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Question by Stephen: Can I use the two meter ham radio I have to listen to police and fire frequencies?
I have a ham radio (Icom IC-V8) and was wondering if I could use it to listen in on police/fire frequencies. I’ve looked and it’ll give me something like 155.285 PL 83.4. I go to that frequency and don’t get anything. Does it have to do with that second number?
Best answer:
Answer by Jeffery H K
Is the data current? In the past several years many departments have changed to 800mhz.
The second number refers to sub-audible tones that turn the speaker on. Associated groups use the same number on their radios so other groups that don’t have the number won’t interrupt them.
Some ham radios also use tones, so you have to find your manual to see if it applies to you. Otherwise you have to make sure all the tones are off so it would receive all transmissions on that channel
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
I googled the brand and model.
The IC-V8 is specifically an amateur radio device, and does
not cover frequencies for the services you mentioned.
You could have some fun listening to the 2-meter
communications it will receive, though.
[You can legally listen all you want, but don’t press the
transmit button unless you have an appropriate license!]
An ordinary scanner would be the best type of receiver
for police, fire, and other emergency services.
You might hear the odd fire or paramedic service at 148MHz upwards but broadly speaking the police and the rest of the emergency services have all gone digital and are now on the TETRA network or other trunk networks which have bands at various points from 300MHz to 800MHz. Not only are they digital they’re encrypted too.