SOCMOB

OK I've Learrrrrrned something today. No. 1., with the exception of one person, apparently you guys'n'gals really hate scanners. Good to know, I guess. I admit, I lack class (pass the Fritos). I don't even have the class to join the QCWA although I just recently qualified, yep the Quarter Century Wireless Association, basically it's for those who remember sweatin' out the FCC test AT the FCC field office, complete with code. What some consider fast code, yep extra class now you send in 3 box tops and Tony The Tiger sends you the ticket. When all's said and done I'd rather go out and do stuff than hide in a radio room, but a longterm interest in radio is hard to kill. Blah blah blah who cares basically while I've made my share of contacts I find the listening more interesting. I like knowing what goes on around my town! So, the plan is, this scanner and a decent communications reciever, I've had and enjoyed the Eton E5 but am actually considering the Grundig Satellit 750 the next bolus of money I come across. I just want to be able to listen, across the spectrum. I was not asking anyone's permission to get a scanner, I was wondering how many listen to 'em here and find 'em interesting, maybe trying to see if there was a subset of scanner types in the crowd here. I guess I found one, which is neat, I even gave 'em a positive point. The rest here seem to be entranced with their own ability to fling mud, thank you very much. Have fun. Bye.

Oh no you guys want actual articulation. Well, first is learning, I admit being curious how many of what kind of calls are happening in my area and learning (by osmosis perhaps) some radio protocol. Second, it's not impossible that I could end up being a dispatcher, if I work on my Spanish. It's a useful job too. Thirdly, yeah, entertainment, nosiness, call it what you will. The scanner I got is about to be set up here at home, nope no plans to use one in a vehicle although that's legal in this state. I may end up tired of listening to the radio once I'm working as an EMT (or dispatch) sure, but for now, I think listening might be fun. I once worked at a Baskin-Robbins, ice cream became very mundane for me. But before that job, it had a definite "oh wow" factor. Besides, I've gotten a real laugh out of listening on non-scanner radios to various things, tow truck drivers, water company people, etc. It's not nearly as bad as watching TV. Got a Uniden BCT898T and picked up some wire and BNC's to make antennas with. Yay now I get to learn how to program a scanner.

Hey! I resemble that remark!! OK fine then, I'm gonna go out and get a scanner today, maybe there will be a sale since it's President's Day in the US, and I'll even let y'all listen to it if you wanna come over. If you can get past the geese.

Hmm, am I the only one here who's interested in listening to "da copz" and "da firemenz"? And admits it?

DSL that's as slow or slower than dial-up used to be a decade ago, and I'd need a T1 now to do what I used to do on dial-up. Sites like this are great but the internet gets worse and worse.

I sold stuff on Evilpay for a decade. I am not surprised. Buy your stuff on Ebay if you must but don't use it for evil, mmKay?

OK the scanner bug is bitin' again ..... what do you all think of the idea of using a scanner radio to listen in on stuff going on around your area? I have several fire stations, cops, sheriffs, a hospital nearby, plus talkative hams and probably locals on CB. I'm wondering, does it make sense to get a scanner radio to listen in on stuff to get an idea of what's going on, what kind of calls, radio procedure, etc? How many of you have scanners?

Well, thanks all, quite an interesting thread. I'm not gonna go into all the stuff I've done on motorcycles, in cars'n'trucks, planes. etc. I don't even want to go into details regarding an Olympic sport I did rather well in, that's considered to be somewhat eyesight-dependent. I feel I compensate OK. I don't wear cokebottle glasses, I can't stand glasses and just wear a corrective contact lens in my correctable eye. I figure intubating people is a bit harder than dogs because .... see a dog's got a nice long upper and lower jaw, you can hold the mouth open easy lol. But it's looking for the cords, etc. I dunno that's medic stuff I'm working on EMT first. As for an IV puncture, that's not highly eyesight-dependent, a lot of it is feel and good manual dexterity. I seem to be OK in this area. Thanks for all the input folks, I think I'm just gonna go ahead and see how far I can get and stop worrying about it so much.

And just what are you implying by that? I assume everyone here has 20/20 (normal) or 20/15 (fighter pilot) vision, and I would assume Kiwi will not take kindly to you referring to him/her/it as "blind" so please clarify. As for myself, I have no problem referring to myself as a half-blind ambulance driver, as in the best case, that is exactly what I will be. It will be an accurate description.

1 - I am in the San Francisco Bay Area, State of California, USA. 2 - 20/20 I believe. 3 - Yes. Restrictions are "must wear corrective lens" (which I agree with, my driving suffers without it!) and to have a mirror on both sides 4 - Stereoscopic vision requires two working eyes, and I don't have it. I get through life by using a lot of "cheats" or visual cues, been that way all my life.

My left eye's no good. My right is correctable. My left is not, I can see the big "E" on the eye chart with my left and that's it. Depth perception, what's that? Will this keep me from being able to drive an ambulance? Will this keep me from taking the National Registry, or if I can, will it keep me from being hired? Thanks in advance.