FIELD SIGNALS CAPTURING
WHY QUALITY AND PURPOSE BUILT MATTERS
If you think the scanning ability of a cheap HT like the Baofeng UV-5R is good enough to capture SIGINT around you, you are severely mistaken.
Being able to hear those around you has obvious advantages and can be a force multiplier, but if your scanner is too slow to capture short transmissions you will never know they were there. This is one reason for always keeping your own TX short and sweet in a SHTF scenario.
It's also a reason for using a digital mode verses analog, and 99% of users are going to be using analog and they will only hear static if they do hear your transmission.
It also goes to show that a dedicated handheld scanner in the field is worth the extra weight. Even though a good HT like the Yaesu FT-70DR shown in the demo is very capable as a scanner, nothing beats a REAL SCANNER, especially one like the Bearcat 125XT with "Close Call" technology that tunes in on the signals "power transmission" instead of rolling through a band or pre-programmed channels.
Uniden Bearcat BC125AT Handheld Scanner
The added benefit of CLOSE CALL makes this model well worth the $80.00 I spent on it and the need to pack one more piece of gear in the field.
Not only does CLOSE CALL lock onto any received TX within range much faster than a HAM HT, but it identifies the Freq being used and its CTSS all at once. By touching any button on the face at this point, the info is locked onto the screen and saved to a separate bank for later retrieval and faster scanning of previous "close call" hits.
Below is a short demonstration of a dedicated scanner (Uniden Bearcat 125XT), Japanese (FT-70DR), Chinese (TYT-UVF1) and a Chinese (Retevis RT-6) all in scan mode with all the same programmed channels.
You might want to expand it to full screen, but you can see the Bearcat wins EVERYTIME when it comes to catching the transmission. The rest are hit and miss. The channel being keyed is GMRS4, there are some others being caught on the Retevis in between.
Bearcat XL125 / Yeasu FT-70DR / TYT-UVF1 / Retevis RT-6
The ability to capture SIGINT around you becomes obvious through this simple demonstration.
Note that the TX is only a foot away from the antennas so RX de-sensitivity will show up even more at normal operating ranges.