MARITIMES SCANNING SITE

FAQ #2

Question: “Why doesn’t the Maritimes Scanning Site list all the known talk group id’s of the NS trunk (TMR)?” OR “You don’t have the talk group id’s for the XXXXXXXX on the site, but I bet you know them. Would you please send them to me?” OR “Why don’t you have a section on the XXXXXXXXX service?”

Answer: it is true that there are some talk group id’s that I know but do not post here on the site. It is also true that there are a couple of conventional frequencies as well. I doubt there is any rationale that would satisfy a fellow scannist but I have to tell you most firmly that there is a big difference between someone asking for such things, and being the one who operates a website or sets himself up as a dispenser of information. I have at least three factors that I must think about at all times:

One is the simple one of brazenly posting things that the powers would not like to see out there in public. At one level there is the risk that one incurs of having those agencies taking action or in some way making life difficult. This does not necessarily mean someone knocking on the door at 3 AM to make an arrest, but more a feeling of wanting to keep good relations, and this is especially true if one has a relative whose career could be jeopardized in any way, or who could be embarrassed at work. Also, in my case I have myself had connections to certain agencies and there is no way that I want to be thought of as having betrayed anyone.

The second factor is an entirely practical one. I do not want to disseminate information that might lead to the encryption of communications and therefore its loss to scanning altogether.

The third factor relates to my own personal feelings regarding intrusions into privacy and as well the unwitting assistance to criminal activities. On top of this are the feelings about scanning held by those who are close to me. If you want me to go on regarding this, please go the next paragraph, which is more of a philosophical soapbox item.

Scanning is a strange thing. Here in Canada it is certainly legal, but it is not so clear as to whether it is a good thing to be doing. I have been scanning for longer than almost anyone around, since at as far back as 1970! I am as interested as any of you in hearing the police and other emergency services and in my case at least, also other services as well. In fact I think it is good that we are able to hear these services, particularly the police, as it is very important in a democracy that citizens know what the police are doing, at least to a certain extent. In my case my many years of hearing the police in various parts of Canada has led me to be quite impressed by these agencies and their members.

But what do you think the general public thinks of scanning? My opinion is that most people will think it is an oddball pastime at best, and many will consider it to be shady. In my case I have family members that express both of those opinions quite freely. They either wonder why anyone would want to spend time and money on scanning, or they think it is an intrusion into the privacy of the agencies one hears, and of the people mentioned on the radio. In any case they do not want to be subjected to it in the car or at home! I often wonder what the life of my fellow scannists is like. Are they people on their own? Are they people who have spouses and other family members who are indifferent or maybe even supportive and interested? Or are they people who somehow are able to buy equipment and scan regardless of negative feelings around them?? All I know is that those around me have led me to question my scanning activities, because despite the legality, it is pretty clear that most people or agencies we listen to would not like the fact that others are out there listening in. I rationalize that the newspaper or radio station will divulge the big stuff anyway, and we are just hearing it sooner than everyone else!