Find something else to waste money on
Banny 42,
I, like you, once bought a scanner as a tool for learning radio speak. It cost me £70 and was the worst purchase I ever made.
First of all, I found the owner's handbook had been written by a techie for techies, so it was useless to me.
Secondly, I found that you needed, either a permanent aerial going up to first floor level (which I could not have as I live in a ground floor flat) or you had to take the scanner to some high place for it to pick up anything even from local airfields.
Spend your money on a decent R/T course, you'll find it very much more effective and far better value for money.
Broomstick.