http://www.stormcam.org/base-scanner/
Will a base scanner pick up these frequencies??
My uncle had a portable scanner that picked up cell and cordless phone convrsations. Is this still posible? Or have they done away with this? How bout citizen band? Can a scanner pick that up?
Monitoring of cell phones is possible provided you have the equipment to do it. A simple scanner like before is NOT going to work for 95% of the cell phones out there. They are all digital and require special equipment to monitor the CDMA (Verizon, Alltel, Sprint, USCellular) GSM (Cingular, TMobible), iDEN (Nextel). There are very few regular or analog cell calls out there, and then you have to find a scanner that can receive the cellular band. The FCC changed the rules that block selling radios which can receive this range. If you have certain models produced before the 1984 ban then you can tune that range, or if you purchase the government models or export models. Still you need a way to decode the digital signals for 95% of the calls and for that it takes a service monitor and with the CDMA, iDEN and GSM options that going to run you about $20,000.00 to start USED.
Cordless phones are possible if they are not digital spread spectrum or DSS. Alot of the 2.4GHz and 900MHz phones are not digital and can easily be picked up by scanners that can tune that range.
Citizens band or CB in the 27MHz range can be monitored usingv some scanners and some shortwave or general receivers. Most scanners can only pick up the regular AM (just like your AM radio) mode CB. While the more advanced general receivers can pick up the Single Sideband (SSB) mode of the CB band as well.
Theres lots more and better stuff to scan and monitor in my opinion than cordless phones. I would much rather know whats going on around me police wise or where the medevac helo is going than Slutty Jane has another friend over, boring.
Opening GRE 600 Digital Base Scanner