Scanning History

Taken from the Betty Bearcat Frequency Directory, 1980

  Years ago, millions of Americans listened to their local police in action
by simply tuning their radio dials to the high end of the broadcast band.
As time went on, however, the demand for reliable communications 
channels and more of them caused the shift of police to much higher 
frequencies.  Only the very persistent listener was able to follow them,
because it required purchasing very expensive specialized radio equipment 
of the type being used by the police and commercial services.
Later, as technology improved, low cost equipment to listen to these new
frequencies became available.  One of the first was a very popular converter
for use with any ordinary broadcast receiver.  Named the "Little Tiger" it
was introduced by the Electra Company in 1965.  However, it shared a drawback
with the specialized police radios in that it received only one frequency
at a time.  This was rapidly becoming unsatisfactory for the average
citizen and many public safety officials.  Communications were becoming far
more complex.
Various emergency services began being assigned different frequencies to 
prevent interference.  So were neighboring cities.  Yet, for the professional,
there was often a need to co-ordinate the activities of all these services.
And for the interested citizen, too, there was no way to really know what
was happening without monitoring several frequencies.
Then, in the mid-1960's Al Lovell, inventor, and founder of Electra Company,
developed the idea of a radio receiver that would automatically "scan"
frequencies to find active communications channels.  In 1968 the world's
first automatic scanner radio came off the Electra Company production line.
Because of Mr. Lovell's love for the classic Stutz-Bearcat automobile, he
named the radio "Bearcat".  This radio started a revolution in American
listening habits.  Ten years after its introduction it had achieved the 
same degree of popularity that the color TV did in its first ten years.
And the popularity of scanner radiois has continued to grow at a phenomenal
rate... with scanners currently in over 4 million American homes!
From the very beginning, scanner radios have been used by professional
public safety officials and volunteers, as well as everyday citizens.  For
the professional it has proven to be an invaluable tool for co-ordination of
vital services and for staying alert to important happenings.  For the
average citizen it has provided a fascinating look at public safety agencies
in action...building respect for those who serve and awareness of the need
for support of crime watch, fire prevention and other citizen participation
programs.