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Is there an established way of scanning frequencies, while avoiding listening to digital signals or static? For example, is there a scanner on the market which will allow you to blacklist a specific frequency? Or a way of blacklisting with some SDR software?

I'd prefer this over adding a bunch of pre-coded frequencies, as these typically are not up to date on Radioreference. It's also not as fun :).

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  • $\begingroup$ What's your definition of scanning? There's a lot of SDR software, and depending on what kind of signals you're referring to, it's rather easy to simply just make a list of active channels, and you could step through that. $\endgroup$ – Marcus Müller Sep 6 '18 at 22:06
  • $\begingroup$ Going through all tunable frequencies to determine active frequencies. I like the idea of making a list of active frequencies, but what if a frequency rarely transmits (i.e. when you make the list, it wasn't transmitting at that time.) $\endgroup$ – Saustin Sep 6 '18 at 22:12
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    $\begingroup$ Sdr software doesn't need to make that list once $\endgroup$ – Marcus Müller Sep 6 '18 at 22:16
  • $\begingroup$ It could continuously observe all channels simultaneously. $\endgroup$ – Marcus Müller Sep 6 '18 at 22:16
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You didn't specify what hardware you are using, so I'll give a generic answer.

If you want to just eliminate static, that's what squelch is for.

Beyond that, there is no "established" method that is not specific to the scanner you are using.

Some scanners have a lock out button that will blacklist a signal while the scanner is stopped on it, so it will be ignored in subsequent passes.

It would not be hard to add similar functionality to SDR software. I've seen several SDR projects designed to recognize specific modes; this might make it possible to blacklist digital modes when they are found.

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