parnass@ihu1h.UUCP (Bob Parnass, AJ9S) (04/22/85)
x
Scanner Manufacturers Pressured
to Limit Frequency Coverage
The 406 - 420 MHz band has long been used by federal
government agencies for communication of sensitive
information. Until recently, this range was not
receivable on programmable scanners sold by Electra
(Bearcat), Regency, or Radio Shack.
Speaking at an April 20th scanner club meeting in
Berkeley, Illinois, an engineer from Electra confirmed
the rumor that it was US government pressure which per-
suaded scanner manufacturers, eager for timely FCC Part
15 certification, to omit this band from their models.
Tradition was broken in 1982 when Radio Shack imported
the 2020 scanner, made by General Research Electronics
of Tokyo, which featured coverage down to 410 MHz.
Sales literature for JIL's imported SX200 even went so
far as to openly tell customers that they could "Tune
Military, FBI, ...., DEA, Defense Department, Justice
Department, plus other restricted radio bands no other
scanner is programmed to pick up."
Not to be outdone by the imports, Electra introduced
its American made Bearcat 200 with coverage to 406 MHz.
Regency, whose American scanners were spec'd down to
only 440 MHz, made service manuals available which
revealed coverage below 440 MHz was possible on all its
programmables by simply striking the "." key before
entering the frequency digits.
Today, government agencies are using digital voice
scrambling and spread spectrum techniques to ensure
privacy of sensitive communications. Feeling less
government pressure to limit coverage, and increasing
consumer demand for more coverage, scanner manufac-
turers are introducing models whose spectrum is limited
only by technology and price. The Regency MX7000, with
25 - 550 and 800 - 1300 MHz coverage is but one exam-
ple.
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Bob Parnass, Bell Telephone Laboratories - ihnp4!ihu1h!parnass - (312)979-5414