Scanner Tales: Comparing value from “Back in the Day” to today.

[Falcon9h]

You are definitely about 10 years older than me John but yes those were the days.

Not only were radio receivers, monitors and electronics cheaper but everything was. I was 12 in 1965, if I had 65 cents in my pocket I was living high on the hog, walked to the outdoor shopping plaza, get lunch at the Delicatessen for about 20 cents and then I would go to Baskin-Robbins and get a double dip cone I'm guessing for about 15 or 25 cents.

One things for sure I always had money available for radio equipment, tunable Police radios, CB radios, shortwave radios, always my priority my whole life, even if they were relatively expensive items.

Same here-I had all the hot gear when I lived at home. Motorola out the wazoo, Icom receivers, etc. but all finito now. Thank God for CCR's otherwise no radio hobby.
Makes me wonder when the whole system is gonna implode. Glad I'm old, wanna be out of here before it does.

 

[trentbob]

Same here-I had all the hot gear when I lived at home. Motorola out the wazoo, Icom receivers, etc. but all finito now. Thank God for CCR's otherwise no radio hobby.
Makes me wonder when the whole system is gonna implode. Glad I'm old, wanna be out of here before it does.

We are on the right track, it's just going to take a long time but I don't think it's going to be as bad as some persuasions would have you believe.

If things change back again and you never know I think the Hemlock Society will have a large influx of new members😉

 

[Falcon9h]

Documentation like this is important so people have an alternative between Artificial Inaccuracy and the truth.

I think that's why I like N9JIG's Scanner Tales. Wish he'd compile it into a book. (or a nice PDF)

 

[trentbob]

Well it's preserved here on radio reference forever..🙂

 

[PACNWDude]

Great way to preserve history....and to read about it.

I had technogeek parents that were into radio, computers, and other electronic technology....and had salaries to afford them. Growing up, we had a BetaMax VCR, decent sized televisions, and always some sort of radio scanner (crystal, then programmable) which were always getting better but also more expensive for the times.

The first scanner that I spent my own money on (others were passed down, and amateur radio was still too expensive, while an uncle had a CB store, so I had that setup going well and cheap) was a Radio Shack Pro-2006, for $400....which was a weeks pay for me at that time. My VCR was a Sony that cost $500, a 27" RCA television was $500, my Rotel stereo was $2000, and Polk Audio speakers being another $1000. An Apple Macintosh was my primary money pit. Thousands went into that and peripherals. That scanner was cheap, and more so compared to what can be had today.

It is good to see how things have changed, what was in the past.......if you were into electronics and technology, it came with a huge financial cost. Then, there was the image of being one of those radio or computer types. Luckily, now....we rule the world!

 

[n1chu]

Back in 1977 I was able to get a new Tennelec MS-1. It was the cats meow for 2 weeks and it totally died. I sent it back to the factory and they sent me a new replacement. I still have it and it still works. Tennelec was based in Oak Ridge Tenn which was a hot bed of US Military secret production. Shortly after receiving my replacement unit Tennelec went out of business in the middle of the night leaving the doors open to the factory and scanners on the production line, lol.

I too had a problem with the Tennelec MS-1 and returned it for another. But that one died too so I sent it in and got another replacement, which I promptly sold. I still remember the tedious programming of frequencies using the book that came with the binary equivalent of each frequency! Ones and zeros. But it was my first non-crystal receiver…

 

[jmp883]

I started in the scanning hobby in 1982. I was a senior in high school and received a Regency 4-channel scanner as a gift. Since my town, and the 5 surrounding towns, all shared the same 2 police and 1 fire frequency that little 4-channel Regency was all I thought I'd ever need. Put National Weather Service cyrstal in the 4th channel, locked out. As I got older, and began making more money, I was able to buy newer radios, but I really didn't upgrade from that little Regency until the Bearcat BC-890 came out. That radio was overkill for my listening situation, initially, but then I put an antenna on the roof and started listening to things other than my local PD/FD/EMS. That radio's programmability and the roof-mounted antenna opened my ears to aviation, railroads, FDNY, and host of other agencies and services. Most of the time my ham/monitoring shack has several scanners and ham rigs. Yes, the radios are expensive, but in the context of what features you're getting vs. what we didn't have back in the day, I venture to say that the radios of today give you great value for your dollar.

 

[N9JIG]

I guess I dodged a bullet by skipping the MS-1 and MS-2. I knew they had issues back then but forgot how bad they actually were!

 

[Swipesy]

I guess I dodged a bullet by skipping the MS-1 and MS-2. I knew they had issues back then but forgot how bad they actually were!

They were not bad. My 2nd unit still works today. They sounded good. Gave your fingers a good workout pushing 0 and 1's to program. They just were expensive and could not compete with the competition who had been around longer.