Pulling out my old radio scanner

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David321

485 posts

Ultimate Geek

#272326 19-Jun-2020 20:12

Hi all,

I have had a renewed interest into seeing what conversations/information I can pick up with my old radio scanner, I used to hear some really cool stuff years ago and decided to pull it out again years later to see what I can pick up.

After scanner through the entire frequency range twice and even using the capture function I have not been able to pick up anything at all and little research online has me thinking that my scanner being as old as it is may not be able to pick up digital communications?

There was some info online that most places now using something like "digital over analogue", this has me thinking with my scanner being as old as it is (Uniden UBC92XLT) maybe it can not pick up most communication these days? although I did manage to pick up the fire service responding to a health related event at my neighbors a few months ago by using the "capture" feature and I thought the fire service would surely be using digital?

Not sure if there are any experts in this field here on geekzone but if there is someone reading this who knows a thing or two about these devices Id love to hear you tips!

_David_

Oblivian

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#2508487 19-Jun-2020 21:36

Hah, was just helping someone online do this a few mins ago for one they have dug out. /Conspiracy

You're onto it. Depending on region, most places have gone digital. UHF and encrypted/proprietary encoding that that won't do.

https://www.radiowiki.org.nz/index.php/Main_Page

As you have found. There isn't much out there these days. Fire - yes, still analogue.

Some ambo.

Police - no. Digital (some hilly/rural regions or with cross-over roles still analogue)

Fleetlink/trucking have largely gone DMR now too (they market privacy so everyone gets on board). Very little 26Mhz/CB use. Oldies in campers use UHF CB

Aviation still VHF analogue.

David321

485 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2508510 19-Jun-2020 21:53

Thanks for your info, so it's not possible to pick up digital on this scanner. Is there a scanner out there I can buy that will pick up digital for more things to listen to?

_David_

Oblivian

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#2508514 19-Jun-2020 22:04

No digital with that model no. Can you do Digital though?, yes - gets pricey https://www.mobilesystems.co.nz/product_details/p/1061/c/280/Uniden_BCD325P2-AU_Scanner

Encrypted - not so much.

Lots of different ones these days. MotoTRBO, P25, NXDN, dPMR. Some cover these, some don't

But the moment they encrypt there needs to be smarts to pickup the key and decode. And when it comes to 256bit AES, You can imagine the timeframe and CPU needed to brute it :)

David321

485 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2533325 2-Aug-2020 19:30

@Oblivion

haha yeah would not be easy. I have just scanned through every channel on my ubc92xlt and did not pick up much at all. I have found heaps of frequencies on radio wiki and according to the manual for my scanner to manually enter a channel I press "hold" and the channel and then press "hold" again, but upon pressing hold again after putting the channel in it just says "error", any idea why this may be?

_David_

neb

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#2533344 2-Aug-2020 20:52

Oblivian:
But the moment they encrypt there needs to be smarts to pickup the key and decode. And when it comes to 256bit AES, You can imagine the timeframe and CPU needed to brute it :)

The key management on many of those systems is generally atrocious and the UI is just as bad, it's quite easily to run many APCO P25 radios in the clear while thinking you've got encryption turned on. So you're not getting nearly as much with your encryption as you expect. Having said that, just the digital tech is enough to keep most scanner listeners out, which is all that matters. Tactical comms only need a low grade of protection because they rapidly decay in value.

Oblivian

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#2533380 2-Aug-2020 23:21

I could never get the manual entry to work. They're not the best when it comes to single scan or storage.

I've gotten use to doing it at speed now, since I have specific banks for different services I can identify free spots fairly easy to enter. (Fire UHF, Fire mjr event, Air, Air additional, Out of town pol/fire etc)

My preferred method when it's in 'scan' is to select only the bank I intend on adding it by pressing the number itself to turn all the others off. And hit Hold to stop on said bank

Fnc (so the F appears)

And using the 2/8 keys move to a blank slot within that bank

Pgm (Fn-Pgm is the official mode, but as you are already manually stepping it's 1 hit) And enter the required frequency. Of course E/Pgm completes it and saves to that spot

Back to scan mode, and you can be assured it's now part of the scanned bank

Close call can be handy at sporting events and so on. But so many agents in NZ are leasing radios and putting them on one of the main DMR networks now there isn't a lot of activity about.

Mine is mainly used to be nosey where the local volleys are off or getting into a shooting spot for interesting aircraft. Save me staring at a flight tracker all the time

MaxLV

656 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2534202 4-Aug-2020 00:24

David321:

Hi all,

I have had a renewed interest into seeing what conversations/information I can pick up with my old radio scanner, I used to hear some really cool stuff years ago and decided to pull it out again years later to see what I can pick up.

After scanner through the entire frequency range twice and even using the capture function I have not been able to pick up anything at all and little research online has me thinking that my scanner being as old as it is may not be able to pick up digital communications?

There was some info online that most places now using something like "digital over analogue", this has me thinking with my scanner being as old as it is (Uniden UBC92XLT) maybe it can not pick up most communication these days? although I did manage to pick up the fire service responding to a health related event at my neighbors a few months ago by using the "capture" feature and I thought the fire service would surely be using digital?

Not sure if there are any experts in this field here on geekzone but if there is someone reading this who knows a thing or two about these devices Id love to hear you tips!

You might want to think about getting one of these, before spending big bucks on a scanner.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/electronics-photography/radio-equipment/amateur-radio/listing-2725307361.htm?rsqid=99987fd195c04da688e26fbbcb455009-002 https://www.trademe.co.nz/electronics-photography/radio-equipment/amateur-radio/listing-2725307361.htm?rsqid=99987fd195c04da688e26fbbcb455009-002

Note that there are a lot of 'offers' on Trade Me where these cost over $100, and you have to wait weeks for them to be sent from China (these are scams)

The link above is where I got mine from, along with the portable antenna kit, and also the AM filter, and FM filter. They arrived with in 3 days via courier.

They're handy for scanning frequencies for activity, and experimenting. They're used a lot to receive satellite transmissions (mostly weather satellite reception) with an appropriate antenna. Check out the Reddit RLTSDR subs.

I have one that I use occasionally for shortwave reception (works best with a long wire antenna) and scanning VHF/UHF etc, and set it up to decode pagers..

The software on your computer is mostly free, I can recommend SDR# (sharp)

I also have two scanners Unden UBCT8, and a Uniden UBC9000XLT that I have on most of the time, but all I get these days is the Fire service, Aircraft, and marine...

Wise

Send money globally for less with Wise - one free transfer up to NZ$900 (affiliate link).

neb

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#2534203 4-Aug-2020 00:30

MaxLV: You might want to think about getting one of these, before spending big bucks on a scanner.

I was going to suggest an SDR-based solution as well, provided you don't mind a bit of a fixer-upper. Either that or wait until dodgy Baofeng's start flooding the market.

David321

485 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2534217 4-Aug-2020 07:23

You might want to think about getting one of these, before spending big bucks on a scanner.

@MaxLV I did not know about these USB things, *full disclaimer, I am a real rookie when it comes to this sort of stuff so I have some pretty silly sounding questions.

1, Would I find more to listen to on one of the USB's than on my current scanner, or do they also only pick up non digital transmissions?

2, Similar question to above, but if these do pick up digital, is there a significant amount more that can be picked up from sitting at home, as being connected to a laptop would have obvious portability issues

3, What is the software like? easy to use etc, can you easily save and label frequencies

4, How is the scanning done, can you set it to automatically scan through frequencies until it picks up something or enter a channel manual to listen?

5, Is the software downloaded from a website or come with it?

Cheers!

_David_

Oblivian

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#2534239 4-Aug-2020 08:49

David321:

1, Would I find more to listen to on one of the USB's than on my current scanner, or do they also only pick up non digital transmissions?

About the same. There are SOME digital decoding software capabilities. P25 for instance if you know the control channels also. But not generally Encrypted digital.

Depends on your antenna and positioning. But you would get more couriers/trucking firms and the likes renting gear and using shared DMR networks

https://www.radiowiki.org.nz/index.php/Scanning_Trunking_in_Auckland

3, What is the software like? easy to use etc, can you easily save and label frequencies

SDR sharp you can save them at the click of a 'bookmark' type button. But I think you need something else to do scan functions. And another again to do P25 and so forth as it scans 2 channels

https://www.rtl-sdr.com/using-sdr-fast-scanner-plugin-wide-band-scanning/ (I don't use it so can't vouch. But the comments don't look promising. However this site is a good starting point)

4, How is the scanning done, can you set it to automatically scan through frequencies until it picks up something or enter a channel manual to listen?

See above

5, Is the software downloaded from a website or come with it?

Most are designed as UHF TV tuner sticks. So tend to come with TV software, and you then download the opensource software after the fact that opens up the tuning range and so on.

MaxLV

656 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2534288 4-Aug-2020 10:23

Oblivian:

David321:

1, Would I find more to listen to on one of the USB's than on my current scanner, or do they also only pick up non digital transmissions?

About the same. There are SOME digital decoding software capabilities. P25 for instance if you know the control channels also. But not generally Encrypted digital.

2, Similar question to above, but if these do pick up digital, is there a significant amount more that can be picked up from sitting at home, as being connected to a laptop would have obvious portability issues

Depends on your antenna and positioning. But you would get more couriers/trucking firms and the likes renting gear and using shared DMR networks

https://www.radiowiki.org.nz/index.php/Scanning_Trunking_in_Auckland

3, What is the software like? easy to use etc, can you easily save and label frequencies

SDR sharp you can save them at the click of a 'bookmark' type button. But I think you need something else to do scan functions. And another again to do P25 and so forth as it scans 2 channels

https://www.rtl-sdr.com/using-sdr-fast-scanner-plugin-wide-band-scanning/ (I don't use it so can't vouch. But the comments don't look promising. However this site is a good starting point)

4, How is the scanning done, can you set it to automatically scan through frequencies until it picks up something or enter a channel manual to listen?

See above

5, Is the software downloaded from a website or come with it?

Most are designed as UHF TV tuner sticks. So tend to come with TV software, and you then download the opensource software after the fact that opens up the tuning range and so on.

Adding to Oblivian's replies...

1. Again referring to the RTLSDR sub's on Reddit https://old.reddit.com/r/RTLSDR/ , quite a few people user SDR USB sticks and the appropriate software to track/decode/listen to trunk radio transmissions, mostly because the emergency services in the USA use trunk radio systems. I haven't bothered as here in New Zealand trunk radio is mostly delivery/taxi's, etc.

2. Re antennas... I've found you do need a reasonable antenna for the RTLSDR USB stick. I have a discone antenna outside that I use for my scanners, and the RTLSDR. Making the satellite antennas is apparently easy to do without the need of many tools.

3. SDR# is easy to set up and get working, some of the other available software not so much. Most of it is open source (free) but I find that some software can be frustrating to get/setup especially from GitHub.

A good starter reference page is at https://www.rtl-sdr.com/ that has comprehensive easy to follow instructions/tutorials on setting up and using the RTLSDR USB stick. Note it can take a bit of reading, but I didn't know anything about how to use RTLSDR's before I started reading this website.

4. I just use the Freqscanner 'plug in' for SDR# for scanning as SDR# doesn't have a built in scanning option. https://www.rtl-sdr.com/sdr-frequency-scanner-plugin-updated/

Here's a photo of my portable setup using my Samsung tablet, RTLSDR USB stick, and portable antenna's...

https://imgur.com/p1Gszni

Oblivian

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#2534311 4-Aug-2020 10:46

Reminds me of wardriving days. When the internet wasn't in the palm of everyones hand :)