A Simple Guide To Radio Scanning - Which Scanner & Antenna Should You Get?

[@philsharp758]

Dear Ringway. I will come clean and say that what of what you talk about is way over my head. I remember a little from A Level physics. But I find your videos as professionally produced both compelling and fascinating. Please keep on posting. All the best

[@RingwayManchester]

Thanks so much Phil!

[@petersmith5199]

Totally agree! Lewis is a master!

[@coroamanicolai4527]

If you wanna go on the cheap, you can easily made an flowerpot antenna out of some coaxial. Very effective.

[@coroamanicolai4527]

@Pete Testube Yes, especially if you put it in the loft. But still, the reception will be a lot better if you can put it outside on a sort of mast. Mine is at a height of 4 meters.

[@coroamanicolai4527]

@Pete Testube You can find table top discone antennas and put the near the window. You can do the same with the flowerpot and see the results. If you are at the second floor of a building or higher you will get pretty good reception indoors too.

[@PhilipLittle-rc6nj]

It's ok I like it thanks

[@UD503J]

I built my first groundplane for picking up ADS-B broadcasts with a cheap SDR. It was a fun project that took 30 minutes to do, and it got me into building my own for all kinds of different stuff. I built a "broomstick" yagi for picking up a local HD OTA channel because they're not longer on our cable package. I highly recommend radio noobs look into building cheap and simple DIY antennas as it's a good way to learn radio basics.

[@neilhenderson6602]

These are brilliant videos for us newcomers. Many thanks

[@vd89198]

I personally use a cheap RTL-SDR. It can do digital, analog and go from 0.5MHz to 1.7GHz. Receiving satellite images or demodulating Tetra and dmr it does it all. And over here in the Netherlands ems use encrypted tetra called c2000 if you demodulate that you only heare weird sounds. Its only the fire department that still use analog or dmr within the department or to communicate with other departments. Other ems messages we can receive is the P2000 pager system, it basically shows an address, emergency priority, kind of emergency and what ems is dispatched. Another great video And have a great day lewis!

[@SuperCanuck777]

You can actually decode tetra??

[@FrancoDX]

Nice video Lewis 👍🏼 I agree the Uniden 125 is good value, alpha tagging is a game changer when monitoring lots of frequencies. Something that may be useful for anyone on a budget, I found by accident the FM broadcast omni halo aerial (screwfix sell them) make decent scanner aerials for a mere £17. As good if not better than the lower end vertical outdoor aerials. You can make a tape measure Discone as well but only really suitable for a loft.

[@tee_m]

When *not* listening to airband or listening on 2m/70cm/PMR I currently use the Jianpai 8800 with a mag mounted Moonraker skyscan 3 on the car roof. Handheld I use a 701/771 by Retevis also use a Moonraker supergainer think it's a MRW100 with an SMA-M. Have one of those (fake) Nagoya window mounts on the edge of the car window a lot, mainly with the MRW100. Can use it while driving even on the motorway and it's much more subtle than the skyscan. May invest in a magmount discone at some point but feels like the skyscan and the window mount is good enough for me. Cheers for sharing!

[@RobWhittlestone]

I have a Uniden 125 and use it mostly for airband reception (civil and military). For this I use a whip antenna for these frequencies. The idea of getting a better wideband antenna to listen to more bands is pretty tempting though. Good video, Lewis! All the best, Rob in Switzerland.

[@neilcampbell4833]

Can you still get military frequencies? I can't pick up anything even when there's military operations I think they use sat Comms now

[@RobWhittlestone]

@@neilcampbell4833 Hi Neil - yes I can receive non-encrypted mil air-air frequencies as used by Swiss PC-7 Team or Patrouille de Suisse.

[@neilcampbell4833]

@@RobWhittlestone is best to know what frequencies there using? It's such a big range maybe I'm missing the signals when I'm scanning .

[@RobWhittlestone]

@@neilcampbell4833 My scanner picked them up no problem. I did buy an antenna optimised for VHF frequencies - maybe that helped. But I must add that I work on a military airfield so when those military aircraft are flying it is usually directly over me.

[@neilcampbell4833]

@@RobWhittlestone ok thanks for the information.

[@johncrawford6640]

Great video Lewis, I use a Uniden 125 along with a moonraker whip and also a moonraker skyscan mag mounted on the car with brilliant results. Last weekend I picked up CB operators in Bavaria, Germany from my local high spot in County Antrim.

[@neilcampbell4833]

That's great, do you mind telling me what frequency range you pick up the signals ,was it 25- 30 MHz or perhaps 2 cm band?

[@johncrawford6640]

@@neilcampbell4833 I have it noted, will get back to you.

[@blillelam8798]

@@johncrawford6640 you never got back to him?😅

[@amateurspotter2656]

Very good informative video Louis. It’s what I needed to know. Though I became a ham some 35 years ago, I’ve forgotten everything I knew, lol 😂 The main think I scan is Airband as I’m close to Leeds And Bradford airport. Thanks again 🙏 Eamonn, G4TZV.

[@uzaiyaro]

THANK YOU! MORE OF THESE PLEASE! I’m green as grass with ham radio, and I’ve learned a huge amount from this video. Thank you so much!

[@sussexscanner5115]

I use a 2m/70cms white stick antenna for general VHF/UHF listening and it works really well. It's inside my attic but that's not a massive disadvantage. Yeah OK there's some loss from the roof tiles (more at UHF than VHF) but that is compensated by the antenna not being degraded by the British weather outside. It also allows a shorter coax run with less loss and you get discretion too. Nothing shouts "I've got a scanner!" more than a discone on your roof and the radials usually start falling off those after a few years anyway. The desktop design is rubbish... if it's indoors then it'll pick up loads of interference and crap from electronics in the same room. You can even use a 2m/70cms white stick for frequencies well outside of its design range. I was listening to the Warsaw repeater this morning on 29.680 no problem and it can pick up the OIRT and FM broadcast bands (66-74 and 87.5-108) real good too. 73 mate.

[@rumpelstiltskin9729]

About to go to bed but just got my Baofeng uv9r plus and struggling to get much success beyond FM so this us perfect timing for the morning

[@Heisenberg618]

My Uniden SDS100 picks up law enforcement and first responders without any issue. Of course, I had to shell out a premium to buy a scanner that can pick up P25 Phase II. Remtronix antenna on it and it works great.

[@CallousCoder]

Listening to police radio was really easy here in The Netherlands uptill the mid to late 90s. They broadcasted on 87MHz so any radio when you compressed the coil of the oscillator you could hear them. So I modded lot's of radios to do this and was especially great entertainment in the weekends :D The only interesting thing I can see now is decoding the boats on the canal and see their location and the data acquisition buoy -- which is fun because I am a winter swimmer so I like to know the temperature, but... there's also an app that shows that :D So yeah listening or decoding is not really worth my time and effort anymore.

[@tonymagnier9846]

Good informative video, the other issue with trying to hear digital systems is encryption such as for Police and the various digital standards out there.

[@baronedipiemonte3990]

Unfortunately for radio enthusiasts in the UK, all of Public Safety (Police, Fire, EMS) have gone to the Tetra system (which is similar to the U.S. P-25, and proprietary Motorola LTR & trunking systems), and those comms also being encrypted, And It is Illegal in the UK to even try to listen to Public Safety. Unlike in the States, if you have the gear (and the money to afford such) you can listen to whoever you want. But as Lewis said there's still Civil and Military aviation, Maritime, Marine SAR, private enterprises... to be heard, as well as what you can hear on PMR and the Ham bands. The more $/£ you are able to spend, the more you're able to hear. But this was a quick, detailed & very thorough no BS introduction on how to get started in the hobby.

[@KRJT_Media]

You should look into LoraWAN using Bobcat miner, i have one in my loft using a short 4dbi antenna and it broadcasts to witnesses approx 12km away.

[@JohnnyG193]

Yes definitely!! We’d LOVE that!

[@jacquesmertens3369]

Is there really so much worth listening to? Police, ambulance, fire brigade... all 100% scrambled. Air traffic control: can't understand a word (everyone seems to have a speech impediment). What's left? I appreciate your thorough review of all the latest gear. Very nice gadgets, and only slightly illegal for unlicensed people like myself. But I have no idea what I could still listen to. Suggestions are welcome.

[@undrhil]

For those who are computer savvy, you could also look into an SDR dongle such as the rtl-sdr V 3 and the software is freely available online in order to turn your computer into a scanner. Of course, all of the advice about antenna still apply to an SDR dongle

[@AspergersStudio]

Yah but u need apps to make sdr# into a scanner

[@woodybollox]

I use my v2000 on my aor dv1 and it works great. Did have a discone on it but the colinear is superior. Pair it up with some ecoflex10 plus and your on a winner.

[@Mellow_Wood_Hill]

I second that the Uniden 125 is a great and easy to use starter scanner. I’m a big fan of Broadsword antennas with it, when handheld.

[@petersmith5199]

Brilliant as always, but I have a question. I have a cheap SDR connected to a cheap 10inch Lenovo tablet and the sky something? aerial mentioned in the video. Some free software, so my total spend apart from the tablet is about £25. and I'm getting good results. Sorry. Here's the question. What is stopping me taking this out in the car to the nearest hill to check for improvements in reception? No one else seems to do it? Is there a reason why? Thanks all.

[@mmpiforall5913]

Of the PRO scanners you use as examples, I'm surprised you don't include the PRO-26. I find the PRO-26 1.3Ghz 200 ch model to have the least band gaps, good sensitivity and durable battery compartment.

[@terminaljunk]

Bit of a blast from the past, had one of these in the late 90's / early 00's connected to a discone in the attic, remember picking up all the emergency services as well as cordless home phones, what must have been the last of the analogue mobiles and some of the early adopters of the PMR446 radios. Before that i had a Realistic base scanner with quite a few gaps and slower scan speed, the Pro-26 was much better but I did miss the large tuning dial lol

[@alynicholls3230]

you can buy a 2mtr/70cm co-linear with wideband receive, it also will transmit on 446mhz, they are about 50-60 quid for a named unit cheaper for copies though i would never buy the cheap copies, they copy the look but not the function. besides a named brand like moonraker, sharman or others will last years, copies sometimes dont survive a british winter.

[@ianpenney4937]

Great shot with the contrails, and during a good point. Try ADSB with a long high-loss coax.... no bueno.

[@vw183iltis]

Remember ham radio rallies are a good cheap source or antennas, coax and connectors etc.

[@dublindrones7901]

What's the best scanner for listening into ATC

[@Alan-Dawson]

I bought a AOR DV1 a few years ago and It sits in a cupboard....Living in the countryside In Durham It was a bad buy, not much digital stuff around me.

[@mickcollins113]

Stick it on eBay

[@Alan-Dawson]

@@Hiram8866 What frequency? I have a Discone on the corner of the house so should get them.

[@Alan-Dawson]

@@mickcollins113 Should have done It during lock-down tbh, I might have got more for it,.

[@alynicholls3230]

they still do all the analogue stuff though.

[@andysimpson8974]

Is there a way to listen to a digital radio broadcast from another area during a football game? Asking for a friend...

[@WaschyNumber1]

Hi, is ther a really budget hand Scanner that I could scan the frequencys for ham and pmr radios for correct frequency that I could change (programming the right one in the pmr) the frequency to correct ones if they haven't 100% pmr frequencys and the wattages that sending. 🤔

[@martinscopes3914]

Very good video. The moonraker discone Antenna with the big magnet if you use this on your car cut a piece of rag cloth a inch bugger round than the magnet and put the rag cloth under the magnet so it don’t scratch your car paint. I would drive with this Antenna as I mite fly off your car you could use a treble mag mount and fit that to the bottom of the moonraker Antenna if you know how and your have to take off the single mag mount that was on it from new. Coax RG mini 8 low loss is good coax for most scanner Antennas I all ways buy 100-meters as over time saves money. You can use RG 213 low loss coax like I have two of my home base Antennas . I bought my RG 213 low loss coax from Nevada Radio it’s the own brand. You can pay more or less and again I bought 100-meters.

[@thes764]

Excellent intro to the hobby. Might add SDRs as another option for a receiver. Require a computer, but very flexible because most work is done in software. Prices start at about 20€ for an RTL-based DVB/DAB stick for some entry level fun. Purpose made devices like Airspy and SDRplay are more like 100€.

[@boilerroombob]

Nice to get back to basics Lewis...very informative...another great vid

[@Phil-M0KPH]

Good information and overview.

[@Ploggy.]

Thank you Lewis 🙂👍

[@richardenglish9848]

Is it possible to mount a magmount discone antenna to a pole

[@bigpeteyork2162]

Hello another great vid i am new to scanning and got the uniden ubc125xlt can we connect to repeaters or do we need a ham license for that, and what would you say is the best software for them cos i am only getting a little on cb and a little air traffic flying over, i live in york so if you can help as where to get Frequencies from too i am struggling thanks pete

[@anthonykinney28]

Can u listed where to buy some of those antennas from.

[@JRGRAY-33]

Very informative 👍🏾

[@dubliner1100]

Great overview. Thank you

[@elliswatkins812]

Just one question do you need a license for all of that or can you just buy it and use it

[@RobWhittlestone]

No license required for just reception.

[@elliswatkins812]

Thank you

[@wisteela]

Great guide

[@colinjenkin2006]

is there any extra curcuitry in the nagoya antennas to make them better than a basic whip please?

[@gloomyvale3671]

Good video thank you.

[@madmax2069]

You should also cover an analog scanner with a discriminator tap.

[@paulmorrey733]

Thanks Lewis

[@AndrewR2130]

Would a uv5r be ok to use to listen to planes nearby?

[@bwc1976]

I think the UV5R only does FM, air band uses AM. That's why I'm looking into a separate scanner myself.

[@Milcom34]

Thanks RM. Great Video. I can Monitor just about anything here in the USA**** Take Care***

[@markmanning5683]

Digital and Analog- Yes, It's only Encrypted Traffic you can't listen to, you can still lock on the RF, but you just can't decrypt the data to voice.

[@charliecharliecharliecharl8554]

I have uniden bearcat72 XLT I just want to listen to the planes going over head on there way to Manchester airport how do I do that is there 1 Freq for all?

[@RingwayManchester]

No mate there’s loads

[@charliecharliecharliecharl8554]

Where I find them please

[@RingwayManchester]

Google

[@steventrueman3493]

hi, i have had a uniden UBC72XLT for some time now and saw this vid for impriving reception with a new AERIAL one thing i must say before going any further, i am no expert, i just like to listen to aircraft. so i have taken your advice and am going to buy the nogoya 701, however i have seen some vids that claim that there are a lot of fakes out there, so where can i buy one that i can guarantee that it is not a fake, i have looked on amazon and im suspicious of what is there. i am obout 16 miles from liverpool and some 30 odd from manchester and want to at least hear something instead of this gravelly distorted broken crap i get with the duck, thanks if anyone can help.

[@desbelfastireland9982]

THANK YOU

[@gobstoppa1633]

i was getting one, but the arial stuff lost me, i must be slow ha ha, il give it a mis, cheers.

[@sdriza]

Either sds100 or sds200

[@oktthedman882]

do u think uhf and vhf is going dead now due to everything is going to digital now ?

[@woodybollox]

It ain't going dead. Just the conventional modes are. Mostly all the decent stuff is on digital modes now but still on vhf uhf

[@ManuelPinner]

A SDR Play RSP Duo is Much better then All these Radio Scanners, Use it with the Sdr Uno Software and Sdr Angel, for both Voice and Digital Video Modes,

[@wam2610]

👍

[@josephmirigliano8728]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@zukispur5493]

RIP the hacienda/dry bar. 🌚

[@bsdjunkie1805]

Good luck finding a genuine Nagoya portable antenna, 95% on auction sites are knock-offs

[@dxpirate5738]

Who's idear was tetra

[@LIOUNISLYKOURGOS]

Aor ypiteru

[@camhyde9701]

that NA 701 is fake,,, genuine is Taiwanese

[@PhillRobinson]

Scanners are overpriced

[@jensbaath]

125xlt is easy to use ? 😂😂😂

[@neilhenderson6602]

These are brilliant videos for us newcomers. Many thanks

[@zjzozn]

👍