Uhf radio with police scanner.....legal or not

[whispering_navara]

Hi all...just wondering if a uhf radio with a police scanner is legal to have in your vechile?I have been told by a shop salesman that they are but as long as you are not driving when you have them on!!!! sounds abit strange to me....any help would be good...by the way its a uniden uh 015sx
cheers and beers
Andrew

 

[Dave]

Dunno but I asked my mate who is a copper and he said it depends on the person who pulled over and there attitude towards him.

I use mine here and there, usually on channel 40 though as the truckies announce every police car on the road.

Dave.

 

[Krankin]

Have fun trying to receive the police as they are on digital radio now.

 

[maddogrc]

unless you're out in the country, you wont pick anything up.

with my uniden uhf, it had the basic 40 channels and another 40 programmable.

never got anything in the 2nd 40 in the city, but out bush in the small towns the cops still use the uhf radio

 

[Dave]

Still analog in my area but head towards Newcastle and you get nothing as there on digital.

Dave.

 

[Dion]

Have fun trying to receive the police as they are on digital radio now.

Isn't Wangaratta still on analogue? Which means our local area is?

 

[Krankin]

Isn't Wangaratta still on analogue? Which means our local area is?

Since they went digital in Melb,
I've not been able to pick them up on the analogue scanner around here anymore as well, even the CFA I've not been able to listen to.

Only thing left on the analogue scanner now is the Aircraft and Marine.

On top of that dont waste money on a digital scanner as you cant get them on that either as their TX & RX signals are encrypted or scrambled or something.

 

[Aussie Frontier]

I actually have that radio and have been told that as long as I am unable to transmit on those frequencies then it is 100% legal. Only main cities have gone digital so for instance Canberra Cops are digital but all surrounding areas are analogue.It is legal to have a scanner to listen to cops or ambo of fire , you can even tune into the small planes with the right gear and again as long as you cant transmit then your safe as houses.You wont get much these days unless your in country areas as they are encrypted transmissions.
If you have a look here NSW Police Frequencies, it gives the frequencies to tune into. All states have similar sites

 

[Krankin]

I'm in the country and they're digital here

 

[Aussie Frontier]

ok so where they are Digital you can listen to them and where they havent you can .
In actual fact you can hear when they transmit but you only hear noise . I havent been to Vic is ages so wasnt aware they went digital.
There are heaps of sites that will say whats where.

 

[Jason]

I pick up quite a few on anologue in Brisbane.

 

[Aussie Frontier]

I was in Sydney a few weeks ago and the cops on bikes were actually on Channel 40 lol

 

[Dion]

Since they went digital in Melb,
I've not been able to pick them up on the analogue scanner around here anymore as well, even the CFA I've not been able to listen to.

That's interesting. Admittedly I haven't personally tried in years, but I know up till at least the start of the year you could still pick up some of the police channels here, so don't know what's going on there.

You should be able to get Region 12 CFA on 161.0125, 161.2250 and 161.1375, but the pagers are all digital now so you don't hear the initial callout but you should still be able to hear the ops. That's if the signal is strong enough, chances are they could be in the driveway of the house next door and you wouldn't hear their transmissions.

 

[Krankin]

That's interesting. Admittedly I haven't personally tried in years, but I know up till at least the start of the year you could still pick up some of the police channels here, so don't know what's going on there.

You should be able to get Region 12 CFA on 161.0125, 161.2250 and 161.1375, but the pagers are all digital now so you don't hear the initial callout but you should still be able to hear the ops. That's if the signal is strong enough, chances are they could be in the driveway of the house next door and you wouldn't hear their transmissions.

I'll have a listen to those freq's, see what come's up.

 

[Krankin]

Hi all...just wondering if a uhf radio with a police scanner is legal to have in your vechile?I have been told by a shop salesman that they are but as long as you are not driving when you have them on!!!! sounds abit strange to me....any help would be good...by the way its a uniden uh 015sx
cheers and beers
Andrew

Anyways, the radio itself is totally legal,
the scanner component that recieves (or did) police freq's is not a 'police scanner' as such,
but an allround scanner with many 'receive only' freqs in the HF, VHF and UHF ranges,
though the UH015sx unit only has a receive scan range between 430-512Mhz.

Also i'm not aware of any laws, in VIC anyway prohibiting the use of CB radio when driving.

 

[Lil_Menace]

Its not Ilegal to listen to the police or anything..... But its ilegal to act on what you hear on the scanner!

 

[d22dave]

cfa radios

cfa here in vic are ready to roll out new digital radios shortly

 

[Aussie Frontier]

Also i'm not aware of any laws, in VIC anyway prohibiting the use of CB radio when driving.

Im not 100% sure but I remember hearing somewhere that they now treat using the CB the same as using a mobile phone.
Now before you all rip into to me lol I mean as in using the mic up to your mouth where Plod can see you. Listening cant be picked on .

 

[Krankin]

Im not 100% sure but I remember hearing somewhere that they now treat using the CB the same as using a mobile phone.
Now before you all rip into to me lol I mean as in using the mic up to your mouth where Plod can see you. Listening cant be picked on .

If that is the case, its does'nt seem to be stopping the truckies, taxi's and couriers using them, and that would mean you cant use one when out in the scrub.
Silly law if in fact it is one.

 

[Yakka]

Qld frequencies - Queensland Police UHF Frequencies

I have a user programable function in my uhf allowing 40 additional frequencies to be tuned in and scanned. Makes for a bit of interesting listening at smoko!