[Scan-DC] Scanner Hobby 2018

[Binstockj]

Very good points Greg.  However, encryption is the biggest threat to the hobby now regardless of the type of scanner one has.  The growth of law enforcement encryption is occurring in mostly rural and semi-rural areas for now.  Heck, I have even heard it on a VHF Marine channel or two.

73,

Jonathan
NK3D

Sent from my iPhone

> On Nov 1, 2018, at 5:06 AM, Greg Danes <danesgswolf at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Well these observations are all mine so feel free to comment. I have been a
> scanner hobbyist since 1976, back in the non-digital days and like many of
> you I went through so many scanners and receivers . I think the hobby is
> still viable in so many ways even if you cannot afford a 500 dollar digital
> all mode scanner radio.
> 
> I don't think I need to explain that last comment except to say the
> possibilities are endless.
> 
> As scanner buffs I see a lot of analog radio going to digital DMR for the
> commercial sector. That being schools, private security, businesses, etc.
> The digital APCO-25 folks will be around a long time for Public Safety but
> some are falling back on either simulcasting on analog as a backup or for
> coverage or both. The oddball protocols like Next-Edge NXDN may be down the
> road as a adopted FD/PD mode but I sort of doubt it.
> 
> Hytera was adopted in the UK and they also use encryption on top of that so
> the buffs across the pond are out of luck. X2-TDMA I think is also around
> the corner for us so to speak but for the most part the scanner industry
> has adapted to the market quite well and has added these modes and
> protocols as they come along.
> 
> If you want a "basic" radio to monitor basic FD/PD you really only need a
> modest phase 1 digital which has dropped in price form 500.00 a 7 years ago
> to 250.00. Add another 100 bucks for APCO-25 phase 2 and so on.
> 
> We might be best served to have multiple radios at this point. My analogs
> still do fine business with aircraft and simulcast FD scanning. I can
> digitally monitor events anywhere in the country (single channel), with an
> android app, and with a visual alert BTW that shows how many users are
> currently listening.
> 
> If you are a HAM radio person with a modesty priced DMR radio, aka TYT-380
> or such you can listen to the aforementioned business DMR channels and
> "scan them" when not on 2 meters. So my point is ( Thank God he finally got
> there! :) the hobby is still alive even with encryption being used where it
> shouldn't be.
> 
> SDR dongles (20.00 on Amazon)  come to mind as well for wide band
> monitoring of the VHF/UHF spectrum. SDR is the future of scanning and most
> other radio hardware, No?
> 
> comments?
> 
> Greg/KJ4DGE
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