SCANNING: Follow all the action without brain overload

Make your monitoring hobby multidimensional with these great techniques

Summary of this article: NatCom author Roger Dumont Jr. steps away from his citizens band radio shack to give us a view of the intense scanner monitoring post he has put together in his office over many years. Learn how he ties in roof-mounted antennas, uses audio mixers, how conduit routes cables where they need to be and how he dedicates each scanner for particular use.

I recently pondered the whys and the whats of my scanning system that has evolved considerably over many years.

The whys

I listen to scanners and other devices to take me beyond my safe bubble and be exposed to what is really happening in my town, surrounding communities, states and the world. I am interested in how dispatchers and first responders handle both routine and difficult situations. I seek real-time situational awareness to assess the risk of traveling in adverse conditions like rain, fog, ice and snow. I am fascinated with RF propagation and DX listening under the influence of various transmitters, antennas, terrain and atmospherics.

This is the author’s monitoring post. Read below and find out how he created a multidimensional station based on these receivers and how he ties it all together. | Photo by Roger Dumont Jr.