I've recently got a hold of my dad's old radio scanner. It's a Radio
Shack Pro-62, and appears to be in complete working condition. I've
been blaming the fact that I haven't been getting any reception on it
to me being very new at this, and probably just inputting bad
frequencies for our area.

I was hoping for some tips on how to get some results. I know the
police change the frequencies often, but if I leave the scanner
scrolling through a few frequencies, I'm bound to hit something,
right? And what do you guys usually listen to? Just curious =)

Also, my dad heard from his friend (Steve Todd) that he modified his
to pick up the "locked out" frequencies. Such as the 87.8-108MHz AM/FM
frequencies used by radio broadcasters. Or the 26-27MHz used by CB.
Have you heard anything about this?

Thanks for reading, please help,

-Mike

On Nov 21, 10:19*pm, Jason2gs wrote:
I've recently got a hold of my dad's old radio scanner. It's a Radio
Shack Pro-62, and appears to be in complete working condition. I've
been blaming the fact that I haven't been getting any reception on it
to me being very new at this, and probably just inputting bad
frequencies for our area.

I was hoping for some tips on how to get some results. I know the
police change the frequencies often, but if I leave the scanner
scrolling through a few frequencies, I'm bound to hit something,
right? And what do you guys usually listen to? Just curious =)

Also, my dad heard from his friend (Steve Todd) that he modified his
to pick up the "locked out" frequencies. Such as the 87.8-108MHz AM/FM
frequencies used by radio broadcasters. Or the 26-27MHz used by CB.
Have you heard anything about this?

Thanks for reading, please help,

-Mike

Hi Mike,

I don't know if you have the manual for it. If not check out:
http://support.radioshack.com/suppor...oc33/33751.htm

That is an shortened version on Radio Shack's site.

Next I would recommend checking out Radio Reference for information on
frequencies in your area: http://www.radioreference.com/
If you happen to be in Atlantic Canada, check out: http://www.marscan.com/
for frequencies and http://www.nstuners.ca/scanmaritimes/ for a
message board with up to date information.


I don't know if you are familiar with Trunk Tracking. A lot of the
services have changed to this and from what I see the scanner you have
does not Trunk Track.
In case you are not familiar, a really basic description:
In the old system, each service would have a fixed frequency - for
instance Marine Channel 12 is 156.600. If you tune into that
frequency, it will always be Marine related. Sometimes Police and
Fire Departments had a number of frequencies. Police here had
Dispatch, CPIC (Canadian Police Information Centre), Car to Car, etc.
In a Trunk System, the system has a number of frequencies. Our
local one has 16 frequencies. One of those is a data channel, which
sounds like sound blurbs. BUT the number of services and channels in
use is well over a hundred. Each channel used by a service is
assigned a Talk Group.
So when someone from a Talk Group goes to talk on a Trunk System,
the system computer looks for a free frequency among the 15 other
frequencies. It sends out a data blurb to all the radios within the
Talk Group to change to that frequency for reception. When he stops
talking the frequency is freed up and the radios reset. The next time
he talks, or someone answers, it may be on another frequency from the
system. Especially, if someone else, from another Talk Group starts
speaking in the meanwhile.

Even for a basic description, it can get a little long to explain.
Also, one thing that has cropped up in recent years, is that some of
the Trunking communications has gone digital. Like cell phones. They
would require a scanner that is able to receive digital.

Your scanner can receive the 800 band of frequencies. So, if your
area has gone to Trunking, you may still be able to hear them. But as
the section on Trunking explains, the same frequency may have a
variety of conversations going.

As for the modifications, I, obviously, am not specifically familiar
with them, but they seem possible, in theory. Issues that I would
expect to have-CB radio is AM, the nearest frequencies (30-50MHz) are
FM. They are different Modulations, so are not compatible. The same
with FM radio. The nearest is Air Frequencies, which are AM.

Good Luck. Hopefully, you will find something in your area of
interest.

John