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How Scanners Deliver the News as it Happens along with Entertainment and Peace of Mind


This is a long way of asking, "Why are scanners so great?" Or, "Why are scanners such a useful and enjoyable product for everyone? There are many reasons why and below we've just begun to cover them.

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Let's take the first part, "How do scanners deliver the news as it happens" We all want to know what's going on around our city, our nation and the world, but it's the local news that's most important to us. It's what's happening in our community, in our neighborhood, that we most want to follow.

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We can watch TV, read a newspaper or look online for our news. But in all cases it takes time for a reporter/photographer to go to the scene of a fire or a bank robbery and report. With cutbacks in news organizations of late, most public safety incidents won't be reported on at all, or the report will be delayed. And, if you're just curious why that police car raced down your street, you're likely never to know by just relying on news services.

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With a scanner you solve all these problems. With a scanner you hear the dispatch* and then can generally follow the police and fire communications as they report from the scene.

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So with a scanner you learn of the news "as it happens" rather than relying on some news service to, perhaps, go to the scene and file a report. The media relies on scanners, too, so by using a scanner you'll know right when your local TV and radio station knows when something important is happening.

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With a scanner you'll also be entertained. Let's face it, listening to police chases live is unbelievably exciting. Hearing firefighters call for more water pressure as they're inside a building fighting a fire is thrilling. Hearing planes and trains be dispatched and routed is just plain fun. And in all cases you're admiration for the jobs these public servants and private professionals are performing only grows while your knowledge and understanding of their work increases.

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You can have a scanner on in the background while you watch TV. Some people even go to bed listening to a scanner at night and, over time, instinctively know and wake up when something exciting or important is happening - you can tell by the tension in the voice of the dispatchers and officers in the street who are communicating.

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Particularly for kids, when you're listening to a scanner you're practically riding along in that patrol car or you're in that fire truck racing to a scene of a fire. It's really mesmerizing, entertaining, informative and educational all at the same time.

And, particularly for adults, perhaps those who are concerned about crime in their neighborhood or dry brush around their homes during the fire season, a scanner will keep you abreast of what conditions are in your area. Are police responding to suspicious persons on nearby streets? Do you hear the fire department being called out to hose down homes in the development a few blocks away? This is invaluable information that you can find nowhere else or not nearly as quickly. A scanner radio does it all.

So we hope you'll consider buying yourself or a loved one a scanner today. For information, for entertainment, for peace-of-mind, and more. There's nothing like a scanner.

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(*In minor police incidents some department dispatches are sent via computer to in-car "mobile data terminals." However if the incident is at all significant all departments will use radio communications to disseminate information the quickest way its entire force.)

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Richard Barnett, Scanner Master Corp

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