On Thu, 01 Sep 2005 09:30:36 -0700, krackula said in
rec.radio.scanner:

oscillators " and making legal cases against them. if those people
are listening to channels ( indicated by the radiated local
oscillator freqs ) that their converter isn't authorized to receive ,
then that constitutes theft of service conditions.

Since 1) you're modifying THEIR equipment, 2) their business is
charging for delivered signals and 3) they know the specs of their
equipment, they can prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Since the police don't know the IF of your scanner, unless they seize
it, they have a much rougher job of proving a case beyond reasonable
doubt.

Al, all the equipment you mention above, transmits ( inadvertently
) LO type signals on " completely " different freqs and of differing
types, that signal their presence. equipment commonly exists that
can locate most of them from several blocks to several miles distant.
ANY well made piece of government RF surveillance equipment ( WJ
blk boxes for instance ) has been designed to do just " exactly " that
for decades.

But very little equipment can determine the first IF of your receiver
without the person doing the detection having the receiver in his
hands, and to get it he needs probable cause to get a warrant, which
he can't have until he has the scanner in his hands.

It's a case of "we know he did it, but we can't prove it in court
unless we violate the law to get evidence". And, in this case, not
even "know" - more like "strongly suspect".
..
they can ( and do ) scan for protracted periods of time and
constantly update the report status.

Which does no good against scanners in cars doing 65 on an interstate.

I have a home made ( new voodoo technology for civilians ) ferro
resonant core ULF sensor ( parts and sample circuits available from
this site http://www.stormwise.com/vlf1574projects.htm )
) set up on the roof rack of my SUV that can " hear " the RF
radiation " clicks " of a new memorex shirt pocket solid state
dictation / voice memo machine , a block and half down the street.
the so called signal from this device is " extremely " small but
easily detectable using the new technology ( government has had them
for decades ) ferro rods . ( completely NEW type of resonant circuits
as compared to past RF devices . THESE need NO caps or circuitry
as we used to know it, they are " self resonant " and the " circuits "
are just pick off coils like the 2 turn tap in a pi-net to
extract the signals these rods accumulate )

Now use one of them on an interstate to prove that *my* scanner was
running its LO at F1 and its IF is F2 - while I'm doing 65 and you
have to be non-obvious. Sit behind me with some weird looking device
sitting on your dash and my wife (if I'm listening to the scanner
she's driving) will probably slow down to 30 or less, and pull onto
the shoulder if you don't get off her tail - AFTER she stands on the
brake pedal and puts holes in your radiator, in an accident you're
fully responsible for. She just loves tailgaters, and more so if
they're MOS. Anal sphincters come in all sizes - even uniformed. I
know - I used to have some working for me - not for long, just until I
could pawn them off on someone else.

Heck, I can defeat most "radar" tickets, and courts accept them as
"proven" technology. It's a lot easier to defeat state of the art -
just show that it's not technology, it's voodoo, and the court will be
very uncomfortable. (Most judges are Luddites. Those who aren't, and
I've only met 2 in all the years I've been in courts, would laugh a
"scanner in a car" case out of their courts.)

Oh, if you ever do get a ticket for a scanner in your car, ask the
officer, after he finishes testifying, what it was that first made him
suspect that you had an illegal scanner in your car. Unless he
stopped you for something else, and you were stupid enough to leave
your scanner on, he has no case. (My red [police only, in NY]
fireball is usually between the front seats of my car - never know
when you might need it. I've only been asked once why I had it - and
it was on the roof, lit and turning. You can't see it when I'm
driving unless you stop me and come over to my car, so there's no PC
to stop me for having it.)

Of course none of this holds true in "the cop stopped you - that'll
cost you $150" courts, but real courts tend to follow the law, and PC
and proof are part of it.