Western North Carolina Scanner Club

Our Official list of goals as an organization:

a. The sharing and distribution of radio monitoring related information with our fellow members

b. Supporting the hobby of radio monitoring with our members and fellow radio monitoring organizations

c. Supporting new comers to the hobby and encourage them

d. Work with local , state & federal public safety organizations to maintain radio monitoring as a law abiding hobby.  

e. Supporting public safety agencies in their attempts to maintain and improve their radio communications.

f. Improving the public image of the hobby.

g. Improving manufacturers awareness of the needs of those in our hobby

Note about the goal's "ie" above. Make no mistake. The WNC Scanner Club is a Law abiding orginization. We follow the "Law" in reguards to Radio Monitoring and fully supports all aspects of Public Safety and Law Enforcement. Many of our members are Law Enforcement Officers, Firefighters, Paramedics and other Public Safety Profesionals. If you are a police or government hater, or if you feel like you can't abide by and support these goals yourself you should not subscribe to our club and any of our online groups or forums. Nor should you attend any of our meetings or otherwise contact in any way as you will not feel welcome. Each member of the WNC Scanner Club are God Fearing , Law abiding, Flag Waving men and women. Who share no intrest in any of the

In addition, our most gracious host, www.freewebs.com , has it's own policies with which we must abide by, most of which are already in place in our organization:

Q- What are the Rules of the WNC Scanner Club ?

1. No profanity.

2. No personal attacks.

3. No Personal IM's unless approved by the other member

4. No commercial advertising or Spam of any kind.

5. Once a topic has been replied to five or six times it's likely that everything has already been said that needs saying.

6. No petty nonsense by any member

7. Anyone who breaks the rules will be banned from the club. This is the only warning we give

Q-Who are the current moderator's , manager's or the owners of the WNC Scanner Club?

Currently the owners of the WNC Scanner Club are

John Payne & Jerry Luther

Our moderator's are 6 Chief Scanner Officers who also double as Board of Directors for the WNC Scanner Club for each of the 6 Counties we serve

The Moderator's are responsible for keeping up to date info on the frequencies and happening in there county. Each officer must respond to questions and or comments from members in there county. Each Officer has the responsibility of approving each new member that may apply for membership as well as making the rules and regulations for the club at monthly meetings.

What if I am having trouble with my subscription on any of the groups?

Jerry Luther / Cherokee County Chief Scanner Officer

He is serving as our technical officer for the website, google group, fourms page and over all troubleshooter for the system. But when joining the club you are the person who must manage "YOUR" subscription !. Do not email, call , im or  write to Jerry asking for his assistance to subscribe or change any of your settings in any of the groups you may join. Those requests must be handled by you yourself as you are the only one who knows your ID and Password. There is help files in all the groups you may join pertaining to the WNC Scanner Club and we ask that you use them when needed. They are available through the system itself and should seldom require human intervention. Do write to Jerry if your commands are being rejected after trying at least twice or if you are having other serious technical problems with any of the groups.

 When and where and what is the next meeting?

Currently the WNC Scanner Club  holds meetings every other month for the Board of Directors only ! Since our area is so vast we have not held our first meeting as of yet. We are working with fellow members to find a sutable place and time to gather. After that we will be meeting each quarter in a different location.

 How did the WNC Scanner Club get started ?

We began as 2 Volunteers with the Valley River Emergency Rescue unit in Andrews NC. As Radio Monitoring hobbyists we were continually asked for frequencies and scanner information all the time. We felt that a group or club was needed for our area to help other who enjoyed the hobby of radio monitoring. Our Club began on June 1st 1999 and next year we will be celebrating our 10th year as a club !

 How do I become a WNC Scanner Club member?

WNC Scanner Club has no formal membership procedure. The only requirement is that you join and remain active in either the Google Group or Forums site !

 What's a good scanner to buy?

We refer you to the WNC Scanner Club buyers guide by our Technical officer Jerry Luther . Which scanner you wish to purchase will probably be dictated by its frequency coverage Vs. the frequencies used by the services you wish to monitor, as well as your monetary situation. How happy you will be with whatever scanner you buy will largely be dictated by how well you understand what you are listening to, your listening environment, your knowledge of radio systems and other details. It's not so much what scanner you own but how you use it.

 Do you consider what you are doing with your scanners as eavesdropping?

"NO" , Most people buy scanners to hear what their local emergency services are doing. We represent the amature scanner enthusiasts. A large percentage of us are not so interested in the details of the conversations as we are in the type of signal or system being received, it's operating details, signal propagation, etc. Essentially, we like to know who's on first base.For many of us the most important thing is listening to Emergency Transmissions and hearing information as it happens to keep our famlies, homes and community safe by radio monitoring.

 Is it legal ?

-It is not legal to commit a crime using a police scanner

-It is not legal to reveal to another person the details of conversations you monitor

-It is not legal to profit from what you monitor.

-It is not legal to listen to cordless phones or cellular phones.

-It is not legal to decipher encrypted or encoded radio transmissions.

-It is not legal to decode paging transmissions.

-It is not legal to interfere with Police ,Fire or other Public Safety agencies

-It is not legal to intentionally interfere with radio communications.

Don't do it.

-It is illegal to violate national security laws.

"WARNING" Be cautious while monitoring sensitive communications, especially federal transmissions. While these matters are not supposed to be discussed on any conventional radio channel you never know what you'll stumble onto.

Do you guys know everything already?

"No", No one member knows everything about Scanning

I'm just a beginner. What can I possibly contribute?

Every new member we've run into had something we did not. For one thing, beginners always end up doing a lot of searching around the spectrum, and as a result, usually have come across something that was in a place we don't usually look for. More importantly, just because of your geographic location, where you listen from, what you are hearing is unique. You can hear dozens of low power operations that some of us cannot. We need your observations! Post them to the list in the Google Group or Forums site! Do it today! The frequencies, callsigns, activity codes, callsigns, PL tones, channel plans and other details that you have personally confirmed are very important to all of us. Don't be shy! Post today!

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What is Scanner ?

A scanner or Police Scanner is a radio receiver that can automatically tune, or scan, two or more discrete frequencies ,stopping when it finds a signal on one of them and then continuing to scan other frequencies when the initial transmission ceases. Many scanners cover the non-broadcast radio bands between 30 Mhz and 951 Mhz using the FM radio band , although there are other Scanner models that cover more of the radio spectrum and use other modulation types. Early scanners were slow, bulky, and expensive. Today, modern  microprocessors have enabled scanners to store thousands of channels and monitor hundreds of channels per second. Recent models can follow Trunked radio systems and decode APCO - 25 Digital transmissions. The modles that are available are Desktop ( ie- base unit ), Handheld and Moble models are available. Scanners are often used to monitor police, fire and emergency medical services.

Is is Legal to own a scanner ?

Legal issues

The legality of radio scanners varies considerably from place to place. In the United States it is a federal crime to monitor cellular phone calls. Some US states prohibit the use of a scanner in an automobiles. Although scanners capable of following trunked radio systems and demodulating some digital radio systems such as APCO Project 25 are available, decryption-capable scanners would be a violation of the US law and possibly laws of other countries.

A law passed by the Congress under the pressure from cellular telephone interests, prohibited scanners sold after a certain date from receiving frequencies allocated to the Cellular Radio Service. The law was later amended to make it illegal to modify radios to receive those frequencies, and also to sell radios that could be easily modified to do so.This law remains in effect even though few cellular subscribers still use analog technology. There are Canadian & European scanners that are unblocked versions available, however these are illegal to import into the U.S. Frequencies used by early cordless phonest 43.720--44.480, 46.610--46.930 MHz and 902.000 – 906.000 MHz can be picked up by many scanners. The proliferation of scanners led most cordless phone manufacturers to produce cordless handsets operating on a more secure 2.4 GHz system using spread spectrum technology. Certain states in the U.S., such as New York and Florida, prohibit the use of scanners in a vehicle unless the operator has a radio license issued from the FCC (Amateur Radio) or the operator's job requires the use of a scanner in a vehicle (ie, Police, Fire, Utilities)

( Special Note ) - Please check with you local , county , state officals to see what laws pertain to your area !

. In the United States, there are extra federal penalties for the possession of a scanner during a crime and some states, such as Michigan, also prohibit the possession of a scanner by a person who has been convited of a felony in the last 5 years. Other countries consider possession of a scanner at any time an offense.

In the United States, the general guidelines to follow when using a radio scanner are that it is illegal to:

• listen in on cellular and cordless phone calls,
• intercept encrypted or scrambled communications,
• sell or import radio scanners that are capable of receiving cellular phone frequencies (Note: This rule does not apply to sales by individuals and radio scanners made before the ban),
• modify radio scanners so that cellular phone frequencies can be received,
• use information received for personal gain (A common example is where a taxi driver listens to a competitor's dispatch channel to steal a customer),
• use information received to aid in the commission of a crime, or
• disclose information received to other persons.

A partial copy of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 can be found here:

Electronic Communicatin Privacy act of 1986

Please Click on the Link below !

http://floridalawfirm.com/privacy.html

What type of Scanners are available ?

There are many type of scanners out there. First lets look at the 3 destinctive types of scanners. There is the Desktop modles that are refered to a base units. There are usualy place on desk and table in your home or office with easy access to an AC plug. These modles come with a telescoping antenna that is attached to the back or on top of the unit. Then you have a moblie unit. These are units that are placed in your vehicle. Usualy mounted under the dash . they come with a mounting bracked and special DC adapters for wiring it to your power supply. Some newer mobles have special plugs that are inserted in a power outlet or where your cigaret lighter would go. They have a plue in the back of them that allow you to connect a magnettic mount antenna on the roof of your vehicle. Then there is a handheld unit. There are smaller units that come with a small rubber antenna that connects to the top of the unit and require batteries. Most of these units come with a belt clip for easy transport.

Some of the manufactures of scanners are;

Scanner Manufacturers

• ARO- (Authority on Radio Communications) 
  
• Rado Shack
  
• Uniden under the Bearcat brand, but also OEM under Radio Shack brand in the United States
• Icom  can be found in the US, CA, AU and NZ   
• GRE (formerly exclusively OEM's for Radio Shack in the United States, but as of 2007 also as the "GRE-COM" brand)

How much do Scanners Cost ?

Scanners can very in cost depending where you buy your scanner. ( Please see the WNC Scanner Club Buyers Guide Page for more info)
Most "NEW" scanners will cost between $99- and and only go up from there !  Depending on all the bells and whisles that you want or need on a new unit !

Where do I Find Frequencies for my Scanner ?

Frequencies are easy to find in this day and time of internet access. Most can be found for free on the World Wide Web.
Here are some addresses for locating frequencies for your area.

Radio Reference.
www.radioreference.com

http://www.radioreference.com

The FCC Database

http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/searchAdvanced.jsp

Flight Radio

http://www.flightradio.com/

Air Nav

http://airnav.com/

City Frequencies

http://cityfreq.com

National Radio Data
http://www.nationalradiodata.com

You can also find Frequency guides for larger cities and areas in your local book stores

Other Places are magazines that are published monthly or bi- monthly

National Communications

http://www.nat-com.org/

Monitoring Times

http://www.monitoringtimes.com/