Baofeng Radios for Police Scanning?

In this video, we talk about using Baofeng Radios as a scanner to listen to things like; Police, Fire Departments, and other services. We will compare the Baofeng to features commonly seen on scanners.

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[nathomusprime]

As a guy that just got his first Baofeng, this has been the most informative straight forward video on the subject I have seen. Thank you. I have subscribed.

[Rbbuckler]

Great job explaining the limitations of using a Baofeng Transceiver as a scanner.

[silverclouds]

Dang, I'm not even a radio guy and now I gotta have a scanner!! 😭😭😁

[darkfitmc]

I liked you video but i have a question i just bought Baofeng UV-5R and how do i find police ambulance frequencies and but i don't know ant repeters in my area how do i find them?

[longrider]

All law enforcement and fire department. Now use a trunked digital system, where I live. So no analog radio is useable.

[JimChagares]

Very well done. The speed of the scanning and the lockout feature is enough for me to stick with a scanner. I do like my Baofengs, however.

[normanswarn]

I have watched now 10 videos on this and not one has shown this item scanning the police frequency

[agoraphobicadam]

In my area the police are still simple analog and I only have those small few mixed with my ham simplex and repeater frequencies on the ole Baofeng But for more realistic and fun scanning I definitely use my Uniden scanner. It just has better capabilities and I definitely agree with you. 73 Ape and good info KO4HPC :)

[madliberal]

Your consumer advice is very frank and helpful, The SmokinApe 😀

[kchaney]

Sadly, since I moved to Middle Tennessee all of the agencies have move to P25 and completely eliminated analog. I don't know if they are encrypted but I don't have a P25 radio and I would think twice before buying one for fear that it would not work because of encryption.

[Gitarzan]

I got a M5r for Xmas, thats why II found your channel. I ain't heard a peep out of this thing except for the weather radio. I live in a big city. Not sure if I'm doing it wrong or if this thing is worthless. If nothing else I have a pocket size NOAA.

[michaelanthony]

Great video, but I wish I could find a video about whether scanners in general can be used as a police scanner (like Radtel 470x)

[Fyrfotog]

Just bought my first Baofeng which was the UV-9R Pro. I find the instructions very lacking on how to program it. Is there a video somewhere with the absolute basics on how to program this? Otherwise I sell it.. THX

[KBJJ]

Good Video Ape. I forget the old days when i lived in scanner land they do have their place defiantly.

[jamesslick]

I live in the middle of the City of Pittsburgh where it's all non trunked analog UHF-FM for police, fire and EMS. (as are most of the suburbs). A Baofeng as a scanner IS doable here. (I've done it...) Of course an actual scanner is more flexible, In my area the BC125AT is MORE than enough, (And they are cheap!)

[thesilverballpodcast]

I think it comes down to what it is you want to do. If you want to just scan, and you can ramp up the investment, get a dedicated scanner that can listen to what it is you want to hear. That makes sense. If you are wanting to get your feet wet and see if this is for you, buy a cheap Baofeng UV-5R. I personally find it a n inexpensive radio that scans the 15 or so freqs that are FM that I want to hear. You can transmit if you have a HAM License too - great for disaster scenarios. Scared of accidental keying? CHIRP can mark everything you save so you can't transmit. And it's easy and free. If anyone has ever used a spreadsheet like Excel, you can easily drop your local freqs into the UV-5R. For serious listening, I crack upon my SDR rig. Just my 2 cents.

[Trd]

Our local police have the frequency encryption 😢. Anyways to get around that?

[shernansamuel]

Do you know why I only hear the dispatcher and not all the officers ?

[evhvariac]

EXCELLENT video. Having a Bearcat BC125 scanner, a Baofeng UV5R, and an ICOM IC-V80, I can say your video is 100% accurate.
Even the V-80 is better at scanning since you can do 3 groups of “edge to edge” scanning. And select all of them or only one or two. I frequently have my Bearcat running in the background when using my HT

[Ithaca]

I use an UR-5R for dedicated listening of 2 channels, my towns police and fire, that I scan; plus a few others in the memory that I would have to manually move to. As a result the slow scanning has not been a problem, since I'm not really using it as a scanner. It's also nice to be able to have the FM radio on and the last channel I was listening to break in when there is activity.

I also modded the charging dock by getting rid of the barrel jack and replacing it with a 5v USB port connected to a boost converter so that I can use the charges and cables I already have all over the place at home, work, or in the car.

TL;DR
It's a specialized tool that can compliment a scanner; but not replace one.