Radio scanning dying?

[Gemini4]

There seem's to be less and less frequecies working on VHF/FM every month..my scanner can go for ages and bypass frequecies
it used to pick up only a few years ago..is it all going digital and will we be able to listen in anymore?.

[thelad]

If it was all digital you would still pick it up. Plenty to hear in big citys on all modes but most are changing to Digital and network coms.

[bigbloke]

9 radios scanning here presently.


I agree FM is slowly dying , But as from here I can see 385 digital systems incorporating 3295 individual radios
its more about migration than absolute death

regards

BB

[Gemini4]

Miles from a city..more towny here I'm afraid and that's probably why I'm not hearing much.

[Tawney]

I hope it's not dying just as I started to get into it lol. I'm still getting plenty of action to keep my interest going though. That's all that matters to me.

[paulears]

It's a hobby that is dying on it's feet at a tremendous pace. Before long it will be aircraft and marine band only. They're pretty well the only services designed to make reception simple and reliable, with no need for privacy. Everyone now likes the notion of privacy. I hire small radio systems and if I ask a client wanting to upgrade or buy more radios for an old system about digital they ask the same questions. One is always is it private? In the past you'd explain that people could, if they wanted, listen in and they sort of shrugged, but now they say "digital is private, isn't it?" Most time now I turn on encryption because it's available simply. Give it five years and many of the old systems will be replaced, so losing business radio from scanning is a dead cert. If aircraft and boats are your thing, it's fine. Ham activity and CB is getting thinner day on day, and PMR446 is going digital quite quickly, and of course is such short range as to be a bit 'niche'.

It was a great hobby - but on the way to something quite different.

[thelad]

So its people like you killing the hobby :-))

[Clipper]

CB is getting thinner day on day

I was tuning through the UK band the other day and it struck me it sounded quite busy..

20 years ago everyone was dumping LP's and 45's and it looked like no way back. Even Tesco are selling vinyl again now so you never know.

[paulears]

So its people like you killing the hobby :-))

Yep - sadly it is, and I'm not actually certain if I should be keeping the codes under the new GDPR system - is it personal data? Hopefully I can argue not.

The price of new digital kit is now hardly different, so there's no reason to use analogue, and to be honest, digital is also modern, high quality and secure, so wins over the tons of cheap analogue kit people can buy and just use. Digital needs programming which is beyond many people, so I'm needed. People can buy something analogue on Ebay and just use it.

[thelad]

GDPR has nothing todo with radio data like that, if you are a company you should know that.

[Gemini4]

I get mostly airports and aircraft, but everything else is going blank..use to pick up alton towers hospitals etc but nothing now.
I did notice in defence of the guy that deals with digital, I heard a taxi booking conversation over the air..like a telephone radio mike sort of thing, and he asked him for his debit card details for a booking and lo and behold he gave it to him there and then..incredible!
The reason I started this thread was,my antenna is nearly on top of the house on a hill..so I can't get much higher really and as for ham on 2m it's completely dead.But thanks for the response, it does seem like I said it is dying out no doubt.

[paulears]

GDPR has nothing todo with radio data like that, if you are a company you should know that.

Indeed - but if you collect data on your customers, then their privacy IS covered by the regulations. It's less so for limited companies which are considered an entity in themselves, but OFCOM issue licences personally to sole-traders and partnerships - hence why you often see names rather than XYZ Taxis in their data. If you then collate this, identify the individuals and then detail their 'private' information, that's probably a good use of the GDPR!

I didn't mean that the actual radio data was subject to the GDPR, that would be silly!

[digsatman]

Maybe it's time to start thinking of selling some of my older equipment?

[scan125]

GDPR is a nightmare AND not generally understood.

If we cut back to the basics then GDPR is all about peronal and personal identifiable information and then what you do, how you process, store or otherwise deal with that data.

So to give a couple of examples of issues for businesses then consider the following short list of personal identifiable information

o-Computer IP address (just look at the trouble ICANN - WHOIS are currently in regarding legal battle with the EU over GDPR)
o-Photographer's pictures which include peoples faces (yes i guest not as my wife is a professional photographer)

Interstingly an Amateur radio operator call sign is by definition falls under the GDPR regulations (unless a global club call sign) and call signs for companies do not as they do not identify an individual. However an Amateur call sign is public domain information. Even so one is obliged protect that identity.

I'm an individual and by definition am not covered by GDPR but I have chosen, in addition to my original website privacy policy, decided to comply with GDPR. This means I have lost contact info for my software users unless they contact me directly. My website gathers nothing and were it to be hacked there is nothing there.

Overkill? Possibly.

But I was recently thinking about this whole scanning / broadcasting over the airways / etc.

So you light up on your radio kit and my scanner is scanning looking for a signal. I latch on and listen. You can argue that this is a public broadcast.

So I set my multibeam laser scanner up and from a reception vantage point scan all the surrounding houses. From the window pane reflections (existing spying technolgy) I hear your personal conversations, love making, arguments etc. How do you feel? You don't even know I've done it.

I'll let you all ponder on this.

[TeamFabulous]

Yes a dying hobby unless you enjoy listening to control towers, taxi stations or bouncers on a Saturday night!!
Oh..ps. Anybody want to buy a scanner.!?