Every forum needs an FAQ, right? So let's get started.
Q: How do I make the scanner stay on the district/precinct that I want to listen to?A: Unfortunately, you can't. The feed is shared by many, many people at the same time. While it is technically feasible to allow users to control the scanner, it isn’t practical because nobody would agree on what it should be on at a given time. The other option would be to have a separate scanner/server for each district. Each scanner/server is about an $850 investment. Let’s take one jurisdiction like Baltimore City. There are nine districts plus citywide. Ouch! I would need some significant donations to make that happen.
The real solution is to purchase your own scanner. Obviously, that would give you complete control over what you wanted to follow. If you are interested, you can check out
http://www.scannertainment.com. I can make a suggestion as to an appropriate scanner for you if you tell me what jurisdiction(s) you would want to listen to.
Q: Why does the Baltimore City Scanner sometimes stay on one channel when no one is talking?A: When officers are in a dangerous situation, the dispatcher can put the channel into an emergency state. In other jurisdictions this is usually called a "10-3". During this time, no one is to use the radio unless it is an emergency. You may hear and audible tone every 5 seconds or so during a "10-3" which is to remind everyone not to use the radio. The scanner will not normally pause on a channel during a 10-3 because it is programmed to start scanning again after 2 seconds of silence.
In Baltimore City, they do not use the code "10-3". Instead the dispatcher will announce that they are "holding the air". And while there is no audible tone, a constant inaudible signal is transmitted that notifies each radio that the channel is in an emergency state. The scanner only knows that something is being broadcast so it stays on the channel. So in Baltimore City the scanner will hold the channels so long as the dispatcher is "holding the air". Once the dispatcher "releases the air" the scanner will begin scanner other channels again.
Q: When will xyz County be online?A: I do have a loose plan for the order in which jurisdictions will be added, but it is certainly subject to change depending upon demand. The reality of the situation is it is a very expensive endeavor to add a jurisdiction. Because of that, I don't know when a jurisdiction will be added because it depends upon donations. And I don't know which jurisdiction will be next because it depends on what the people who are donating want. And honestly the people that don't donate don't get much say in the matter.
Q: Using a Windows PC, all I get on the feed is "Ready" with no audio or video OR I get an error message when I try to open any of the feeds that says that Windows Media Player can't play the file and I need a codec. What do I do?A: The feeds are all Windows Media Audio/Windows Media Video. Those are default formats for Windows Media Player, you don't need any extra codecs to read them. So if you are getting these errors, something has gone wrong in your Windows Media Player files in that it can't play files that it has codecs for. While I have no idea why this happens, it is not uncommon. In fact, it happens frequently enough that Microsoft has published instructions on how to fix it.
The instructions will have you rename the folder that contains the Media Player profiles such that Windows Media Player cannot find the folder. This will cause Windows Media Player to rebuild the folder and its default profiles. This fixes the problem more often than not.
Note that the instructions tell you that the folder will be called "10.0". Actually, the folder will be named whatever version of Windows Media Player you have so it might be called "11.0" or "12.0" or something else. The idea is just to add ".bac" to the name so that WMP can't find it. Such as "11.0.bak".
Here are the instructions from Microsoft Support:
To rename the Player networking information folder
1. Close Windows Media Player. (To do this, on the File menu, click Exit.)
2. Click Start, and then click Run.
3. In the Run dialog box, type the following (exactly as shown): %UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows Media
This step opens the following folder on your computer: SystemDrive:\Documents and Settings\UserProfileName\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows Media
4. In this folder, rename the folder 10.0 to 10.0.bak. For more information about renaming folders, see To change the name of a file or folder.
5. Start the Player and try to stream the content again.
Q: I'm curious as to the legal position in the U.S.A. regarding the transmission of these feeds? What are the rules?A: All radio communications in the US are governed by regulations enforced by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). FCC regulations hold that anyone can listen in on any radio broadcast with certain limitations. Those limitations include that one cannot listen in on a transmission where the person transmitting has a reasonable expectation that the transmission is private. For this reason, one cannot legally listen into cell phone conversations. For the same reason, one cannot listen in on an encrypted transmission. In fact it is not only illegal to eavesdrop on an encrypted conversation, it is illegal to manufacture or posses a radio capable of cracking encryption or even being capable of being modified to do so. So even beyond the technical hurdles a manufacturer would have to overcome to decrypt signals, the fact that to do so would be very illegal ensures the the scanner manufacturers aren't even going to try.
Now insofar as public service radio transmissions are concerned like police, fire and other public safety, the FCC has ruled consistently that there is no expectation of privacy in those transmissions unless they are encrypted. The FCC recognizes that the police, fire and other public safety officials know or should know that their transmissions can be received by anyone with a scanner, therefore the general public is completely allowed to listen in by law. It is up to the agency to determine if they have a need for secure communications and take whatever steps they need to in order to ensure privacy where it is needed. They can and do accomplish this through the use of encrypted channels, the use of cell phones, and the use of vehicle mounted computers.
Some states do put some restrictions on the use of scanners though. A few state laws make the use of a scanner in the commission of a crime a separate crime. And a very few states do not allow the use of a "mobile" scanner (Generally this means in a vehicle, but in Indiana it means you can't even walk around carrying one!). But no state law prevents anyone from listening to police frequencies otherwise. It is unlikely that any state would pass such a law as it would fly in the face of federal law that is designed to ensure every citizens ability to listen to any radio broadcast that they choose to listen to.
Of course the use of the Internet to retransmit these broadcasts is a relatively new phenomenon and so far there are no laws specifically addressing it. However the FCC has consistently expressed the opinion that doing so is perfectly legal, again invoking the reasoning that the broadcasting parties have no reasonable expectation to privacy and can encrypt any signal they don't want re-broadcast. This is a direct quote from the FCC given as an official response to an inquiry about the legality of rebroadcasting police communications on the public Internet:
"FCC rules do not prohibit redistributing over the Internet those communications licensed under FCC rules Part 90, such as the communications of local government, law enforcement, civil defense, private land mobile, or public safety communications, including police, EMS, fire and the like. Licensees under FCC rules Part 90 concerned about the intercept and divulgence of their communications may encrypt or scramble these communications, except for station identification."
