James Wesley:
Ron Y.’s article posted on Sunday is interesting and helpful to those who don’t spend much time around radios other than, perhaps, their favorite music station. For those of us who have had a lifetime of radio listening and, in my case, work with public service units in times of disasters small and bigger, there are a few things I’d add.
First is the scanner section of Ron’s information. My work desk has four scanners going at all hours that I am awake. Any one of them might flag something that is of interest or warrants tracking. Frequencies scanned here include all the Air Traffic Control (ATC) and air-to-air channels used by both civilian and military aircraft. I live in the area of four ATC centers and not far from training and refueling areas of many Midwest military units from B-2 bombers to Air National Guard fighter squadrons. There are 200 channels of some activity represented there. Air frequencies were my first alert to the 9/11 disaster. Civilian traffic told to land at the nearest airport and military told to get active, plus the dash to Shreveport by Air Force 1 from Florida, all unfolded within ear shot [of a scanner] while the news channels were still marveling
over what was happening in Manhattan.
Closer to home, scanner radios are the heart beat of this rural area’s health and problems. Sheriff’s radio remains on analog channels while some city and the state police have all moved to digital trunking radios that take a little work to program but remain a first line of information. Arkansas, where I live, also has a state-wide digital
network for health and welfare on a larger scale such as contamination and radiation incidents.
Another resource for frequencies omitted that should be visited is RadioReference.com for up-to-date information on frequencies, changes, digital monitoring and state-by-state lists of what to tune to.
And, another of the recently added radios in my monitoring station is a good old-technology crystal set. It hears all the 50,000 watt radio stations that Ray lists, plus more, and operates with no batteries or other outside source of electricity. These worked for my dad in the 1920s. He taught me to build my first one in 1940 or so. See MidnightScience.com and CrystalRadioSupply.com.
There is, as the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band sings, “so much to know before you know enough.” Best Regards, – Vern M.