Is there anything to listen to anymore on a scanner?

[jeff48356]

I have a standard police scanner that covers VHF and UHF bands up to 512MHz (FM only). It seems most radio services have gone all digital, if not encrypted, thus rendering my scanner nearly obsolete. Besides 2M and 440 ham radio operators, is there anything to listen to anymore on the "classic" scanner frequencies these days? It's surely not like it used to be in 1985 when I got my first scanner (at age 13).

 

[ill41]

School buses and hospital security is all I get.Plus MURS and 2-meters.

 

[Zagadka]

Your question is probably best answered by checking RadioReference.com. Click on your state then drill down to your location and you'll see what's going on around you.

Hope that helps.

 

[towerdog]

sheriff's department, fire, ems, aircraft and a few local PD from some of the smaller neighboring towns, taxis, tow truck dispatch, hams, businesses on the dot channels and walmart on murs. occasionally you will hear hunters on VHF marine. Local PD, city fire, highway patrol, dmv, forest service, wildlife, etc have all gone digital. Hardly obsolete so long as it does narrowband FM, but leaves out quite a bit thats gone digital

 

[Need2Know]

...in Central Florida

In Sumter, Lake, and Marion Counties in Central Florida, not much in Public Safety. Sheriff', Police and some Fire/EMS have gone to encrypted. Some Fire is digital/trunked. Only public utilities remains analog. The transition to digital/encrypted occurred only in the past year or two in this neck of the woods.

 

[triggerhappy2006]

Just because you can't hear the voice, doesn't mean it's useless. Digital/Encrypted signals still tells you something important.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Only if you can decode it but since the OP has an FM only scanner that point is moot. Most stuff has moved to 700/800MHz anyway.

 

[Eastside]

Don't feel bad...a few yrs back when they went digital.....I went out and bought a $400+ digital scanner....2 weeks later our PSD switched to all encrypted coms.....the scanner has basically been collecting dust since.