Identifying which scanner channel is active

[atcnoob]

I read the various scanner guides suggested by the host.  Here's what I don't understand as a total noob.  Unless you're staring at the frequency readout on the actual scanner, how do I know what I'm hearing?  Do scanners put out a sub-audible tone mixed into the actual audio that identifies channel?  Then, when listening to archived or live feeds, software could decode the sub-audible tone and display the frequency on a pop-up in real-time thereby duplicating the scanner readout.  Of course the monitoring site would have to provide a translation table.   The tones could be as simple as CTCSS as used in el-cheapo walkie talkies - IIRC that uses 38 sub-audible tones which should cover most applications.  Of course this implodes if ATC uses CTCSS but I couldn't find any reference to that.

[Tomato]

Firstly... WELCOME TO LIVE ATC! 

Hm, nope... what you scan is what you get.  As far as I know, the scanner simply tunes in to the frequency and spits the audio out.  Though I could see how the scanner could easy "add" a tone (of any sort) to the audio, I don't think it happens.

It's a cool idea, but I don't think it's done anywhere, and the only ways to identify what you're listening to is to look at the LCD screen, or to listen to the content.  (For example, "Clear to land...." would be a Tower frequency.)

[dave]

This isn't done anywhere...if there was a way, we'd have hooked into it. 

Dave