Are analog scanners useless now days?

Are analog scanners useless now? I havn't turned mine on in years finally decided to put some batteries in and search around. The only thing it stopped on was NOAA weather stations. What scanner would I need to look for if I want to hear anything like police fire etc?
Thanks

Depends on where you live or are listening. Some rural areas still have their EMS communications via analog 150-170Mhz transmitted in the clear. Mid to larger communities went P25 or digital 800Mhz trunking years ago.

Will the 800 // 900 mhz scanner work? I have another portable one I just need to find it.

jras20 said:

Will the 800 // 900 mhz scanner work? I have another portable one I just need to find it.

Click to expand...

Probably not. The encryption is proprietary and scanners made for the consumer market cannot decode it.

I remember the years -- late '80s, I think -- when all cellphone traffic on 800 was in the clear. Most of the conversations you'd hear were snippets, as the user moved from cell site to cell site, but calls from parked cars could be monitored in their entirety. It was amazing how many early cellphone users had no idea they were on radio, or that there was plenty of equipment out there to hear them on.

I remember that even still in the late 90's early 2,000 even home phones at 900mhz.

There are still a few things you can listen to on
your analog scanner.
If it has VHF Air you can listen to your local airport
and the airline "company" channels along with
interesting plane-to-plane on the "unofficial" 123.45 mhz
airline pilot chit-chat channel.
The "itinerant" low power FM channels are still there
like 154.57 and 154.60,and their 464 mhz counterparts.
The "MURS" Multi Use Radio Service is there,the so-
called "color dot" channels HT's use .
The FRS (Family Radio Service) 462 mhz channels are still
there too.
Finally if your scanner does CB you have that along
with 29.600,the ten meter band FM ham freq.
It all depends on where you are...local warehouse was
very active on MURS and FRS was hot every summer
with vacationers on the interstate.
(Interstate work crews also use MURS.)
Not exactly exciting, but at least something.
Also try scanning 29 to 33 mhz for low band skip
occasionally.
If you live near the ocean or a body of water,don't forget
the 156-162 FM Marine Band,either.

I use mine everyday .Only the local police that went digital encrypt . Still get fire,police from other towns and business channels and NOAA weather,town municipal, school bus channels on my two scanners. .I have a Uniden Bearcat 200xlt portable and a Radio Shack Pro 2030 here.

I guess I'm lucky because here in the Chicagoland area I can get all sorts of police communications on my old analog scanners, including from Chicago itself! Hopefully, CPD will remain analog for some time to come so I can continue to enjoy their broadcasts on my old scanners.

I think the railroads are still analog, although they transmit in a narrower bandwidth, which would make their transmissions weaker.

Last time I switched on a scanner (all I have is a couple old analog ones) I was able to receive a couple stray fire dispatch, NOAA weather, the odd 2 meter ham transmission, and air band.

Up in the UHF business band you can still hear the various walkie-talkies at box stores and the like.

Most private companies transmit in the clear or use simple speech inversion techniques.
In Miami, five taxi companies on nine channels are clear, while two on two invert.
In Fort Lauderdale, three taxi companies on six channels are clear, while one on one inverts.
Speech inversion has been around since before any of us were borne
and is about as secure as a 67 or maybe a 92KHz SCA channel...NOT!

NOAA, walkie-talkies, fire, police and school buses where I live are still using analog transmissions. Yakima Transit is trunked.