I know many people have scanners and whatnot... two questions on how you setup/configure your scanner.
What (local) feeds do you listen to? ...in other words, which of the Tower/Approach/Departure/Ground/Clearance frequencies do you scan in on?
Do you use that popular 2 sec DELAY, or find it better not to?
Wow.. big question!
As I split my time between Vegas and Sacramento, and only have one scanner on me, I tend to split my frequencies into trunks based on area.
I have a Radio Shack PRO/76, which goes up to 200 channels across 10 trunks. In trunks 1 and 2, I have set up for Vegas and North Las Vegas, respectively, from ATIS up to Approach and Los Angeles Center. For example, in trunk 1:
132.4 ATIS
118.0 Delivery
121.1 Ground E of runways 1/19
121.9 Ground W of runways 1/19
124.4 Ramp
127.9 Ramp
129.17 Ramp
118.75 Tower (runways 1L/19R - 1R/19L)
119.9 Tower (runways 25L/7R - 25R/7L)
135.0 Final approach (for runways 25L/R, 7L/R, 1L/R)
125.6 Approach W of LAS Interstate 15
125.02 Approach E of Interstate 15
120.45 VFR approach (final for runways 19L/R, KVGT)
119.4 VFR Approach (See 120.45, combined with that freq)
125.9 Departure (runways 19L/R - 25L/R, below 13000MSL)
133.95 Departure (runways 19L/R - 25L/R, 13000 - FL190)
118.4 VFR Departure, Class B service
134.65 Los Angeles Center (Sector 6, Low, south to SoCal)
124.2 Los Angeles Center (Sector 7, Low, East to
124.62 Los Angeles Center (Sector 16, Low/High, to Coaldale, N. Cal/Nev)
Similar is set up for Northtown, in trunk 2. For Sacramento, I'm trying to do the same, but as less frequencies are used (Las Vegas is Class B airspace, Sacramento, Class C), I could add more to the trunks:
126.75 (SMF ATIS)
121.1 (Clearance Delivery)
121.7 (Ground, mostly combined with delivery)
125.7 (Tower)
125.25 (Norcal Approach/Departure, South and southwest)
127.4 (Norcal Approach Departure, East and southeast)
134.8 (Norcal Approach/Departure, West and North)
125.4 (Norcal Approach/Departure Northeast)
119.1 (Norcal Approach/Departure, Low, east)
127.95 (Oakland Center, Sector 40, Low, East to Reno/Lake Tahoe)
126.85 (Oakland Center, Sector 23, Low, SE to Fresno)
132.95 (Oakland Center, Sector 32, High, SE to Coaldale/Tahoe)
132.05 (Oakland Center, Sector 33, High, SE to Beatty/Vegas)
As you can see, I still have 7 spots left in the trunk (trunk holding 20 freqs). With those, and 4 other airports in the area (KMHR, KSAC, KMCC, KAUB), I plug the ATIS, Delivery, Ground, and Tower frequencies in the remaining slots (they would all use the same Departure/Approach freqs, so no need to add those back in).
I also tend to use the primary freq on a given trunk for the ATIS, and lock it out. No need to scan and always pick it up, as it will always be transmitting! Besides, most have phone numbers you can call and hear it on the phone.
But this is what I do, and not use the 2 second delay. You tend to miss a lot in that delay. If I get the bloody antenna in that I need, I'll grab more scanners and get that feed up that I keep promising.
BL.