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Survival and Preparations Long and short term survival and 'prepping'.

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  #1  
Old 08-31-2021, 8:20 PM
riprap riprap is offline
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Default Are scanners good for monitoring disasters?

How so?
What is your preferred model and why?
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  #2  
Old 09-01-2021, 7:28 AM
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Yes, absolutely. Monitoring local radio traffic of police, fire and EMS gives you some clues as to what's going on in your area that you might not get a sense of by other methods of obtaining local information.

Firefighters responding to a fire for example, will generate quite a bit of radio traffic describing the nature of the fire, tactical objectives, orders from command to fire units, road closures etc. All of this can be valuable information that can be put to use by you if you might be directly or indirectly affected and also comes without the delay and filtration if waiting to be informed by media.

Likewise, police and EMS communication can offer valuable insight as to what's happening in your area. A growing trend, especially in law enforcement is for encrypted communications which will leave some listeners in the dark. For now, in most areas, the airwaves are wide open for those who want to listen in.

It's best to figure out well ahead of time what the local frequencies are for the agencies in your area and spend some time listening in so you get a sense of the local day to day traffic and how major incidents are handled and on what channels. You may learn for example, that one agency has a dispatch and routine traffic channel, but other tactical channels assigned for specific major incidents. Spend some time listening in and you'll get a sense of it all and be better able to know which channels to go to first when something major breaks loose in your area.

As to which model of scanner to use? That's up to you. There are a host of inexpensive modals to try. I have an inexpensive two-way radio programed with the Family Radio Service (FRS) channels but can be programmed to scan, but not transmit on, a number of Public Agency channels. This gives me a single device that can be used to communicate around our large property as well as scan for police, fire etc. when the need arises.

You can do an internet search for local radio frequencies. There are lot's of sources that list these frequencies.

Lastly, here's one example of how having a scanner came to good use for us. In my rural area, hearing the siren of an emergency vehicle is a rare event. Hearing a number of sirens, I turned on the scanner to hear that the fire dept. and sheriff deputies were responding to a structure fire along the main road at the north end of our valley. With only two ways in or out of our valley, I knew the northern route would soon be cut off due to the emergency.

Listening in, I was able to hear in real time, the evacuation orders by street that the deputies were communicating to each other as the fire spread into the wildland. Also, I was able to learn from fire dept. traffic that they were getting a handle on the wildland aspect of the fire and did not think it would spread any farther into the forest.

Had this incident turned into a major wildland fire, I would have been way ahead of the evacuation game because the information I was getting from the scanner traffic would have given me advance warning of the nature of the fire, it's direction of spread and which route to use to get out.
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  #3  
Old 09-01-2021, 8:02 AM
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I use the app, Scanner Radio Pro. You can setup fav channels, areas...etc.
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Old 09-01-2021, 8:38 AM
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not really

There are apps that will consolidate scanner traffic

When an incident happens- there is a lot of radio chatter... When people show up at a scene- radio traffic is largely over...



new FCC rules made all EMS go digital... Many PD's are now encrypted and you cannot hear the radio calls






why encrypted....


some claim its because a lookout will listen to the scanner app and tell their criminal partners when police are notified...



Other say police call out Non Public Info on the radio -
name of dead
name of minor victims
name of non convicted arrestee
DOB
SS#
etc.




Others say its to mess with public
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Old 09-01-2021, 8:56 AM
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minimally, I listen to fire on red flag days. knowing the real-time status of nearby fires before it's widely disseminated is priceless. waiting for social media or plumes of smoke in the sky is like waiting for "duck and cover" alerts.
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Old 09-01-2021, 9:35 AM
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RadioReference.com CA frequencies

It really depends on your area and what type of setup they have.

Analog systems were cheaper to listen in to, scanners could be found for under $100. As mentioned above, more and more agencies are going digital, which means more expensive scanners to listen in ($300+) If they are encrypted, you won't be able to.

There are some phone apps that link to online scanners like Broadcastify, but as more agencies go digital you may see fewer feeds.
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Old 09-01-2021, 10:04 AM
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FD in urban areas use both digital and uhf/vhf for interoperability purposes.
Due to mutual aid agreements a rural FD has a structure fire they will tone out a city FD that's first on the list to come running.

Problem is that rural FD's are mostly volunteer and cannot afford the equipment to go digital. When the city guys show up they switch over to their vhf/uhf gear and everybody can speak freely. Calfire/forest service etc do this too. Lots of vollies doing wildland fire fighting and the trucks only have the old school comms gear.

For us a good ham ht fits right in because it's rural all ems/le/fd comms are vhf/uhf. No bs.
Live updates reported from the people on scene.

If it's a big emergency the ham repeaters will set up a net that will consolidate real time info from other hams on the ground and report in. VERY valuable info to have.
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Last edited by FeuerFrei; 09-01-2021 at 1:34 PM.. Reason: derp fargin smell checker... again. Proof read McFly!
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Old 09-01-2021, 3:38 PM
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Internet scanning is probably better than a radio, especially if you know what is being used at the event. Usually in a big event, emergency traffic is changed to different frequencies especially for large incidents and run through the Incident Command and they build out or use channels and not the main county systems. It is also broken out by air operations, task force, strike teams, etc. You also need a decent power for a radio to pick up repeaters, especially in mountains. Repeaters also go down in fires. Scanning is fine, yet has limitations. Most radio traffic will be careful since they know people are listening and will probably go to cell if sensitive info. Also, in a big event geographically spaced, no need for first responders to listen to traffic that is not needed, hence a more complex radio channels set up, plus it gets confusing with lots of traffic for the first responders.

Fires tend to be more organized. Now something like 9/11 in New York is different. That was very intense and immediate with large communications with many moving parts. That day had lots of Mayday calls which are priority emergency traffic, or incident within an incident. Now, FEMA generally runs the incident or it is in a FEMA incident type command. They assign radio frequencies at the command center and will change or have back up comms along with the incident. Realize that incident traffic will be high level and probably management level. Tac channels are used for operations.

It's a good resource, yet probably better listening to ham radio operators who won't be talking in code and searching for frequencies. They will say what is going on in plane english.
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Old 09-01-2021, 6:59 PM
riprap riprap is offline
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Thank you to everyone; lots of great information and options for consideration.
Question: Will digital scanners also receive analog signals; any units receive both?

I live in a high fire risk rural setting. Recent River fire knocked out my ISP for about a week. Cellular signal can be spotty during high demand periods, such as an emergency event.

Any advice on a unit?

Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
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Old 09-01-2021, 7:07 PM
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Found this group on FB that uses GMRS and ham radios to keep informed on current fire situations.

El Dorado County Neighborhood Radio Watch

https://www.facebook.com/groups/NeighborhoodRadioWatch/
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Old 09-02-2021, 8:38 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by riprap View Post
Thank you to everyone; lots of great information and options for consideration.
Question: Will digital scanners also receive analog signals; any units receive both?

I live in a high fire risk rural setting. Recent River fire knocked out my ISP for about a week. Cellular signal can be spotty during high demand periods, such as an emergency event.

Any advice on a unit?

Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
We use ham ht (baofeng) for ems emergency info that's local. Listen to 2 channels at same time, so FD/LE is covered. Very KISS and mobility is important in case we need to put on out boogie shoes in case of fire/flood/quakes. Scanners won't TX if the need arises.

Way more value in having a ht ham radio IMO.
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-- Frederick Douglass --

“I didn’t know I was a slave until I found out I couldn’t do the things I wanted.”
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  #12  
Old 09-02-2021, 9:53 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FeuerFrei View Post
We use ham ht (baofeng) for ems emergency info that's local. Listen to 2 channels at same time, so FD/LE is covered. Very KISS and mobility is important in case we need to put on out boogie shoes in case of fire/flood/quakes. Scanners won't TX if the need arises.

Way more value in having a ht ham radio IMO.
I agree this would be the best most cost efficient set up. You can put the baofeng UV-R in scan mode. The two minor upgrades would be a bigger battery and a better antenna. The good thing about baofengs, you drop it or lose it, no big deal. It's a good entry level into hams.

If your monitoring traffic and have all your utilities running, non survival mode and no transmit, internet is free.
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Old 09-02-2021, 10:04 AM
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I use a Motorola P25 radio with the proper frequencies /offsets and encryption for LE & Fire. Not something the average person can do.

I'd get a Unien makes a scanner where you input the zip code and it downloads all the local LE & Fire frequencies. It is for RX Receive only.
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Old 09-02-2021, 12:35 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DolphinFan View Post
I use a Motorola P25 radio with the proper frequencies /offsets and encryption for LE & Fire. Not something the average person can do.

I'd get a Unien makes a scanner where you input the zip code and it downloads all the local LE & Fire frequencies. It is for RX Receive only.
One thing nice about the Uniden Home Patrol scanner that you mentioned above is that it also supports P25 Digital.

https://www.amazon.com/Uniden-HomePa.../dp/B00JJY6S72
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Old 09-03-2021, 8:53 AM
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Best way to monitor a specific disaster is to pull up the Incident Action Plan (IAP). It is available to the public from the agency in-charge of the incident or incident commander. There is section on Comms that will have all the assigned daily frequencies. Media uses it. Usually on big events, some will have set up on internet for scanning so you don't have to key in all the frequencies.
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