What is a police scanner

Police scanners have been around for many years now. As people want to hear what is happening in their community scanners are gaining in popularity. Police scanner sales have increased as people become aware that it is beneficial to them to know what is happening.

Some scanners include NOAA weather alerts so that you can get the latest information on weather in your area. You can monitor police and state patrols to get the latest information on highway conditions, weather conditions as well as natural disasters. You can hear hospital communications and get updates on services that may or may not be available. Have a power outage and wondering what is happening ? You can listen in as the power company reports the conditions and areas that may have been affected.

Make a list of what you need FIRST

Depending on what your needs are, it may be a wise choice to make a list of different options and features that are going to offer the best possible reception of the wanted signals. If you live in a fringe area outside the city limits then you are going to want an external antenna. If you plan on being able to carry the scanner with you then you would want one that is fairly portable with a good battery life. If you just want to casually hear what is happening in your community then a desktop police scanner would be more than efficient to suit your needs. Another consideration would be the amount of channels and channel banks. You can program different services into groups called banks, and only listen to certain banks. In a blackout you could program public services like power and water companies and only listen to those channels.

One of the biggest issues with getting a police scanner is the programming of wanted frequencies. Most public service frequencies are listed online and are fairly easy to find with just a quick Google search. The hardest part is deciding on what you want to listen to. If you are not a tech type, you can always opt to purchase a pre programmed police scanner that you only have to enter your zip code and it will automatically put all the frequencies for you area into the police scanner for you.

Get your scanner

When you finally make your list of needed features and are ready to purchase your first police scanner, be sure to find the model or models that are right for you. If you are looking for the best price, you can always wait until the model you want goes on sale. Do not ever buy a scanner just because it is cheap, if it does not suit your needs or you will find it useless to you and end up packing it away or selling it once you lose interest. it is better to spend a bit more than to save money and buy something that you can not use.