Radio Scanner User Prosecuted Just For Listening

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[@SuperBoomshack]

All this as the police and government listen to us and watch us with infrared without our consent.

[@SergeantExtreme]

Not the same concept. What he did is more comparable to illegally downloading an MP3.

[@RedLink27]

Really love the maritime VHF stories, even if they can be pretty sad. Was monitoring 156.800mhz one night and heard the CG repeatedly call out to a boat that wasn't responding, each time there was no response, the operator would sound less and less hopeful.. not sure what ever happened to the vessel. Another time my friend's father, who's a trucker and had a scanner heard a mayday call that went unanswered.. the ocean may be beautiful, but man is it mysterious and deadly.

[@N269]

The seas never, never stop moving! Beware!

[@thes764]

I'd love to hear more about this legislation, that's really hard to imagine. How are people supposed to know whether a broadcaster is licensed? Are you supposed to have a list of licensed stations and their frequencies? Really strange law.

[@askhowiknow5527]

The electromagnetic waves passing through my body should be mine to do whatever I want with

[@alexderpyracc4053]

Must have been digital which requires keying up the repeater which sends your callsign to the repeater and then unlocks the channel

[@timothybrown7792]

It's still illegal to listen to a pirate radio station in the Uk at least, even today. but like you say, how would you know if it was a pirate station?! especially if it was being operated in a professional manner. this is clearly an 'unfair' law and accomplishes nothing other than proving the law is an ass!

[@AC9BXEric]

@@timothybrown7792 illegal yes, but long deemed unenforceable. You would know, licensed stations are very different. There's no such law about listening to unlicensed stations here in the USofA (although there are radio signals that are illegal to listen to), however, of there were, there are times when commercial broadcast stations operate without a license, letting it expire for example, and I would be unlikely any listeners would be aware.

[@daffyduk77]

@@timothybrown7792 More a case of how can they confidently assert you knew the channel was unlicensed. Maybe the law has some catchall like "a reasonable person would know that such & such was or wasn't legal" but an interesting question, & jolly bad luck for matey vs. overzealous law-enforcement/judiciary

[@boilerroombob]

I was given a warning in Oct 1987 after being caught on 11m ssb.... ironically the man who dobbed me in..was a person who sold me an ssb set a few years earlier...anyway I'd apparently wiped out his video player that was recording his wife's favourite TV show the "thornebirds"..its amazing what info comes out from reading a dti officer's upside clipboard ......and asking a few trusted neighbours.....I went out next day after the vist and confiscation and sourced a new cobra 148 but hid it when they came to interview me in early November....oddly enough a few years later in 1991 my mum worked in the local grocery store and saw the same man who reported me to the dti/ofcom get caught for shoplifting fresh ham from the deli counter by trying to put it in his pocket and just pay for his bread rolls ... but alas the store owner was a man who would put his confetti on elastic at a wedding and would never back down and said ""take the ham out of yer pocket mate and dont come back""" ...and thus he was barred for life from the shop.... Mum said after relating the story ""every dog has his day son"".. and felt she had seen justice done for her little soldier ...I was 17 at the time.... bless her she's 73 now and I had lunch with her today man she can still fight love you mum x Ps always a gem from you Lewis well done m8

[@SocialistDistancing]

That is a great story. You know, I think he was lying about the recording being erased. In over 40 years , i have never ever heard of such a thing. He must've been hoping for a different outcome but didn't get it. Good story though.

[@hetrodoxly1203]

So he never had an ham licence.

[@boilerroombob]

@Cipheiz glad I did x

[@boilerroombob]

@@hetrodoxly1203 no just a nasty streak lol

[@boilerroombob]

@@stargazer7644 not anymore stargazer.... About 8 years ago ish the American block of 40 channels which we all call the mids or original cb band was made legal to use on ssb and am cos remember we were given our own unique set of fm 40 channels in 1981 on 27.601.25 to 27.991.25 fm which is ok but was not wanted at the time...then by late eighties we were given the American block as mentioned above but renamed called cept e.u here but fm only so now we had an 80 channel service....so back to 8 years ago then...ironically that year of legally granted am ssb use marked aprox 35 years after what all old illegal cbers in the uk using old am ssb imported sets fought tooth and nail for in the early eighties petitioning the government and marching on downing Street as some of my old good buddies did....is now legal...... but to use the the old legacy sets like the American 40 channel am ssb are ones is still deemed unlawful.... so you have to buy multimode and multi channel/standard type approved sets like the president mckinley etc ...but those who do often end up using it on ssb international out of band portion anyway 27.415 to 27.605....27.555 being calling channel ...however here in the UK there is thriving unique market for old cb sets of all modes and kinds... and including the use of ham gear on 11meters .... shacks ...radios.... channel choice ....and mode are now as unique and individual and as the people that choose to use them..... .....the last prosecution for illegal cb use was 2003 I believe.....but that's not to say ofcom will not be active in the future but the bands are lightly policed if at all....its more often over zealous old school soap dodging ham operator's who often try to police it with on air comments ...while sneakily having a sneaky cq themselves as I seen in the past when heard one operating on 11m illegally I called him by his first and he begged me never to do it again! cos his ham friends wouldn't for cast him out forever if they found out Big lols and 73s from london uk xxxx

[@lukewalker3905]

A CB radio signal going out at 2000W?! No wonder the TVs couldn’t handle it. That is incredible levels of power.

[@ChatGPT1111]

I was a member of a Los Angeles area REACT club as a teenager in the late 70's. I lived right next to two major freeway interchanges (405/605 and 405/22). Needless to say, there was a lot of action and that was during the peak of the U.S. CB craze.

[@kentharris7427]

Back in 1989 I used to have a police scanner in my car since I had a paper route and was throwing newspapers at 3:00 AM in the morning. The police were going after paper route drivers for running stop signs and other violations since no one else was on the road at that time. I was able to get the scanner to work with the standard car antenna that was installed with some modifications at the scanner end. Also I installed the scanner in the glove compartment. I had installed a scanner kill switch on the floorboard of the car to turn off the power going to the scanner. So the one time I did get stopped I turned off the scanner with the kill switch on the floorboard. The cop was none the wiser. As a good friend of mine would say. "Be discrete about indiscretion." The reason I mounted the switch on the floorboard is cops are very sensitive of your hands moving in the car and didn't want to rise any suspicion. If the cop were to discover the scanner I would have told them the scanner doesn't work and haven't had time to bring it to the shop. I would have played with the on and off switch and of course it would have no power going to it.

[@dennis8196]

Colin's story is almost certainly like a lot of those prosecutions that involved other crimes but inadequate evidence so using misleadingly worded statements and uneducated magistrates, a much harder sentence than was warranted has ended up giving the DTI a notch on their belt, a statistic to use to justify their existence in the form they were operating under. The net result was the guy was prosecuted, and stopped as often as they could get away with, searched just to make sure he didn't have any illegal radios on him, or in other words he was reminded at every opportunity he was being watched. When the DTI was needed they were never willing to do their job, or would prosecute the mentally ill instead of doing anything useful. When someone didn't need them they'd be harassing people doing the most mundane of things.

[@uhfstation3530]

I love these stories Lewis! Keep them coming! Cheers from Canada.

[@Gollammeister]

That’s just plain wrong you don’t need any license to just listen as long as you do not act on anything you hear your fine

[@Chris_at_Home]

I know in the USA you can monitor anything you want as long as you don’t divulge any information you obtained. I have even played around with breaking some encrypted signals. I worked in communications for most of my career.

[@G-ra-ha-m]

All legislation is by consent, and courts have jurisdiction only over the dead; we do not have to contract to put our head in these nooses.

[@coriscotupi]

@@Chris_at_Home I don't know of any other country where a "license to receive" would be necessary. I might be wrong of course, but I'm thinking this is a UK-specific thing.

[@coriscotupi]

@@stargazer7644 Do you also need a license to listen to the same scanner in your home?

[@matthewholzinger1042]

The ship at 1:45 clearly shows a smiley face🙂. All stories I've seen talk about it as starting in the late 60's.

[@jamessimmons1888]

In the USA you can legally listen to anything that is broadcast on the radio frequencies if you have the right equipment. Only exception is cell phone frequencies. It's legal to listen, but you can't legally re broadcast what you hear unless you're licensed and authorized to do so.

[@4xprops457]

Yup! Your right. FOR NOW.

[@paulmorrey733]

Thanks Lewis

[@ocsrc]

Here in America all public safety Services encrypted their systems 3 years ago because crime exploded and is out of control and a PR nightmare

[@chadvandam7179]

That’s not exactly true! I know here in Seattle I can pick up Pike Place Market Security I can also pick up the CL ambassadors the new security can pick up Security at the football and baseball stadiums especially when they’re holding concerts! It’s true it’s harder to pick up the police tactical frequencies because they are encrypted but the police aren’t the only things that you could listen to out there that’s interesting in terms of security! Say like target stores Security or the mall store security! And it is happening in my city, here in Seattle I wonder what frequencies you have an explored because you just assumed that the police were the only thing that was interesting! So it’s not true at all! Frequencies that

[@christopherologist]

I get sheriff's airwave where I'm at on uhf. Good stuff sometimes.

[@KD2HJP]

Long Island NY has been my home for nearly 50 years. In fact, I lived the first 20 years of my life a few miles from Marconi's Babylon station

[@EricMarshallva]

loving all the vids, thanks for all your time and effort

[@FastAsFunk]

Great for you pick out these obscure stories. Fascinating, thanks Lewis. That final still is surely the NATS ATC station at Broughton / Goosnargh...? A few hundred metres from where I grew up...!

[@g0fvt]

I bet there is more to the story.....

[@baronedipiemonte3990]

I find these legal/historical reports very interesting.

[@radiorob7543]

Great pictures! 3:33 I love the fact a UK CB, has the name "Route 66", the Main Street of America.

[@askhowiknow5527]

I should have the right to do whatever I want with the radio waves you have propagated into my house

[@Desert-edDave]

Makes you wonder how they can call themselves a "free people". Orwell's work was supposed to be fiction.

[@desbelfastireland9982]

THANK YOU.. DES CREAN,, BELFAST ,, IRELAND

[@IDGAF56852]

Police scanners are illegal here in Australia but its a bs law because i can listen to police talking on their uhf radios on my hand-held baofang uv-5r. As long as i dont transmit i can legally receive and listen to any frequencies that i can receive on my uhf radio.

[@JohnSmith-qt4pv]

What frequency ranges are they using? Also it's illegal to own (bullshit law), a uv-5r without a ham radio licence. Just to reiterate because of how insane the law is, just being in possession of a uv-5r without a licence is illegal Radiocommunications Act 1992 Part 3.1, section 47 Not that this would ever be enforced unless you do something to make the ACMA enforce it.

[@IDGAF56852]

@@JohnSmith-qt4pv you are correct, I have since got rid of my baofeng radio and bought a good quality portable cb radio.

[@JohnSmith-qt4pv]

@@IDGAF56852 that's good to hear. Many ACMA approved blessings to you and your family.

[@IDGAF56852]

@@JohnSmith-qt4pv i no longer have the baofeng radio as they are now illegal to own in Australia. Its absolutely ridiculous, so now i just have a uhf hand held 5w radio for emergencies,but i did keep the 10w aerial that came with uv-5r which gives the 5w uhf radio way better performance.

[@caerffili_callin]

I got stopped by the local CID in the early 90's, they were in an unmarked car. They confiscated my Realistic scanner, gave me a receipt, took my details and advised my to visit the local Police station a few days later. I did and they gave my scanner back, no problem, which I was surprised about considering all the stuff I had programmed in the memories.

[@G-ra-ha-m]

It's a shame that we did not realise how illegal that type of action is, by policy officers.

[@IFIXCASTLES]

I live on long island! Near middle village, where a cb broadcaster that used amplifying equipment regularly ,suddenly disappeared from the airwaves...,to bad there dikhed.

[@johnbelcher7164]

Big up the Radio Pirate

[@citicolina]

Very interesting episode. I always wondered about the UK legislation forbidding people from listening to air band ( I believe it’s something that never got changed after WWII) and how they enforce this.

[@neilfulcher9298]

In the case of Colin from Harrow. There was either more to this story than meets the eye, or he was a victim of his own lack of knowledge. If it was truly a random stop and the police spotted the scanner through the car window. He should have admitted to owning the scanner, but declined to comment in any way about his listening habits. I believe you said the scanner wasn't switched on at the time. If arrested he would have the right not to make a statement until he had received legal council. I can't imagine any solicitor advising him to "come clean" on this. As you have pointed out there is a law prohibiting listening to unauthorised broadcasts. However when those broadcasts are in the commercial broadcasting bands the vast majority of us own equipment capable of receiving them. It strikes me the only way anyone can be prosecuted for listening to such a broadcast is if the are either, caught in the act, or admit to the act while under police caution. The fact that the people from the Radio Communications Agency were at the scene suggests it was a targeted stop. However we'll never know unless we can talk to him or one of the officers present at the time.

[@RingwayManchester]

Yeah it’s an interesting one Neil

[@cheesedoff-with4410]

@@RingwayManchester Are there any details of this prosecution? I've looked on line but not found any details so far. A bit of bad luck the DTI just happened to turn up with a policeman while he was parked. Has that happened to many people? Colin has been very unlucky, and now numbers amongst all those other people who've been prosecuted, found guilty and fined for listening to an unlicensed transmitter. How many such people are there like this? (I haven't heard of a single one before.) Back in the mid seventies I was part of a Duke of Edinburgh group receiving a series of weekly lectures from a police Superintendent at the local station. He was asked whether it was illegal to listen to the police transmissions, (then on fm). He replied that it wasn't illegal to listen, but it was illegal to make use of any information gained by listening. There weren't anyother frequencies programmed in Colin's scanner I suppose, and I take it Colin was nowhere near the transmission site?

[@jerryg50]

I remember seeing people using scanners in their car to know where the police are. This was to avoid getting caught for speeding. In most places radar detectors are illegal to use. Very often the police are using laser speed detection which is a lot more difficult to detect. The unit radar or laser is manually activated when the police officer sees the vehicle in range, and thus the speeder is caught even if they could detect the laser radar. There were also some idiots who would listen to know where police operations were taking place so they can go to the location to watch. This is very obstructive behaviour and can be dangerous. Today, listening to police and emergency communications is a lot more difficult. They are mostly all using very strong encryption. Without the decryption codes they are impossible to listen to. The codes are changed fairly often.

[@haylieg2780]

@@jerryg50 it really depends on what you’re trying to listen to. I have found that well most city police departments are encrypted most sheriff departments or not. I haven’t lived anywhere yet where sheriff departments I encrypted and I haven’t traveled to any states where they’re encrypted yet either.

[@neilfulcher9298]

@@haylieg2780 here in the UK where the incident took place all emergency services radios are digital and very well encrypted. The only way that I know of listening to police radio is to steal a police officers radio. Even then when they report the radio stolen it can be remotely de registered from the system.

[@lesturner]

The Realistic scanner, seen at 07:18 is the same one I've had and still use for over 30 years. It's perfect for the local airport :)

[@pedrocurtes8480]

As I understand, you can listen to any radio transmissions but unless you or others listening act on the info in the received transmission it’s perfectly legal. The key here is “just listen” do nothing more.

[@MervynPartin]

The marine emergency hoaxes are vile, risking the lives of mariners and the rescue services.

[@MervynPartin]

@Cipheiz I was lucky enough that I never needed the rescue services during my time at sea, but one of my colleagues had ended up in the sea following a shipboard explosion. The lifeboats here are mostly volunteer crewed, and they put their lives at risk whenever called out by the Coastguard. Mostly the alarms are genuine, or sometimes errors made in good faith (I once called the Coastguard after seeing flares over the sea, but they told me it was a rescue exercise in progress at that location). Regrettably, there are still idiots here who make hoax calls.

[@jamessimmons1888]

Varying states in the USA have laws regarding the use of scanners, you can in some states only have handheld devices in a vehicle but it's different in other states.

[@justinellison4214]

What about spanish number stations i hear them daily

[@girtsziverts3530]

I got some stories back in time when I was served in armed forces as a radio operator.

[@Zipser2600]

I wonder how the rules against listening to private radio broadcasts handle Software Defined Radios (SDRs) which are effectively receiving all radio frequencies in a band at the same time. Is the offence then demodulating specific frequencies within the received data to resolve to an intelligible signal?

[@RingwayManchester]

That’s an interesting point alban

[@paulsengupta971]

Picking up the frequency isn't illegal, only demodulating it. In this way it was shown that in-car radar detectors aren't illegal (in the UK) as they're just signal strength meters and aren't demodulating anything.

[@joohop]

Great Video Buddy , I've Shared With A Few Mate's Bless Up Fella

[@matthewday7565]

Unless he was assisting the pirate in some way, it seems strange that he could be prosecuted for listening... Could pirate listeners be prosecuted for rights violation, like downloaders - actually, has anyone been done for ONLY downloading, as it's the upload element of P2P that they usually concentrate on

[@vd89198]

Over here you can get a fine for just talking to someone who doesn't have a license, knowing or unknowing. Sharing scanner recordings is also illegal. And I know that Germany is very hard on illegal downloading, If they find it you probably get a big fine. And then there is the opposite, Canada i believe it is, when you hear people committing a crime on radio you are not allowed to act or the criminals will go free because of rights. Different countries different laws, and some are pretty weird.

[@jerryg50]

@@vd89198 I live in Canada. The authorities are very strict with radio and TV communications. You can listen, but are not allowed to repeat what you hear. Illegal transmission of any type of signal can result in huge fines and jail time. If you are a home experimenter in electronics or doing TV and radio service work you are allowed to use a signal generator for the purpose of calibration and testing. You are limited to several hundred feet and are responsible to not jam or disrupt any type of legitimate signals. You are allowed to have approved walki-talkies without license if they are below 200 mw if I remember correctly. These are considered toys. Some people use them when camping or around the home. If you want to have the professional types that can work for several miles you are required to apply for license, have them registered, and are assigned a group of frequency bands. There are annual license fees to be allowed to use them. I remember when I was a kid back in the 1960s, we used to sometimes hear about people getting caught doing illegal transmissions. The fines were very expensive and enforced.

[@ATOMSHAMRADIO]

The history is fantastic love the content 💯👍

[@audioassault5599]

Very cool stories!

[@rubusroo68]

would love to hear your take on Lord Haw Haw

[@jtbro2574]

For sure

[@69uremum]

That truck driver was a punk!

[@bertiewooster3326]

I don't care about any rules I break especially these !

[@mcconkeyb]

I want to know how the authorities knew a radio scanner was listening? If they were using this information for other purposes, then they were clearly doing much more than just listening.

[@rupe53]

in the NY case, a trucker spotted the guy along the road. It's not illegal to listen on a scanner, but it is illegal to use that information in certain ways.

[@TheFool2cool]

@Ralph Reilly lol yeah. You think theyre looking for the IF leaking up the antenna or something. Receivers are invisible pretty much.

[@SoloRenegade]

@@rupe53 it's only illegal to use information to commit a crime. otherwise the use and application of information is free speech.

[@rupe53]

@@SoloRenegade ... hey, I'm with you there but if the cop feels that spreading the word on a speed trap is a crime, then all bets are off. That may be misuse of the information, depending on where you live.

[@SoloRenegade]

@@rupe53 there is nothing illegal about saying, "hey I saw a cop car over there". you can report speed traps on google maps even. I don't because I want some people to get caught speeding, and I don't have to worry about getting pulled over because I'm not in a hurry to save 1min off my drive.

[@jhonsiders6077]

I call bs to some of this how in the heck are they going to know if you are listening ? The FCC says if you have a ham ticket you may have a mobile receiver . Btw under the open records act you may know who turned you in with the proper request .

[@ProdigalPorcupine]

The guy who was done for listening to his scanner was in Harrow, UK. There's likely more to this story, but in any case, it has nothing to do with the FCC.

[@rupe53]

yes, the FCC says you can listen (USA) but using that info for the wrong reason can get you in trouble. I suspect that trucker heard something on a CB and figured out how the guy was getting his info.

[@johnsiders7819]

@@stargazer7644 I have bought 55 of the Valentine radar detectors that have the feature that they are un detectable for my drivers and they have the remote option And with your ham ticket you may have scanner in your vehicle this is in the US federal law over rides local ones .

[@user2C47]

@@stargazer7644 Shouldn't this signal be behind a lot of shielding?

[@kevinrkinsella]

@@user2C47 the local oscillator output invariably couples into the receiving antenna’s wiring and thus gets transmitted for all to hear. During the Cold War huge antenna arrays were pointed at the opposition’s Embassies to collect information being inadvertently transmitted from their radio gear. Tempest proofing (look it up) is very expensive and easily defeated by operator errors!

[@smorris281]

Just a fun fact regarding scanners in vehicles in the US. The states that do not permit you to have or listen to scanners in vehicles does to apply to FCC licensed HAM's. The FCC rules superseded the state scanner laws as long as the HAM isn't using the scanner in the commission of a crime.

[@ManuelPinner]

I'm Glad that I live in New York City US, where can We have more Freedom,

[@JxH]

2:00 "I'm sinking..." What are you thinking about ? (Many of you will have seen that funny advertisement.)

[@georgeliquor2931]

A friend of mine bought a police scanner about 20yrs ago, cant remember what it was, anyway it worked a couple of times then it stopped picking up police signals as if it had been jammed or something, is that possible? im in the uk

[@pedrocurtes8480]

Probably went from VHF two way systems over to TETRA UHF trunked radio systems. Standard scanners cannot be used to monitor these trunked systems, modulation is digital, specific to Tetra and the system repeaters are continuously reassigned based on traffic. So voice traffic will hop between channels during normal operation.

[@stanpatterson5033]

Might have been something as simple as the source signal switched from an analogue transmitting system to a digital/trunked/encrypted signal. An analogue radio cannot pick up digital transmissions and decode the bits into intelligible audio.

[@geraldscott4302]

I am currently running an SSB CB on about 200 watts (not 2000) My amplifier is clean. In todays digital world, low power HF (and 200 watts is definitely low power) is not going to interfere with anyone's TV or phone. It won't even interfere with someone using a CB. People tend to think that 200 watts is a huge amount of power. Because they are comparing it to the legal 4 watts. They think it puts out a signal 50 times more powerful than 4 watts, but that's not the way it works. The amount of power to keep increasing your signal strength increases exponentially the further you go. Most people could not tell the difference between a clean 200 watt signal and a 4 watt signal. But since I am limited antenna wise, I found that 200 watts does help just a little with DX contacts. In the U.S. it is not illegal to listen to anything, as long as you do not use what you hear to commit a crime. I used to listen to cell phone calls for over 10 years before they switched from analog to digital. I have several antennas on my Ford Crown Vic, a model of car the police also use. I was sitting in a parking lot waiting to pick up my daughter from work, when cops from a police car a few spaces down from me came over to ask about the antennas. I just showed them my amateur radio license, and they left. Apparently someone had been reported impersonating a cop, and actually pulling people over. It wasn't me.

[@user2C47]

As someone who has never transmitted with more than about 0.2 watts, 200 watts seems like a lot. Is it not potentially deadly to be near such an antenna while it's radiating?

[@geraldscott4302]

@@user2C47 200 watts is not dangerous on HF frequencies, which is where 11 meters (CB) is located. Yes, it can cause the antenna to get warm, and if you are transmitting through a mobile antenna, and you touch it, it can burn you. RF burns tend to be very painful. But not actually dangerous at lower frequencies. You can use up to 1500 watts legally on most amateur HF bands, though the rules say to only use as much power as it takes to establish reliable communications. The 10 meters amateur band, which is right next to and just a hair below 11 meter CB band, has a max legal power output of 200 watts. Where you really get into the danger zone is high power transmissions in the microwave range, 800 MHz and above. The amateur bands go all the way up to 1240 MHz. Those are frequencies used in microwave ovens. the 1240 MHz band is limited to 5 watts, but I won't mess with it at all. IMO anyway, the real danger comes from cell phone towers, which transmit microwave frequencies at very high power. I certainly wouldn't want to live near one of those. But 200 watts at 27 MHz is not dangerous. The average AM commercial broadcast radio station generally transmits at around 40 KW or 40,000 watts.

[@johnspace1876]

In the States it is common for municipalities to have city ordnances restricting vehicles on public roads that have scanners capable receiving local LE radio traffic. Those laws are almost antiquated by SDR and scanner apps. Either way it is still it is still a federal crime to commit a felony while in possession of a capable scanner.

[@nobodynoone2500]

They are routinely struck down in court as well.

[@slowstick86]

Very interesting report ! I am also interested in finding out what the radar scanner is being used for, on your video. I know its relatively new, next to the coast guard station on the prom. Thinking it may be to record any boat activity around the windmills?

[@RingwayManchester]

There’s a video quite recently on the channel Andy: tells you all about it :) cheers mate

[@notthatdonald1385]

I think you'd really like all the abandoned towers, dishes, and radio equipment in Montauk, eastern LI,NY. Much of it is visible from public roads. Some explorers venture in to the abandoned military bases - whether legally or not I don't know. Long Island was considered very strategic during the Cold War, but with satellite tech the ground equipment is just sitting there. Even Nikola Tesla had a lab a ~25 miles west of Montauk.

[@ATOMSHAMRADIO]

Great channel 👍💯

[@denniswofford]

Intersting stuff, Lewis. Where do you get the material for these obscure stories?

[@MrKeys57]

research?

[@zapazap]

​@@MrKeys57 Research is _how._ The question was _where._

[@Liberty4Ever]

For decades, it was legal to listen to anything, while transmitting was highly regulated. I think that simple legal theory went away when people started decoding satellite television without paying for it, although it was very difficult to catch people for receiving a signal. It seems bizarre that government agents would (or could) prosecute someone for receiving a pirate radio station.

[@KKEM641]

In Kansas City is it [somewhat] illegal to have a scanner, however for the most part it is ignored. I was in fact one time out to eat, had my scanner with me, and as I left I said hello to the police officers there and showed them my scanner. They actually radioed in for a time check just so they could hear themselves over it. I now am a Amateur Radio Operator, and do not use my scanners much. As for for the radio, I simply follow the rules....

[@ianharvey868]

Yup I love these videos :)

[@Zodliness]

One day you may need the coastguards help and you better hope a hoaxer isn't distracting them at the time.

[@matthewholzinger1042]

Used to enjoy listening to the local police on the scanner. Near me several towns shared two frequencies. As digital P-25 came in I bought a new scanner. It only worked about two years. The local dispatch company gained more towns to dispatch for and added more frequencies to their trunked digital system. The killer was when they went encrypted. It's illegal to listen to encrypted channels and no scanners could do it. So now my expensive scanner sits as the right or so towns around me are no longer available to listen to.

[@matthewholzinger1042]

This was Northwest Central Dispatch which was northwest of Chicago, il. Most of the county has gone digital and there is little for me to listen to. Some towns still use older systems but I want to know what's going on near me, not some town 30 miles away.

[@wisteela]

I love how that exam cheat got caught.

[@321CatboxWA]

lol another friend of mine Mr Hellraiser. passed away a couple years ago. Great guy . Crummy neighbors . Didn't stop him . lololol .

[@RingwayManchester]

Wow! I hoped someone remembered him

[@TR6Telos]

Driving through London on the night before Prince Charles and Diana married we were on are way to the south of Franch in our Skoda with a small mag mount on the roof of the car. A copper pulled us over in traffic and took me and my radio down to the cop shop, I spent a evening in the cells would you belive and my President AR40 was taken from me, I loved that radio, never to see it again! If the cops today could catch the criminals like me , Ha, bastards.

[@zendonbuilds948]

Back in the 1990s, some hams figured out they could jam VHF cordless phones by using doctored 6 meter transceivers. They were illegal as hell of course, but some of these intrusions were genuinely hilarious to listen to.

[@richiehoyt8487]

That last story - cripes! At a guess, I reckon they figured he wasn't just on the _receiving_ end of that pirate station, but good God! I'm no legal expert, especially on the laws of a foreign (just about) country, but 'done' for, like he said, listening on the broadcast bands?!! How is one even supposed to _know_ one is listening to a pirate? And even if you _do,_ what's next? Prosecuted for reading the paper over someone's shoulder on the bus?! tbh I struggle to see how even listening to the Fuzz on a scanner can (in itself) be illegal, although if it's done as part of the commission of _another_ crime, burglary say, or to frustrate police operations, well, that's a different thing! But this - without wanting to sound hyperbolic, _this_ sounds like a hell of a sinister precedent; it might almost be from a movie set in Nazi occupied Europe, or behind the Iron Curtain!

[@statinskill]

Hey, you wear masks when they tell you, right? Then you will also learn to only tune into approved broadcasts. It's easy. In future if you're not absolutely sure you are allowed something, then just let it be. You never know. The best thing you can do when you find a radio station that you don't absolutely for sure know is authorized, is STOP LISTENING immediately. Take down the frequency, the time of day and immediately contact the Staatssicherheit (Stasi). You'll likely be asked to come in for a quick routine interview.

[@richiehoyt8487]

@@statinskill Well, the way things are going...

[@lifeisamatrix5960]

States like new york prohibit scanners in vehicles or on person in public. Florida has some regarding vehicles. It doesn't doesn't say you can't own. Licensed operators like ham are waived with limitations in them places. They are also states where they tend to have odd laws or tight gun control with crime bein the highest.

[@zapazap]

I'd explore having a scanner at home that I can listen in to though cell phone.

[@belstar1128]

No no no you can't do that you can only listen to people we approve of. maybe the 90s where not as perfect as i remember.

[@madcarew5168]

V.interesting history!!

[@CONCERTMANchicago]

*_Remember Cobra Electronics here in the US? Bearcat programmable scanners capable of surpassing band limits by punching in cheat sequence._* Their Chicago factory is eight blocks away from my house and two blocks away from the old Zenith. Cobra also manufactured *_Fuzzbusters K Ka X vI speed gun & VG2 rcvr detectors_* (Commonly tripped back in the day unwantingly receiving grocery stores automatic door sensors) One of the first *_rechargeable wireless home phone sets._* And One of the most sought after manufacturers of *_Citizen band radios_* bench tech monsters like me Can peak blindfold. (Well at the least using My tongue as an oscilloscope and detachable penis As an ISO pack. D0h!)

[@skinnyflea2628]

Woah 7:11 whats that?? It looks like a modified pro 90! Any information on it? Thanks!

[@davidrobertson5700]

The Dti never took down Destiny 99.3 because I built LOS microwave links to several transmitters in the 90s, could even hear them as far north as Northampton and south in Brighton when the weather was right. Dti even called my nans number and tried to get her to pressure me to stop building the transmitters. Wasn't illegal for me to build these things so I simply carried on. Hi to Matty D and Loony Tunes, oh and of course the amazing DJ Skie.. Destiny 99.3 needs to come back on air....Today please. Slava Ukraini From Great Britain

[@jimcoulter5877]

What, you have Freedom to listen to anything but Cell Phone, where you get into trouble is repeating to someone else what you heard. Some Bogus information here.

[@M0WWS]

Could he have been listening on the uplink freq? Most Pirate radio stations have the transmitter on a high spot but the actually studio is elsewhere and they use an uplink frequency to link the two. It's easy to find the transmitter but less so the studio as the uplink frequency could be anywhere in the UHF or even microwave spectrum - like trying to find a needle in a haystack. But if your man was listening to it that would be illegal and possibly tie him in with the pirate radio operation.

[@RingwayManchester]

It’s very possible Gareth

[@monteceitomoocher]

Put me in mind of the famous max headroom incident, they reckoned the uplink was hacked into by a more powerful local transmission, they never caught the culprits.

[@djthproductions]

Why is it forbidden to listen to the police in many countries? Here in The Netherlands it was not, when still analogue many listened to it and helped the police too if they saw what they listened to. The police was very happy with that.

[@pcno2832]

3:30 When my parents bought their first TV in 1961, they were having a problem with a ham radio being operated by a woman who lived in the same complex, which was disrupting their reception. When my father wrote the FCC, they sent him a little box to put between the TV's 300 ohm antenna terminals and the rabbit ears. I don't know it that implies that the TV itself (a garden variety Zenith portable) was inadequately blocking the interference, or it might have been that the close proximity of the transmitter allowed a legal signal that was strong enough to interfere with any normal television, but the box (a notch filter, I assume) got rid of the interference.

[@zendonbuilds948]

She was probably operating on the 6 meter band, which is not that far from channels 2, 3, and 4. Better filtering technology fortunately mitigated 6 meter interference, but the switch to digital TV in '09 got rid of it entirely. 73, KE6WNH

[@AB1Vampire]

For a bit seemed life the focus was on the NYC Long Island Metro area.

[@kd5you1]

The story about Woodberry Base mentioned that Todd was charged with possession of a police scanner, or just scanner, but that doesn't make sense because it isn't illegal to have possession of a scanner. Obviously the police don't like people having them, but they can't claim they are illegal just because they don't like them. Scanners themselves are not specifically designed to received police signals only, but they can be tuned to a broad range of signals. Using what he hears on police transmissions for an illicit purpose is a different story though.

[@stanpatterson5033]

Not allowed in the State of New York to have a scanner in a motor vehicle. Can sit at home and scan away, but not allowed to use your scanner in a mobile setting. New York State and a select few other states have this law in place, NY being the most staunch enforcement of such law, the other states having certain conditions regarding the mobile use of a scanner. I'm sure a Giggle search will reveal the list for you. Been a while since I looked at the list, it may have grown since I last checked, who knows.

[@kd5you1]

@@stanpatterson5033 I should have Googled mobile use before I posted, but the video stated he was charged with simply being in possession of one... maybe the video wasn't completely clear.

[@zapazap]

​@@stanpatterson5033 When in car, listen to your home based scanner by cell phone. :) Or does the scanner have proximity issues that demand it be with you?

[@wx4newengland]

I did not know about the Nantucket one. That’s near me.

[@joebidet2050]

I remember many years ago Radios in Germany couldn't receive 25 to 28 mhz or something like that Anyone else remember?

[@RevMikeBlack]

I've always considered the airwaves to be a public trust, operated for the good of humanity. People who interfere with legitimate radio transmissions need to be dealt with harshly, especially when others are harmed.

[@tommytriggs]

reminds me of the time we wiped out radio one but never got nicked for it, oh them were the pirating days....

[@davidgiles4681]

So, it is not the listening part that the FCC disagreed. It was the transmitting on frequencies (that interfered with the local signal receivers (TV)) that triggered the fine. -- as a Ham Radio operator, I am limited to certain freqs. But, my xmts must not interfere with local receivers (such as tv). If it does, the FCC can request that I not xmt until I fix the problem. -- Apparently, the man rcvd multiple requests from the FCC to stop xmtng until he could fix the interference concern. That was the issue. -- Thus, this title is severely misleading. It was not the listening that triggered the fine. It was the xmtng and interfering with local receivers. -- I can understand the FCC and why it did it. -- Rcvrs do not transmit. They only rcv. Thus, rcvrs will not cause interference with such devices (since they do not xmt) anything to interfere. -- Let us get to the bottom of this. The man xmtd and interfered with local rcvrs. The FCC sent letters, "Sir, your xmts are interfering with local rcvrs. Please correct the problem." ... man does not. "Sir, We (the FCC) are requesting again to cease and desist xmtng your interference in local rcvrs. Correct the problem." ... man does not FCC fines man. -- This is very similar to a cop (who catches a person speeding on a slab of road), "I will give you a warning ticket. Keep the speed down." ... catches same speeder on same road, "Sir/Ma'am, please keep the speed down." ... catches person 3rd time "License/Registration/proof of insurance please ... Here is a ticket (for speeding). You can either pay it or contest it in court. have a nice day"

[@TheCoretx]

Treaty of Rome, 1960. Look it up.

[@emmagrundy17]

interesting stories. when i was a teenager i had a good friend who ran his own pirate radio from liverpool. i said it at the age 15 and i don't care even at the age of 37 i will say it again. how pathetic to waste so much time over shutting down so called pirate broadcasts when there is so much other crime that often goes undetected and more serious crime. my mate did his research on frequencies yes he did have some innitial set up problems as he was based quite near to the airport but these were soon fixed upon his realisation. and it kept him and his school friends from messing about on the streets which surely does have to be better. when he was older he did apply for a local community station but he didn't get it. as for listening, yup i doubt that its the only story. he must have been wanted for other offenses for them to have gone to such trouble

[@RingwayManchester]

Cheers Adam

[@nobodynoone2500]

Pretty sure a half decent lawyer would take care of all this. Sad a few broke jokesters set false precedient in cases like this. Listening is 100% legal in the USA, then and now.

[@BryanTorok]

The UK's communication laws are often bizarre. We would expect an authoritarian country such as China or N. Korea to restrict citizen's rights to own or listen to radio and television, but wouldn't expect that from the UK. I can't imagine the USA requiring a license and requiring the paying of a tax to own a television like is done in the UK.

[@zendonbuilds948]

Oh, yes. Here in the States, you get your behind paddled for possessing a scanner which can pick up cell phone frequencies.

[@BryanTorok]

@@zendonbuilds948 Actually, with the exception of certain locations, possessing said receiver is not illegal in the USA. The FCC made it illegal to manufacture or sell them after a particular date, but anyone who had one could keep it. You could even use it so long as you didn't reveal the contents of what you heard to another party. The FCC had ruled that anything transmitted in clear plain language was fair game to receive by anyone with the proper equipment. Now, mind you, that pertained to the old analog FM cell phones that have been gone for at least a decade, maybe two. Cell phones are now digital and encrypted. Also, the majority of public safety radios are now digital and encrypted. But, the thing I was referencing is that in the UK, receiving broadcast television that is intended for public consumption is regulated and taxed. In the USA, I can pay for cable or satellite to get my television. But, I am free to put up an antenna and watch whatever I can receive.

[@duanetrivett750]

I guess U.K. laws are different from U.S. ones . we would like to hear to more on that subject . Thanks .

[@markbajek2541]

just to clear the air a bit on the NY state police scanner arrest, it's illegal in about 6 states in the US to have police scanner in your car. IF you are a licensed amateur radio operator you more or less have a pre exemption from the FCC but there are still plenty of stories of hams getting their gear confiscated in states that are anti mobile scanner. Typically if you are not using a scanner to further a crime in the US in most states you can use a scanner in your car. MN,SD,NY, IN, KY and someplace else that doesn't come to mind are the non conforming states.

[@mellonians]

I was caught and prosecuted just for listening too in 1997

[@kevballard1967]

That was unlucky for sure.

[@mellonians]

@@kevballard1967 I was a donut. It was in the run up to Christmas and I was sat in the shopping precinct watching an undercover anti shoplifting operation.

[@jacquesmertens3369]

How could anyone know you were listening?

[@ANTHONYBOOTH]

scanner user prosecuted for getting caught ...I am getting a few SDR's soon (software defined radios) ...planning to set them up in diverse locations and connect to them and control them remotely... - my remote radio jigs will be fitted with active security also (shocking, I know) ;)

[@Ztbmrc1]

Ok. But listening to ATC was legal in de UK. Already back in the early 90'tees when I came to Heathrow for the first time in my life, there was a guy on the spectators terrace sitting behind a table with a big ATC receiver on it, and wearing headsets. Here in the Netherlands it is also legal to listen to ATC. And although in Germany it is illegal, I had no problems carrying a scanner with airband. But in Belgium you better be very careful.

[@Theepilepsyguy]

There was a movie about the Pirate Radio ship

[@Megellin]

It all depends on what your doing, when you are caught, and where you are when caught caught, it's not technically illegal to listen to a police scanner, but there are a ton of bs laws mostly there to make it easy to arrest people, so if you are in a state like (NM) that has extremely corrupt cops you better have deep pockets for a proper lawyer. Mainly I'd suggest avoid using a scanner when driving, and if your going to you might want to have a stealth one that is hard to see. P.S. (for everyone thinking I hate all cops your wrong I have officer friends and neighbors I get along with just fine, it's the ones that will purposely seek any reason possible to make trouble for people I have a problem with.)

[@markbajek2541]

They are only illegal in IN, SD,NY, MN and KY for mobile use and maybe one other state. Typically if you are not in the process of furthering a crime by using a scanner you'll generally be OK. The cop's will mess with you and ask you questions about the gear but it's not a crime in all but 5 or 6 non conforming states.

[@Drew-Dastardly]

Back in the '90s I used to enjoy scanning the emergency services on my Yupiteru 7100, which I still own and works well. When they all went encrypted it got kind of boring and I lost interest. In the USA the police still broadcast in the clear because of first amendment and freedom of information laws. I do know one trick criminals in UK used with scanners on the police frequencies. If they wanted to know the address of a driver to rob or intimidate they would phone 999 and report the number plate as a drink driver and then listen in on the scanner and get the home address.

[@wam2610]

👍

[@PuddinJr1993]

I don't know how i got here. But yellow fellow algorithm explorers

[@fredflintstoner596]

Mrs Richards: "I paid for a room with a view !" Basil: (pointing to the lovely view) "That is Torquay, Madam." Mrs Richards: "It's not good enough!" Basil: "May I ask what you were expecting to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window? Sydney Opera House, perhaps? the Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically past?..." Mrs Richards: "Don't be silly! I expect to be able to see the sea!" Basil: "You can see the sea, it's over there between the land and the sky." Mrs Richards: "I'm not satisfied. But I shall stay. But I expect a reduction." Basil: "Why?! Because Krakatoa's not erupting at the moment?

[@zapazap]

What occasions this wonderful F.T. passage?

[@fredflintstoner596]

@@zapazap I'M A DOCTOR AND I WANT MY SAUSAGES !

[@zapazap]

@@fredflintstoner596 Tears! :'-)

[@fredflintstoner596]

@@zapazap WE HAVE MEAT HERE IN ZE HOTEL !

[@zapazap]

@@fredflintstoner596 But... DUCK'S OFF.

[@AC9BXEric]

Here in the US there are signals that are illegal to listen to, cordless phones (portable land line) & _baby_ monitors, wireless phones (cells), and any encrypted government or public service traffic. In some jurisdictions merely being in possession of equipment capable of listening to encrypted signals without authorization is a serious offense. Radios produced for commercial sale must not be able to nor be easily modified to tune cellular phone frequencies. Five States have banned scanning radios in motor vehicles.

[@paulsengupta971]

I find it funny how US scanners still have to block out the "cellular" bands, many years after the analogue cellular service was shut down.

[@AC9BXEric]

@@slightlyevolved not exactly, but State laws with restrictions make exemptions for licensed amateurs.

[@AC9BXEric]

@@paulsengupta971 yeah, when an old TV with a tuner to channel 83 could be set to 82 and with adjusting fine tuning could hear cell calls. Modern USB radio dongles can easily tune cell frequencies. The hard part is getting sufficient bandwidth & most if not all traffic is encrypted. So what's the problem? Well it means you can't design a radio for the international market. You have to make special versions depending on where it's to be sold, raising prices & complicating distribution. Amateur radio amplifiers have antiquated gain limits & must not operate in CB service.

[@raymondmartin6737]

It's interestingly amazing how many of these stories were in the New York City area, which I know has happened especially with CB'ers there. Back in the mid 1970's when CB was really big, I knew an amateur friend, WA2BLM, then residing in White Plains, NY, who was really going after CB operators. He had shots fired at his house and a photo of his shack was once in the NY Times, with his story about fighting illegal CB'ers.

[@diygarygaming]

7:19 is what you came here for.