a way to communicate during hurricanes when national systems are down. They are developing a new course to teach new licensees on how to program a radio by hand so that it serves them in an emergency situation. The course has some interactivity, including games and flashcards to prepare you for the licensing exam. Because of COVID, the number of registrations for the ham radio prep course rose 700%. Also due to COVID, if may not be possible to take the licensing exam virtually. Many have reported that they are receiving their license from the FCC within 24 hours. The length of time it will take to complete the course depends on how fast you can pickup the content. There's a Facebook support group for students to ask questions and answer each other. Go to ARRL.org to find a testing location. No matter what your other hobbies are, there is probably a tie-in you can make to amateur radio. All session notes with links to the items we talked about an be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session147 If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support Don't forget to join us for our weekly net on Zello. For info, visit https://www.scannerschool.com/zello

Many of you have have been submitting their questions and today I am answering some of them. This month I answer: How can he improve my current antenna setup? What scanner should I buy if I wanted to listen to my local area and also stream it to my phone? Is there a scanner that can do P25 phase 1 and 2, and NXDN at the same time? Would Phil recommend spending additional money to get a desktop Whistler scanner over a handheld? All session notes with links to the items we talked about an be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session146 If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support Don't forget to join us for our weekly net on Zello. For info, visit https://www.scannerschool.com/zello

The Uniden MR8100 In this episode, Phil talks about the Uniden MR8100 and its unique features, from its design to rumors about its functionality. What You Need To Know This radio was marketed as a scanner developed for public safety. Rumors say it was created for the LAPD. This radio was analog-only, with 100 memory channels in 10 banks, with no trunking and no P-25. The radio was designed to be mounted on a wall or on the dashboard of a car, so the display is on what would be the top of a desktop scanner. It doesn't have an internal speaker but would come with an external speaker and a connector. On this radio, you could adjust the contrast and the dimmer of the display using dials. Software for this scanner is still available online. You could enter passwords to unlock certain features of the scanner. Each memory bank can be alpha tagged. Supposedly, with additional software and some manual entry, you could access a massive range of frequencies with this scanner. These radios are hard to find, but they occasionally pop up on eBay. The radio has areas of birdies, so you need to be aware of them to get around them. All session notes with links to the items we talked about an be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session145 If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support Don't forget to join us for our weekly net on Zello. For info, visit https://www.scannerschool.com/zello

Are you interested in listening to the International Space Station? In this episode, Phil shares what you need to know to tune into the ISS and other satellites passing overhead. Learn what equipment and software can help you, where to find the frequencies you'll need, and how to know when the ISS will be passing over your location. What You Need To Know The ISS just launched a new amateur radio cross-band repeater. You'll need a HAM radio license for your country in order to transmit on the repeater. No license is required to monitor the repeater The repeater is installed on the Columbus Module of the ISS The repeater is part of the IORS (Inter-Operable Radio System). In order to receive the ISS, you'll need to be aware of the doppler effect. In the doppler effect, you'll need to tune to a higher frequency as the ISS approaches you and a lower frequency as it moves away from you. Any scanner on the market can receive the ISS' new repeater. A directional antenna will be best but you can use a fixed antenna too. My favorite mode from the ISS is SSTV. SSTV is Slow Scan TV, where an image is transmitted over about 30 seconds to your computer. Sometimes the ISS has short communications with local schools, which you can hear if it's happening near you. You can find the frequencies at ARISS.org. To see when the ISS will pass over you, go to Heavens Above or N2YO and enter your location. If you're on a PC, download the Orbitron satellite tracker software to your computer. Orbitron will also tell you the drift frequency of the satellite. If you connect your radio to your computer, you can set Orbitron to automatically adjust the drift on your radio. If you use Mac or Linux, download gpredict. All session notes with links to the items we talked about an be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session144 If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support Don't forget to join us for our weekly net on Zello. For info, visit https://www.scannerschool.com/zello

Are you interested in scanning Federal agency frequencies? In this episode, Phil welcomes Chris Parris, an expert on Federal scanning and writer of the blog The Fed Files. They discuss how Chris found his way into Federal scanning, tips and tricks for people interested in trying it, and so much more! What You Need To Know Guest Chris Parris is known in the community for his work scanning Federal signals. Chris started trying Federal scanning when he was touring a radio tower in the 1970s and was told that there was an FBI repeater on site, so he began to research how to listen to those frequencies. When Chris moved to southern Texas near the border, he became particularly interested in listening to border patrol and other very active Federal agencies operating there. When you start listening to Federal frequencies, you need to have patience because they often don't broadcast that often. You should look between 162.0-174.0 MHz and 406.0-420.0 MHz to find the majority of Federal agency communications. There are some smaller bands with some Federal or military operations, including 138-144 MHz and 148-150 MHz. Though most communications are digital, you can still find quite a bit of analog particularly among smaller agencies. Most law enforcement need to maintain interoperability in their communications with each other, like local police with the FBI, but other agencies don't need that. Even Federal agencies have call signs and are licensed frequencies. Chris's biggest tip is to be patient, because it's unlikely that you're going to find a big list of great things to listen to right away. All session notes with links to the items we talked about an be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session143 If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support Don't forget to join us for our weekly net on Zello. For info, visit https://www.scannerschool.com/zello

Do you want to know how to improve your scanner's audio? In this episode, Phil welcomes back Harrison Wilson to discuss sound quality with scanner radio setups. They discuss external speakers, how sound vibrations work, audio mixers, and more. What You Need To Know Guest Harrison Wilson returns for his third guest appearance to talk about improving your scanner's audio quality. A lot of scanner radios produce a tinny sound. To deliver all the features that customers want and keep manufacturing costs low, speaker and audio quality is what ends up suffering. As a firefighter, Harrison takes a tip for diagnosing water problems and applies it to audio: start at the source and work your way forward. Once you have good signal on your radio, the next step is adjusting the volume on your speaker. Understand how speaker resistance plays into your audio quality because sometimes it increases quality, and other times it can worsen it. Sound is a vibration, so what's around your speaker can dramatically impact the sound. For people who want to listen to multiple scanner feeds at the same time, you can feed your signal into a mixer If your scanner has a line out jack, that's typically better to use than a headphone jack. A sound mixer will allow you to fine-tune your audio, like adjusting treble and bass levels. Feeds may start to do something called clipping when the audio exceeds the bandwidth and the sound gets very distorted. It's easy to go down a rabbit hole reading reviews and trying to find the ideal equipment but you'll have more success searching for general tips for how to improve audio quality on what you already have. All session notes with links to the items we talked about an be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session142 If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support Don't forget to join us for our weekly net on Zello. For info, visit https://www.scannerschool.com/zello

Many of you have have been submitting their questions and today I am answering some of them. This month I answer: What does the setting for "Set Hold Time" on a P25 scanner mean? What do you do if every few days, you suddenly can't pick up signal on your scanner? What is the super dumbed-down version of how to program an SDS-100 scanner? What products would I recommend for an antenna upgrade to reach an area about 20 miles away? Can you monitor P25 trunking by only scanning frequencies? All session notes with links to the items we talked about an be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session141 If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support Don't forget to join us for our weekly net on Zello. For info, visit https://www.scannerschool.com/zello

In this episode, Phil explains the virtual scanner feature that exists in many Whistler and Radio Shack scanner models. He talks about what they're best used for, how to set them up and make changes, and more. What You Need To Know: This virtual scanner option is available on most, but not all, Whistler, GRE, and Radio Shack scanners that support object-oriented scanning. V-scanner stands for "virtual scanner", and they are built into your existing scanner, with different models having between 21-200 v-scanners built-in. V-scanners are a set of configurations inside your scanner that save your object lists. These allow you to create backup copies of your scanner configurations. You can also create v-scanners for different locations and swap them out as you travel. V-Scanner comes in two flavors Doing a reset will only apply to the v-scanner you currently have loaded. All session notes with links to the items we talked about an be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session140 If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support Don't forget to join us for our weekly net on Zello. For info, visit https://www.scannerschool.com/zello

What's it like to scan during moments of major unrest? In this episode, Phil is joined by listener Brad, from Minnesota, to talk about scanning during the George Floyd protests. They discuss what Brad found to listen to during the first week of protests in Minneapolis, what surprised him, and how things are now. What You Need To Know Brad did what Phil suggests and thinks outside the box, programming his scanner with more than he ever thought he would need to listen to. Brad has been involved with this hobby for over 50 years, having bought his first scanner when he was 12 years old. Brad always tries to remember that while this is a hobby to him, what he's hearing is a tragedy to somebody else. Minneapolis has had a lot of peaceful protests, so at first listening to this wasn't unusual or concerning. During the second night of the protests, Brad was surprised not to hear any fire department response to the fires being set around the 3rd Precinct, and he knew exactly which stations should be answering. Brad started also following this on Facebook live streams and other broadcasts. On the third night, the protests and police activity spread to the 5th Precinct, even closer to Brad's home. All session notes with links to the items we talked about an be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session139 If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support Don't forget to join us for our weekly net on Zello. For info, visit https://www.scannerschool.com/zello

Are you craving more scanner radio content? In this episode, Phil is joined by Jonathan Higgins and Rich Carlson, hosts of The Scanner Guys, a weekly YouTube show. They discuss some of the common questions and topics that come up, how they've grown their audience, and more. What You Need To Know The Scanner Guys met at Scanner Master and started doing Facebook Live in 2018, and it grew into their YouTube show. They always made a point to interact with their audience members. The show has grown over the past couple of years and they now have regular viewers. They broadcast live every week on Wednesday at 8pmET/5pmPT and Rich posts the topic on Radio Reference on Mondays. Some recent topics have included GPS, vintage scanners, and NASCAR scanning. Many people are currently frustrated by police scanners becoming encrypted, but there are still things to listen to. All session notes with links to the items we talked about an be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session138 If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support Don't forget to join us for our weekly net on Zello. For info, visit https://www.scannerschool.com/zello

Many of you have have been submitting their questions and today I am answering some of them. This month I answer: When will my SDR series come out? What would I recommend for an SDR dongle to use Unitrunker on a laptop? What outdoor antenna should I use? How do you monitor a P-25 conventional system? Why can't fire departments use mobile bands? All session notes with links to the items we talked about an be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session137 You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support Don't forget to join us for our weekly net on Zello. For info, visit https://www.scannerschool.com/zello

Do you want to better understand object-oriented programming? In this episode, Phil explains how object-oriented programming differs from just using a scanner with hard coded memory and also Uniden's DMA memory. What You Need To Know Object-oriented scanning allows you to create scan lists as small or as large as you need without wasting memory on your scanner. Memory space on a scanner is based on blocks, and trunking, talk spaces, etc., each take up varying numbers of blocks. Scan lists are thought of in object-oriented scanners as banks. These scanners have dynamic memory, where instead of programming a frequency twice in two separate scan lists, you are able to program it once in two locations. Trunking in object-oriented scanning requires separate lists for sites. When talk groups are assigned to a scan list that means the scanner recognizes them as an object and knows it needs to monitor it. Scan lists in object-oriented scanners can handle both conventional and trunk systems in the same list. You can mix and match analog and digital as well. Object-oriented scanners allow you to have v-scanners, which we will talk about on a future podcast. All session notes with links to the items we talked about an be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session136 If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support Don't forget to join us for our weekly net on Zello. For info, visit https://www.scannerschool.com/zello

Do you believe analyzing trunk systems requires a fancy hardware setup? Jackson from Kentucky joins us on the podcast this week to talk about how he is mapping out trunk systems with a scanner, a pager, pen and paper, and a spreadsheet. You don't need to configure complicated computer programs to understand what is happening on your local trunk systems. All session notes with links to the items we talked about an be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session135 If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support Don't forget to join us for our weekly net on Zello. For info, visit https://www.scannerschool.com/zello

Do you want tips for how to use your scanner to its fullest potential during times of social unrest? In this episode, Phil shares ways to get started at scanning right now if you're new to the hobby in response to current events, gives suggestions of what to listen for beyond fire and police transmissions, and more. What You Need To Know Due to current events, scanner radio sales are up, whether it's first-time buyers who are new to the hobby or people returning to the hobby after some time away. You are responsible for looking into the laws in your country/state/province/etc. to find out whether scanning is legal and any parameters around it. Use Radio Reference to find out what you can listen to in your area. Whether you need an expensive scanner depends on the modulation on the frequencies you intend to listen and the types of trunk systems in your area. Some scanners can automatically program based on your zip code if you don't care about programming with more specificity. Other than fire and police, you can find and listen to tactical channels or the Office of Emergency Management. The Federal DOJ has the 25 Cities Project, which allows for interoperability between local, state, and federal agencies during emergency responses. Don't forget to program in the NIFOG channels Try listening to media frequencies to hear field reports and traffic/news helicopters before news breaks. All session notes with links to the items we talked about an be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session134 If you need help with your scanner and are looking for some one on one tutoring, I'd love to help you out. Visit www.scannerschool.com/consulting to book your one hour appointment today! You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support Don't forget to join us for our weekly net on Zello. For info, visit https://www.scannerschool.com/zello