Realistic PRO-2023 - A General Guide to Scanning.15

A GENERAL GUIDE TO SCANNING
BIRDIES
Birdies are the products of internally
generated signals that make some fre¬
quencies difficult or impossible to
receive. If you program one of these
frequencies, you hear only noise on
that frequency.
If the interference is not severe, you
might be able to cut out the birdie by
turning the SQUELCH control clock¬
wise. The most common birdies to
watch for are listed below.
29.340 MHz
31.200 MHz
33.535 MHz
34.930 MHz
41.600 MHz
41.915 MHz
46.110 MHz
52.000 MHz
124.800 MHz
125.750 MHz
RECEPTION NOTES
Reception of the frequencies covered
by your scanner is mainly “line of sight.”
That means that you usually cannot
hear stations at your listening location
that extend beyond the horizon.
During the summer months, you might
be able to hear stations in the 30-50
MHz range located several hundred or
even thousands of miles away. This is
caused by summer atmospheric condi¬
tions. This type of reception is
unpredictable but often very
interesting.
GUIDE TO THE ACTION BANDS
With a little investigation, you can find
the active frequencies in your commun¬
ity to monitor exciting events. We can
give you some general pointers on
finding these frequencies and you can
take it from there. Please use caution
and common sense when you hear an
emergency call. Never go to the scene
of an emergency. It could be very dang¬
erous.
Find out if there is a local club that
monitors your community’s frequen¬
cies. Perhaps a local electronics repair
shop that works on equipment similar to
your scanner can give you channel
frequencies used by local radio
services. A volunteer police department
or fire department employee can also
be a good source for this information.
As a genaral rule on VHF, most activity
concentrates between 153.785 and
155.98 MHz and then again from
153.73 to 159.46 MHz. Here you find
local government, police, fire, and most
other emergency services. If you are
near a railroad or major railroad tracks,
look between 160.0 to 161.9 for signals.
In some larger cities, there has been a
move to the UHF bands for emergency
services. Here, most of the activity is
between 453.025 and 453.95 MHz and
again between 456.025 and 459.95
MHz.
In the UHF band, mobile and control
units associated with base and repea¬
ter units operate between the
frequencies of 456.025 and 459.95
MHz and again between 465.025 and
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