Crestwood1001

So im looking to get a police scanner mounted in my car. Iv got 2 in the house because alot of my family are officers and I like to be able to listen to whats going on. Before someone comes on here and say SCANNERS ARE ILLEGAL! They are not, you can use a scanner anywhere, in any state. The law says scanners cannot be used to further a crime, basically you cant listen to the cops while you run.
Now that thats outta the way, here are my ideas.... I want to get a small scanner that is able to be mounted in the car, im leaning towards having it put in the glove box. I would get a good window mount antenna and lay it across the rear window. And I would have an external speaker placed under the passenger foot well. So you wont be able to see it but you can hear it, and drop the glove box open to make changes to setting.
Now from what I saw no one on here has done thing, but im looking for advice or ideas as to how to do this set up. Thanks guys!

Crestwood1001

Oh and side note, im currently in school for criminal justice and police science and in a few short years I will be an officer myself.

acura_dipset_tl

iTrader: (40)

C'on Nate just stick to listening to XM Radio
No but in all seriousness how big is it? would it fit in the center console?

Crestwood1001

Lol I never understood until I got scanners, its addicting and im looking for one, idk what size it will be yet. Are you getting at fitting it in the bigger of the two pop up cubby holes in front of the shifter?

Red Voodoo

Just to clarify for those who might misunderstand this statement, please visit http://www.afn.org/~afn09444/scanlaws/scanner5.html for a pretty current list of mobile scanner laws. It is illegal to possess a scanner in a vehicle in some states. PA looks to be clear of any legislation suggesting this, so the OP is correct in that regards to his own state of residence.

I used to run an old Radio Shack mobile scanner in my car back in the early 90s. Some knucklehead made off with it when my car was broken into only after a couple years of ownership. Now, with the evolution of the handheld scanner into what it is now, I would recommend this equipment since it is easily moveable and can be stored quickly in the glove box or trunk when not in use.

Good luck!

acura_dipset_tl

iTrader: (40)

yes, thats what im talking about

on a side not you going to the VA meet this sunday?

Rick_TL-S

Just a small idea & maybe slightly OT, but if you have an iPhone, there is a $3 app that will pick up some police frequencies depending upon how they are streamed.

Not saying it will be as useful as a full fledged police scanner, but several friends have the app & it works amazingly well here.
http://www.juicydevelopment.com/policescanner.html

Tehvine

Scanner Radio is free on droids, silly iPhones.

TLperfection

It's called jail breaking an iPhone lol

shadowkahn

There's a guy in my club who mounted a BCT-9 in his glovebox. He doesn't have the external speaker (small car, loud scanner, not necessary), but he did do something cool you might want to look at copying.

He got one of those shift knobs with a momentary-switch button on top, and hooked it up to the power wire on his scanner. He can turn it on and off just by hitting the button on top of the shift knob. The wire is hidden under the shift boot and then goes through the center console to the glove box. Of course, this'll be harder to pull off if you have an auto tranny.

The only issue I have is with your antenna placement. You aren't going to get very good reception with it in the car and horizontal. A better solution would be an externally-mounted one, but I can understand if you don't want to stick an antenna on the outside. Try to find a way to mount it vertically. I might even think about drilling a hole in the rear deck, and running the antenna through it (I'd put a rubber grommet there to make everything nice and neat.) If you get one of the Firestik black-coated fiberglass ones, you'll barely notice it's there.

If you haven't already gotten the scanner, I recommend a BCD996XT. They'll track almost anything.

BTW Red Voodoo is right - some states have laws banning the mobile operation of scanners unless you're law enforcement or working for a "legitimate journalistic operation" (i.e TV news). But if you got dinged for that, I think you'd stand a good chance of being successful challenging it on constitutional grounds.

AMUA6

iTrader: (7)

+1

hondadna4

I shall show you my antenna and how I mounted mine up. I work for a private security company. It makes the TL look sexy!!! in my eyes

LoveMyTL-S

If small enough, you may want to consider installing it in the center console, there's power in there.

Red Voodoo

The phone apps that allow you to stream scanner broadcasts are convenient, but they are not flexible if you want to monitor a particular channel in the line-up. I have been an scanner enthusiast for years, having owned several radios. I also broadcast a feed for my area over the internet. I like the versatility of a handheld scanner, and if I want to hear it over the speakers in the car, I plug my cassette adapter into the audio jack. I cannot recommend a stealthy external antenna, but I really don't seem to need it. I utilize a Uniden BC-246T. Otherwise, my scanner feed online does make a good alternative.

Crestwood1001

I knew there would be people on here who could help! Sorry for the delay I just woke up but anyway. When I said that about an antenna I mean one of the ones that mounts on the OUTSIDE of the rear window, but instead of sticking up I would allow it to lay flat, and redvoodoo the reason I want an external antenna is cause I live in a mountainous area and im sure you know that kills range.

Hondadna- Where are these pics id like to see your idea.

Crestwood1001

Heres a request for you guys. Idk a whole lot about scanners, and I just looked up both scanners you guys mention, one is over 500$ and one is a portable scanner. Im looking for something that is not hand held (so it can be mounted stealth in the car) but im not looking to drop 500+ on a scanner. Can you show me something that is a good scanner that can be car mounted and is rather small? I dont need one that scans everything known to man lol and Trunking is not necessary at all around here its all still analog.

Red Voodoo

You might take interest in the Uniden BC350C mobile scanner. Runs about $100. It does not have trunking capabilities, but like you mentioned, you don't really need it. Here's a link.

http://www.uniden.com/products/produ...product=BC350C

Crestwood1001

Thats what im talking about! I like it. Does that have a build in speaker? If so ill mount it somewhere where it will be easy to here.

Red Voodoo

Built-in speaker included.

Crestwood1001

Does anyone have any pics for ideas of where to mount it so the speaker is exposed? I googled it but im having trouble finding any pics of scanners in cars.

hondadna4

Hey I have spent way to much money on my scanner setup. I will tell you tho first hand those antennas that run on the window are straight JUNK!!! You are going to waste your time and money on something thats going to sound the same if it was in the car. Your best soulution will be to have a antenna that sticks outside of the car. I have a Larsen Tri- Band to pick up all type of stuff. I have picked up towns 25 miles away sitting in my car at work. Ill post pics later of my setup

Crestwood1001

Def put those pics up I wanna see them bad! The thing with the antenna is I dont want it obvious, and I dont really need 25 miles range lol

Crestwood1001

Alright guys, I just got a uniden bearcat BC350C off of ebay, now I need to figure out where to mount it...

Souljah

There's a soon-to-be-cop amongst us....
Post pics when you do figure it out!

Crestwood1001

Lol I am a soon to be cop ill be heading to Harrisburg within 2 years after my criminal justice schooling is done to get into police science.

Crestwood1001

Honda where are these pics your telling me about?! Come on guys I need ideas of where to mount this thing.

AMUA6

iTrader: (7)

I like the console idea It already has power, and will be discrete.

Crestwood1001

I think its to big to fit in the spot in the console. Im thinking ill use the mounting bracket and mount it to the panel on the passenger side of the thing that sperates the drive and passenger. If you know what I mean? Like to the left of the shifter, up a little and flat against the panel.

lightjak_tsx

Crestwood1001

Alright guys, update time! I got a bearcat BC350C online for less then 100$ shipped. It came in today and I mounted it today. Ill put up pics ASAP but the weather is shitty so its gonna be hard for good pics but its installed and working great! Right now im using the stock antenna but its working well so there is no rush for a new antenna. Its already hardwired into the wiring for my footwell lighting so its on switched power, and its fused just to be safe. Pics to some soon!

Crestwood1001

Alright ladys and gents, heres the best pics I could get for right now, they were taking in my garage from the drivers seat. As you can see I picked a spot thats not exactly stealth but ill be honest, it looks pretty sweet lol. There is only one wire going into it and its power which comes out of the center console. I hid the wiring pretty well, Ill just have to hid the antenna wire when I get a new antenna. Enjoy the pics (sorry for the quality)

shadowkahn

Nice work. That's where I usually mount the second scanner in my news vehicles. The first gets mounted on the dash above the center console, but then I don't care what the interior of my news truck looks like

Your mounting location is good for accessibility of the controls, and you should be able to hear the speaker OK as well.

AMUA6

iTrader: (7)

Looks good! But what about passengers?

GeezerB

iTrader: (1)

Funny, I just sold one on EBay for about the same price. You may have my old one
I bought a 396T handheld with an antenna upgrade. I attached the device horizontally to the visor with the included belt clip. It faces down towards me & swivels. The speaker is aimed at me but doesn't block any vision. My batteries last one week on a charge & DC adapter is in glove box for emergency power. That's my solution & it works fine.

Crestwood1001

I just had my dad in the car with me and it causes no problems for passengers at all! Love it

AMUA6

iTrader: (7)

Scanners are ILLEGAL
Picking up any good stuff? What city do you live in, I'll see if I can pick your city up on mi Droid

Red Voodoo

Install looks good. Nice to see somebody else following the hobby.

raf1919

just wondering what the benefit of having a scanner is? does it help avoid getting caught speedin? interested to learn more.

Crestwood1001

Well I mean it could help me not get speeding ticket, you can hear where they are making traffic stops. But thats not the main reason for it, its just cool to be able to hear whats going on. Its a hobbie.

Crestwood1001

Haha man I HAD a droid all the things droid DOES, it DOES NOT swim lol I threw my girlfriend in my pool and she pulled me in and it sank, so droid cant swim . But I live in luzern county PA. It picks up my local police, fire, ems, even some CB when I was on the highway which was cool! It was funny to hear my report over the scanner when I called 911 twenty mins ago, there is a guy in a pickup driving around my development blacked out which is suspicious as HELL. I called and reported it and it came over the scanner and my neighbor up the road was the responding officer.