Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mark Hirst, who writes:
Thomas,
I’m currently enjoying ‘Chicago Fire’ on Netflix and spotted this scanner at the fire station.
Taking a wild guess, I typed ‘realistic scanner’ into image search and eventually found one that looked similar, the Realistic Pro-57.
Perhaps scanner enthusiasts can confirm this, and maybe share some memories about it, good or bad!
Thanks for sharing this, Mark! Certainly not an easy scanner to ID from such a quick video frame, but I’m willing to bet some of our readers can comment and confirm the model and share any thoughts about this particular scanner!
I think this particuliar variant is a Radio Shack Pro-508 scanner
Lots of TV production is done in Vancouver, so it is possible that it is a Canadian model sourced locally.
I so love these posts where SWLing Post readers spot a radio in a TV show, commercial or movie. Shows how dedicated (or overly obsessed) we are with our hobby. A fine personality trait to have. I’m the same way. I see a radio on TV, I freeze the DVR to look at it.
In the distant future, historians will be reconstructing the history of radio, and its impact on people. Sites like SWLing Post, with all their comments and observations, willl be invaluable
Yep, looks like a PRO 57. Slight difference though, Canadian pictures show this lettering pattern, USA ones are a bit different. Either there was a different model there or they changed tooling through the lifetime of the product. Is the series actually filmed in Chicago? Did this one sneak over the border southwards?
Lots of TV production happens in Vancouver these days. It could be a Canadian model which was locally sourced.