|
Part 9A: What's in a Name?
Police Scanner, Radio Scanner or Scanner Radio?
Police scanner, radio scanner, or simply scanner? All three terms
refer to the same device, a wideband radio-receiver capable of hearing
two-way communications in the VHF and UHF radio bands. Most
hobbyists simply refer to them as "scanners." However, the term has
always confused non-listeners, who ask questions like, "What exactly does
it scan?" With the rise of computers and their related peripheral
devices, the term "scanner" is more likely to be associated with a
document imaging scanners than radios. Most people are more
likely to know scanners as "police scanners" as law enforcement is
consistently the most popular listening target. Many members of the
public are unaware of the vast amount of other radio services that can be
heard - such as auto racing and aircraft - on our "police
scanners". Several vendors used to call "Scanner radios"
although now the term "radio scanner" has gained
popularity.
Scanners inherit their name largely from their original function -
scanning among multiple frequencies to find active
communications. Police and other two-way radio
users typically transmit in an intermittant fasion, with each
transmission lasting only the duration of the communication. Readers
interested primarily in picking a scanner to hear police, fire,
and other 2-way uses should refer to Part 3A:
Land-mobile or view the table below.
The table below lists the broad types of radio systems used for police
communications. For each system type, the table lists scanner
categories that can hear that system. For example, all scanners in
category 5 can hear digital APCO-25 systems. All scanners in
categories 4 and 5 can hear analog trunked radio systems. Please
click on the category numbers to view scanners in that category.
| Type of Radio System |
Scanner Categories |
| Conventional (Not trunked),
Analog (FM), non-800 MHz (such as 154, 453, or 460 MHz) |
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6 |
| Conventional (Not trunked),
Analog (FM), on 800 MHz |
3,
4,
5,
6 |
| Trunked Radio System, Analog
(FM) |
4,
5 |
| Trunked Radio System, (APCO-25
format only, other digital formats not supported) |
5 |
* Scanners in Category 3 will receive 800 MHz conventional systems and
will receive the audio on analog trunked radio systems, but cannot track
conversations on trunked systems as they move across frequencies.
|
