Newbie needs basic help please

[Panteneman]

1/ Do all scanners 'hear' both sides of a conversation ? I know that some places will TX on one frequency & RX on another. If not all, what do I need to look for on a scanner ?

This depends on wether they work Duplex (transmit on one frequency and receive on another) or Trunked radio systems. A scanner with two VFO's (tuners) would cover Duplex transmissions providing you knew the "pairing".

2/ I am in the far west of Cornwall, so should be able to pick up a lot of shipping at least. What other stuff am I likely to get around this area ?

Yes, the Marine Band VHF would be very active on coastlines. There is a plethora of stuff out there to tune into, such as planes, some emergency services, shopwatch etc. Check the frequency lists on this site for ideas. Or, get hold of a frequency list book, or CD-ROM of frequencies from eBay for example. Most Police forces have moved to digital transmission methods which are unresolvable with a scanner.

3/ Apart from physical size, what's the difference between mini & normal sets ?

I gather you mean handheld or base scanners? well, handheld scanners can be pretty good but suffer from "kitchen sink syndrome" eg. there's that much frequency coverage that can suffer from intermodulaion and "birdies" caused by insufficient filtering within the set.

All but the very best scanners have this, obviously the more you fork out for one the better it will peform. For example, a purpose built shortwave receiver would be better between 150khz-30mhz compared to a Yupiteru MVT7100 which covers 150khz-1.3ghz. Use a dedicated Shortwave receiver for below 30mhz, and for 30+mhz use a scanner.

4/ How do I know what system to go for (uhf, vhf, 2m etc) ?

It all depends on what you want to tune into.

5/ Is it worth firing up my CB in this area ?

CB has declined over the years dramatically due to the advent of mobile phones, internet chat rooms and more reliable forms of communication. But, there seems to be a bit of a resurgence back into the hobby, and the truckers never quit using it. I imagine that in busy towns there will be lots of activity on the CB channels, but it's not a patch on how it was in the 1980s. Get a CB and install it in the car with a decent magmount aerial and see what shows up while driving around for example. And, check out this site and pick a few peoples brains

Please feel free to throw in any other advice that might help,,, along with recommendations for a reasonable kit.

For a scanner, I recommend a Uniden UBC72XLT (check reviews of it online), and the Yupiteru MVT7100 or MVT9000. And check out the link above underlined for CB gear and other peoples findings.