Police Scanners 101: All you need to know about scanning frequencies

Tue 27th Oct 2020, 7:54pm

You know how when you turn the radio on in your car, there are dozens of channels to listen to at any time? Well, that's just the beginning of it.

At any given time, there are almost thousands of radio waves in the air around you including the police scanner frequencies such as the UHF police channels, but you can't listen to them with your old regular car radio.

Enter the police scanner!

With a police radio scanner and the right scanner codes, you can listen in to dozens of police channels. But don't let the name fool you – they're not just for listening in to the police. You can use them to listen in on channels from the fire-fighting department, ambulance drivers, astronauts, race car drivers, air traffic control, taxis, security guards, and so much more.

Let's see what else police radio scanners can do and learn more about how they work.

What is a radio scanner?

A radio scanner is a device that allows you to pick a wider range of frequencies than your regular car radio. On those frequencies, you can listen to conversations from many different departments if you have the right cop scanner codes giving police scanner frequencies, but more on that later. They're also portable, which means you can easily take them with you and listen to your favourite channels wherever you are. In addition, many manufacturers try to outdo their competition and include amazing features that you can use to enrich your listening experience and make it that much more enjoyable. We'll go through some of those later, but for now, let's see the basics of how a radio scanner works?

How does a radio scanner work?

A radio scanner typically operates on two different modes:

Search – in this mode, your scanner will search for any transmission within your preferred frequency range. It will quickly scan through all frequencies, and if it detects a transmission, it will let you listen to it. Then, you can choose to hold the scanner on that frequency or continue scanning for other transmissions and search the UHF police channels. You can also save the frequency into a memory channel so you can listen to it again.

Scan – Speaking of saved police scanner frequencies, once you have enough saved channels in your memory banks, you can set the scanner to only scan those channels for your cop scannercodes. That way, you can be sure to never miss any action since this is a way quicker method and it only focuses on your favourite channels.

Any information about the channel will appear on the scanner's screen so you can stay informed at all times about what you're listening to. Some scanners even allow options to customize the display with colour codes and other layouts that make it even easier for you.

Now that you're more familiar with the basic operation of a police scanner and using scanner codes let's go through some of the more specific terms you need to know about. These will also cover some of the more basic features we mentioned earlier.

Common radio scanner terms you need to know

GPS Capability – some scanners utilize GPS technology to allow you to listen in to nearby frequencies no matter your location. New location-specific frequencies will load on your scanner automatically thanks to the GPS.

Alpha tag – used to describe frequencies in talk groups, usually under 12 characters.

Close call – quickly scanning through nearby frequencies to listen in to any important transmissions that might affect you.

PC Programming – most radio scanners can be programmed through your PC. You'll just need to install software and configure all your settings there.

Storage – the internal storage of the scanner, where saved channels and recorded conversations are stored.

Range – estimated scanning range of the radio scanner. This depends on the type of surroundings you have.

Step size – this determines how efficiently your scanner searches through frequencies. Older scanners usually have the step size locked, but on newer models, you can choose between 5, 6.25, 8.33, 10, 12.5, 25, and 50 kHz steps.

Scan delay – the amount of time the scanner will keep listening to a frequency after the transmission ends, and before it starts scanning other frequencies. These vary from 2 to 30 seconds, and you can set it up however you like on most scanners.

Lock-out – this feature allows you to ignore a certain frequency so that the scanner never stops on it.

Types of radio scanners

Radio scanners can be found in two different formats: analog and digital.

Older radio scanners are mostly analog, and with them, you can listen to only analog frequencies,and not digital.

With digital scanners, on the other hand, you can listen to both analog and digital frequencies, such as UHF police channels, Phase 1 and Phase 2 digital signals, as well as trunked systems.

Which one do I need?

To determine which one is the better option for you, look up your state using our tool and see if they’re using mostly analog or digital signals. Most counties and states have started making the switch to digital, but there are still some that use analog, but to pick up all scanner codes you might need a digital version.

How expensive are radio scanners?

Although more advanced models can get pretty high in price, you don’t need to spend a fortune to get started in radio scanning. Most analog scanners come at less than $100, and you can find digital models with all the basic features for under $500 that will pick up all UHF police channels and general scanner codes.

To give you a better sense of what you’d get in that price range between $100-500, you can check out the Uniden BEARTRACKER 885, which is both a full-featured CB radio and a digital scanner. It’s perfect for car use and comes with a pre-programmed US and Canada database. Or, you can take a look at the Whistler TRX-1 Handheld Scanner with its advanced features and excellent audio quality. Another price range up, at over $500, you can see even more advanced options, such as the Uniden SD200, which many consider to be the best radio scanner out there with revolutionary features. Another model from Uniden is the BCD536HP which is one of the easiest scanners to program and has GPS capability.

Are police scanners legal to use?

In general, yes, police scanners are legal to use for picking up police scanner frequencies. Some states, however, have banned them and you can’t use them there. These include Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, New York, and Minnesota. Note that this does not constitute legal advice. For more detailed information about the legality of scanners, make sure to consult a qualified legal advisor or ask around your radio scanner store for insider information on scanner codes and listening to UHF police channels where you are.

Finally, have a great day listening to police, fire and EMS frequencies!