Scanner Equipment

Scanner Equipment

Relatively inexpensive handheld scanners are available which can be programmed to listen on a set of desired frequencies. They are mostly useful for frequencies that are repeated from major tower locations around Sonoma County. If you are nearby to an incident you may also be able to pick up TAC (Tactical) channels that are not repeated.

More expensive vehicle and base station scanners are also available, as well as scanners with advanced features. It is also possible to connect most scanners to an external antenna, for example mounted on a mast, that can better receive signals you are interested in.

For a more robust dedicated scanner you need an an appropriate VHF antenna mounted on a mast. In some locations this may be the only way to sufficiently receive radio signals using a dedicated scanner. You may also find you need to run cable up a hill to a higher point to locate your antenna if you are in a canyon.

For Sonoma County, most all incidents are initially called out on REDCOM. The responding units are instructed to move to a specific Control channel. For West Sonoma County that is usually Control 2.

You may find it useful to temporarily L/O (lockout) REDCOM, or HOLD on the assigned Command channel, if you are trying to focus on an ongoing incident. Most scanners have the ability to take these two actions.

Fire Tone-Out Scanner

This is a special type of scanner, or a scanner with fire pager functionality set up in a particular way, that will only activate when it receives a set of tones on a specific channel that indicate that your local fire department is being called to an incident. They do tend to be expensive, but sometimes you can find perfectly good older models for less.

The system in use locally is called Two-Tone paging, which is done on the primary REDCOM dispatch channel. You can configure most fire pager scanners to listen for a few different Two-Tone pairs, which means you could instruct the scanner to listen for calls involving CVFD, FRVFD, and TCVFD for example.

A good fire pager scanner can be set up to play the message that comes after the Two-Tone page, and then optionally switch to another channel (Control 2) so that you can listen to the rest of the incident.

Handheld Scanners

  • Uniden Bearcat SR30C – $100
    Frequency Range: 25-512 MHz (Does not include 225-230 MHz)
    Storage: 10 x 50 channels (No Alpha Tagging, No CTCSS or DCS)
    Antenna Connector: BNC Female
  • Uniden Bearcat BC125AT – $120
    Frequency Range: 25-512 MHz
    Storage: 10 x 50 channels with Alpha Tagging and CTCSS/DCS Squelch.
    Antenna Connector: BNC Female

Handheld Scanners with Fire Tone-Out

  • Uniden Bearcat BCD436HP – $500
    Frequency Range: 25-1300 MHz
  • Uniden SDS100 – $650
    Frequency Range: 25-1300 MHz

Handheld Scanner Antennas

Scanners are specifically wide-band devices. Antennas are generally “tuned” to resonate on a specific frequency (+/- 5MHz), or set of frequencies (dual or tri band), which means that they will generally transmit and receive a bit better in those areas. It’s a lot less important for scanning overall, but a good antenna that works well for the bands you are most interested in may improve reception of weak signals… YMMV.

Antennas built specifically for wide-band reception do exist, and are sometimes referred to as super-gainer antennas. They will give good response across the entire range, but may not work as well as a multi-band or single-band antenna for a specific set of frequencies.

If you are listening primarily to REDCOM (154.x, 155.x) and CAL FIRE (151.x, 159.x), a VHF antenna centered around 155 MHz or even 150 MHz (depending on what you find most important) may give you the best overall response, though at some expense to other bands like UHF which is used by the Sonoma Sheriff. If the Sheriff were equally important to you, you could choose a dual-band antenna and have good quality for both bands of interest at some expense to each band in comparison with a single-band antenna.

Antennas come in all shapes and sizes. Larger antennas tend to have higher gain, and smaller antennas lower. You also need to consider the environment you will use the scanner in, and how it might hurt or help to have a longer or shorter antenna. A longer antenna can get in the way, while a shorter antenna might not give you the performance you need.

You can connect most handheld scanners to an external antenna. It could be a vehicle roof magnet mount or permanent install, a coil antenna with a long cable for field use, or a larger antenna mounted outside your home. The same basic principals apply, but more concepts like impedance matching become important, and there are many more styles and purposes to consider. Antennas are a complex topic, with almost infinite variability.

Important: Be sure to choose an antenna with the right connector for your scanner! For example, if you scanner has a BNC Female connector, you need a an antenna with a BNC Male connector. Also, some radios with recessed connectors limit which antennas will work with them, so check on reviews, comments, forums if you have such a radio.

Wide-band Antennas

Tuned Antennas

SmileyAntenna – Wide range of exceptional tuned antennas.

There are many more antennas available from ScannerMaster, Amazon, and more. Consider your needs and choose an appropriate wide-band or tuned antenna to match.