Radio Scanner Legend Dies

[snkbitn 2]

Dispatch Monthly Magazine Article

Rarely does a single person have the opportunity to have so much impact on one industry, but Gene Costin did. He became a scanner enthusiast in 1940, listening to 155.55 MHz along the coast north of Los Angeles as a teen. He began collecting names, frequencies and other information that he thought was interesting. Then in 1964, he published and sold a printed edition of his collection, "Police Call." The paperback book became the Bible for scanner enthusiasts all across the country, and for over 40 years the guide was sold in Radio Shack and other stores. Gene Costin died last week at 81. Costin was also a 10-year volunteer for the Los Angeles Police Department.

Read a 2005 Wired story about him here

[IzzyEng4 427]

Darn shame, I used to love waiting for my new edition of Police call every year when it was still published. The man had a wealth of knowledge when it came to scanning.

[AFS1970 504]

Like most people here I remember using Police Call, in poth the Radio Shack edition and the one with the authors name, which is what has me confused here. This obit is for Gene Costin, but Police Call and the Wired articlae are about Gene Hughes. Was this the same person?

[LTNRFD 266]

Like most people here I remember using Police Call, in poth the Radio Shack edition and the one with the authors name, which is what has me confused here. This obit is for Gene Costin, but Police Call and the Wired articlae are about Gene Hughes. Was this the same person?

In the article it mentioned that he used the pen name of Gene Hughes.

[Guest PublicSafetyCollectibles]

RIP, Gene, you made scanning so much fun with your publications in the days before 800 mhz, trunked radio and digital communications, cool.