A Scanner, Darkly.
When I was at school, I took an evening class in photography. This meant that I had access to a darkroom.

One of the other people on the course was called Brian, and he owned one of those scanning devices that picked up on mobile phone conversations and emergency services radios. He'd bring it in now and again to provide amusement while we were in the darkroom. (I think they were legal at the time. Dunno.)

This being 1994/5-ish, there would often be longeurs when noone in range was using a phone; correspondingly, the comparative rarity of the things meant that what conversations there were tended to be about THINGS rather than mere chatter. So they could be interesting - and educational.

It was thanks to Brian's scanner, for example, that we learned that the manager of the largest nightclub in town was running a secret midweek swingers' night, and was also the go-to guy for anyone who was interested in more private partner-swapping sessions with strangers.

Classy.
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Fri 10 Apr 2009, 13:15, 2 replies)

Hoooooooooooo
I want one!
(Juan Quar is clinging to her front teeth on, Fri 10 Apr 2009, 17:26, closed)

I had one
A big bugger with a 24 foot aerial.

I sold it on ebay for £600 a month before the police started using digital radios.

If I tried selling it now it'd be worth about £20
(SarcasticBarSteward wants to be good at Photoshop when he grows up, Fri 10 Apr 2009, 19:06, closed)