Posted: 9/16/2002 10:42:50 AM EDT
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Hi there. Last Christmas, my Uncle gave me a scanner for Christmas that I use for air and water shows and listening to aircraft. Anyhow, I recently learned the radio frequencies for my local PD and have been listening from home at night sometimes (I must say, you guys get some strange calls - I never knew how many idiots lived in my town). Anyhow, my question is this: Is it illegal for me to listen? Are there any restrictions to what I can listen to and when? Also, if any of you know what '6303' means in the State of Illinois, I would really appreciate it. I know when they pull someone over for a '6303' he goes 10-95. I am thinking it is suspended license or something, but thought I'd ask. Thanks! |
| Another grey area there. If you are an Amateur radio operator, you are SUPPOSED to be able to have it on in any state. I had a friend in NJ who got a ticket cause he was scanning in his truck with his HT. He would have fought it, but he's from wisconsin and the cost of going back out there would not be worth it. |
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Cool. I am not a LEO, I just enjoy listening from time to time. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't breaking any laws sitting here in my living room listening. I kind of figured that listening in the car meant a trip to the pokey, so I never even thought about that. Do the same rules apply for Fire Department Traffic? I would assume so, but just something I was wondering. Much thanks, all. I do appreciate it. |
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I'm an IL LEO and it is legal for you to listen to your scanner while in your car. There is no such restriction in this state. You can listen to cell phone conversations if you have a (nice pun) "preban" scanner. One that was mfg. before the FCC put restrictions on the freq. range. BUT DO NOT - I repeat - DO NOT record any type of conversation or radio traffic you hear over your scanner - including police / fire / air... IL has the most strict anti-eavesdropping laws in the U.S. - I'd even venture to say that some States Attny would try to grill you if you even LISTENED to a prvt. conversation between unsuspecting persons. Anyway, if you have a new scanner you probably don't even have this capability so enjoy! |
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Quoted: You can listen to cell phone conversations if you have a (nice pun) "preban" scanner. One that was mfg. before the FCC put restrictions on the freq. range. BUT DO NOT - I repeat - DO NOT record any type of conversation or radio traffic you hear over your scanner - including police / fire / air... IL has the most strict anti-eavesdropping laws in the U.S. - I'd even venture to say that some States Attny would try to grill you if you even LISTENED to a prvt. conversation between unsuspecting persons. It is not just pre-ban scanners... we are the only country that restricts scanner capability, so a trip to your local electronics store the next time you are in Canada... well nevermind. |
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Quoted: Cool. I am not a LEO, I just enjoy listening from time to time. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't breaking any laws sitting here in my living room listening. I kind of figured that listening in the car meant a trip to the pokey, so I never even thought about that. In IL it is legal to listen to the scanner in your car. Do the same rules apply for Fire Department Traffic? I would assume so, but just something I was wondering. Since your in IL here is a tip: DO NOT SHARE WHAT YOU HEAR OVER THE SCANNER. IL is pretty strict about sharing what you hear with third parties. As for listening in on cordless phones, kick over the the 880 and higher range. Sometimes you can pick up the images of cordless phones. Av. EDIT: where are you located? I have lot's of freqs for most of IL and WI. |
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Quoted: Cool. I am not a LEO, I just enjoy listening from time to time. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't breaking any laws sitting here in my living room listening. I kind of figured that listening in the car meant a trip to the pokey, so I never even thought about that. Do the same rules apply for Fire Department Traffic? I would assume so, but just something I was wondering. Much thanks, all. I do appreciate it. You worry too much. Even if it were illegal, how the hell would anybody know you were doing it? It's illegal to backdoor your wife, too, in most states, but who's gonna know? QS |
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6-303(a) is the section of the IL vehicle code for Driving while license suspended, good guess on your part. Scanners are perfectly legal, I'm not 100% on all the eavesdropping laws or anything, but as long as you aren't listening while you're in the commission of a crime, I wouldn't worry too much about it unless you're in an area where the locals have absolutely NOTHING to do. Quoted: Hi there. Last Christmas, my Uncle gave me a scanner for Christmas that I use for air and water shows and listening to aircraft. Anyhow, I recently learned the radio frequencies for my local PD and have been listening from home at night sometimes (I must say, you guys get some strange calls - I never knew how many idiots lived in my town). Anyhow, my question is this: Is it illegal for me to listen? Are there any restrictions to what I can listen to and when? Also, if any of you know what '6303' means in the State of Illinois, I would really appreciate it. I know when they pull someone over for a '6303' he goes 10-95. I am thinking it is suspended license or something, but thought I'd ask. Thanks! |
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here's a few resources: http://www.freqscan.com http://www.carmachicago.com (both have links and such... I don't knwo where you are located) also, if you are in the chicagoland area (im sorry if you are...) sign up for the carma yahoogroup.... LOTS of info on there. (CARMA= Chicago Area Radio Monitoring Association) - In God we trust (and glock and AR15 -ed), all others, we monitor. (Annonymous NSA member) |
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Well, the real thanks should go to The12GaugeSniper -- he just forgot to make the links active. Good info both places, but IIRC, freqscan is still under construction, and always looking for more info (ie, if you have something that's not listed, contact them!) FOTBR |
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I listen to my scanner here in San Antonio fairly often. I listen to emergency services and local military traffic. Still working on figuring out the trunking features on my BC235 though. It's hard to keep up with a call when the transmissions skip around the freqs. BTW, cordless phones are at about 900-905mhz. Not that people say anything worth listening to. Chris edited for spelling |
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We have added a code feature to our mobile Police radios in our cars. That way we can talk on a secure channel without everybody out in scanner land hearing our traffic. Usually we don't use the code feature but when we don't want John Q. Public to hear our traffic we ask the other unit that we're talking too, to go to code and it scambles the transmission and make it unintelligable to those with scanners. 7th |