One of the many classic scenes from Seinfeld featured "Kramer" having some fun with his new toy... "It's an emergency band scanner, it picks up everything... Fires, harbor patrol... even the police! I'm watching the watchers, Jerry!" So why scan? First off, it's a scanner... scanner radio, radio scanner, whatever... But it is NOT necessarily a "police" scanner. There are a TON of things to listen to. Stuff like ham radio, businesses, air plane pilots, airport ground control, FRS radios, concessions at sporting events, fast-food drive-though windows, CB radios, baby monitors, schools, church mics, traffic reporters, news media, weather, and railroads just to name a few. When I was a kid, my my mother bought my father a Bearcat 160 for Christmas one year. I remember him enjoying it quite a bit, and I would occasionally listen to it, but the "bug" never bit me as hard back then. Fast forward to early 2002... I was diagnosed with several types of arthritis after having pain in my sternum for a month or so. Now these were not the ol' "my knee is sore so it must be gonna rain" types of arthritis. I felt like I had an anvil or an ice-pick pressing into my sternum all the time. During the first 8 to 9 months I was in so much pain that I was in bed 23 out of 24 hours a day. Now while some may consider that a great vacation, I was going stir-crazy. An old friend from church had emailed me saying that his father was selling off a lot of his possessions because he was moving to Australia and didn't want to have to take it all with him. One of the items that he was selling was an old Radio Shack / GRE Pro-50 handheld scanner. I had never seen this particular model, but I figured a scanner was a scanner, and that this would be a great way to pass the time and perhaps pick up a new hobby that I would really enjoy... little did I know just how MUCH I would come to love this hobby! It arrived in about 3 days, and instantly, I was hooked. Something about this little radio had drawn me into a new world of fun that I would have never imagined would be so interesting. I found that I could hear the city of Dallas loud and clear, since Dallas still uses good old "UHF" frequencies. So, that's what I cut my teeth on. I also learned one day that you can hear stuff that you aren't necessarily supposed to. For instance: I was browsing through the 42-49mhz range and I happen to hear a couple of teenagers having what sounded like a phone conversation. Yep, that's exactly what it was! I couldn't believe it. Even in this day and age of high-tech equipment, I could still listen to the local teens talk about their plans for the weekend! At the time I did not know that it was an illegal activity to listen to this sort of thing, but I know better now and of course no longer listen to private conversations ;-) I also found businesses doing their daily tasks.. truck drivers, wreckers, catering services... all sorts of different stuff. Who would'a thunk it? There was a whole "world" out there of radio communications that continue 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. One evening while searching the 140mhz band, I stopped on 146.8800 and heard another type of conversation... one that instantly peaked my interest and would later become an additional part of my hobby... amateur (ham) radio. Two operators were having a conversation (called a "QSO" in ham terms). This really intrigued me since I would come to learn that ANYONE can earn their ham license and also get in on the conversation. After searching the internet for frequencies for my home-town of Jacksonville, I found a website ran by a local that contained all sorts of good stuff to monitor. All I knew was that it was authored by a gentleman named Brad. I sent "Brad" an email, and I came to find out that Brad was none other than Brad Low (N5ZIS/AD5KM/K5BDL) whom I went to high-school with many moons ago. Brad helped me get into the world of ham radio, and eventually earn my original license (KE5BCP). In 2006 I changed my callsign to W5JSS to match my initials, (Whiskey Five Jay Stephen Sanford). Thanks to Brad, GG (KB5RKI), and "the Master" Brian Scott, I have learned more about radio communications than I ever thought possible. The world of scanners is a great way to have a lot of fun and stay informed. Many times I learn about breaking events and news stories several minutes before it is aired on television or on commercial radio. It's also a way of experiencing events that otherwise I would never have any idea of what REALLY goes on (IE: police chases, fires...). Scanning puts you AT THE SCENE, and lets you experience the action in real time. If you are interested in getting into the hobby, feel free to email me and I will do my best to get you started in the right direction. In the meantime, take a look over at: http://www.radioreference.com RR is the BEST site on the planet in my opinion, and is that way because of the numerous contributors that have submitted their personal scanning information to the database. Oh yeah, IT'S FREE! Take care, and happy monitoring... 73! Jay - W5JSS Side-Note: There are several folks that have emailed me concerning how I feel about some agencies "encrypting" their communications. While I support the choice of the agency to use this technology on SENSITIVE channels (drug-busts for example, where the "bad guys" MIGHT be able to use a scanner to listen to the police heading their way), full-time encryption of all channels is pointless. Agencies that feel the need to block out the public "just because they can" obviously have something to hide.