nsgrossman

I've always wanted to have a CB radio in my car, just one of those things I've always found interesting, to be able to talk to people in surrounding vehicles, even though you don't know them. The other day I realized that having a police scanner in the car might also be a good idea, as it'd be a good way to know about traffic problems.

My question then is, is there a software solution to this, with a few obvious hardware add ons. Or will I need to purchase the two bulky radio receivers?

I wouldn't mind having the pieces of hardware, however there really isn't any room in the front of my car between the 8" lcd, the eq, and the slot load dvd/cd player (plus all the factory switches).

Any input is, as always, greatly appreciated!

Thanks!
-Nate

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inh

Butel makes software for popular uniden scanners. The DIgital FX skin has a skin file made to embed those programs in it.

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dementeddigital

A word of caution - some states have laws restricting the use of scanners in your vehicle. One thing that you can do is get your amateur radio license (ham radio). All states have exemptions for ham radio, as this is a federal radio license. It's also possible that your state does not restrict it, but it's worth checking out. It would suck to get pulled over for a broken tail light and then get nailed on some stupid scanner law violation.

With that said, Uniden has some free downloads to control their scanners. They make an exceptionally cool scanner that can enable/disable channels based on a GPS input.

I'm not sure if there is any software to control CB radios. Most CBs are pretty primitive electrically, but if you're creative with a soldering iron...

mlwilki

this is the newest best for using a pc as the controler. there are cheeper models pcr-100 on ebay for $150.


http://nsiradio1.stores.yahoo.net/icpc10pcre.html

nsgrossman

so let me see if I've got this understood correctly....

Toss a police scanner in my trunk, get a usb cable for it to allow me to control it from the computer? Then figure something else out with the cb (I wouldn't mind fitting it in the front I suppose, just for the added cool factor

Two questions for you DD:
1. Any idea where I can figure out if my state allows scanners in cars (PA)
2. How would an officer know if I had one? Is there an antenna I'd have to mount exteriorly or something?

Thanks all for the input!!!

-Nate

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inh

Well, I'm not DD, but I can help some

To get good reception, you'll need an external antenna mounted on the roof or trunk. That is pretty much a dead giveaway. As fro the USB cable, you are correct. I'm going to get a 996T scanner (expensive but awesome) and do that. Uniden makes computer control software for their scanners, but it is nothing compared to the Butel stuff. Especially since the Butel can pull frequencies off the internet and load em to your scanner. It makes filling it very very easy. The software is a bit expensive though, but download it and give it a try. You can get copies of both Unidens and Butels on thier websites to play with.

CB control is a bit harder. It's been done, but you would have to make hardware and software. You could just do what I'm doing. Get a small Uniden CB (the 520XL to be exact) and mount it in the center console =] Or glovebox, or next to your seat, etc etc. Its a pretty compact unit.

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nsgrossman

yea inh, I think if I can't purchase something relatively cheap to do the CB's job on a pc then I'll just keep it "in the cockpit" if you will...like I said earlier, added cool factor

As for that pesky antenna though.... idk about you but I think I'll spend some time thinking of ways to hide it. Would it help to maybe mount it where the trunk meets the car and have it follow the paneling (under it I mean)? or would the steel panel make for terrible reception? Is there any other type of antenna like the one in the mp3 store that works for multiple antennas that mite also work for a scanner? What about one that only works for scanners but looks different enough as to not draw suspension. I figure even if this is legal in my state (PA), if I wanted to go out of state I'd have to take it off (and isn't it those long trips where you really need to know about oncoming traffic problems?!)

Thanks again for the input everyone!

inh feel free to contact me privately to discuss this more, all my info is listed in my profile.

-Nate

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GizmoQ

Something like this?
http://www.dtbradio.com/catalog/prod...products_id=62

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h3rk

That's more for controlling (tuning) a CB, iirc. But as for police scanner software...

Uniden has software that interfaces with some of their scanners (I like the BCT-15) they connect via USB. I have one I haven't unpacked yet, but I hope to use such software sometime in the next year. I doubt Uniden's software is going to be skinable or RR friendly, but maybe.

inh

H3rk PLEASE check out butels software. Not only is it better than unidens (which is a PITA to use) but it is skinable. JohnWPB already made the skin ages ago, and it just takes a few tweaks to be used with your software.

http://www.butel.nl/

That is their website, check out their offerings: http://www.butel.nl/products.html

I forget what exactly happens when the demo expires, but you have like a month to play with it. Check it out, you will not be disappointed. Then download JohnWPBs awesome skin DigitalFX 3.0 and install it. In the skind directory, open up exectbl.ini and look for the following:


Change the file paths and program names to match your software from Butel. Not sure what that weather downloader deal is, I'll ask John about it later today or tomorrow.

Then youjust need to load scanner.skin. I thin if you pick a button on the menu of the digitalfx skin, and press and hold the icon or button, a screen will pop up and let you select the scanner thing. Then you can control it from within roadrunner =]

Also, with the Butel software, it makes it SUPER easy to load the frequencies in to the scanner. It connects to http://www.radioreference.com/ and gets them. I HIGHLY recommend paying whatever nominal fee ($15 or $30) they want for a premium membership, so you can do this. I have spent hours digging through finding new frequencies =]

So, yea, you CAN skin it, and it even makes it easier to fill by using Butel + radio reference. Hope that helps

Edit: As for the scanner antenna, you're pretty much screwed if you want decent reception. Yea, you could hook it up to your car antenna, or use the supplied rubber duck antenna wherever teh scanner ends up being mounted, but the best reception will be with mounting it on the trunk. I ordered magnetic mounts for both scanner and CB antennas so I dont have to see them all the time.

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h3rk

Now I'm all excited. Sounds like we have a winner! Thanks for taking the time to spell that out. I am definately going to look into that.

inh

OK, got a chance to talk with John, and we both came to the conclusion that it is some kind of funky editing errors =p Here are the correct lines, if you were to use the software for Unidens BCD996T scanner:

Also, scroll down, and change the line to this:


To use this with another scanner, you just need to change the path, filenames, and window titles to match your specific program (I will highlight the areas below.) I plan on buying the BCD996T scanner, so that is the software I use.

Here is what you need to change, specifically:

/Load ARC996PRO Scanner skin and embed application
"Scanner","Load;Scanner.skin;Radio Scanner;C:\Program Files\BuTel\ARC996PRO\ARC996P.exe;!ThunderRT6MDIForm"
"ScannerControl","SENDKEY;"{F12}||Load;Scanner2.sk in;Scanner Control;;ARC996PRO - Virtual Control PRO"

"MyApp30","Load;Scanner.skin;Radio Scanner;C:\Program Files\BuTel\ARC996PRO\ARC996P.exe;!ThunderRT6MDIForm"

Blue stuff is the path and program name, and the red is the window titles or, in the case of "!ThunderRT6MDIForm" is the window class. You can change all the stuff to make it match if you want. Green is what is spoken if you have speech enabled. To figure out what the window class name is for your specific software, check out http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/rr-f...cation-rr.html and follow the directions accordingly. I ran in to some isues with the virtual control not embedding right with the class name, so I left that embedding with window title, which should be fine. It's the main program that causes issues using titles to embed, because it puts the profile name in it too.

By the way, I ended up buying a license for the program. Turned out I didnt NEED to in order to get it to embed, but I was eliminating things that could be causing it.. Thanks guys =p

Edit: Updating this post, everything is working 100% now, I think. Might be some issues with the buttons in the skin... I dont have a scanner to test though, so not sure. I emailed John about it to get some clarification and to get this thing squared away.

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dementeddigital

I looked around on some of the scanner sites, and I couldn't find anything on PA. Unfortunately, that means you will probably need to do a little research. You can post the question here: http://www.radioreference.com/forums/
or you could check the links at the bottom of this page:
http://www.monitoringtimes.com/html/mtlaws_oct04.html

Normally the laws aren't too hard to find, but you stumped me on this one! You may want to get your ham radio license anyway, as this can lead to other great carputer applications - like vehicle location and tracking. I'm 99.9% sure that it will also allow you to install a scanner in your vehicle anywhere in the US. It doesn't mean that you won't get hassled, but at least you'll be legal. (You'll want to verify this, of course. I'm FAR from being an expert.)

You don't need to mount an exterior antenna, but it helps reception greatly. You could put a small one on the rear deck of the car, RS makes a glass-mount antenna, and there are also devices that can allow you to "share" your car stereo antenna with your scanner. In my area, the communications are digital and on 800MHz. This means 1. the scanners required are expensive and 2. the antenna required is relativley small. I plan on using a small antenna near the rear window. It seems to work OK, but I don't have a lot of metal in that area to block any signals. You can check out radioreference to see what frequencies are in use in your area and if they are analog or digital.

The only way that a LEO would know that you had one installed would be if it was on loud enough to hear, they spotted the antenna and knew what it was for, they see it in your car, or you are unlucky enough to have your car searched.

By the way, the Uniden Bearcat 996T mentioned in this thread is an excellent scanner.

I hope that helps!

dementeddigital

Great find!

GizmoQ

Np

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