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Scanner Radio Enthusiasts - The Original Wardrivers!
These days, the term "wardriving" usually means the practice of driving around town looking for unsecured WiFi networks. Scanner radio enthusiasts were "wardriving" long before WiFi existed. Some scanner enthusiasts had high, tower-mounted antennas and could monitor activity miles away. Other scannists had to move themselves closer to the action.
The legality of monitoring some radio frequencies is not covered here. What is covered is that (1) people were transmitting analog, non-encrypted signals, (2) equipment to listen to these transmissions was legally available from Radio Shack and others, and (3) people availed themselves of the opportunity to listen.
These early wardrivers were looking for non-encrypted radio signals to monitor. From the 1970s to the 1990s, practically nothing was encrypted. I include the 1970s because, even before the availability of scanners, many people had AM-FM "good times" radios with an extended FM - up to 170+ MHz - receive capability. This range included police, fire, ambulance, aviation, Ham Radio, business, military, and pre-cell phone analog car phones.
I had an "extended VHF receive" radio in 1972. I used it mainly to monitor local air-band traffic when I was learning to fly. If I spun the dial and picked up other traffic, I felt no obligation to plug my ears. The makers of the transmitting radio equipment knew that those devices transmitted without encryption, and the FCC knew what legally available scanner radios and VHF receivers were capable of monitoring. Why should any burden be placed on the scanner radio or receiver owner? If you don't want me to take a bite of the apple, don't give me the apple. Another way of looking at it is twoway radio users had an expectation of privacy that exceeded the capabilities of the equipment they were paying for.
Once programmable scanners were available, it was a simple matter to drive around town, scanner in the "search mode", discovering new frequencies to add to your database. Most public service entities were easy to find and monitor, as were the Amateur (ham) Radio repeaters operating on VHF and UHF frequencies. In the early 1980s and '90s, the handheld FRS, GMRS, and MURS radios were not yet available. However, what was available were analog cordless phones and baby monitors using frequencies in the 43 - 50 MHz range. Where were baby monitors usually located? In the bedroom. Did everyone think to turn it off at night? Nope! Those were the "Wild West" days of scanning.
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